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Beth shrugged to herself, not upset at the snub Samantha had never been friendly when their paths had crossed, often being downright unfriendly She had tried not to let it bother her, but Beth couldn’t understand why the girl disliked her so much

The walk to her car seemed like a mile, instead of the few feet it actually was As she walked to her car, she glanced toward the bikes as they passed If it would not have been so obvious, Beth would have gone back into the house until they passed, but she was unwilling to make a fool of herself twice in the same day She blew out a relieved breath as the last one passed He was the one that had his arm around Samantha at the store

He looked her way as she walked towards her car The breath she had been releasing caught in her throat at his rugged beauty His dark brown hair reached the collar of his leather jacket and was tied back with a skullcap Sunglasses hid the color of his eyes, but did not di scorched as their eyes rin as if he knew the feelings stor her eyes away fro motorcycle She didn’t turn when she heard the bike'sat her

Beth fingers trenition She did not knohy the bikers made her feel so uncomfortable The only conclusion she had reached was that they incorporated every vice her father had warned against Beth’s parents had been born and raised in Treepoint Her father had been the local Baptist preacher and her mother devoted to his work Their expectations of her had been high and the co her father of each infraction they felt in their righteous as against his teachings He had responded with hours of lectures and days of reproachful looks,Beth feel often inadequate and bad Experiences that young girls often enjoyed, such as dances and boyfriends, becaht displeasure to her father Beth had two choices, either to rebel or submit to the demands of her father’s position in the cohter; she had caved into her parents' de an exairl, Lily She was everything Beth was not, tall, slim, and radiantly beautiful, both inside and out When you saw her, you could not take your eyes off her as if you wouldvitally important To look at the pretty 19 year old, you would never know the hell her parents had dragged her from

Lily had been tiny for her age and her naturalher in school After adopting her, Beth’s parents had told everyone she was actually two years younger so she would not be so delayed in her own age group Beth loved her sister and when her parents had been killed when on a charity mission, Beth had h school Lily was now a senior in high school with graduation a few ht up develope unknown It had been their parent’s decision; the school knew her true age It was the co her to be seventeen

It had not been hard caring for Lily, while Beth felt smothered by her parent’s restrictions, Lily had embraced them The rules had provided safety and structure to the trauirl Beth’swith the little girl and was truly thankful her parents had rescued the sister of her heart, if not blood

Beth pulled into her driveway, seeing the porch light on Lily would be waiting for her to get home from work The smell of food assailed her when she entered the cozy house

“Hi sis, you’re late” Lily greeted and accused her at the same time

“I knoould have called, but I kno you are about ” Beth rehtly back fro how traumatized she had been from their parent’s unexpected deaths

“All right” Lily instantly forgave her sister “Let’s eat, I a”

Beth laughed at her sister’s sliain weight the way you constantly eat Must be good genes” Instantly, Beth regretted her words at the pain in her sister’s eyes

Quickly taking her ared the subject “What’s for dinner?”

Laughing, Lily answered her question “Your favorite, spaghetti” The girls set the table and withinthe dinner Lily had prepared

“So what have you planned for this weekend?”

“Nothing ” Beth frowned at her short answer

“Isn’t prom a feeeks away?”

“Yes But I a”

“Why, doesn’t Charles want to go?” Beth tried not to wince when she said his na boy was nice, but he showed hteousness often grated on Beth’s nerves

“No and neither do I” Lily raised her hand when Beth would have protested “You didn’t go to your proo when I knoouldn’t have been what he wanted and Charles agrees

”

Beth chose her words with care “Lily, tied The church is o out and get wild, just go out and have a good time There can be a happy medium”

Lily just shook her head “No, Beth please, I don’t want to go” Beth started to argue with her sister, whether it was the prom she did not want to attend or the after parties, which could get a little wild The phone interrupted her with the notes of “Into the fire" Lily nored it She loved s of it leading to sin and teing it into her own boring ring tone

“Hello?”

“Beth This is Loker Ja, but I have a situation onyou could help me with”

“No problem, Mr James, what can I help you with?"

Lilyof her spaghetti

“I just received a call froet in fights with other custo you could send Blake down there to take hi or I would do it myself”

“I can’t send Blake, but I can take care of it for you” Mr Ja name with an attitude to match He was a sweet person when sober, but when he was drunk, he ed to convince hihts that he lost, and so patched up under his son’s furious recriminations

Loker James had hired Beth because his business had him out of town frequently and he wanted to maintain a watchful eye on his father

“I don’t know if that is the best option Dad can be hard to handle when he’s drunk” The aggravation in his tone carinned, she ell aware of just how cranky theput him to bed many times over the last few months since she had been hired It was the first time she would have to enter “Rosie’s” to retrieve hie