A Turn in the Road (Blossom Street #8)(28)

Her mother-in-law paced the shoreline. “I’ve never done any thing like this in my life.”

“Don’t be shy,” Annie said. “We could be here for hours. We might as well enjoy ourselves.”

Ruth cast them an anxious look. “You won’t tell anyone, will you?”

“Cross my heart,” Annie said, standing up to make the motions.

“Come on,” Bethanne encouraged her again, waving her in. “The water’s fabulous.”

Ruth took off her clothes and folded them in a neat pile. Then she walked straight into the water. Unlike Annie and Bethanne, who took time to adjust to the cold, Ruth plunged ahead. Maybe she feared one of them would comment on her thighs, Bethanne thought with amusement.

The three frolicked and played like schoolchildren splashing one another and diving under the water. Bethanne couldn’t remember the last time she’d swum in a lake. She was enjoying herself so much, she didn’t immediately hear the noise that attracted Ruth and Annie’s attention.

Both of them got to their feet and stood there, unmoving.

Bethanne turned around and was instantly overwhelmed by the sound of motorcycles moving toward them.

“Mom,” Annie said, grabbing Bethanne’s arm. “I remember where I heard about this lake,” she cried. “It was from the bikers at the restaurant.”

Nine

The motorcycles roared right to the edge of the lake, and lined up side by side.

Shivering in the water Bethanne huddled close to Ruth and Annie. No one seemed to know exactly what to do or how to react. The water suddenly went from comfortable to below freezing. All three of them crossed their arms, although Bethanne realized their efforts to hide themselves were futile.

“Didn’t Robin say something like this would happen?” Ruth wailed. “We’re goners for sure.”

“Over my dead body,” Bethanne said from between clenched teeth.

“That’s what I’m afraid of,” Ruth muttered. “How will I ever explain this to Grant? This is all my fault.”

“It’s no one’s fault,” Bethanne said. She wasn’t about to let these men intimidate her or her family. Squaring her shoulders, she began marching toward the shore, her legs making rippling, splashing movements in the water.

Annie tried to grab her arm. “Mom, what are you doing?”

“I’m going to ask them for help,” she said. If she treated them with respect, then they’d do the same. She hoped.

“Mom!” came Annie’s plaintive cry as Bethanne pulled her arm free.

With her back straight, Bethanne ignored Annie and Ruth’s pleas and the teasing catcalls from the bikers. She was all too aware that her wet underwear concealed nothing. Scooping up her capris, she tried to pull them on, slipping one leg in. Because she was wet, the fabric stuck and she lost her balance. She would’ve tumbled to the ground if not for one of the bikers who reached out and caught her.

“Thanks,” she said breathlessly.

The biker removed his helmet.

Bethanne blinked twice. It was the same man she’d served in the café less than twenty-four hours earlier. The one who’d stayed in her mind, the biker named Max. Their eyes met again, his dark gaze unreadable.

Rooster removed his helmet next; so did the other two bikers, Willie and Skunk, if she remembered correctly.

By then Bethanne was fully dressed, although her clothing clung to her, soaked as it was from her underwear.

Annie stepped out of the water and quickly dressed, too. That left Ruth, who stubbornly remained in the water. She squatted down so only her head was above the waterline and refused to budge.

“Grandma, it’s all right,” Annie told her. “You can come out. We know these guys.”

“I’ll stay where I am until those…those men turn around and stop gawking at me.”

Rooster threw back his head and howled. “I don’t think you’ve got anything I haven’t seen before, Grandma.”

“Turn around,” Ruth barked. “All of you. I don’t need any Peeping Toms staring at me.”

To Bethanne’s amazement, all four bikers did as Ruth demanded.

“We’d appreciate your help. Our car won’t start,” Bethanne said, as much to distract the four men as to secure their assistance.

“We didn’t flood the engine, either,” Annie added.

“I had a problem starting it earlier.” Bethanne led them to the rental vehicle. “This is a relatively new car, so I’m surprised we’re having trouble,” she said.

“I don’t know that much about cars,” the guy she remembered as Willie said with a shrug. “I can fix a motorcycle with a bobby pin but cars baffle me.”

“Same here,” Skunk chimed in.

Rooster and Max exchanged glances. “I’ll take a look at it for you,” Rooster offered.

Bethanne didn’t immediately find the hood release. “Like I said, this is a rental car…or I’d be more familiar with it.” As soon as she managed to release the hood, both Rooster and Max bent over the engine.

It didn’t take long to detect the problem, which according to them was something to do with the carburetor. “You’re gonna need a tow truck,” Rooster said. “With a bike any of us could lend a hand, but these engines aren’t what they used to be.”