A Turn in the Road - Debbie Macomber [35]
“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.”
“We don’t have cell coverage out here,” Annie told him. “We’d have phoned for help earlier if it was that easy.”
“Do any of you ride?” Willie asked.
“No…afraid not,” Bethanne said, answering for all three.
“Then one of us will need to take you into Wells.”
“Hold on just a minute here,” Ruth said, wagging her index finger at them. She’d dressed, putting her blouse on inside out, although Bethanne wasn’t about to tell her that.
“Before we do any such thing, the three of us need to talk.” Ruth steered Bethanne and Annie away from the bikers. They stood several feet away, forming a tight circle. Ruth glanced over her shoulder and lowered her voice. “I don’t like the idea of one of us leaving with a biker.”
“But, Grandma, what else are we going to do?” Annie asked.
“Do you honestly think we can trust these men?” Ruth pinched her mouth into a thin line and frowned. “They’re…riffraff.”
In normal circumstances Bethanne wouldn’t have considered riding with any of them, but at the moment their options were few. “Do we have a choice?” she asked.
“We could always stay right here and stick to our original plan,” Annie suggested. “Only…”
“Only what?” Ruth whispered.
“Well, I heard them talking at the café yesterday…and I’m afraid this might be a biker hangout. At least we’ve met these guys before, and even though they might look a bit intimidating, they seem decent enough.”
Ruth shook her head. “I still don’t like it.”
“I’ll go,” Bethanne said.
“No, you won’t,” Ruth insisted. “If anyone goes, it’ll be me.”
“You’ll have to ride on the back of a motorcycle,” Bethanne reminded her.
Ruth paled. “I…I can do it.”
“Mom, it makes far more sense for me to go,