Page 28 of Love Bank
I could only blame myself. My defenses were down after the repeated seagull attacks, low blood sugar from lack of food, and a broken-down car. I kicked a rock with the pointy toe of my high heel and picked my way back over to the front door of the clinic. I needed to grab my cell phone and see if I could find a ride on that one app everyone was talking about.
Once I rounded up all my stuff in my huge tote bag, I turned out the lights, locked the clinic, and gave my car a squinty stare while I waited for the app to signal that someone was coming to get me. It kept searching and searching while the late afternoon sun made me wish I’d left off the stockings today. I wasn’t sure if this was the normal wait time, or if the app was taking significantly longer time to find a ride. Unease crept into my empty stomach. Surely I wouldn’t have to walk home, right?
A roar some distance ahead tore my gaze from my phone. There, like a knight in black armor from the twenty-first century, was a huge pickup truck barreling its way down Brinestone Way, the clank and whirl of the long chain-link fence closing behind it. I held my breath and hoped it was a worker and not another recently released inmate full of detox rage. Indecision made me freeze, my arm outstretched with my phone in it, my feet turned away, but my head swiveling to watch the progress of the truck.
The angle of the sun prevented me from seeing through the windshield and assessing my potential rescuer. The truck slowed, the engine noise a fraction less like a freight train pulling into the station. My frozen indecision prevented the eye roll that normally would have happened right about now.
You know what they say about men and big trucks, don’t you?
The bigger the truck, the smaller the—
The horn blared, making me jump and nearly twist an ankle in my heels. I bobbled my phone and only got a firm grip on it when the truck came abreast. The window rolled down and I finally got a glimpse of the driver. The strong jawline covered in a day’s worth of beard flexed into a grin. The way his teeth flashed in the sunlight nearly blinded me.
Bain Sutter, the man who haunted my dreams at night and enraged my senses during the day, was my rescuer.
On second thought, no, he wasn’t.
The bastard drove on by, not even tapping on the brakes to ask if I needed help. Just a smug smirk and I choked on his exhaust. It was faint over the rumble of the engine, but I swore I could hear laughter trailing out the open window.
I raised the fist holding on to the cell phone so tight the screen might crack and snarled at his receding tailgate.
“Mother of a goatless…” I spun around to focus on the scraggly cypress tree in the distance as I took a deep breath. If I didn’t get my blood pressure under control, I just might stroke out here on the side of the road. And I would rather die than give Bain that satisfaction. For him to know he’d gotten under my skin was intolerable.
My phone vibrated in my hand.
Finally. My day was turning around. My driver just picked up my ride and would be here in less than ten minutes.
Take that, Mr. Sutter.
11
Lucille
Life constantly reminded me I lived in a small town. My Uber ride from last night? A delightful young woman by the name of Lenora who I vaguely recalled seeing around town before I left for college. Her brunette hair, with a hint of red tones, immediately drew my attention. I wondered if I could pull off that color. We’d chatted easily, but alas, I only lived a few miles away, so I was home before we could get too far. Either way, the ride was enjoyable.
And now here she was again, standing on my doorstep sandwiched by Hazel, my new friend since yesterday, and another young woman with jet-black hair and more sass in her eyes than I had in my whole body. Well, prior to the Cock sighting and the goat challenge. My sass was definitely growing.
“Ladies.” I pasted on a smile, though my stomach was in knots. Hazel had mentioned bringing some friends of hers, but I hadn’t realized Lenora would be one of them.
“Lucille?” Lenora stepped forward and swept me into a fierce hug. “I had no idea you’re who Hazel was telling me about until we pulled up to your house.”
Hazel used that moment, when my arms were glued to my sides in Lenora’s hug, to march into the house and make herself at home. The other girl sashayed in and swept her gaze around the place. When she found my framed needlepoint on the wall leading to the living room, she got closer to inspect it.
Lenora let me go and tugged me into the living room where we all sat and waited for the dark-haired girl to come on over.
“That’s Amelia, by the way.” Hazel pointed to the raven-haired beauty who had yet to speak. She was still studying my needlepoint. “And it sounds like you’ve met Lenora already.”
“Her car broke down and I gave her a ride home last night.” Lenora explained our meeting.
My gaze was still on Amelia, wondering why she was studying my needlepoint so closely. It was a conversation starter, for sure, but she didn’t strike me as a crafts-lover. Her shorts were so short, I stared in envy at her cellulite-free thighs. The ponytail on top of her head pulled on her eyebrows so much I wondered if she’d started Botox injections or if that was just the effects of the hair pulling so tight. She was stunning, really. But then again, so were Hazel and Lenora. All different in their own way, but gorgeous girls. Comparison was rearing its ugly head and I needed to shut it down.
I tugged on the hem of my floral T-shirt and wondered yet again what they were doing here with me.
“Girl. I like you.” Amelia spun away from the needlepoint and sauntered over, her eyes taking in my face, my outfit, and my house as if not one detail missed her attention.
“Thank you?” My voice shook a bit, which was weird.
Amelia plopped down in the chair I’d gotten on consignment in The City and smiled at me like we shared a little secret. She looked vaguely familiar, but again, I couldn’t seem to latch on to her name. I really did need to be more social.
