A Place To Call Home. Laurie Paige
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the tour. As soon as I find a place to live, I’ll invite you to dinner.”
He gave her a calculating glance. “A home-cooked meal would be nice, like the meat loaf your mom makes.”
“Can do,” she assured him. “I’ll get in touch when I’m settled. Okay?”
After he nodded, she closed the truck door and headed for her room. Standing on the porch, she watched him drive down the street. It made her feel good to be on solid footing with him, she realized. Maybe they could be friends.
Casual friends, she amended, going into her pleasant room. Occasional friends, the type you talk to whenever you run into each other on the street. Maybe they would have coffee once in a while, or lunch. Nothing that demanded a lot of fuss and bother, or that could be called a relationship.
Anything more would never work between them. The past would always be there, ready to spring up when least expected, reminding her of the reasons she didn’t want any connection to her misguided youth. He would probably prefer to avoid her, too.
However, when she’d danced with him at the wedding, she hadn’t been thinking of the past at all. Instead, her foolish heart had envisioned a future filled with all the good things that could exist between a couple who truly loved each other.
The intense longing returned. She wanted…she wanted something different from life. Maybe she would find it here.
She sighed as she settled into a chair and stared out the window at the sweeping vista of mountains. She would keep her word and invite Jeremy to dinner when she found a home, then…then her obligation to him would be done.
Chapter Three
Zia shook hands with the real estate agent. “Thanks for your help. If I see anything that looks interesting this weekend, I’ll call you on Monday.”
“Same here,” Jim Ramsey said.
She had contacted Tina Ramsey’s cousin on Monday. Jim was around her age, about two inches shorter and heavyset. He was outgoing and cheerful, also enthusiastic about her finding a place to live.
But after searching all week—today was Friday—the prospects didn’t look great, in her opinion.
“There are places coming on the market all the time,” he assured her in a hearty manner. “If you want to buy, I know of several cottages for sale, a couple of them in town or close in, more in the country.”
“I’ll think about it.”
“Sure you don’t want a ride to the hotel?”
She shook her head. “I’ll walk. I like the exercise.”
She strolled down the street, leaving him in front of the real estate office, which was two blocks from the educational building. One thing about a small town—one was never far from anywhere in it.
When she passed the DOT facility, she quickly scanned the parking lot. She spotted Jeremy’s SUV near the side entrance.
“Hey,” he called to her, coming out the door at that moment.
His appearance startled her as it had last Friday when she’d arrived in town, as if an apparition had suddenly materialized.
“Jeremy, hello,” she said, breathless for no reason…no reason at all. He was dressed in dark slacks and a white shirt with a tie. A suit jacket was slung over his shoulder. With his summer Stetson, he looked, she thought, like a rugged Western hero on a photo shoot for some classy magazine.
He came over to the sidewalk. “How’s it going?”
“If you’re talking about the house search, it isn’t.” She managed a smile so he wouldn’t think she was whining.
“What’s the problem?”
“I’m not sure,” she said ruefully, “but I think my finances don’t match my tastes.”
When he laughed, his teeth were incredibly white against the tawny shades of his skin. He had a killer smile. It highlighted his whole face, forcing her to realize anew his natural good looks and masculine grace, both of which were reasons why her friends had always wanted to get acquainted with him.
“Have you had lunch?” he asked. “I’m going now and would be glad to have company.”
She hesitated, then nodded. “I just got back from house hunting with Jim Ramsey.”
“Tina’s cousin? I seem to recall her mentioning him.”
“She did. He seems to know the area really well. We’ve been over on the east side of town, out in the county, actually.”
“My place is out that way, too.” Jeremy took her arm and guided her down the street. He pointed out two restaurants. “Mexican or the soup and sandwich place?”
“Mexican,” she decided. “I ate at the sandwich place yesterday. The food was delicious. The owner there was the one who told me to check out the cottages east of town. She said people were selling their vacation homes or renting them since prices had started falling.”
After they were inside the restaurant and sipping from tall, frosty glasses of iced tea, they quickly made their selections and ordered.
“I like a woman who can make up her mind,” he said when they were alone again.
She had to smile at his rueful tone. “Is that something you’ve had a problem with in the past?”
“Just once. When I was stationed in Salt Lake City for six months, I dated a woman who managed a gift shop. I don’t know how she ever ordered merchandise because it took her a week to decide what she wanted for dinner.”
“Mmm, you must have had very long dates.”
He gave her a wry grimace. “Okay, maybe it only took her thirty minutes, but it seemed like a week.”
Their salads arrived, and they ate in silence for a few minutes. Zia tried to think of something to say, but her mind stayed stubbornly on the woman who had lost out on a relationship with him. “I assume you didn’t ask her out again?”
“Actually I did, but it was the same the second time. When she invited me to a cookout with friends, I had to decline because I’d been transferred to the Bryce Canyon project.”
“You were glad,” Zia said in slightly accusatory tones.
“I was. The move made it easier to break it off.”
She eyed him thoughtfully. “I think men still have the advantage in dating, especially if you made the first contact. You can simply not call again.”
“What if she calls you?”
“Screen your calls and let the answering machine pick up if you don’t want to talk.”
“And don’t call back?”
“Right. That’s what my friends do with a guy they don’t want to see again. Wouldn’t the same tactic work for men?”
“I suppose.”
“What?” she said when he frowned.
“It doesn’t seem quite fair to leave someone dangling.”
“So what do you do if you haven’t been transferred to a new location and you don’t want to see someone again?” she asked, then was annoyed at herself for the blatant curiosity about him and his dating life.
“I tell them that work is going to keep me busy for several weeks. Which is mostly true,” he added. “And I’m out of town at the construction sites a lot, too.”
“I have a friend who studied ethics. She said the truth told in an untruthful way is still a lie.” Zia grinned as she waited to see what he would say to that.
“What about you?” he asked, giving her a narrow-eyed