Aftermath | A Bucky Barnes romance

Chapter 3

Spoiler Warning: TFATWS EP 2
Also, this is a long one.

Sam offered to pick me up in New Orleans. "How was your flight, little Lainy?" There he stood waiting for me at the terminal, with his annoyingly cocky grin. "You'll never let that nickname go, will you, Wilson? But it was fine." I asked while I gave him a hug. He just laughed at me and took my bag. "Never. That's how your old man introduced you to me, remember?" "It's not like you're letting me forget." We left the airport and got into his truck. He turned on the radio and started to hum along to the music. The drive was beautiful. Louisiana had incredible landscapes and looked almost magical compared to New York City. I couldn't help but to take a couple pictures to reference for sketches later. A familiar song played and I decided to sing along. Sam joined almost immediately. "I don't mind spending every day out at the corner in the pouring rain. Look for the girl with the broken smile, ask her if she wants to stay a while."  Sam practically screamed the rest. "And she WIIIILLLLLLL be LOOOOOVVVEEDDDD." I bursted into laughter. For a moment all was right in the world.

After about an hour we reached Delacroix. It was already somewhat late in the evening. Sam's sister had already prepared dinner. "Hey, I'm Sarah. Great to finally meet you. These are my boys, AJ and Cass." I smiled at her. "I'm Elaine, thank you so much for letting me stay here with you. And hey you two." I greeted the boys. Sam led me upstairs into a small guest bedroom. "It's not much but it's cozy." My eyes stopped on a picture on the table by the window. It was from Sam's days in the Air Force. With my Dad. He was smiling at the camera and wrinkles were forming around his eyes. Small gray hairs were showing from under his cap. Sam noticed me staring. "He was my best teacher. A great man." All I could do was nod slowly. "Anyway dinner is ready, so lets not keep Sarah waiting for long. She has a mean punch." That pulled me out of my trance. "Sarah punched you? Oh, what would I have given to see that." I teased him. He left the room and I quickly changed into a burgundy t-shirt and some leggings before I hurried downstairs. I sat at the small table next to Sam. His whole family was warm and welcoming. I already loved Sarah's sons. They were hilarious. Dinner was fantastic homemade fried chicken. I haven't eaten since breakfast, because airplane food makes me gag. So I was quite eager for some good food. "Sarah, this is great." "Thanks, Elaine. Happy you like it." The conversation was simple. Mostly smalltalk. Right until Sam brought up an appointment they had the next day. "We're applying for a loan to renovate the boat." "Sam thinks we still have a shot." I raised my eyebrows at her. "Don't you? If you don't mind me asking." She shook her head. "I've tried before. The banks aren't really fond of helping out small businesses." I nodded my head. Aiden had a similar problem a couple years back. "Well, let me know if you need an extra hand with anything. I'm happy to help." Sarah smiled at me. "Actually it'd be great, if you'd watch the boys tomorrow." "Yeah no problem, we'll have a hoot. Right boys?" I winked at them, to which they just started giggling. "Oh no, Sarah. I think you might regret leaving her alone with the two mischiefs. She'll just teach them how to pull all kinds of pranks or something like that." Sam chimed in laughing. "Or maybe I'll learn a thing or two from them." I slightly elbowed him into the side. Sarah raised an eyebrow at us but didn't say anything.
After the boys went to bed we sat on the porch with a couple of drinks. The night was warm with a slight breeze. It smelled like the beach and summer. "I like it here. Thanks for inviting me, Sam." He just smiled and put a hand on my leg before getting up to get another beer. Sarah took the small private moment to spark a conversation with me. "So what's going on between you and my brother?" I almost choked on my drink. "Oh geez. Nothing." I chuckled. "Sam's great. But we're just friends. Actually he's kinda my only friend besides my family at the moment. I trust him. I don't have to hide around him. So that's nice. But nothing is going on." She laughed at my flustered reaction. "Okay good. I thought I had to beat some sense into you. A pretty girl like you doesn't need to end up with my jackass of a brother." Now we both laughed. "I'm relieved, Sam said you have a good punch. By the way, please punch him again for me to see that." Sam came back out with a confused look. "What are you two laughing 'bout?" "Oh nothing, Wilson." I snickered. Sarah got up pretending to get another drink and punched her brother very lovingly into the stomach. I spit out my drink laughing. "Ouch! Man I knew, I shouldn't have introduced you two." He shook his head and sat back down next to me. After that, I earned a warning look from him whenever I moved.
I soon went up to bed, again getting stuck on my dad's picture. Memories of him teaching me how to fly a one engine plane came flashing to my mind. "Don't you worry, little Lainy. I'll be right with you the entire time. I won't let anything happen to you and you'll see how much fun this actually is." I smiled at the memory. Dad was always there for me, no matter what. He was so proud when I joined the Air Force, finally seeming to find my calling.