Free It Happened One Night by Sharon Sala Page B

tattoo?”
    â€œYou have a tattoo?” Tisha squealed. “Where? Can we see? I’ve always wanted a tattoo but you can’t get them done in Oklahoma. Charlie keeps telling me that he’ll take me across the border into Dallas, but he hasn’t done it yet. What does it look like, Harley?”
    Harley looked up, all too suddenly aware that she and Sam had captured quite an audience.
    â€œYou must think I’m awful,” she said, and bit her lower lip to keep from crying.
    â€œOh no,” Sam said. “You’re not awful, darlin’.You’re the best...I mean, the best thing that ever happened to me.”
    â€œWell, whoop-de-doo,” Tisha said, and then came around the island where Harley was working and gave her a quick hug. “Honey, the only thing on my mind right now is how to get through the rest of this day with good manners, because right now I’m so jealous of you I can’t stand myself.”
    â€œYeah, me, too,” another woman said, and several more chimed in.
    â€œJealous? I made a complete fool of myself.”
    Tisha winked at Sam and then blew him a kiss. “Yeah, but look what you wound up with.”
    When Harley realized the women weren’t going to turn her into some kind of pariah, she started to relax.
    Tisha sidled up close to Sam and tickled him under the chin.
    â€œSam, honey, did you get a tattoo, too?”
    A dark flush suddenly appeared on his cheeks as he swatted at her hand.
    â€œYou’re a menace to society,” he muttered. “And I gotta go flip the burgers. We’ll eat in five, Junie. Will you be ready?”
    â€œAren’t I always?” Harley said sweetly, reached for the mayonnaise and mustard to finish the filling for her eggs, plopped in a couple of spoonfuls and then blasted him with a smile.
    Sam exited the house to the sound of women’s laughter. He was all the way out to the grill before herealized he’d forgotten what he’d gone in the house for.
    â€œDid you find the ketchup?” Charlie yelled.
    â€œIt’s on the way,” Sam said.
    Even though it was a lie, it was better than admitting that he’d gotten caught in a trap of his own teasing.

CHAPTER 5
    S omething began to change between Sam and Harley after the barbecue. For Harley, it had been her baptism of fire and one that she’d survived quite nicely. When she realized that Sam’s friends and co-workers had not judged her harshly for the manner in which they met and married, she quit judging herself. She began to see Sam, not as a mistake, but as her friend and husband. On the days when he was home, there were times when she forgot that she hadn’t known him all her life. Occasionally, she was reminded of the strangeness of her situation, but even then was leaning toward the theory that marrying Sam was the best mistake she’d ever made. He was a tender lover and a fair and just husband. But it was the day she broke downin tears after a phone call from her mother that she learned Sam also considered himself her guardian angel.
    She was in the bathroom washing her face and blowing her nose when Sam found her.
    â€œJunie! What’s wrong, honey? Are you sick?”
    Harley took one look at the sympathy on his face and burst into tears all over again.
    â€œNo,” she sobbed, burying her nose against his chest as he took her in his arms.
    When Harley cried, Sam got physically sick. It was a phenomenon he had yet to get used to. His stomach was churning as she wrapped her arms around his waist.
    â€œThen talk to me, darlin’. Why are you crying?”
    â€œMama,” Harley mumbled.
    Sam frowned. “You’re missing your mama?”
    Harley shook her head and pulled back.
    â€œNo! Nothing like that,” she said. “She called and—”
    Her chin quivered again and she shook her head, unable to finish. But Sam saw enough to read between the lines.
    â€œYour