back with the bags.
‘Did you have a nice journey?’ She pulled back, looking at her niece. She looked tired and drawn. She didn’t let her face betray her worry for her niece. A pair of little eyes fixed on her, and she looked at the little boy, holding his mother’s hand so tightly. He was looking around him as though he was fighting the urge to run off.
‘Hello, my darling,’ she said softly, bending down to look the youngster in the face. ‘Shall we go to the car?’
Xander looked at her, his headphones making him look all the younger, and smiled slowly, nodding his head. Dot and Grace came up behind them, pointing to the bags.
‘These all yours?’ Grace asked. Or rather, she asked the crotch of the rather tall bald man guarding them.
He nodded politely, pointing at two of them.
‘These are theirs, I just helped. You need a hand to your car?’
Lucy shook her head, and opened her mouth to say no, but the women had already gone, cooing around the bloke that she had just spent two hours trying to avoid.
‘You are lovely!’ Dot simpered, reaching up and touching the man’s arm. ‘Ooo, have you felt this, Grace?’ She squeezed his bicep, and Sam blushed.
Lucy looked down at Xander, and he giggled at her.
‘Come on then, let’s go sort these ladies out before they rip his pants off.’
Xander gasped, a shocked expression on his face. ‘That’s not allowed in public, you told me!’
Lucy laughed, cursing herself for not watching her phrasing.
‘It’s just a saying, that’s all, love. Sorry. They won’t touch his pants. Let’s go, shall we?’ She squeezed his hand and he squeezed it back, their little nod to each other. Their comfort to each other when out and about in the world. I’m here, it said to the other.
They walked towards their cases, but Sam had seen them coming, and picked up their holdall.
‘I can take your bags,’ he stated, throwing the holdall over his shoulder with his own and taking the case handle in his hand with his own in the other.
‘No, it’s fine, I can manage.’
The women were all flocked around him, rapture on their faces. Lucy wanted to slap the lot of them. What was it about him that had made them lose their mind like this? Sam paid them no notice, he was standing there, laden down, looking at her in his own quiet way. She felt naked under his gaze, like he could read her thoughts, and she swallowed hard. Why didn’t he say anything? What was in that lofty head of his?
‘I didn’t say you couldn’t manage. I have them. I’ll see you to your car.’
The ladies sprang into action then, and she found herself being pulled along, Xander stuck to her leg. They left Leeds station, heading through the crowds of suits and shoppers, Sam a way in front, carrying their combined luggage with ease. Grace and Dot went on in front, heading towards the car park, and, once there, they both got into two different cars.
Marlene turned to her and smiled kindly. ‘We took two cars, because we all wanted to come. See you, and help you.’ She looked at Xander, who was looking at Sam, who was putting their luggage into one of the car boots. ‘Are you okay?’ she said lightly, looking at Lucy intently. She smiled faintly, a little movement of the head barely identifiable.
‘We will be.’ Marlene squeezed her shoulder, and the two women looked at each other for a moment, happy to be near each other finally. Sam turned to look at them, a frown across his features, and Marlene noticed.
‘Nice man, isn’t he?’ she said softly.
‘Yes, I dare say he is.’ Lucy noticed that he was putting his own case into the back of the other car. ‘What is he doing?’ Her voice came out shrill, panicked, and Xander looked up at her, picking up on the change instantly. She squeezed his hand to signal that she was okay.
She looked at her aunt just quickly enough to catch a sheepish look passing over her face.
‘Auntie?’ she tried again, but Marlene had already taken Xander’s hand and started off towards the car. To his credit, Xander didn’t make a fuss.
‘I’ll take Xander with me, you get in with Grace. Come on, Xander. Let’s get home, and then we can make some lunch, eh?’ Xander looked back at his mum questioningly, so she just smiled and waved him off.
‘See you there, honey. Make sure you put your seatbelt on.’
The others got into the car, and drove off, leaving Sam standing by Grace’s car. Grace was seemingly busy playing with the radio.
‘I hope you don’t mind – your friends didn’t really give me the option of refusing. I was going to get a taxi, but apparently we’re heading the same way.’
Lucy nodded, pointing to the front seat.
‘I don’t mind at all. Please.’
He shook his head, taking off his coat.
‘I’ll be fine in the back. You go ahead.’
He opened the door, and folded his tall frame into the back seat, his coat on his lap. She walked around to the other side of the car, opening the passenger side door. Grace’s large bag was strapped into the seat.
‘Sorry, love, I like to have my bag close, for my pills.’ She winked at Lucy, and Lucy blushed. Subtle.
‘Okay, no problem.’ She forced her face into a relaxed expression, even though she was utterly embarrassed. The rear door opened, and she saw Sam’s hand pull back onto his lap.
‘Thank you.’ She slipped into the seat next to him, putting her handbag onto her lap.
‘Please, use the middle seat. Don’t sit with your bag on you, all squashed up. There’s plenty of room.’
She eyed him, but saw the same calm expression. He was hard to read. She slid the bag off her lap and put it in the space between them.
‘So, what brings you to Westfield then?’ Grace asked brightly, pulling out of the train station car park at speed, startling a passer-by as she weaved into the busy morning traffic. ‘Meeting your wife?’
Lucy winced, looking out of the window. She saw a pigeon eating some discarded food at the side of the road and suddenly wished she could change places with it. This pretty much felt like being pecked to death anyway.
‘Er, no wife.’ Sam’s deep tones filled the car. ‘I’m here for work.’
‘Ah, I see.’ She turned the wheel abruptly, flicking from lane to lane, heading out of Leeds city centre. Lucy’s bag lurched forward, and she put her hand out to grab it, instead touching Sam’s doing the same. They both yanked their hands back as the touch of each other burned like fire. He pushed her bag back along the seat.
‘I got it,’ he murmured, and she smiled at him gratefully.
‘So, have you got a girlfriend back home? Is she coming to join you? Or a him, maybe?’
‘No, no girlfriend or boyfriend anywhere. It’s just me.’
‘No family?’ Grace pushed.
Sam looked down at his hands, and Lucy cleared her throat.
‘Grace, what were you knitting, back on the platform?’
Grace started babbling away, telling them both about the jumper drive that the village was currently embarking on, preparing for winter for the homeless.
‘We’re going to send them to the foodbanks, the homeless shelters. Amanda and a few of the other women are sewing blankets too, so we should have loads by the time the winter starts to bite.’
She eyed Sam in the rear-view mirror.
‘About