Sam spotted Trish leaning against the wall, by the gate he had entered into earlier. He knew from the way that she was watching him alertly, that she was waiting for some kind of signal that she could approach him.

She was his sounding board when he was having a bad time, lending a shoulder to lean on and advice when he wanted it. And even when he didn't want it. Trish was the Jiminy Cricket on Sam's shoulder, always telling him when he had crossed a line. Wait till she hears this news. He tapped the envelope against his hand as he started walking towards her.

Trish met him halfway, her eyebrows raised. "Did you talk to Sarah?"

"No, I talked to my daughter. Here." Sam handed the envelope and the picture to Trish, guiding her over to a chair, "I think you might want to sit down when you read this."

Sam watched as Trish looked at the picture, then at him, her eyes opened wide. "A daughter? Yours?" She managed to gasp.

"Yeah, she's definitely mine. Look at her, she's a combination of both of us!" Sam took the picture and looked at it. "She's beautiful just like her mother." He said softly.

Trish looked up from the letter she had just read. She said softly, "Her name is Shannon, that's such a pretty name." She looked over at Sam, questioning. "But Sarah doesn't know about this letter. What are you going to do now?"

"I'm going to fly to Buffalo in...." Sam looked at the clock. His heart sank when he saw the time. "Four and a half hours. I'm meeting Shannon at the airport. Then I'll fly to Philadelphia from there. I'll get a few hours with her, at least. We won't get another chance for a week. I can't wait."

Trish nodded, she was well aware of their busy schedule. "Do you want me to stay here with you while you wait for your flight?" She knew that Sam wouldn't want to leave the airport.

"No, I'll walk you out, I have to go get my plane tickets." Sam took her hand to help her up and she tucked it into the crook of his arm as they walked past the gates towards the exit doors.

"I can't believe that Sarah was pregnant!" Trish said, then she looked sideways at Sam. "She didn't know that when she left, or she would have stayed. You know that, right?"

Sam shook his head, "No, Trish, I don't know that she would have stayed. That whole thing with Gisette....... But I do know that she would have told me if she thought she was pregnant. I don't think she knew it, either. I'm sure it hit her pretty hard."

***

Shannon was waiting at the gate when Sam's plane landed. She was skipping school and was a little nervous about getting caught. Cody had dropped her off at the airport, which was 30 minutes from their town. He promised her that he would stop at Uncle Pete's office and explain where she was. She was more than a little nervous about that part, but she had told Cody to say that she would explain it all to him later, just please don't tell her mom. Shannon knew that Uncle Pete would do as she asked, but she would have to answer to him when Cody brought her home.

She watched the passengers as they disembarked, then she saw Sam walking through the door, and she held her breath at the first sight of her father. He still looked at lot like the pictures, his hair was long and wavy, past his shoulders. He looked like a rock star right down to the brown tinted aviators, the fitted black leather jacket, tight black jeans and motorcycle boots that were his trademark outfit.

Sam covered the distance between them in three long strides, then stopped about two feet away, his eyes swept over her long blond hair and he felt the ache flare in his chest. He shook the hand that she offered awkwardly, then held it between both of his.

"I didn't know, Shannon." His voice came out low and gravelly.

Shannon thought she saw a glimmer of tears through the tinted lenses. She said softly. "I never knew either." She swiped her fingertips under her eye, rubbing away her own tears.

Sam looked around and noticed a restaurant at the end of the corridor. He put his arm around her shoulders, pulling her against him as he led her towards it. "Let's get some breakfast. We have a lot to talk about."

***

Sam pulled the ashtray over towards him and lit a cigarette. They'd both put off conversation until they had given their orders and the waitress had walked away. Sam didn't know where to start. He had so many questions he wanted to ask. He took a sip of his coffee. Then he asked Shannon. "Tell me again how you found out."

Shannon looked at his cigarette, disdainfully. "Those things will kill you, you know."

Sam gave a chuckle, "Really? I didn't know." He shook his head. "I did quit a couple years ago. I started up again last night." He looked serious as he asked. "Your mother doesn't know about today. What did she tell you about me?"

"Not a whole lot. She gets very antsy if I try to go into details. She says that you both loved each other but you led a different lifestyle than her. If I pressed too much, she would get upset. I just stopped asking, but I've never stopped wanting to know."

Sam blew his smoke off to the side, then stubbed out his half smoked cigarette. "She told you the truth. We did love each other. But our best times were when we were away from the tour."

Shannon looked surprised. "I've seen pictures of that tour. You looked happy. What happened?"

She pulled Trish's letter out of her purse, handing it to him. "I found this in with the photo album. My mom never opened either package, by the way."

Sam shook his head, sadly. "I thought so. The last time we saw each other, both of us were pretty pissed off."

He read Trish's letter, then narrowed his eyes. "She didn't know."

If he was remembering everything right, and he had re -lived that part of the tour so many times, that meant that Sarah didn't know that Gisette wasn't pregnant.

Shannon looked confused. "She didn't know what?"

Their food was delivered and while they ate, Sam told her the story of his and Sarah's time together. Shannon watched his face light up as he told her of the first time he had seen her mother.

She ate her eggs and bacon, listening to him talk about the tour, their fights, the motorcycle rides between venues, the trip they had taken back to Breezewood and the problems they had when they got back with the group.

Sam answered her questions truthfully, not holding much back. Shannon was appalled at Sam's behavior with Gisette and let him know what she thought of it.

Sam smiled, sadly. "You sound like your mom. I know I put her through hell, but we were getting past that! We were doing so good, then everything fell apart when Gisette told me she might be pregnant."

"That's when Mom left?" Shannon pushed her empty plate away, and sipped her coffee.

"Yeah." Sam stopped as the waitress cleared the table. He asked for another pot of coffee then looked at Shannon. "She couldn't take it anymore. I tried to get her back, but then....." He paused as he looked sharply at her.

"What have you heard about that summer? About your mom, I mean." He didn't want to mention Sarah and Pete, if Shannon didn't know.

"I know that she and Uncle Pete lived together, as friends. When Mom was pregnant, a lot of people thought he was the father." Shannon poured another cup of coffee for herself, then held the pot out to Sam. He nodded and lit another cigarette as she filled his cup.

Shannon watched his face, he was hiding something. "Do you think they were more than friends?"

Sam shook his head. "I only saw them the one time. Sarah made it pretty clear that she didn't want to see me anymore."

"And she didn't know that she was pregnant."

"No, I don't think so." Sam said. There was silence between them as they were both deep in thought.

"I'll talk to Uncle Pete and Aunt Toni. I think they will tell me more than Mom will."

"Aunt Toni?" Sam asked, curiously.

"Yeah, that's his wife." Shannon sounded surprised that he didn't know. "They met that summer. You didn't meet her when you brought Mom home for a visit?"

Sam narrowed his eyes as he thought back to that time. "He was dating someone, but her name wasn't Toni....I don't think. Is she a tall blond?"

Shannon laughed and shook her head. "No way! Aunt Toni is dark. Dark hair, dark eyes."

Sam listened as Shannon talked about her life and the people that surrounded her as she grew up. She told him of the times that Aunt Toni or Aunt Midgie would be there to help her mother when rumors would flare up.

"You're mom raised you by herself? Did she ever get married?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, she was married for awhile. Things didn't work out." Shannon tossed her hair back. "She left him and we moved back to Breezewood. We live down the road from my grandparents. I used to spend my summers with them when she was married to Keith. I think Mom would have too, if she could. She missed not being by the lake."

"Keith, huh? Tell me about Keith." Sam leaned forward, putting out his cigarette.

Shannon watched Sam's face closely as she talked. "He was an asshole. I never liked him that much, I think I made Mom's life pretty tough back then. When she found out that he was cheating on her, she loaded up the station wagon with our stuff, and we left without looking back."

They had gone through two more pots of coffee, and there were still more things they each wanted to know. Eighteen years had gone by and they were both curious to hear about each others lives.

Sam waited while Shannon excused herself and went looking for a bathroom. He wanted to see Sarah, but the way Shannon talked, it sounded like Sarah had no desire to see him.

"Do you think I could see your mom?" Sam asked the minute Shannon sat back down.

Shannon thought about it. "You still love her." She stated it as a fact, not as a question.

"I don't know, I thought ....." He shook his head as if to clear his mind. "I don't know. All these years, she has been on my mind, though." Sam said sadly.

"Why did you let her leave?" Shannon was exasperated. "If she meant that much, you should have told her."

"I did. I wrote her a letter." Sam explained.

"Oh yes, that letter." Shannon pulled it out of her purse. "Mom never opened this either. She didn't know it was in the other package."

"It's been opened." He looked at her in embarrassment. "Did you read this letter?"

Shannon nodded, guiltily. "I didn't know it was a love letter until I started reading it."

"I always wondered if she had read it. But she cut me out of her life completely the day she left me."

"I don't think it was as easy as you make it sound."

Sam saw a couple at another table staring at him. He knew they had recognized him. "I think we've stayed here too long. Let's walk around for awhile."

***

They walked aimlessly around the airport as they talked. Sam was getting a better picture of Sarah as a mom. It just made him want to see her more.

Shannon looked at the clock above the ticket counters and squealed. "Cody will be here soon. We have to head down to the passenger pickup."

The time had gone so fast, both of them talking and learning about each other. Sam wasn't ready to say good bye but he knew that Shannon had to get back and he had the flight to catch for Philadelphia.

Shannon waved at the black Jeep 4x4 as it cruised up to the curb. Cody jumped out and stood in awe as Shannon introduced him to Sam.

"It's good to meet you, uh, sir." Cody was unsure of how to address him.

Sam chuckled and held out his hand. "Call me Sam. It's good to meet you too."

Shannon turned to Sam and wrapped her arms around his waist, hugging him. "I'm so happy! I have so many more questions, when can we see each other again?"

Sam hugged her, tightly. "As soon as this tour is over, we will spend a lot of time together." He held her arms, looking down into her face. "Will you tell your mom that you've found me?"

Shannon rolled her eyes. Sam had probably asked that question in a million different ways today. She knew what he was saying. "I will talk to her. Can you call the house Monday about 6? "

Sam agreed and they embraced, again. Shannon put her hand on his cheek. "Can I ask you something?"

Sam looked at her, puzzled. "Yeah, anything."

Shannon put her finger on his dimple. "Did my mom ever do this when you smiled at her?"

Sam smiled. "All the time."