Sins of the Past (2 page)

When his neighbor started dragging heavy car parts out of her garage and loading them into the trunk of her car, Jacob wondered what she was doing. He wanted to go over and help, but with him still on crutches and barely able to get around, he knew he would have just been in the way. Besides, he liked watching her round ass cheeks peek out from the bottom of the tiny shorts she was wearing every time she bent over. His cock responded with a twitch at the sight. He should have felt guilty, but at the moment, all Jacob felt was lust.

He was almost sad when the woman disappeared into the house and came back out ten minutes later dressed in oil-stained jeans and a T-shirt. She was still cursing as she marched to the car and got in. With the way she was acting, Jacob expected her to slam the door, but she surprised him by shutting it as gently as she possibly could. The car purred to life and he watched as his neighbor backed out of the drive. When she was even with his position on the porch, he was shocked when the woman looked over at him and winked. She revved the car engine, and with a “Woo hoo!” peeled out, leaving a trail of smoke and tire rubber on the street.

Jacob threw his head back and laughed. His neighbor obviously knew he had been sitting there the whole time. For the first time since he had been discharged from the hospital and the military, he felt carefree enough to laugh. His neighbor was truly one fascinating woman. She made him want to break his own rule about not getting involved with anyone.

Lorna laughed as she headed to her shop. She loved fucking with people. It was a bad habit she had developed over time, but it wasn’t her fault. She blamed the nosy, narrow-minded town. She hadn’t known her new neighbor was sitting there watching her until she heard him cough. Of course, then there was no way she could go change her clothes. He had already seen her in them and if she had gone to change, he would have thought she did it because of him. She had one rule and that was to never let them see her sweat. To never let anyone see her embarrassed because that only made matters worse. The townspeople were like wolves. They preyed on the weakest, and that was definitely what they considered her.

Lorna hadn’t met her new neighbor yet, but she had seen him coming and going. He had been there over a week so she was pretty sure that was enough time for the locals to warn him about how close he was living to the daughter of the town whore. The bad thing about it was she couldn’t even deny the accusation. Even she had to admit her mother was no stranger when it came to sexual relationships. To say that her mother was promiscuous was a huge understatement.

What Lorna didn’t understand was how the locals automatically assumed she was guilty by association. Because her mother was a whore, she was considered one as well. They were all assholes in her opinion. The summer before her eighth grade year, Lorna went from being flat-chested to having c-cups. That was when the boys started noticing her, and the girls started hating her. From then on she was told she was going to be just like her mother. The sad thing was she was nothing like the woman. Sadly, Lorna was a twenty-nine-year-old virgin.

Laughing out loud at the irony, she pulled up to her shop and went to unlock the door. She began unloading the parts out of the trunk of her car, organizing them as she went. She didn’t want to mess up her orderly place. Her car may have been her pride and joy, but she wouldn’t have it if it wasn’t for her shop. The shop was the only other thing she could say was completely hers. One of her mother’s boyfriends, or Lorna’s “uncles” as her mother liked for her to call them, had left the shop to her when he died. She loved Uncle John like he was her real father and he had treated her like a daughter. Instead of yelling at her for following him around and getting in his way, at nine years old, he began to teach her everything he knew about working on cars.

The day Lorna came home from school and found all of Uncle John’s things gone, she had cried for hours, cursing her mother. She knew his leaving had to have been her fault. He had lasted two years with her mom, which was a record, and Lorna had started to hope her mother had finally found the
one
. Seeing his belongings gone had devastated her. She packed her bags and ran straight to Uncle John’s shop. Of course, he had made her return home, but he never turned her away after that. Lorna started showing up every day after school. She spent more time at the shop than she did at home. Needless to say, after the words she had with her mother, they barely tolerated each other from that day on. She never forgave her mother for cheating on Uncle John, and she had a feeling her mother resented her for her relationship with the man.

Lorna looked around her shop and sighed. “Since I’m already here, I might as well get to work.” The next project on her list was restoring an old 1952 Volkswagen Beetle. The owner had found it sitting in his father’s garage and wanted it fixed up to give to his daughter as a sweet sixteen present. Lorna smiled, thinking of her own sixteenth birthday present. It certainly wasn’t a car. The car was cute, but Lorna was more of a fan of American muscle cars. She wasn’t about to turn the money down, though.

Through hard work, she had taken her Uncle John’s body shop and turned it into a restoration shop. Business was doing so well that she was able to stop doing auto repairs altogether and only focus on the restorations. People were normally shocked and skeptical when they first talked to her, but her work spoke for itself and most of her customers came through word of mouth. Requests came in from all over the country and Lorna was able to do what she loved to do best, which was take an old abandoned car and return it to its former glory. The fact that she got paid for her work was just icing on the cake.

Looking at all the parts she had already collected for the Volkswagen, Lorna made a list of everything else she was going to need for the project. The hardest part of her job was finding original parts. Once she had everything she needed, then actually putting the car together was a piece of cake. With her list made, Lorna booted up her computer and got to work.

The whole time she worked, Lorna thought about her new neighbor. From what she saw from across the street, the man was gorgeous. He had to be the biggest man she had ever seen, probably at least two hundred and seventy pounds or more. She could tell he stood about six feet five inches, maybe a little taller since he was hunched over his crutches. She had a feeling once the women in town got a look at the man, they would be all over him.

“And they call me a slut.” Lorna laughed.

Ashley Johansen was the biggest slut there was, but she was considered the golden girl of the town. Just because she was like the tenth runner up, or something like that, in the Miss Teen USA pageant, they all bowed down and worshipped at her feet like the girl had solved world hunger. Lorna hated her, but she had a feeling once Ashley laid eyes on her new neighbor, it wouldn’t take her long to sink her claws and fangs into the man.

Jealousy sizzled through Lorna’s veins at the thought of her main nemesis since eighth grade getting her hands on the man. She had no idea what his name was or why she was feeling that way, but there was just something about him that made her want to go against everything she believed in and get to know her new neighbor. She had watched him since the day he moved in and fought back the urge to go over and talk to him. The fact that Lorna knew how it would end once the town started whispering about her in his ear, kept her from embarrassing herself. She didn’t want to see the look of revulsion on his face, or worse, him propositioning her once he found out about her
reputation
.

For what seemed like the thousandth time, Lorna thought of packing all of her belongings and moving away. Business was good and she had enough money saved up to start over wherever she wanted. It was her stubborn-ass pride that held her back and kept her in a town that despised her. She refused to leave because she didn’t want them to think they had succeeded in running her off. No, Lorna stayed to prove a point. She was stronger than the backwoods locals. She knew she was being stupid, but it didn’t stop her.

Lorna turned off her computer knowing she wasn’t going to get any more work done. Thinking of her neighbor and her arch enemy had put her in a sour mood and she still had to make a stop at the grocery store. That was the one thing she hated the most. She always ended up with unnecessary stuff and nothing she truly needed in her hurry to get in and out as fast as she could. She hated the feeling of eyes watching her everywhere she turned and the whispered voices as she passed. The town didn’t even try to hide the fact that they talked about her. Most of the time, they did it right to her face.

Locking up, Lorna got in her car and drove the block and a half to the grocery store. She snorted when she walked in the door and the whispering started from the teenage cashiers. Slut, whore, and tramp were a few of the words said loud enough to make sure she heard them.

Lorna rolled her eyes. “Really, girls? I know you guys are probably a little slow, since your fathers are your uncles, too. There is a reason that whole incest thing is illegal and not simply a suggestion,” she leaned and whispered loud enough for the few customers in the store to hear, “but they do make these little books called dictionaries. They’re filled with tons of new words in them for people like you who can’t come up with anything original. I just don’t know what they’re teaching you guys in school these days.”

She gave them a look of mock pity as she grabbed a basket and turned down one of the aisles. She made sure she was alone on the aisle before she doubled over laughing. The look of shock on both cashiers’ faces was priceless. They obviously didn’t know her if they expected her to take their bullshit quietly. She had a mouth on her and she wasn’t afraid to use it. It was the reason the town hated her so much. Lorna was no wilting flower that ran crying whenever she was insulted. She stood up for herself and gave back just as good as she got from the town.

Feeling a little better, she went down each aisle and took her time putting everything she needed in the basket. She felt eyes following her, but for the first time in a long while, she didn’t let them get to her. Once she was finished shopping, she went to pay, deliberately choosing one of the girls’ registers. She wouldn’t even look Lorna in the eye as she rang up her purchases. From the jerky way she scanned the groceries and slammed them in the bags, Lorna had to hold back her smile. She knew she had just made two new enemies.

Once she had paid and gathered her bags, Lorna couldn’t help getting in one last dig as she headed out the door. “Bye, bitches.” Twin gasps of indignation followed her as she threw her head back and laughed.

* * * *

Once all of her groceries were put away, Lorna changed into a pair of cut-off jean shorts and a tank. She grabbed a beer from the refrigerator and plopped down in the chair. If anyone accused her of choosing that one because it offered a clear view of her neighbor’s porch through her front window, she would deny it as she buried the body of her accuser.

Lorna refused to even acknowledge the little pain in her chest when she had arrived home and her neighbor hadn’t been still sitting on his porch. She had hoped to catch another glimpse of the man, preferably naked, but it seemed he had other plans. She wondered where he was and what he was doing. The man fascinated her like no other. Lorna wanted to know everything about him, starting with why he was on crutches and why he chose her god-awful town to move to.

She mentally corrected herself as she took a sip of her beer. It wasn’t the town that was awful. It was the small-minded people who lived in it. There were only a select few who made her life a living hell, but she hated the rest because they were too scared to step up and help her. The rest of the town was afraid that if they went against how she was treated, then the attention would be turned on them. Most just went about their day or kept walking like she didn’t exist.

It bothered Lorna, but she was too stubborn to admit it. Sighing, she stood, giving up on her pity party, and headed to her room to change. It was hot enough outside and even though the sun was low in the sky, she was determined to enjoy the last of her Sunday and do what she loved the most. Who cared if her backyard was only big enough for a two-and-a-half-foot-deep kiddie pool? In a perfect world, she would have an inground oasis with a waterfall and diving board. Unfortunately, the world wasn’t perfect so she had to settle for her kiddie pool, and on a good day, if she positioned her finger over the hose just right, it made a pretty good waterfall. Stripping her clothes and getting into her bathing suit, Lorna grabbed another beer before heading to the backyard.

Once she was settled in the lukewarm water, she sighed. It was the first time she had been able to relax since she had woken up that morning and found her car vandalized. It wasn’t the first time something like that had happened to Lorna and she didn’t expect it to be the last. Still, the whole “let’s all pick on Lorna because we all hate her mother” thing was getting old. She wondered if it was time to think about moving on. The town had nothing for her there anymore with Uncle John gone.

Lorna’s mother had disappeared in the middle of the night about five years before, and Lorna hadn’t even batted an eye. She had always suspected that one day her mother would just up and leave so when it happened, it was no big deal. When Uncle John died two years later, Lorna felt like her heart had been torn in two. With him gone, for the first time in her life, she had felt truly alone. Uncle John had been her mentor, her father, and her best friend. He was the one person she could turn to when the town’s bullshit became too much to take. He was always there with a gruff, “fuck ’em all,” to put things in perspective when she needed it. No, with him gone, there was nothing left for her in town. At this point, Lorna was just being stubborn and bullheaded.