Page 41 of Road Queens
“This is the second to last load!”
She’d had to raise her voice because another rider pulled in on a Norton Commando, parked perpendicular to the van, and cut the engine. “Ha! Perfectly timed.”
“Oh, look who the fuck it is. Nice of you to show up after we finished ninety-five percent of the work, Cassandra.”
The other woman grinned and shot her the finger. “Good morning to you, too, Sid. And like I said. Perfect.”
Amanda hopped down. “You’re buying lunch, you tardy tart.”
“Done. But I would’ve paid for lunch anyway; I sold another article!”
“Yeah? Well, I probably slipped a disk with all this bullshit, but hey, good for you.”
“Good for all of us, Sid,” Cassandra corrected. “It goes into the pot along with what Amanda’s making at the library and your paychecks from the long-term care facility.”
“It’s a nursing home!” Sid practically screamed. “Nobody calls things what they are anymore!”
“And your grumpiness can’t hide the fact that I’m your hero. Go ahead and try.”
“Oh, fuck me.”
Cassandra pulled off her helmet and gave him a once-over, which was fair. He’d been gaping like a rube. All three of the women were striking, not just in looks, but in their lively personalities. They didn’t seem to have much in common besides their partnership. And he wasn’t sure how three very different women could work together in (relative) harmony.
I’d think their differences would make things harder, but maybe their differences complement each other? Or is that too Hallmark Channel?
And oh, now look at this. Bad enough he’d been caught staring, now he was standing there gaping like a rube at her scar. Was it an accident? Or assault? Jeez, she could’ve lost an eye. And now he was stuck in the don’t-stare-but-don’t-look-like-you’re-trying-not-to-stare-while-not-staring loop.
Even as he worked on not staring, the gal with the scar he wasn’t staring at made a sound like a truck struggling uphill in low gear:hhhgggghhhKKKMMMM. “Help you with something?”
“No.” He realized he had to elaborate when she raised her eyebrows. “I just came by to ... I mean, I was in the neighborhood. This neighborhood. School break. I’m on break from college. Saint Olaf.”Why did I tell them that?“I came by to see ... to see ...”
The caustic one (Sidney?) slammed all the doors, gave him one more distrustful look, and then climbed into the driver’s seat.
“I still think it’s weird for a teenager to have a van.”
The window instantly slid down. “Shut the hell up, Cass; I don’t have to justify my choice of transportation to you. You gotta admit it came in handy today.”
“It’s true. Idohave to admit that. Aw, you’re so cute when you’re grumpy.”
“Then I’m the cutest bitch any of you have ever seen.”
“It’s true! Paralyzing levels of cuteness!” Amanda called.
“Yep. Don’t worry, I’ll only remind you of that a few thousand times.” Cassandra popped her helmet back on just as the redhead (Amanda?) swung a leg over her Triumph. Both engines rumbled to life.
“Sure we can’t help you with something?” Amanda asked.
“What? No. Um. What? No. I’m fine. It’s fine. No thank you.” Before he’d finished speaking, he promised himself that if any of them needed help, then he wouldn’t hesitate. He wouldn’t be a student forever. He could be an asset. He’d have to work out how he’d know they needed help, but that was a problem for another day. For now, he was happy in the knowledge that his brother-in-law would have to spend the next five to ten years picking on people his own size. Which was entirely due to these three women. He didn’t dare tell them his name. He might start sobbing on their necks in sheer gratitude, which would be, at best, alarming. “Thanks anyway.”
Amanda shrugged, Cass nodded politely at him, Sidney probably gave him the finger (the window was back up, and he couldn’t see her anymore), and they were gone.
The entire encounter had taken under two minutes, and they’d been so busy and bustling that they’d barely noticed him.
Which, though he didn’t know it then, would come in handy seven years later.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Their meeting had been brief, but she’d made a crater-size impression on him. He went back to college, his parents went back to Missouri, his sister had her baby, his incarcerated brother-in-law had an accident that left him partially blind in one eye. Life was grand.
