A Turn in the Road (Blossom Street #8)(33)

“Ooh, he’s shaking in his boots,” Rooster said, then practically collapsed with laughter.

Ruth was pleased to know she was such a source of amusement. The tow truck parked, the passenger door opened and Bethanne climbed down. Ruth ran over to her.

“I was so worried,” she blurted as she pulled Bethanne into her arms and hugged her hard.

“I’m fine, Ruth, just fine.”

Bethanne stretched out one arm to Annie and they held hands. “I talked to a mechanic who’s going to fix the car. We’ll need to spend the night in Wells, but we should be able to leave sometime tomorrow.”

Annie nodded. “As soon as we’re somewhere with cell coverage, I’ll find us a hotel room and cancel our reservations in Ely.”

“Now I’m thinking we shouldn’t go to Vegas,” Ruth said. “We went off course and look what happened.”

“Not go to Vegas?” Annie wailed. “Oh, Grandma, we can’t change our plans now.”

“Why can’t we?”

“I—” Annie turned to Bethanne. “Mom…”

“I was looking forward to seeing Vegas and so was Annie,” Bethanne said. “I’m sure everything will be fine now. We’ll pick up a new rental car while we’re there and continue on our trip.”

Ruth seemed unconvinced. “I don’t know….”

“Please, Grandma,” Annie begged. “Vegas will be fun, and after today that’s what we need.”

“Oh, all right.” She felt she’d succumbed far too easily, but it wasn’t in her to disappoint Annie or Bethanne.

“Good.” Bethanne returned to the tow truck and removed a large white bag.

“What’s that?” Annie asked.

“I got the driver to take me to a fast food place so I could pick up burger-and-fry combos for the guys,” she said. “I can hardly imagine what we would’ve done if they hadn’t stopped by the lake when they did.”

“You bought them burgers?” These were the men who’d frightened her out of several years of her life, and her daughter-in-law wanted to feed them?

Bethanne brought the bag over to the bikers who were, thankfully, dressed by now. At least Bethanne had been spared that sight.

“You should know Grandma there tried to abscond with our clothes,” Rooster said as he helped himself to a burger and a bag of fries. His eyes twinkled with merriment. “She assumed that was a major threat.”

“We showed her,” Willie said.

“That’s just it,” Ruth snapped, unwilling to be the butt of their jokes. “You did show me—you exposed yourselves. There’s laws against that. I should’ve made a citizen’s arrest.”

Bethanne grinned, and Ruth decided it would be best to simply drop the matter.

Annie distributed the rest of the food, and the men sat together while the three women went off to relax under the tree.

Ruth hadn’t realized how thirsty she was until she drank a bottle of the water Bethanne had brought back. They’d already eaten lunch, but even if she’d been ravenous, she couldn’t have managed a bite—and the thought of a greasy burger was singularly unappealing. Not so with the bikers and the tow truck driver, who wolfed down their food so fast it made her feel nauseous.

Bethanne and Annie thanked everyone for their help. Although the men on bikes hadn’t turned out to be ax murderers, Ruth let the other two women do the talking.

Fortunately, the tow truck had a backseat so they could all fit inside. During the ride into town Bethanne seemed unusually quiet and Ruth could only speculate on what she was thinking.

“Those bikers weren’t so bad, now, were they?” Annie said.

Ruth nodded reluctantly. “They weren’t as bad as I feared.”

“Oh, Grandma, admit it. They were cool guys, helping us like that.”

“Cool guys?” Ruth glanced at Bethanne. She could do with some reinforcement in case her daughter-in-law hadn’t noticed.

“Actually, Max was a real gentleman,” Bethanne said.

“A gentleman?” Well, okay, maybe she’d been wrong, but Ruth always figured it was better to be prepared.

Eleven

There wasn’t much to recommend Wells, Nevada, as a tourist destination. The entire town consisted of two casinos, gas stations, a fast-food joint and a few watering holes. After the vehicle was repaired, with the promise of a replacement once they reached Las Vegas, Bethanne, Ruth and Annie found a room for the night.

“I think we should call Dad,” Annie said, sitting cross-legged on one of the two queen-size beds. “He should know where we are.”

“You can if you want,” Bethanne told her daughter. She propped her suitcase up on the luggage holder, unzipped it and took out what she needed for the night.

“He’s not going to be too happy with us,” Annie murmured, looking thoughtful. She nibbled on her lower lip. “Maybe I should wait until we’re in Vegas.”

Bethanne made a noncommittal sound.

“We might as well face the music,” Ruth said. “Get it over with.” She sat on the edge of the bed, obviously worn-out from their unexpected adventure. “Guaranteed, Grant will mention it to Robin and then we’ll all get read the riot act.”