Page 18 of A Lonely Road
The dress had been a consignment store whim, because it fit perfectly and made me feel girly as hell. With a flared cotton skirt that landed halfway down my thighs, it had an off-shoulder ruffle at the top and was a pretty shade of cornflower blue that reminded me of Jake’s eyes. That thought garnered another irritated scowl.
Why couldn’t I get him out of my head?
I left my hair down for once and slipped on a pair of sandals. As I pulled up the directions to the coffee shop on my phone and left the apartment, I forced myself not to so much as glance toward Jake’s house.
Just meeting a friend for coffee,I reminded myself, trying to calm my frazzled nerves while I turned the key in the ignition. Baby’s engine would probably never purr a day in her life, but the lack of that hideous screeching noise I’d gotten so used to made me smile. I patted the dashboard affectionately and sent up a silent word of thanks to Jake for charming me into a free repair.
I parked on the street a few shops down from the cafe, admiring yet another adorable block of Spruce Hill’s main shopping drag. When I stepped onto the sidewalk, though, a chill scurried up my spine.
Like I was being watched.
Struggling to keep my expression blank, I glanced around at the scattered pedestrians picking up breakfast or hurrying off to work, but I didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. No one was paying any attention to me, except a curvy redhead with paint splatters on her jeans who shot me a smile as she passed by.
No ghosts from the past, no glimpse of the man from the bachelor party. Nothing.
Forcing myself toward the coffee shop, I shook off the sense of foreboding when I spotted Sam at a table on the tiny patio. As expected, she was dressed to the nines in a pale pink blouse with a plunging neckline, a gray pencil skirt, and heels so high I would’ve broken an ankle the minute I took a step in them. When I offered a shy wave as I stepped onto the sidewalk, she beamed at me like I'd just made her day.
“Oh damn, girl, you look amazing,” Sam gushed when I reached the table.
My cheeks heated at the compliment, but it made dressing up well worth the effort. She rose and wrapped me in a hug, ignoring the way I froze like I’d never been embraced before. God, I really needed to get used to being around people again.
Especially friendly, affectionate people like Sam and her brother.
“Been a long time since I had coffee with a friend,” I admitted as she drew away. We took our seats and I glanced around. “This place is adorable. Did you order already?”
“No, I convinced one of the kids working here to come out to take our orders so we wouldn’t have to wade through the crowd inside. There he is.”
Sam leaned back and crossed her long, slender legs. She waved a perfectly manicured hand at the teenager, who flushed crimson as he rushed over to the table. Once he’d written down our orders on a small notepad, he disappeared back into the cafe.
I cocked a brow. “How exactly did you convince him?”
Though I wasn’t entirely sure I wanted to know, Jake’s sister was by far the most interesting woman I'd spent time with in years. I was curious about what wiles Samantha Lincoln would put into play to get what she wanted.
“I used to babysit the kid,” she whispered, leaning forward in a way that displayed the upper swells of her breasts above her low-cut top. A tiny mermaid tail pendant hung just above her cleavage. “And I told him I’d tell his parents he likes to peek out his window at night to watch me undress if he wouldn’t bring our coffees straight to the table.”
“Does he really?” I asked, my mind drifting to my own neighbor.
“No. But I guess he thought they’d believe it, because he agreed.”
I threw back my head and laughed. “Wow. You are a formidable foe.”
“Don’t I know it?” Sam replied with a wink. “Here he comes—show a little leg, he deserves a tip.”
Instead of shifting the hem of my skirt upward, I sat back and struggled to keep a straight face while the boy set down a tray with our drinks and a couple pastries. He forced his gaze from Sam’s cleavage with obvious effort and disappeared without another word.
“I think you’ve scarred him for life,” I murmured, grinning.
“Speaking of scarred for life, how are you holding up?”
I huffed a laugh. She might seem disarmingly cheerful, but she was just as perceptive as her brother. “I’m okay. Really.”
She studied my face so closely I had to fight not to squirm. “Sometimes things like that come back to bite you when you least expect it. If that happens, promise me you’ll tell one of us? Me, Jake, even Casey. Isolation isn’t always a good thing.”
“I promise,” I said around the lump in my throat.
“Good. You’ve got friends here now. Don’t forget it.”
It was such a simple statement, but even from a woman I suspected turned everyone she met into a friend—whether they liked it or not—it seeped into my chest, sinking deep and planting itself there.
