The next morning Tara got up early and gave Lafayette a call.

“Can you babysit for me today? I really need to talk to Sam.”

“Sure thing Hookah,” Lafayette said. “What time you bringing Miss Thang over?”

“I don’t know,” she replied. “I haven’t called Sam yet. He may not want to see me.”

“All you can do is try. Call me back and let me know if you’ll be coming over.”

Tara hung up the phone and immediately dialed Sam. He seemed surprised to hear from her so early in the morning.

“Is everything okay?” he asked quickly.

“Everything’s fine. I just wanted to apologize for yesterday and find out if you have time to meet me for coffee this afternoon. We need to talk.”

He agreed to meet her at 12:30 at a coffee shop in Bastrop. She called Lafayette back, then steeled her nerves for her meeting with Sam.

Sam arrived ten minutes early, but Tara had still beaten him there. She waved him over.

“Where’s Maya?” he asked after they’d exchanged greetings and placed their orders.

“With Lafayette and Jesus. I thought we needed some time to talk alone.”

“This sounds ominous,” Sam said a little nervously, thinking back to the last time Tara had approached him like this. That was when she’d told him that he was Maya’s father. He hoped she didn’t have any other bombshells to drop.

“Not really. I just owe you an explanation for the way I acted yesterday, and I also need to apologize,” Tara said.

“You don’t need to apolo…” Sam started before Tara cut him off.

“Yes I do. When we were at the carnival I ran into an old neighbor who gave me all kinds of hell when I was growing up. She said some nasty things yesterday, and I took it out on you.” Tara looked Sam in the eye. “I had no right to do that, and I’m sorry.”

“Hey, it’s okay. I understand,” Sam said.

“When I was a kid, that woman blamed me for any and everything that went wrong in the neighborhood,” Tara continued. “Then yesterday she implied that I can’t take care of my baby.” She lowered her eyes. “I don’t want Maya to have to go through the same shit that I did. I seriously thought about packing up and moving to Baton Rouge.”

Tara noticed the panicked expression on Sam’s face and hastened to reassure him. “Don’t worry, we’re staying here. I can’t keep running from my problems for the rest of my life.”

“Well that’s good to know,” Sam said. “But why didn’t you tell me this yesterday? We could have talked about it.”

“I was too ashamed,” Tara answered.

“Ashamed of what? She was the one being a bitch; you didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Yeah, but you don’t know what it’s like, being rejected and feeling like you’re not good enough.”

“Oh I know alright,” Sam said quietly. “More than you think.”

“How?” Tara asked. “You’re a successful businessman. You’ve had your life in order for a long time.” She laughed ruefully. “I’m constantly trying to keep it together.”

“I may look like I have my life in order, but we all have our pasts. I wasn’t always a successful businessman,” Sam said quietly.

“What do you mean?”

“Well you know that I’m adopted. You met Tommy and my biological parents,” he said.

“Yeah.”

“The Merlottes adopted me when I was a baby, and I had a relatively decent childhood. But when I was 15, I shifted for the first time. It was totally unexpected and I was terrified. I didn’t understand what was happening to me, and the Merlottes didn’t know anything about shape shifters, so they didn’t know what the hell was going on either.” He paused, visibly shaken by from the memory.

“Sam, you don’t have to tell me about whatever this is. I can see that it still hurts you.”

“No, I need to. I shifted into a dog right in front of their faces. They refused to talk about it. In fact, we all pretended it didn’t happen. But when I got back from school the next day, the entire house had been cleaned out except for the stuff in my room. There wasn’t even any food left in the fridge.”

 “Jesus. I’m so sorry Sam,” Tara said, taking his hand. “What happened?”

“I stayed in the house a few days, since I didn’t know what else to do. Then I ran. I quit school, left town, and made my in the world the best way I could. Which is a nice way of saying I was a crook. I was on the run for years, not only from the law but from myself.”

“Sam, I’m so sorry you had to go through that. I had no idea.”

“Nobody does. You’re the first person I’ve ever told,” Sam said, not looking at her. “For years I felt like a freak.”

“Sam, look at me,” Tara said, squeezing his hand. He kept his eyes on the table. “Sam, please.” He finally met her gaze. “You’re not a freak; far from it.”

“Thanks,” he said, smiling weakly.

“I mean it,” she said decisively, then a look of horror crossed her face. “Oh my god! I was such a bitch to you the day I left town. When I said those awful things to you it must’ve torn into your soul.”

“Don’t worry about it. You’d just been through a hellacious ordeal yourself. Besides, you were right; I should have told you that I was a shifter way before I did.”

“That still doesn’t excuse it. I’m sorry about what I said. I’ve never thought of you as a freak, and I’m glad you trusted me enough to tell me about this.”

 “You’re one of the few people in the world I feel like I can trust,” Sam said.

“I feel the same way about you.”

Sam smiled at her, then glanced at her hand which was still holding his. “Speaking of apologies, I still owe you one.”

“What for?” Tara asked, startled.

“For trying to pressure you into marrying me. I was so caught up thinking about what I wanted that I didn’t stop to consider your feelings. I’m sorry”

“You don’t have to apologize for that. I know you just wanted to do the right thing for Maya, and I can’t blame you after what you told me just now.” Tara scoffed. “Having shitty parents is great motivation to do a better job with your own children.”

“Still, it wasn’t fair to you.”

“Apology accepted.” She smirked, trying to lighten the mood. “Your old-fashioned sense of duty was kind of cute, though.”

“That wasn’t the only reason I asked, you know.”

Tara was taken aback. “What other reason did you have?”

“I wanted us to have a chance for something real. I never felt comfortable being ‘friends with benefits.’ I wanted for us to have an actual relationship and be a family,” he said.

“Well that’s sweet of you, but maybe it’ll be for the best if it doesn’t happen.”

“Why?”

“Different reasons.”

“Like what?” Sam persisted.

Tara shifted uncomfortably in her seat. She wasn’t good at these sorts of conversations, but since Sam had been so honest with her, she wouldn’t feel right being less than honest with him. “Like your feelings for Sookie, for one. She’s single again; maybe you have a chance with her now.”

Sam looked surprised. He hadn’t felt that way about Sookie for a while. “I won’t deny that I had romantic feelings for her at one time. But that was a long time ago, and it was just a crush. We went out a couple of times, but we never really connected on that level. She’s more like a sister to me now.”

“Are you sure? I seem to remember you had it for her pretty bad.”

“Sookie was unattainable, and I knew that.” He scoffed. “Hell, that was part of the attraction. We always want what we can’t have. Are you still in love with Jason Stackhouse?”

“No. I loved him for protecting me when we were kids, but on some level I always knew that romance wasn’t in the cards for us. I still love him, but like a brother.” Tara laughed in spite of herself. “Point taken.”

“Okay, what else you got?” Sam asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Sam, be serious.”

“I am being serious.”

“I told you before: I’m un-boyfriendable,” Tara said.

“There’s no such thing.”

“I don’t know how to be with anybody. I’m scared I’ll mess it up.”

 “We’re all scared, Tara, but we can’t let fear stop us from being happy and living our lives.” Sam squeezed her hand. “I don’t want to push you; just promise me you’ll think on it and let me know.”

Tara remembered her conversation with Lafayette the night before, then took a deep breath before squeezing Sam’s hand in return. “I don’t need to think on it. I’m willing to give us a chance.”

“Are you sure?” Sam asked, his tone a mixture of hope and disbelief. “I don’t want you to feel like I pressured you into anything.”

“I’m positive,” she said, looking him in the eye. “You’re right; I can’t let fear rule my life. We wouldn’t have Maya if I did. Just promise me we’ll take it slow at first. I want to do things right this time around.”

“It’s a deal.”

Tara leaned over and gave him a soft kiss on the lips. “Well I better go pick up our daughter. I want to make sure Lafayette hasn’t done anything weird like getting her a weave or a tattoo.”

Sam chuckled, “He’d better not.” They walked to their cars. “I’ll give you a call later.”

Tara suddenly had an idea. “Can you come over for dinner tonight? I know it’s short notice, so I’ll understand if you can’t make it.”

“I’ll always make time for my two girls.”

“Great. Come by at around 6:00.” She kissed him again, deeper than she had in the coffee shop. “See you then.” She hopped into her Escape and drove off.

Sam got into his truck and headed home, still thinking about that last kiss. Taking things slow was going to be a lot more difficult than he’d thought.

*********