A Place To Call Home

He returned to the living room and tossed a duffel bag on the floor near the door. A shaving kit landed beside it.

“I need a few more minutes,” he said, going into the kitchen.

Opening a cedar-lined door, which proved to be the refrigerator, he removed several items. He poured the milk down the drain, ran some leftovers through the disposal and tossed salad greens far out the side door.

“There, that should do it,” he said with another glance around the neat space.

“Your home is very nice,” she said, rising.

He smiled, but it didn’t erase the worried look in his eyes. “Someday I’ll show you the pictures I took before I started the remodel. The place didn’t have a lot going for it.”

“Did you pick out the furniture?”

“Yeah, but Krista advised me on colors and all that. I sent her pictures by phone and she okayed the sofa and chairs. The couple who own the furniture store did the layout and talked me into that chest. I think they called it a credenza.”

“The hassock and tray are very up-to-date.”

“It’s also great to prop your feet on when the guys are over for beer and pizza night.”

She managed a laugh.

He came around the island and laid a hand on her shoulder. “It’ll be okay. Caileen is tough. She’ll make it.”

She nodded, unable to speak for a second. “Are you ready?”

“Yes. I’ll call a couple of my supervisors when we get to town and put them in charge until I get back.”

“We probably won’t be gone long.” The words sounded false even to her ears.

“Let’s hit the road.” He waited for her to exit, then turned out the lights and locked up. “We’ll use the SUV.”

She didn’t argue, but went to her car and got her luggage while he stored his in the back of his vehicle. He added her two cases when she brought them over.

“Do you want to leave your car here or in town?”

“Is it okay here?”

He nodded. “I’ve never had any trouble.”

“I’ll leave it.”

After ushering her into the passenger seat, he belted himself in and they left on a journey that would take them most of the night. “Maybe we won’t have any road delays at night,” she said as he turned onto the paved county road.

“Yeah, that’ll be a real plus.”

In town, he stopped by the DOT office and called those who needed to know where he was going while she waited in the SUV. When he returned, he had a large insulated container of coffee and two plastic cups, plus two cans of soda. He placed a small wire basket of snacks—peanuts, crackers, chips, two apples—on the center console.

“This should get us through until breakfast,” he told her, heading west on the highway out of town.

“It took me several hours to make the trip home for Krista’s wedding,” she murmured, gazing past the sweep of the headlights into the countryside when they were west of town.

Glancing at his profile, she recalled how handsome, how…how cosmopolitan he’d seemed at the wedding. She’d thought of Jeremy as an earthy sort—well, being a civil engineer, that seemed natural—but she’d discovered another side to him, one that was urbane and at ease in the most elegant surroundings.

Pulling her gaze back to the countryside, she frowned at the sudden pang that went through her, a piercing moment of longing for something that was missing in her life, that had always been just beyond her grasp. She couldn’t say what it was.

The moon limned the pavement into a ghostly ribbon. She saw no lights ahead to indicate oncoming traffic. They could have been the only creatures in the world. It was an eerie sensation.

Jeremy set the cruise control, popped the top on one of the cans and took a long drink, then placed it in a cup holder. “I haven’t had dinner,” he said as he tore open a bag of chips with his teeth.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I’d eaten earlier. I didn’t think about your missing dinner,” she finished.

“That’s okay. I’d just gotten in from the bridge site shortly before you arrived. I decided I needed a bath more than food at the moment.”

“Are you having problems with the construction?”

“Yes. There’s soft rock layered in with the hard stuff. We have to have a solid base for the piers.”

“So what will you do?”

“Drill pilings through the soft rock. It’ll cost more and delay the construction. Again.”

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