Love Makes the Difference (Sully Point Book 1) by Nicole Smith Page B

the
couch and we can figure out where it needs to be for you to see it best."
    They moved it up and down the wall and finally agreed on
placement and Sam hung it on the wall. Finally they both sat down on the couch
and stared at the new wall feature.
    "Perfect, Sam."
    "Absolutely, Anna."
    A companionable quiet filled the room, the sound of waves
barely reaching their ears, the breeze fluttering papers held down by a rock on
his desk.
    "You're using a rock to hold down your pages?"
    "It was handy."
    "Does that mean you've overcome the problems you were
having with the book?"
    "Yes. It's moving along." Sam didn't say anything
else and Anna decided to sit quietly for a few minutes to get her courage up.
    "Sam, about last time--"
    "Anna, I want to say something--"
    "Well so do I!"
    He gave a low laugh. "Okay, you first."
    "I wanted to say how flattered I was, how surprised I
was...but I don't know how to respond to what you said. It feels like you were
talking about someone else, not me. I think maybe you are imagining more to me
than is here."
    There, she'd said it. Now he'd realize she was right and he'd
made a big mistake in telling her those things and they could just be friends.
    He was shaking his head. "Anna...you are so wrong. I
know exactly who I was talking about and it was you. But I can see you have
some trouble accepting that, so I'm just going to have to prove it to you. For
now, will you at least try to believe in me, in my feelings for you?"
    "But this kind of thing doesn't happen to me!"
Anna blurted out. "To my sister, Holly, sure--all the time. She's the
pretty one, the one everyone falls for, but not me. I don't know how to feel
about any of this."
    "Anna, I know, I get it, love. It will take time. But
what I feel isn't about your sister Holly, it's about you. I don't expect
anything from you. Just try and believe a little bit, okay? And let me keep
seeing you?"
    She was mortified to feel tears fill her eyes. Dashing her
hand across them, she stood up. "I should probably go."
    "Anna...please?"
    "If I stay, will you go back to work while I sit here?
I think I could do that."
    He frowned for a moment, then his face cleared and his eyes
softened. "As long as you can be comfortable, I'll go back to my writing."
    She leaned against the back of the couch. "Okay, I'll
stay."
    * * * *
    Sam thought it would be shocking if he wrote anything other
than complete drivel, with her sitting there so close. Still, he could at least
fake writing if that made her comfortable. Once he started, however, the
writing began to flow and over an hour passed before he came out of the 'zone'
and checked the clock.
    "I didn't realize so much time had gone by." He
turned in his chair to look at her. "Did you need a drink, or..." He
saw a glass of water in her hand.
    "I got it myself. You didn't seem to hear me get up or
the opening of the fridge. By the way, I love those appliances."
    "They do fit in with a beach house like this one don't
they." He raked his hands through his hair as he remembered. "Damn, I
totally forgot to give you the check." He got up and went to a little
table with drawers next to the rocking chair.
    He lifted out the check and handed it over to her. "You'll
see that it's drawn on my company name, SLC Limited. I figured that would be
better than having the bank tellers wonder why Sam Carter would be giving you
so much money."
    "Thanks for thinking of that, Sam," Anna said as
she put the check folded up into her jeans pocket. "What does the L stand
for in SLC?"
    "Lawrence, Samuel Lawrence Carter. Family names. I
think Lawrence came from a great uncle."
    "Family...you never have mentioned family."
    "Hmm. I guess I haven't. Let's see, I have a mother and
father who live in New York state in the Adirondacks. I have three sisters,
Beth and Maggie, who live in Philadelphia and Rose who lives near Mom and Dad."
    "Are you guys close? Was it a happy family life for you
growing up?"
    "Yes, we were and still are a pretty happy