Ruby Red, The Sequel - The Romance Story Continues (Complete)

Chapter 29

Sam stepped out of the cab and into a winter wonderland. It had started snowing about an hour ago, but already the streets were blanketed in the white stuff. Pulling his coat around him against the damp cold, he dashed into the restaurant.

When they had wanted snow in December, old man winter had teased with a few flurries here and there, but not enough to even attempt a snowball. Now the holiday festivities were over and the January blues had kicked in, the winter was in full swing.

Christmas in the Harrington household had been a calmer affair this year. Before Sam and Ali had had a chance to return to the hospital, they got the call relaying that Christopher was awake. His recovery had been slow but steady, which was good for the family, but a big annoyance to the man himself.

The head of the household was not a fan of staying in one place for long and did not grasp the concept of relaxing. But Sam's mother laid down some strict new house rules and her husband had no choice but to follow them.

At Ali's encouragement, Sam had worked up the courage to at least talk to his mother about the events leading up to Thomas's death. It was a revelation to Sam when his mother informed him she had been living under the assumption Thomas had gone out on that fateful night to visit his girlfriend Sophie. Sam felt ashamed explaining to her the real reason was because of him, but to his mother's credit, Evelyn immediately backed up Ali's perspective, refusing to put any blame on Sam.

Talking about Thomas was something the family unit as a whole seemed to avoid and unbeknownst to each other, it was hurting them all. Sam and his mother both promised to honour the memory of Thomas by making an effort to talk about him.

As such the holidays had been full of stories about his older brother and with each one Sam felt the constant pain in his heart lessen a little. It was oddly freeing and he loved that Ali was getting a feel for who Thomas was and what he meant to them all.

It had been harder for his father to join in on the reminiscing. But at least Christopher had not actively avoided it. Sam made sure to spend lots of time at the Harrington household, sometimes just sitting discussing the daily news with his father. They had not talked like that for years. If ever if Sam was honest.

These hours together kept Christopher occupied and thus calm but had the added benefit of bringing the two men closer together. Through dialogue, Sam learned more about what motivated his father and was surprised to discover it was not so far from his own stance. They simply went about achieving their goals differently.

It was Sam who brought up the topic they had argued over - meeting Leif Stewart. To his credit, Christopher told Sam they didn't have to go into it, but Sam insisted his father explain why it was important for Sam to get involved. Taking his time, the older Harrington laid out his arguments, emphasizing he respected his son's stance on not wanting to enter into the field of politics, but he wanted the opinion of someone he could trust about the potential candidate before backing the man.

His father wanted his opinion? The thought had never even occurred to Sam. Of course, he had never stopped to listen to his father's request. He had just jumped to conclusions. With this newfound information, Sam offered to meet with Mr. Stewart.

Turns out Leif Stewart was pretty impressive.

Sam scanned the restaurant for the man now. He was easy to spot, his bright red hair standing out amongst the late dinner crowd. Rising to greet Sam, he met him at eye level, both men being similar in height. Dressed in a deep blue suit that complimented eyes reminiscent of the ocean, the man's handshake was firm but brief.

It reminded Sam of the first time he met Leif, in a similar restaurant a few weeks ago. 

Then the greeting had been awkward at first. He countered Leif's "Nice to finally meet you, Mr. Harrington." with a laugh at being called by the name. "Mr. Harrington is my father. Call me Sam."