George pulled into a bus stop and watched as the people shuffled in one by one, flashing their cards. Then an older lady in a long dark overcoat stepped up to him and started fishing for her purse.

George groaned. She was going to hold him up and every second counted if he wanted to be on time to meet Angelica’s parents.

“Good afternoon,” the older lady said with a sweet smile. “I’m sorry, my wallet seems to have fallen to the bottom of my bag…” The woman kept rummaging, then she started to take out things.

First, it was a hairbrush, then a tiny folding umbrella, a makeup bag, a snack bar…”Lady,” George snapped. “Would you find that money already?”

“I’m sorry,” the lady stammered. “I went into the city to get my granddaughter an engagement gift and I must have dropped it…Oh, no! My phone is gone too!” The woman was pale and her eyes glittered with embarrassed tears.

Kindness doesn’t cost a dime, but cruelty can cost you the love of your life.

“Sob stories I hear plenty,” George said in a nasty tone. “You pay and you stay — or you get off the bus and walk home!”

“I swear to you,” the older woman cried. “I swear this is God’s truth! My wallet is gone, and I have no way to get home!”

George sneered. “Well that there is a pity because you’re not riding on my bus!”

“Please, son,” the older woman said with quiet dignity. “I’ve had surgery recently on my knee, I can’t drive which is why I took the bus — and I won’t be able to walk such a distance to get home.

“You should have thought of that before you pulled off this scam!” Geoge screamed. “GET OFF!”

The woman pushed her belongings back into her bag and stepped off the bus. George’s last glimpse of her was through his review mirror. She looked lost and small and for a second he felt a twinge of pity for her.

Then his eye fell on the clock on his dashboard. He was already late! He drove away from the woman and the bus stop, sure that he would never see her again.

Geoge started thinking about Angie. She was something! Angelica was beautiful and smart — way out of his league, all his friends had thought. Since when does the daughter of a millionaire fall for a bus driver?

But from the first moment George and Angie met, they fell in love. Of course, her parents weren’t exactly charmed with the idea of having a bus driver marrying their precious only daughter, but Angie had stood up to them.

So tonight was the first time he was meeting the Westerly family and he wanted to make a good impression, which meant making it back in time for a quick shower and a change into a smart suit.

Three-quarters of an hour later, George was standing in front of the door to the gorgeous Westerly brownstone in Tribeca adjusting his tie nervously, then he rang the doorbell.

“I’ll get it!” George heard Angie’s cheerful voice holler out, and then the door swung open, and there she was! George just stared at her, then he was enfolded in Angie’s arms and her perfume surrounded him. Angie whispered in his ear, “Don’t be nervous, I love you!”

Angelica led George into a beautiful room where a slender woman who looked a lot like her was sitting. The woman got up and smiled stiffly.

“You must be George!” she cried. “I’m Meredith, Angie’s mother. My husband is a little late — he had to pick up my mother-in-law from the city…”

“That’s quite all right, Mrs. Westerly,” George said politely and hunted for something to say. “Your home is lovely, did you decorate it yourself?” It was the right thing to say.

Meredith brightened up and started taking George on a tour of the room, droning on about different knick-knacks, all of which seemed to have some boring story from the Westerly’s travels around the globe.

And then George’s heart skipped a beat. In a heavy silver frame in the mantel was a photograph of the old woman he had thrown off the bus. “Oh my God!” George gasped. “Who is that?”

Meredith waved a dismissive hand. “That’s my husband’s mother, Angie’s grandmother. That woman is such a trial…Can you believe she actually lost her wallet today or had it stolen or something?”

“Really?” George asked as an icy frisson ran down his spine. Then a key turned in the front door lock, and a tall middle-aged man walked in, an arm wrapped protectively around the shoulders of the old lady from the bus.

“Meredith,” he cried. “Please ask for some hot tea for my mother. The poor dear is freezing!”

Angie immediately ran to the old woman and wrapped her arms around her. “Oh, gran Millie,” she cried. “You have to be more careful…”