Sam frowned. “Bet I was a sorry disappointment.”
“No more than I was to you.”
His face sobered. “Actually, you weren’t that much of a letdown.”
Beth guessed she should consider that a compliment. “You, either.”
“I avoid relationships,” Sam explained. “Don’t want you thinking it was anything personal.”
That was reassuring.
Then he was quick to add, “Decent women unnerve me.”
Beth blinked up at him, unsure what he was telling her.
He looked slightly embarrassed. “That didn’t come out right, did it?”
“What kind of women are you comfortable with?” she asked.
He shrugged. “I don’t know,” he said, as if no one had ever asked him that before. “The kind who hang out at The Dog House, I guess.”
That was the tavern Nichole had mentioned. For sure it didn’t sound like the name of a tearoom.
“You know what I mean, right? Women who play pool and drink beer. The kind who don’t mind if I say a four-letter word every now and again.”
“Ones who won’t charge you a dollar when you do,” she said, struggling to hold back a smile.
He grinned. “Yup.”
“What about Nichole? Isn’t she decent?”
“Nichole,” he repeated slowly, as if he hadn’t considered how he felt about her before Beth had asked.
“Does she go with Rocco to The Dog House?”
“She used to before Matthew was born.”
“Play pool?”
“Taught her myself,” he boasted.
“Drink beer?”
“She prefers wine, but when she’s with Rocco she has beer. It isn’t her favorite, though.”
“I’m glad you made an exception for her.”
“It wasn’t hard. Nichole is great and Rocco is crazy about her. Before Nichole, all he thought about was work and being a good dad for Kaylene. The responsibility weighed on him. Then he met Nichole and everything changed. I hardly know him any longer. She turned his world upside down.”
“Did you like the changes?” she asked.
A frown briefly appeared. “At first I thought she was playing him. A classy woman like that with a tow truck driver. It didn’t add up. I warned him once and he nearly snapped my head off. They split for a while, something to do with her ex-husband, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen Rocco more depressed. I might have said I told you so if I hadn’t been afraid he’d rip off my head.”
Sam seemed lost in his thoughts. “I didn’t mean to rattle on like that,” he said, shaking his head.
“I’m glad you did. I like them both.”
“They’re good people.”
Beth suspected Sam was a good person, too. Unfortunately, it was unlikely she’d have the chance to find that out for herself.
Chapter 6
Sam
Sam had a busy day Monday. But then every day was busy at the car dealership. As head of the service department, Sam took his responsibilities seriously. The owner once said that Sam was the best mechanic he’d ever known.
Sam had been with the GMC dealership for ten years and made a decent living. Not that he was going to be buying a yacht anytime soon, but then he was more interested in cars than he was in boats. At last count he owned three vehicles, a truck and two classic cars that he tinkered with: a 1967 Dodge R/T and a 1965 Chevy Impala. In addition, he did plenty of work on the side. He understood engines far better than he ever did women. Friends came to him with car troubles. There wasn’t a vehicle he couldn’t get back into running shape with the right parts. Even as a kid he liked nothing better than to disassemble whatever he could find and then put it back together.
He finished up with his last car, handed the keys off to the owner, and closed down his station for the night.
Thinking of women, and the complications they brought into a man’s life, Beth came to mind. Actually, she’d been in his thoughts most of the day. For someone who’d recently had major surgery, she’d been remarkably alert. He hadn’t meant to stay more than a few minutes, and they’d ended up talking for the better part of an hour until she’d fallen asleep from exhaustion.
Sam couldn’t remember having that long of a conversation with a woman in … well, forever. Okay, not while he was sober, anyway.
It surprised him that she remembered him holding her hand at the scene of the accident until the medics arrived. Even then her eyes had followed him, silently pleading for him to stay with her. He wanted to, but the paramedics had moved him out of the way. He understood it was necessary, but he’d hated leaving Beth; hated letting go of her hand. Surprisingly, he’d felt the same reluctance to leave her while visiting her at the hospital.
He wondered how she was doing. He knew she was in a lot of pain, and the thought of her suffering troubled him. He’d heard the medical staff wanted her up and moving, which shocked him. That didn’t seem right. Forcing her to get up on her feet with a fractured hip and ribs made no sense to him. But then, what did he know?
Nichole had said she was going to stop by and check on her. Walking toward his truck, Sam reached for his phone and scrolled down his contact list until he found Nichole’s number. He wasn’t completely sure he had it and was grateful when he saw he did.
He hit the connection and waited for her to answer.
“Sam?”
Apparently, his name showed on her phone screen. “Hey, Nichole, how’s your friend?”
“Beth?”
“Yeah. You went to see her today, didn’t you?”
“I didn’t,” she returned, her tone filled with regret. “Matthew was fussy all morning and was running a fever so I ended up taking him to the doctor. I spent a good part of the afternoon there and then I had to run to the pharmacy to get the prescription.”
Sam loved that baby and was immediately concerned. “What’s wrong with him?”
“Ear infection.”
“Damn.” Sam had those as a child and still remembered how badly his ear had ached. He ended up having tubes inserted after repeated infections.
“Don’t let Owen hear you say that,” Nichole teased.
“Tell him I owe him a dollar.” The way these dollars were adding up, Owen would have enough money to buy his own car by the time he was ten.
“Matthew’s on antibiotics and is sleeping now, but it’s been a rough day for us both.”
So Nichole hadn’t been in to see Beth.
“Did you call her?”
“No. I couldn’t, Sam, not with Matthew demanding all my attention.”
He hated the thought of Beth being in the hospital without visitors. She must be miserable, and the pain would feel all the more intense when she was alone.
“You could go see her,” Nichole suggested.
He could, of course, but Nichole didn’t know that he’d been up to visit once already. “I suppose.”
“If you do go, let me know how she’s doing and explain why I haven’t been by.”
“If I go,” he repeated.
“It wouldn’t hurt. She isn’t going to wrestle you to the ground and demand you marry her.”
“Very funny.” He tried to sound sarcastic, but he couldn’t keep the smile out of his voice. What he found amusing was that he discovered he actually liked Beth. She wasn’t anything like he expected. When he first met her she seemed plain, a little too vanilla for his liking and ever so proper. He didn’t view her that way after their conversation. She had a good sense of humor and was a caring person. He suspected there weren’t many people who would ask about the well-being of the other driver.
“I’ll find out what I can,” he said, giving in.
“You mean you’re actually going to the hospital?” Nichole sounded shocked.
“Don’t make a big deal out of it.”
“Okay, but thanks.”
Now that he thought about it, he wouldn’t mind making a return visit. If he was looking to make an impression, which he wasn’t, he’d go home, shower, and change out of his work clothes. He decided against it. He’d run in, check and see if she needed anything, and then report back to Nichole. That would be the end of it. The visit would put Nichole’s mind to rest and his own, too.