A Couple is Three: The Beginning (book 1 & 2 Completed)

Chapter 24 - A Night Out

Friday, late afternoon, Winnipeg

The rest of the week passed quickly for Samantha. She had settled into her new routine without any issues. She woke up every morning and either had breakfast or went for her run first. Her mother ran with her twice since Monday and she enjoyed spending that time with her mother. Yet she couldn't deny the fact that she truly enjoyed the days when she ran by herself.

Samantha had made herself two running playlists. She had even asked the boys how she could add a sermon podcast that would change daily to the middle of her playlist. To her delight, Jake knew exactly what to do and walked her through it step by step. She, the girl who hated running in gym class, now willingly went every day and enjoyed the time that she was able to spend running with God through music and His teachings.

After her run, she either had to rush off to work the ten to six pm shift or she was able to do things around the house until her one to nine pm shift. She was putting in a lot of extra hours this week, but it worked to her benefit. A few of her co-workers had taken the week off so she was picking up their shifts and in return they would pick up her's while she was away. It also gave her added spending money for her trip to Calgary.

She already felt bad that they weren't letting her pay for anything related to the trip so there was no way that she was going to let the boys buy any souvenirs or other things that she might want to purchase. They worked hard for their money and she wasn't going to let them spend it all on her despite the veiled hints and threats that the boys were making when they talked about the trip.

The three of them continued to text each other throughout the days. Their group texts continued along the same veins as the ones on Monday. They were light hearted conversations that sounded as if the three of them were right next to each other.

They continued to FaceTime and Skype every night. They would talk over the specifics of their day and plan about the Calgary trip. The second night Samantha had shown Josh and Jake what her bedroom looked like. The third night, Josh had shown her his. Knowing what each other's private space looked like seemed to make them feel closer and not so far apart.

The boys had also started to text her individually. During their nighttime talks, the boys had started to reveal their differing interests. For example Jake was a huge Star Trek fan whereas Josh was a Star Wars one. They put up with each other's preference because they were such good friends, but both were relieved when they found out that Samantha actually enjoyed both. It was these types of revelations and shared interests that had started the boys to do the individual texts.

It was almost six pm, quitting time for her, when Dawn, Joy, and Lisa walked into the store. Samantha was surprised to see them. They had texted briefly throughout the week, but with Samantha's busy work schedule they actually hadn't see each other since the end of school or in Lisa's case, since the end of the first day of the rodeo.

"Hey guys. What brings you three here?" asked Samantha as she continued to close out her till and tidy the area for the next worker.

"Well..."  —Dawn stopped and waited until Samantha looked up giving Dawn her full attention— "My dad got me four tickets to tonight's sold out bar concert of one of the local hottest country bands. Rumour has it that they are going to announce tonight that they just got signed by a major US label and you are coming with us."

Dawn smiled. She loved being the center of attention and this was huge. Not only had her parents been able to get her tickets, but they were VIP ones. As much as Dawn liked Joy and Lisa, they really were her duffs. They constantly looked up to her and boosted her ego, but tonight she really needed Samantha to be there.