The Sister

Chapter 4

Just like clockwork Sam entered the diner five minutes after Leah's daily shift had finished and she had driven out of the parking lot. It had been happening since his return to town last month. Jared cameron had also started joining him as well on his daily visits to the diner. Elizabeth had never seen the two hanging out together before, but she didn't question it. She grabbed their regular drinks and headed over to their booth with two menus under her arm.

"I took a wild guess and went with what you guys ordered yesterday, and every other day this week," she said placing their drinks down on the table.

"Hey Lizzy, how's your day going?" Sam asked smiling up at her. She wasn't sure when he had given her that nickname, but she liked it, especially when he said it. Her stomach flipped and her heart went a flutter every time she heard it. She couldn't tell if it was the nickname or just Sam's voice that made her feel that way. She tried to hold her calm expression and keep her cool even though she felt extremely heated around Sam. Like she was going to melt into a puddle at his feet. She blamed her crazy feeling on Sam's protruding muscles and his shirts always being sleeveless. After all she was only female and dam… she realised she had just been staring at him and not answering his question.

"Same as every other day, just wonderful. Now did you guys want to look at the menu or should I just guess?" Beth tried to recover but by the way Sam's smile only grew wider she knew he hadn't missed her staring at him way too long. She turned her full attention to Jared on the other side of the table. Smiling brightly at him as she waited for an answer. He had also been working out by the looks of his new muscles but some reason they didn't have the same effect on her as Sam's.

"Two steak burgers and some fries please, extra-large," Jared said, ordering slightly different to what he had yesterday. Beth jotted the order down on her note pad before turning back to Sam.

"Surprise me," he said with a wink. Joke was on him though, that wink immediately cut her off from another long stare. She wrote something down on the note pad and went to the kitchen to give Harry the order. She avoided looking at the table or in Sam's direction at all costs. It was a slow afternoon, so she didn't have much to do but she made the few jobs she had to do take extra-long to fill in time as she waited for food to cook.

The kitchen bell rang, and she went to collect the large tray of food. She could feel eyes on her as she walked to their table. She bit down on the inside of her lip to hold back her smile. She placed the food on the table, pushing two burgers and a large dish of fries towards each of them. Elizabeth stepped back from the table, holing the now empty tray at her side. She finally lifted her eyes to meet Sam's. Beth knew she would have likely tripped with the food if she had looked at him while walking. She had done that a few days earlier and the food only half made it to the table. She didn't get embarrassed easily but that definitely did it. She nodded to his food and Sam chuckled turning his attention to the burger in front of him. It looked just like the ones Jared had in front of him, but Sam still hummed her and tried the burger. Elizabeth watched Sam take two bites of the burger before his face dropped. She smiled leaning forward, so she was at Sam's eye level.

"You may think you're hot, but that burger is a lot hotter," she chuckled straightening back up. She had only requested the hot sauce on one of his burgers, she wasn't a monster, but she was so happy with herself. Sam swallowed the food in his mouth before letting out a loud, heartwarming laugh.

"Good try Lizzy, but I think I just found my second favourite thing in here." She shuttered. Beth scurried away, not wanting to ask what his favourite thing in here was. She felt like she was glowing red as a hot blush heated her cheeks. She went to the kitchen and ducked into the walk-in cold room to cool off for a second.

"You all good Beth?" Harry called from his spot behind the grill.

"Yeah, just looking for some more lemons," she lied. She couldn't tell her boss she was hiding from his daughter's ex-boyfriend as she felt like throwing herself at him every time he spoke. She felt like that conversation wouldn't go well. She had zero feelings for Sam when he was dating Leah. Yes, she thought he was attractive, and yes, she liked talking to him, but he was her friend's boyfriend. He was off limits then, and he was even more off limits now he was her ex. Leah was still a mess over the breakup and there was no way Beth would stab her in the back by showing interest in Sam. Elizabeth left the cold room. The cold feeling instantly melting off her skin in the heat of the kitchen.

"Lemons," Harry said looking at her empty hands.

"I knew I was forgetting something," Beth laughed going back into the cold room to grab some lemons. "Thanks Harry, I would have done three more trips in there before I remembered them." She took the lemons out to the drinks counter. She started slicing them up. They didn't need any more lemons cut of course, but she cut them anyways. They would get used up tonight; it was just less work to do later. She only had the one table left to keep an eye on until more people showed up. So, she continued cutting the lemons and waiting for the door to ring so she had someone else to serve. It was only when a looming shadow appeared above her that she took her attention away from the lemons.

Elizabeth had expected Sam and was partly disappointed to see Jared instead. Her eyes darted quickly to their booth where the seats were empty and only cups and plates remained. She felt stupid as a wave of sadness fell over her as she thought about not seeing Sam again. She felt stupid as soon as she thought it.

"Sorry Jared I lost track of time. How was your meal?" Beth asked as she washed her hands off. Jared smiled; she could tell he was holding back a laugh. At what she wasn't sure. Maybe the fact he caught her looking for Sam, or maybe just about the hot sauce in the burger.

"It was great," Jared said holding a few notes out to Beth.

"Awesome, one second I'll get you some change." Beth said counting the money.

"Nah, keep it," Jared said already moving for the door. Beth opened her mouth to stop him, but he was now gone as well. It was more then she deserved after the little effort she had given their table. She felt bad now. She closed their table on the till and went to clean it. They had finished everything on the plates right down to the last drop of hot sauce and grain of salt. They ate more than anyone else she had ever served or cooked for.

As she lifted the last plate a napkin sat on the table in front of where Sam had been sitting. Beth lifted the napkin up to take a closer look. He had left his phone number. She went to add it to the other dirty napkins on the plates but last minute she slipped it into her pocket. She would throw it out once she got home. She didn't want anyone at work to see it and get the wrong idea.

That night Elizabeth was in charge of the grill. Even though the day had been slow. The nighttime rush was one of the busiest they had had in months. It felt like the whole town was out for dinner and then some. The girls pinned up new orders faster than Beth could count. She stayed calm taking it all as it came. Stressing wasn't going to help her. She could handle it; she had a great team of people behind her, and nothing could stop her. Well, almost nothing. Beth faulted in her step as her eyes caught a new order in. She read it twice to be sure she had seen it right.

A burger just as hot as the chef, and a large fries extra hot.

"What's that about?" She asked the girl putting up the orders, pointing her tongs at the order in question.

"Sam said it was an inside joke. I can go hit him if you want. Sorry I wasn't sure what way you would take it?" The girl replied with a shrug. Beth laughed, a wave of calm flowing over her.

"If he wants hot, I'll give him hot." Elizabeth went back to work, unable to wipe the smile off her face. Somewhere out in that crowd of people Sam was also smiling, knowing he was getting to her, wether she wanted to admit it or not.

Elizabeth hurried home after work, still on a high from the busy night they had had. Her heart drummed in her ears as she snuck though the quite house. She went straight to the bathroom, shutting herself in and turning on the light. She dug through the dirty clothes basket to find the pants she had worn for her early shift at work. Beth tugged it out of the pile and dug into the pockets. She came up empty with the first pocket but found what she was looking for in the next one. The napkin was more crumpled now, but she could still make out the numbers. Beth grabbed her phone typing the numbers in and then writing a text.

Was that hot enough for you?

She read the message several times before hitting send and then she regretted it instantly as a cold sweat ran over her. What the hell was she thinking? He was probably just joking around with her. There was no way he would actually be interested in her. They were just friends. What would he think of her texting him in the middle of the night? Was he going to take the message the wrong way? What way was the right way to take that? What was he meant to say? Her head went into a down would spiral as she over thought everything.

Beth sighed putting the phone down. It was to late to unsend it, what was done was done. She got undressed and hopped into the shower to wash the long day off. The heat of the water was calming and relaxing. She wanted to stand there forever enjoying the warmth. Sadly, she also wanted sleep, and there was no way to have both of them at once. She turned the water off and dried off with her towel. She wrapped the towel around herself and picked up her phone preparing to leave the bathroom. The phone screen lit up and she dropped it out of fright. It bounced on the bathmat luckily. Beth grabbed for the phone tapping on the screen to bring the message up.

Not quite but good try.

She wasn't sure what to take from his message. Beth didn't send anything back, she was too nervous. She needed to let these dumb feelings go. She wasn't some schoolgirl with a crush on a cute guy. She was a mum, she had other priorities and Sam was not one of them. What if she put herself out there and he left her like he did Leah, she would not be able to handle that. She needed to stop playing his little games.

Author notes***

I love this chapter I hope you all liked it as well. I've never been a Sam fan girl but some reason this week he's all over my mind and I'm loving this story and where it's going. I hope everyone else is enjoying it as well. I have the next two chapters all marked out just filling in some more details atm. Will post the next chapter over the weekend even sooner if I can get a few reviews, good or bad I want to hear them. Also if anyone is interested in being a bata for this story please message me would love another mind to bounce ideas off.