All-American Girl Read Online Free PDF Page B

kicking him. Why did her conscience decide that she needed to play nice right now, and with Lance of all people? She was fairly certain she could be pleasant to just about anyone else, but not him. Okay, that probably wasn’t true. Her issues kept her from being nice to just about everyone. Truthfully, she hated that particular personality quirk of hers, but she wasn’t about to change her attitude for the man standing before her.
    “Don’t worry, though,” he said, interrupting her wandering thoughts. “I won’t tell her about your attitude problem. She’ll figure that one out on her own. I’ll come back and see Dorothy again soon.” He smirked at her, waved, and turned to walk away.
    Samantha took a step forward, trying to muster an apology, but by then he was halfway down the hall. The words were stuck on the tip of her tongue, and that was probably for the best. Saying thank you to the man she hated would no doubt burn.
    He turned as he reached the elevator and gave her a slight nod before stepping in and disappearing from view.
    Heading into Gram’s room, Samantha vowed that Lance would be no more than a bump in the road during this short trip home. After all, at one time, she had been no more than a small bump in his.

    Lance huffed out a loud breath as the elevator door slid shut behind him. He inhaled slowly, thankful the spicy scent of Sam hadn’t lingered.
    After twelve years of silence from her and nothing but questions as to why she left, that was not what he had been expecting. That being a seriously bad attitude. What the hell was wrong with her? And why the hell did she look like she wanted to gouge his eyes out?
    He shook his head as the elevator door creaked open. Stepping out, he couldn’t help but think of not only how mad Sam had looked, but how broken as well. The glimmer in her eyes was gone, replaced by a hollow stare. Her thin shoulders were hunched, and she wore droopy clothes and no makeup, like she didn’t care how she looked. That wasn’t like her, and neither was the attitude. She wasn’t the bubbly, fun-loving woman he’d held in his arms. Instead, she was a bomb, ready to explode at whatever upset her. And apparently that was him.
    “Hey, Lance,” said Grace, the elderly, petite receptionist at the welcome desk. “Leaving already?”
    He nodded and gave a tight smile. “Yeah, Samantha’s up there visiting for the first time. I wanted to give her some space.”
    The receptionist frowned. “It’s nice that one of Dorothy’s grandchildren finally came in.”
    Small town. People talk. Lance had known people would discuss Sam and her brother’s absence since Dorothy had fallen ill. “Some people take a while to track down, Grace. As soon as we found her, she came. That’s what matters.”
    “I suppose you’re right.” Grace wiggled her wrinkled brow. “You gonna bring Jax by so I can get a good look at him? I haven’t seen him since you finished the remodel on our house.”
    “Sure will. Will you be here tomorrow?” He asked, and she nodded. “Good. We’ll come by and see Dorothy and stop by here, too.”
    “Take this for him in the meantime.” Grace shoved a handful of hard candy into Lance’s hand.
    Lance put the candy into his pocket. “He’s not allowed to have sweets very often, so he’ll appreciate these. Thanks.”
    “And make sure you don’t let Samantha keep you away from here. This old lady likes to have some eye candy of her own every once in a while.”
    He laughed and put his hand over hers on the countertop. “With compliments like that, how can a man stay away?” He winked at her. “So you’ve talked to Sam?”
    Grace waved her free hand frantically. “My, my, yes. When she first got here she burst through the doors like a raging bull. Practically knocked down ol’ man Herbert who’d come to see his wife. She pounded on my desk and barked out a million different things before we had to have a security guard calm her down.”
    Lance