Threat of Darkness(21)

 Yeah, he countered, as safe as she’d been putting away their empty shopping cart.

 He closed his eyes for a long moment and did what he knew he should have done immediately. He thanked God that Samantha had survived.





SIX

As Samantha waited for John to return she took further inventory of her injuries. All seemed slight except the bump on her head and since her vision was still good, she wasn’t worried about concussion. Double-checking, she pulled down the visor and peered into the mirror so she could be certain the size of her pupils was equal.

 That was when she saw the unexpected reflection in the background. Ben Southerland, his wife and son were leaving the store. They approached a car parked almost directly behind John’s truck. Although they’d had to walk past the police cars and damaged vehicles, they hadn’t seemed the least interested. Not that that was wrong. It just struck her as a bit unusual for a pillar of the community to pass by without stopping to offer aid.

 “Oh, well,” Samantha muttered, “this isn’t the same as being in Serenity so he probably doesn’t know those folks.”

 Curiosity kept her watching the little family. The boy was helped into the backseat of the silver-colored luxury sedan by his mother before she got in the front. Ben Southerland seemed to be the one doing all the talking and, judging by his body language, he was delivering a lecture.

 Samantha had to slew in the seat to keep them in sight as they drove away. Bending her knee to do so pointed out another minor scrape. All she gave the injury was a cursory glance. She had other things on her mind.

 The Southerland vehicle never got out of sight so she was positive it had pulled across the highway and entered the lot for the pizza restaurant. The same place John had offered to take her to lunch.

 Should she tell him? Go there, too? No. Yes. Oh, rats. What real choice did she have? She’d been praying for a chance to observe the whole family and the Lord had just provided it. If she held to her previous plans and went home—where she’d already be if not for the delay caused by the collision—she would miss the opportunity to catch Ben Southerland interacting with his son.

 Still, was she up to spending the next hour or so staring across one of those familiar booths at the man she had once dreamed of marrying?

 “Yes. For Danny’s sake,” Samantha muttered.

 “What?” a male voice asked.

 Her head whipped around so fast she felt a wave of dizziness, proving she was not as totally unscathed as she’d claimed. “Hi, John. I guess I was talking to myself.”

 “So I’d gathered. Were you answering, too?” he asked, sliding behind the wheel and slipping his key into the ignition.

 “Probably.” Samantha gestured at the accident scene. “All through?”

 “For now. I told them you said you weren’t injured but gave them your name for the record. They know where to find us if they need anything else.”

 “In that case, I’ve decided to take you up on your offer of pizza, if that’s okay.”

 “What made you change your mind?” He arched a brow at her. “The truth.”

 “I never intended to tell you anything but,” Sam insisted. “While I was sitting here waiting for you I happened to notice the Southerlands going into that place across the highway. I just thought…”

 “I get it. You won’t have lunch with me unless there’s a better reason than just enjoying a meal with an old friend.”

 “I’d hardly put it that way,” she countered, realizing that her change of heart could look suspicious from his point of view. Little did he know how much effort she’d had to put into her decision. Unfortunately, she could hardly tell him she’d been resisting because she was afraid she’d enjoy his company more than she wanted to.

 “Okay. Whatever you say.” He dropped the truck into gear and backed out. “Fasten your seat belt.”

 Subdued by the fact that she’d hurt his feelings, Samantha followed directions. This was a no-win situation. If she confessed how deep, how poignant her memories were, he would know she’d been pretending that she no longer cared for him. If she let things stand as they were, he’d suffer needlessly.

 One element of her dilemma stood out. If there was nothing left of her love for John Waltham, she would not be worried about whether or not he was upset. Therefore, the trick was going to be smoothing things over between them without letting him know her true sentiments. Since he had claimed he was able to read her like the proverbial book, she wondered if she was going to be able to pull it off.