Sam sat in the booth of a restaurant, a couple of blocks from the Empire State Building. Jonah's head was in his lap, and despite the time difference the exhausted boy was snoring. Sam glanced down at him, shaking his head slightly at the enormity of his son's transcontinental adventure. He thought back over the bits of information that he and Annie had shared over the past couple of hours. This weekend was not turning out as he had imagined. The holiday inn with Victoria would have been simple, pleasurable, but ultimately shallow and unsatisfying. A simple dinner with Annie, after that madly stressful dash across the country, on the other hand, seemed to be so much more.

"He's some kid." Annie's voice broke Sam's reverie.

Sam looked back up at her, bringing his mind back to the present. "Yes. He's got commitment. If I'd realised how far he was willing to go..." He trailed off. "I wish I'd listened to him more. Spent more time with him."

Annie's lip quirked. "Would you have come? If you had listened?"

Sam considered for a moment. "No. Not based on your letter. I got thousands of those things. If I'd known it was you, yes."

"Because I almost got hit by a truck?"

"Yes. No. Not just that. I saw you at the airport. I was seeing Victoria off, and suddenly you were there, right in front of me. I just about pulled Jonah off his feet trying to follow you. But you disappeared."

Annie toyed with her glass, suddenly awkward. "I'm so embarrassed. What kind of a woman flies across the country to see a man who doesn't know she exists?"

Sam removed her hand from the glass and cradled it in both of his, watching her carefully for her reaction. "I'm glad you did. Why did you disappear... after the truck incident?"

She turned beet red but didn't remove her hand. "You looked so happy. I'd seen you with..." She paused, not knowing how to admit yet another strange action on her part. "I had a detective follow you. Before I went to Seattle. I saw you on a date. And then there she was, and you and Jonah were so..." She trailed off again.

"Suzy?" Sam was confused. "But that's the first time she'd been to Seattle. She and Greg live in Chicago."

"But I saw a picture of her with you." Becky's words floated back into Annie's mind. "Well, a picture of you and the back of someone's head."

A light dawned in Sam's eyes and he chuckled. "The hair. Suzy and Victoria have the same hair."

Annie laughed at herself. "Becky's going to have a field day with that one."

Sam's breath caught in his throat. Jonah had been right, Victoria laughed like a hyena. Maggie's laugh had been deep, nearly masculine in flavour, and he still heard it in his dreams. He hoped he always would. But Annie's laugh... it was like music, soothing his weary soul. He had a sudden desire to make her laugh every day for the rest of his life.

A waiter came past to collect the dishes. Sam realised the time and sighed. "I should find somewhere to stay for the night. Do you have a hotel?"

Annie briefly put her head in her hands. "I did. With Walter. I can't go back there tonight. But I don't have anything else with me."

Sam grinned. "Neither do I. My trip was sort of impromptu. And Jonah didn't think to pack any clothes either. How about we find somewhere for tonight and sort it out in the morning? Two rooms, of course."

Annie smiled at his chivalry. How did this man come to fit her so perfectly?

She agreed to his plan, and Sam manoeuvred himself out from seat. He went to ask the staff for help to find a nearby hotel with a well stocked concierge so they could easily buy a night's essentials. Annie watched him go and listened to Jonah snuffling as he shifted position on the seat.

Would this be it? Would this man, and this boy, be her life now? She wasn't normally the sort to dive into a relationship so quickly. She was definitely more the cautious type. But when she held his hand, looked into his eyes, it was like... magic. As crazy as it all was, she was already struggling to imagine the future any other way.