A Place To Call Home

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 scrutiny and ignoring her gibe. “What do you do to fend off unwanted men? You must get calls by the score.”

“Hardly. I don’t usually accept dates unless I’ve known the man for a while.” When he raised his eyebrows at this, she continued, “I like to get to know people and see how they respond in social situations before being alone with them. It makes things easier, don’t you think?”

“Yes,” he said softly, “I do.”

Something in his eyes made her wonder if she’d said too much. Being cautious was probably not the way he thought of her. She’d once acted rashly, impulsively and the consequences be damned.

“Well, back to the housing market,” she said brightly. “Do you have any advice? Should I think about buying?”

“How do you feel about your job?” he asked.

She was surprised. “Well, I don’t really know. I talked to the superintendent of schools on Monday, looked my office over on Tuesday and met the department secretary on Wednesday. She looks as if she moved in when the facility was built. I have no idea if I’ll last longer than my three-year contract.”

“You got a contract?”

“Yes. It’s an administrative position. Instead of tenure, we agree on a specified time to put my ideas into action and see results.” She shrugged. “If things don’t turn around as fast as the school board thinks it should, they have to buy out the contract to get rid of me.”

“Mmm, maybe you’d better wait before buying a house, at least until you have a few months under your belt.”

“That’s what I thought, too.” She sighed. “Finding a small house to rent is more difficult than I thought it would be.”

“That’s why I bought a place. I thought I’d be here for at least ten years, but then we ran into problems in the southwest region again. I’ve used a lot of vacation time to work on the cabin, though. It’s coming along. I’ll get a lot more done now that I’m stationed here.”