“What’s she gonna tell, Sam? That you’re fucking one of us? What ya worried about? It’s not the truth.” He snickered, pulling her even closer.
“Don’t worry, Sam, it wouldn’t occur to that old woman that you’re fucking them all,” Evie muttered snidely as she pushed her to the side with one of the overloaded grocery carts and moved toward the sliding doors. “Put the groceries in my car,” she directed the bikers, ignoring the angry glare directed her way from Samantha.
Sam turned bright red at the disrespect shown from the popular Evie. Feeling herself under scrutiny by the open mouthed clerk she snapped, “What are you staring at, bitch?”
“That’s the way, Sam.” Train eased his tight grip before dropping a kiss on her mouth, providing a show for the stunned people at the checkout. Angrily, Sam pulled herself away, stalking away from the audience that had formed in the busy store.
*
Beth let herself into Mrs. Langley’s house, juggling the groceries carefully. The large home was more than the older woman could handle anymore. The formal furniture and decorative ornaments required constant dusting. The gourmet kitchen had long lost it’s usefulness with no one to cook for but herself.
Quietly, she put them away before going in search of the older woman. She found her lying on her couch, taking a nap.
“Mrs. Langley?” Beth was about to turn away and leave her to her nap when she heard a tired voice respond.
“Beth?”
“Yes, it’s me.” Beth moved further into the room so that she could be seen without making the woman rise from her reclining position.
“I thought you might be Samantha. She was supposed to stop by for a visit this week.” Sadness shone from her pale blue eyes. Beth felt a lump in her throat, so many of her clients suffered from loneliness.
Feeling compelled to sit for several minutes, Beth listened to several anecdotes of Samantha as a child. As she listened, she found herself wishing to shake the girl in question for ignoring her grandmother, yet she knew it was useless to feel anger about something that was beyond her control. She was simply following her father’s example; Sam’s mother had been Mrs. Langley’s daughter and had died in a car accident when Sam was fourteen. Waiting until the woman wound down, Beth interrupted her between stories.
“I am sorry. I didn’t mean to disturb your nap. I just wanted to let you know I dropped the groceries off and put them away. Blake will be by this weekend to clean out your gutters and store away anything you no longer need.”
“Thank you. I don’t know what I would do without your help.”
“I am sure your family would be more than happy to help.”
“You think so?”
“I know so. Now don’t nap too long or you’ll be unable to sleep tonight. I’ll see you Saturday. I’ll lock the door on the way out.”
Beth left her already dozing back off and was locking the heavy door when the loud sound of motorcycles again drew her attention. They were driving slowly down the speed-restricted lane, passing directly in front of the house Beth was leaving. Samantha was on the back of a large, black motorcycle, holding tightly to a different biker than she had walked into the store with. Beth felt her eyes on her as she passed and waved her hand in acknowledgment. Samantha turned her head in the other direction, blatantly ignoring the casual greeting.
Beth shrugged to herself, not upset at the snub. Samantha had never been friendly when their paths had crossed, often being downright unfriendly. She had tried not to let it bother her, but Beth couldn’t understand why the girl disliked her so much.
The walk to her car seemed like a mile instead of the few feet it actually was. As she walked to her car, she glanced toward the bikes again as they passed. If it hadn’t been so obvious, Beth would have gone back into the house until they were out of sight, but she was unwilling to make a fool of herself twice in the same day. She blew out a relieved breath as the last bike passed. That biker had been the one with his arm around Samantha at the store.
He looked her way as she walked towards the car. The breath she’d been releasing caught in her throat at his rugged beauty. His dark brown hair reached the collar of his leather jacket and was tied back with a skullcap. Sunglasses hid the color of his eyes, although they didn’t diminish the strength of his gaze on her. Feeling scorched as their eyes met briefly, Beth saw his lips twist into a wicked grin as if he knew the feelings storming her body.