the bright sunlit sky and tried to mentally rehearse telling LuAnn he'd not be around as much as he'd like in the coming couple of weeks. The look on her face would likely say it all, but she had to know this was coming. It was a Rolling Thunder tradition.
Starting his bike up, he revved the engine a couple of times, never tiring of the growl of the pipes and the low throaty hum the motor made. Damn he loved this bike. He'd done a fantastic job with it, too. The compliments abounded every time he took her out and it confirmed his belief that he was good at designing and building. JT got most of the credit at the shop for the designs and with his partnership with Blaze Tires, that recognition only grew. But, it rankled a little bit that he never got any credit for all of the time and effort he put into each design. No, lately it was beginning to rankle a lot if he were honest.
Shaking the gloom from his mind, he heeled the kickstand up, stepped on the shift lever to drop it down into first gear and took off out of the parking lot and headed toward home.
The warm summer air dried the sweat from his skin and cooled it as he maneuvered his baby up onto the highway for the fifteen-minute ride home. Traffic was still light but would soon congest this stretch of the highway as all day workers headed toward home. That's why he liked leaving work on time, he could get on and then off the highway before it filled with terrible drivers angry from their shitty days at work with people they didn't like and over-bearing bosses. He didn't have that. He loved his co-workers. And his boss, even though they were at odds at the moment. It would get better though, he had faith and Greg had told him to stay the course, pray for guidance but to stay true to himself. That was his plan, but how hard would it get?
11
LuAnn sat at the table of The Grill, a cute hometown type restaurant that was owned by one of Greg's parishioners. He'd suggested the place to her, and she was eager to see it after hearing him talk about the good food.
The door opened and a bell hanging on the arm of the door rang out alerting staff, and customers, of the arrival or the exit of a customer. This time it was the latter, and she sank back, almost sad it wasn't Greg.
The waitress, a nice elderly lady with pure white hair, cut short and curled at the ends, making it look fuller than it was, stopped by her table. According to her badge, her name was Judy, and her pink lipstick had begun to fade as her day had worn on.
"Here's your iced tea, Hon. Anything else I can get you?"
LuAnn smiled at her, "No, thank you. I'm waiting for someone, but he may want something once he arrives."
"Sure thing, Doll, I'll be sure to stop back."
The bell rang, and the door opened again. She was relieved to see Greg, looking freshly showered, walk toward her table. Judy stopped and Greg pointed to her, then Judy scurried off. Greg sat across from her, reached out his hand and shook hers, then started right in.
"I'm sorry I'm a little late, I had a bit of an emergency this afternoon and had to be out at a parishioner’s farm, which then required a shower on my part."
"Oh, I hope everything will be alright."
He smiled and she marveled at his handsome features. Not as tall as Chase, he was likely around 5'10", blond hair, cut short and business-like, green, sparkling eyes and the faintest hint of a dimple in his right cheek. She hadn’t noticed that when she’d met him yesterday.
"It'll all be fine. They have strong faith and good hearts; they'll be just fine. Plus, the church family is very good at helping each other out, so they have a huge support network."
She smiled. What on earth was that like? Having a huge support network. After her brother, Lance, died, she'd never really had a support network besides Linda. In the early days after Lance passed away, she had Dog helping them out, but she could see now it was more out of duty than love or friendship and he had his own kids to support and look after not to mention being a father