Chapter Forty-One
A very heartbroken Samuel drove towards Little Rock, where his house and business was. Everything was over for him. The only thing that gave him satisfaction was that Arianna and Lauren were happy. He had shifted his base from Las Vegas to Little Rock. He had bought three more trucks and had started a small office too there but he hadn't been able to concentrate much on his business. He was always spending time at Russellville.
He sighed as he drove on. At thirty he had no hope of ever moving on. Maybe he was destined to live and die alone, all his life. Lost in his thoughts he felt some movement from the roadside as if he someone was waving frantically at him. It was dark and the streetlights were not enough. He looked through the rearview mirror and saw a broken down shabby looking car parked at the side of the road and two children, a boy and a girl, of around five years, waving frantically at the cars passing by. He steered off the road and stopped his truck. Then climbing out he saw the children excitedly rushing towards him.
"Thank you for stopping. Can you give us a lift to Little Rock please?" Asked the little boy.
"Pretty please?" Pleaded the little girl with an angelic face. Sammy groaned. Not another angel, please God, he prayed in his head. As it is he would never get over Lauren.
"What are you two doing here all alone at so late in the night?" He asked with concern.
"No silly. We're with our mom. See, she's trying to fix the car, over there," said the little girl.
"This time it's too broken to even start," said the little boy with a pout.
"Come on, let's talk to her," said Sammy with a smile.
"No use, she'll blast you left and right," said the little boy.
"Why? I haven't done anything, " said Sammy with a puzzled look on his face.
"No, you haven't but you're a man. She hates men, " said the little girl. "And so do we but you seem nice."
"Thanks but why do you guys hate men?" Asked Sammy, bewildered by their statement.
"Mom's dad left when she was in granny's tummy and our dad too left her when we were in her tummy," informed the little girl.
Sammy felt very bad for the little family. "That's a very bad thing to do," he said shaking his head.
"Angel, Ashton, who are you two talking to?" Shouted an angry voice. The children pulled him along towards their mom.
"Mom, this uncle isn't bad like all men. He'll drop us to Little Rock," said the little girl. Their mom, straightened and looked Sammy in the eye. Under the streetlights, Sammy instantly noticed her hot figure. The denims hugged her delicious butt. The top clung to her breasts. He felt lost in her eyes and couldn't look away.
"I'm sorry for bothering you. Actually I'll pay you if you could drop us please," she said, flashing him a nervous smile. Sammy was bowled over by her cute dimples on both of her cheeks. The wish to pull her close to himself was all he could think about. He stared at her with a lost look on his face.
"Uncle, this is the part where you need to say, 'it's not a problem at all. I'll drop you', " said Angel whispering beside him with a nudge. Sammy came out of his dreamland and composed himself.
"Oh, not a problem at all. I'm heading that way, so you don't need to pay. Do you have luggage?" Asked Sammy colouring a little at her raised eyebrows. He was thirty dammit and not thirteen. He just couldn't fathom why he was reacting to her like a teenage boy. He helped them load their luggage on to his truck. Then he called up his friend Joe who owned a garage nearby.
"I have a friend who has a garage nearby. He'll have it towed to your house," he informed the woman.
"Thank you, Mr?" she asked.
"Hughes, Samuel Hughes. And you are?" He asked her.
"Amber Wilton," she said simply. Samuel instantly liked her name, Amber and he repeated it again and again in his mind.
"But we don't have any house to live in? Where will uncle deliver the car?" Complained the little girl while her mom glared at her.
"Shut up, silly," scolded her brother.
"Where should I drop you then?" Asked Sammy confused.
"You can drop us off at any church, Mr Hughes," said Amber.
"What? It's pretty late. The churches might have closed by now, " he said, confused.
"We can sit on the steps and spend the night uncle Samuel. It's okay, we're used to it, " said Ashton.
"You come with me to my house. No more arguments. It's past midnight already, " he said, driving them to his home. He knew it was risky since they were complete strangers but something in his heart made him want to protect them and help them. They looked so innocent and tired and he couldn't let them spend their night on the church steps. It was too dangerous.
"No no, I don't want to bother you. We're used to spending our nights this way. Tomorrow morning, I'll think of something," said Amber apologetically. She was hesitant since they were complete strangers and she didn't trust men in particular.
"Spend the night at my place, I insist. It's not a problem at all," he said as he turned towards his lane. He just had the gut feeling that this meeting wasn't a brief one. He looked at her tired face, it seemed that she had fought a huge battle and arrived here. Angel was dozing off while Ashton tried to make a valiant effort to stay awake. He got down and opened the gate and drove straight into his garage, switching off the ignition.
He unloaded their luggage and picked up a sleeping Angel while Amber picked up Ashton. Sammy unlocked the door of his two storeyed house. At the backside, he had a small office from where he operated his business.
He led her to a guest room upstairs which had a double bed. He placed Angel down and Amber lay Ashton down. They opened their shoes and covered them up.
"You can use that bedroom over there," he pointed. "I'll get your luggage," he said going downstairs to get the luggage from the garage. He locked everything well and took the luggage upatairs. He saw Amber waiting infront of the room he had indicated, maybe for her luggage.
"Here, I've brought them all," he said, handing her the luggage.
"Thank you Mr Hughes, " she said gratefully.
"Samuel, " he prompted. She nodded and Sammy went to his own room to sleep. He was excited and happy at the prospect of seeing Amber again tomorrow morning. He wanted to know more about her. He wanted to help her. Maybe he'd ask her to stay. He went to sleep dreaming about Amber's hot body in his arms. What type of man leaves such a desirable woman? If she were his, he would never have left her for a single night.
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Featured picture: Miranda Kerr as Amber Wilton
