Zoe turned to see Uncle Russ had joined the fray.
"I'm sure it's not a rat," Vivian said, calming her mother and helping her down from the bench.
Zoe met Ryan's gaze.
"I'm quite sure it isn't," he said, somehow keeping a straight face.
Despite the insanity around them, they shared intimate eye contact, causing her insides to curl with warmth.
"I thought we told you to keep the pig caged in the shade on the other side of the house," Zoe whispered to Sam who stood wrapped in a towel behind her.
"I dunno what happened. Maybe I didn't lock the cage good enough," she said, too innocently.
Zoe cringed and waited for the fallout while Ryan dug around the garden for the pig. Zoe vividly recalled the moment in her own mother's garden when he'd de scribed the prized roses, and decided all hope of keeping the peace, and Ryan on their side, was lost.
He might have found the situation amusing at first, but he couldn't possibly find humor in the repercussions. So much for attempting a pleasant afternoon that would please Sam, Zoe thought.
"There it is!" Grandma Edna yelled and pointed to the ground just as Ima made her escape from the roses and ran across the lawn, Sam in hot pursuit.
Vivian reached into her pocket for a vial that Grandma Edna referred to as her smelling salts, though Zoe didn't see why she needed them when she hadn't passed out.
Ryan rose and brushed off his hands, then bent to check on his grandmother.
"Care to explain that, that thing?" Vivian asked through tightly clenched teeth.
"That's Sam's pet," Ryan explained.
"If it wasn't a rat, then what was it?" Grandma Edna asked as she fanned herself with a magazine Uncle Russ had held in his hand.
"Could I convince you it was a dog, ma'am?" Zoe pasted on her broadest smile.
Nobody laughed, especially after Zoe launched into an explanation of the Vietnamese potbellied pig.
As a group, they trudged back to the pool area. Although Ryan wanted to pack up and leave and Zoe was all too happy to agree, Uncle Russ insisted they stay. He'd just returned from the Boston store. An emergency, he'd said, and he wanted his share of time with both Ryan and Sam.
Zoe couldn't help but feel excluded, but she reminded herself it was an omen of things to come. She'd better get used to it now. She wasn't a member of this family, didn't want to be, and would never fit in, anyway. She was here for Sam and when Sam no longer needed her for the transition, and it was safe back home, they'd have to talk to Social Services, say their goodbyes and…
And would Sam return here? Zoe's insides roiled.
"So I thought that since you're a member of this family, you would want the same piece of jewelry both Vivian and Grandmother Edna have," Uncle Russ was saying to Sam.
Zoe hadn't realized the teen had returned from rescuing Ima, but she had the pig packed safely in her carrier.
Russ held out a small jewelry box with the word Baldwin's inscribed on top and Sam accepted the gift.
"What is it?" she asked.
"Take a look."
"I can't believe he bought Sam a gift," Ryan said under his breath in awe. For all Uncle Russ's support, even he hadn't yet shown this kind of compassion for Faith's child.
With cautious excitement and shaking hands, Sam opened the gray box. "It's a B," she said slowly. "A necklace." Her voice dropped, the enthusiasm gone.
"I thought having it would make you feel more a part of us," Uncle Russ said.
"I already have a necklace," Sam said dully.
Ryan's mouth grew dry.
"'Thank you' would be more appropriate," Zoe coached her and Ryan nodded in appreciation.
"I already have a necklace." Sam's fists gripped the oxidized keys that had once belonged to her mother.
Uncle Russ nodded. "I realize that, but this one's brand-new. You could put the old one in the box for safekeeping," he suggested.
Ryan could see Sam's struggle and the fast way she blinked to try to prevent tears from falling down her cheeks. He felt torn inside between his uncle with his good intentions and Sam with her devotion to her memory.
Zoe came up beside him and rested her hand lightly on his shoulder, letting him silently know she understood. He wasn't surprised she read him so well, any more than he was shocked by the jolt her bare hand gave to his system. He wondered if she'd have this effect on him when he was eighty. He damn well hoped so.
"Of course you could always put the new necklace on a key chain if it makes you more comfortable, but wouldn't you like to see how it looks?" Ignoring the silence and Sam's discomfort, Uncle Russ stepped forward with the obvious intention of helping her remove the old necklace.
Sam stepped back out of reach and promptly fell into the swimming pool.
* * *
ZOE DIDN'T KNOW HOW they all survived the long day, but somehow they made it through their time at the Baldwin home. During the ride back into Boston, Sam fell asleep in the back seat, and Zoe and Ryan withdrew into their own private thoughts.
Despite the events of the day, Zoe was so wiped out, she couldn't focus on anything other than her longing for bed. Ryan parked in the garage opposite the building and the three of them practically staggered up the ramp and across the street. The lights from the entryway beckoned.
"I don't think I've ever been so glad to be home," Ryan said.
Zoe nodded. "Hear, hear. I didn't know one day could be so overwhelming and exhausting at the same time."
Ryan pulled the door open, holding it for Zoe and Sam. "Ladies first."
"Hang on. I need to throw some tissues out," Sam said and before either Zoe or Ryan could argue, she darted for the large trash can on the corner, a few feet from the building's entrance.
"Hurry up," Zoe called, rolling her eyes. "Would it kill her to hang on to the garbage until we reached the apartment?" she asked, irritably.
Ryan met her gaze and laughed at the same time he heard Sam shout, "Let go!"
Ryan released the door and bolted for the corner, Zoe right behind him. She grabbed Sam while Ryan ran after the man who'd seemingly appeared out of nowhere.
"He touched me," Sam said, practically hyperventilating from her fear. "This time he actually touched me."
Zoe hugged her tight. "We were with you the whole time," she said in an attempt to reassure Sam. But in her heart she realized she and Ryan had looked away for a split second. The same split second in which many parents lost their children in shopping malls and parking lots. She'd read about it so many times, yet despite the real danger surrounding Sam, they'd taken their eyes off her for a second too long.