rested on the back of the booth above Riley's shoulders. It was very cozy.

"Bring you a bottle of the house wine?" Mary asked.

Sam turned to Riley. "Is that okay with you?"

"You go ahead Sam; I'm on backup call tonight so I'll have to pass." As she

spoke, Riley unconsciously laid her hand on Sam's arm.

"We'll pass Mary. Bring us both an ice tea please." She glanced over at Riley to

see if that met her approval. Riley nodded her thanks.

All the tension from the condo seemed to have dissipated. They laughed and

talked easily during dinner. Sam told stories of her experiences as a police

officer and of growing up with Jess and Frank. The plates were cleared away

and they sat having coffee.

"So you've met my sister and brother. What about you do you have any

siblings?" Sam asked.

"No I'm an only child." Riley said looking sad.

"That must have been lonely growing up. Even with all we fought, I love my

sister and brother like crazy. Our folks always accused us of prematurely aging

them with our antics. Guess your folks never accused you of that huh?" Sam

laughed.

Sam sobered when she noticed Riley's stricken look.

"What's wrong?" she asked concerned.

Riley was fighting to control her emotions. She swallowed hard before turning to

face Sam.

"My folks died when I was a kid, my aunt and uncle raised me."

"Oh God, I'm so sorry. I didn't know." Sam felt terrible that she'd brought up such a painful subject.

"It's Okay. There's no way you could've known." Riley assured. "I don't get a chance to talk about them much. I still miss them terribly."

Sam's heart went out to Riley, she could feel the pain radiating off of her.

She was never sure later what prompted her to ask. She met Riley's eyes. "Tell

me about them."

Riley looked hesitant for a moment but saw the honest interest in Sam's eyes.

Her aunt and uncle never wanted her to talk about her folks. She hoarded her

memories of them; it was all she had left. She found herself wanting to share

something so precious to her with Sam.

"My dad grew up in LA. My grandfather was a lawyer. He met my Mom in high

school. They were high school sweethearts and married not long after

graduation. My grandfather wanted my Dad to follow in his older brother's

footsteps and become a surgeon. My Dad refused, he had always dreamed of

owning his own garage to repair and restore classic cars. They moved to San

Diego and my Dad worked at a local Ford dealer, restoring cars at night and on

weekends. He made a name for himself and finally convinced my grandfather to

help him buy his own shop. It was a booming success. He had people bringing

classic cars to him from all over California to repair and restore. My Mom worked

as the receptionist and bookkeeper for the garage. They'd been trying for years

to have a child and had pretty much given up; then when my Mom was thirty,

she got pregnant with me. It was a hard pregnancy and the doctors told her she

would never have any more children. My Mom always told me she didn't care;

she had me and that I was a special gift from God." Riley got a little choked up

and stopped to drink some of her coffee. She looked at the table not making eye

contact with Sam.

Sam put her finger under Riley's chin bringing her head up until their eyes met.

"They obviously loved you very much."

Riley smiled even as several tears leaked out. She took a deep breath before

continuing.

"I was very close to both my folks but I was a real daddy's girl. I went

everywhere with him. He always said 'Any where I go my girl can go' I even went

to the barbershop with him. My mom had a real fit one time when I convinced

him to let the barber cut my hair real short. We used to work on cars and go to

all the ball games together. I was a real tomboy back then." Riley's voice trailed

off it was obvious her emotions were getting the best of her.

"Tell me the rest." Sam quietly encouraged.

"When I was 10 I begged my folks for weeks to let me spend the night at my

friend's house. It was so cool. There were six siblings spaced two years apart.

I'd never been exposed to anything like that before. They finally gave in and let

me spend the night. They decided to drive up the coast for a romantic dinner

and some time together. Coming back it was very foggy. A semi-truck hit a car

and over turned. It caused a multiple car pile up on I-5." Riley's voice started to

hitch as the tears poured down her face. Sam had to struggle to understand her.

"My folks were killed instantly when a second semi couldn't stop and ran over

their car."

Sam gathered the now sobbing Riley in her arms. Several people in the

restaurant glanced over to see what was wrong but quickly turned back to their

meals when Sam glared at them.

Riley savored the comfort of Sam's arms as she struggled to get her emotions

under control. She looked up and happened to catch a glimpse of another patron

watching them. She stiffened slightly suddenly remembering they are in the

middle of a restaurant. She could hear her aunt's scolding voice. 'You're making

a spectacle of yourself in public Riley'.

She reluctantly pulled away from Sam. Her face flushed with crying and

embarrassment. She couldn't meet her eyes.

"I'm so sorry. Here I am pouring out my life story and making a spectacle of

myself. I didn't mean to embarrass you." She kept her eyes firmly on the table

not wanting to see the disapproving light in Sam's eyes. "I'm sorry." She

whispered.

"Riley look at me." Sam waited. Riley still wouldn't look up. She gently lifted her chin looking into sad violet eyes. Riley was amazed by what she saw in Sam's

eyes all the caring and compassion. It made her start to choke up again.

"I'm glad you told me. I'm not embarrassed by honest emotion. You lost

something very precious to you when your folks died. Never be embarrassed by

what you felt for them."

Riley couldn't believe it. Sam wasn't angry with her for crying in public. Riley

could still vividly remember one of her first experience with her aunt and uncle.

They'd gone out to a fancy restaurant not long after the funeral. Riley had seen a

little girl hugging her dad and become upset. She missed her parents and her

aunt and uncle were very unaffectionate people. When Riley had started to cry

her aunt had jerked her into the bathroom and scolded her for crying in public

and embarrassing them. They had left the restaurant without eating and her

uncle had sat her down and lectured her on the appropriate behavior in public.

Mary chose that moment to interrupt. "Is everything all right here?" She asked

quietly.

"Yeah we're fine. How about bringing us another cup of coffee? Does that sound

good to you Riley? She asked.

Riley glanced up shyly at Sam then over to Mary. There was no censure on her

face only honest concern. Mary smiled gently at Riley. Riley smiled back before

leaning back to rest against Sam.

"Yes, that sounds good."

"Thank you." Riley told Sam when Mary walked away.

"For what?" Sam inquired.

"For not being angry with me or embarrassed that I broke down in public. I am

sorry I've done that to you twice now."

"You don't have anything to be sorry for. I'm pleased you trusted me enough to

share that with me. There is no shame in tears Riley, you didn't embarrass me."

"Wel now that I bored you wit

my life story I guess it's time to go." Riley said

"You could never bore me Riley." Sam's expression was serious. She gently

stroked Riley's cheek. "But if you're tired we should head back."

"I'm on backup call and suddenly I do feel kind of drained." Riley smiled

sheepishly. "I do want to thank you. It's been a long time since I was able to talk

about my folks. It felt good."

"Any time. I enjoyed our dinner and I want to know more about you." Sam

assured her.

Riley laughed. "You have no idea what you're getting yourself into with a request

like that."

Sam smiled in return. "I look forward to it. Come on let's head back to Del Mar

so you can get some sleep."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The drive back to Del Mar was pleasant. Riley shared with Sam some of her

childhood memories of her parents. She had all these memories bottled up

inside and no one to share them. Sam was more than happy to learn everything

she could about Riley. She did notice that Riley made no mention at all of her life

with her aunt and uncle.

Sam walked Riley back to the steps just outside her condo.

"Would you like to come in for a bit?" Riley invited.

Sam felt her earlier discomfort returning and didn't want to go back into the

sterile condo.

"I should be getting back and you need your rest." Sam hedged.

Riley looked disappointed but acquiesced. They turned to go up the steps to

Riley's door. She cursed under her breath... "Damn."

"What's wrong?"

"I forgot to turn the porch light on. The doorways are in an archway and very

dark."

"Come on I'll walk you up." Sam offered.

They stood on the last step before the dark archway in the glow of the security

lights.

"Well goodnight." Sam leaned down to kiss Riley goodnight. Riley had a sudden

flashback to the night Keith confronted her kissing another date. She stiffened

and pulled back glancing around nervously. Sam couldn't help feeling hurt she

wondered if Riley was really serious about being involved.

"Well good night then, thanks for a pleasant evening." Sam said as she turned to

walk away.

Riley grasped hold of her forearm. "Wait!" She stepped up into the darkened

archway and pulled Sam with her. As soon as they were out of the light, she

reached up and tried to pull Sam's head down. Sam resisted until Riley pressed

her body into her. Sam gave in with a groan her lips met Riley's in a passionate

kiss. Riley escalated the kiss pressing her tongue into Sam's mouth. She

wrapped her arms tightly around Sam then her hands slid down to grab Sam's

butt and squeeze. Sam's arousal soared. She dueled with Riley's tongue before

chasing it back into her mouth. Riley kneading her ass was making her crazy,

she pushed Riley back against the door and brought her hands up to caress her

breasts through her shirt. Riley moaned and pressed closer to Sam her body

pulsing with incredible feelings. Sam was rapidly loosing control. She parted

Riley's thighs with her knee then thrust her leg hard between hers. She gasped

in pain as she pressed into Riley's center. In the heat of the moment, she'd

forgotten her leg. The shooting pain down her thigh rapidly reminded her. She

pulled away from Riley trying to gain control of herself. The sudden jolt of pain

helped clear her head. She couldn't believe how far things had gone. Much

longer and she would've taken Riley right here in the archway. It scared Sam to

realize how out of control she'd been. No one had ever made her forget her

surrounds so completely. Riley whimpered when she pulled away. She wasn't

aware of what had happened. Her body was caught up in the whirlwind of

sensations. She finally realized Sam was no longer kissing her and stood

rubbing her leg. Concern for Sam instantly cooled her libido.

"What happened? Are you alright?" Riley asked with concern.

Sam tried to laugh but it came out a croak. Her arousal was acute despite the

pain. "My leg just decided to remind me of its presence. I'm fine."

"Come inside let me look at it and make sure you're okay."

Sam had a brief flash of Riley kneeling between her legs looking at her incision.