by Curry, Edna
"I guess you'll have to come home with me."
"Sure your parents won't mind?"
She shook her head. He handed her into the cab of the red tow truck, then climbed in beside her and slammed the door. Immediately, the mixed scents of gas and oil surrounded her in the closeness of the cab. The driver sent her a boyish grin and gunned the motor. Squeezed between Jeff and the driver, she noticed only the heat of Jeff’s body. He raised his arm up and casually laid it across her shoulders to make more room, smiling at her.
Damn him. He was actually enjoying this. Anyone would think having car trouble an hour from home was an exciting adventure. Well, there was nothing to do now but make the best of it.
Diane called home from the gas station and explained the situation to her mother.
“Of course you must bring him here,” her mother insisted. “I’ll send Paula to pick you up.”
In a few minutes, her sister arrived. They squeezed into the back seat of her little Ford and headed back across the river toward Diane’s old home. Paula kept up an excited chatter as she drove. As they rode up the sharp hill on the other side of the valley, Diane regretted the darkness. She longed to see the maple trees in their yard in their gorgeous fall colors.
She was again pressed against Jeff in the small car, and the heat of his hard, muscular body touching her set her pulse racing. She knew he felt it too, because he covered her hand with his, running his thumb inside her palm in a slow caress.
She steeled herself against the warm response that sprang unbidden through her body and pulled her hand away. Just then Paula turned into the long lane of their home, and Scamp bounded out to meet them.
"Oh, oh, Scamp's slipped out of his collar again. I don't know what we're going to do with him."
Diane jumped out and laughed as she hugged the big German Shepherd. Scamp joyfully barked a welcome to her.
"Scamp, this is Jeff. He's a friend," she told the dog sternly. Jeff stood still, as Scamp obediently sniffed his hand and ankles to identify him, looked up at Diane, and then began wagging his tail. Jeff grinned at this sign of acceptance and reached down to pat him.
Diane glanced at Jeff appreciatively. Most people did all the wrong things when meeting her dog. "Well, it looks like you have a fan," she said. "Scamp doesn't make friends easily."
"Really? I can't imagine why." Jeff grinned. "His size alone would scare off most people."
"He's an excellent watchdog, but really very gentle," Diane defended her beloved pet.
"Don't get your dander up. I like him. We had a big Black Labrador at home ourselves." He put his arm around her to walk to the house, then quickly removed it when Scamp growled at him. Holding up both palms to the dog in a gesture of surrender, he said, "Sorry, pal, see? No touch."
Diane hid a smile. Scamp had always been protective of her. But this time she wasn't sure she wanted him to be. She was beginning to enjoy the warm feelings Jeff's touch elicited.
Her parents were both home, relaxing in the living room. Diane made the introductions, proud of her tall, still-athletic father and trim mother. Their hair was beginning to gray now, but they were still very active and well.
"Mom, Dad, this is Jeff Banning, a co-worker at the travel agency. Jeff, my parents, Bill and Rose Foerman."
She stole a glance at Jeff's face as he shook hands with them, politely thanking them for inviting him to stay. She found herself eyeing the familiar room, wondering how it looked to him. The well-made furniture was comfortable and homey, but certainly not sophisticated. A spinet piano, and the many CDs and books gave away their hobbies. She wondered how it compared with his own home, then scolded herself. Why should I care what he thinks? I’ll probably never see him again except in the office anyway. Relax.
Rose insisted on making coffee and Paula excused herself to go to bed, saying she had to be at work at seven in the morning and needed her beauty sleep.
Diane left Jeff talking to her father, excusing herself to go to her own room upstairs to freshen up. She was thankful that she still kept some clothes at her parents' home, because she often came home for the weekend.
She found a pair of slacks and a blouse and slipped them on, then ran a brush through her short, curly hair that only needed a quick touch-up with a hairbrush. The swept-back style suited her round face, though she’d always envied Paula her oval one that looked great with any style.
"You're pretty enough!" Paula teased from her doorway, as though Diane had conjured her up by thinking of her.
"I thought you were turning in?"
"I only wanted to let you know I approve of your choice in men, Sis. Wow, too bad I didn't see him first."
"He's not my man," Diane protested.
"Oh, no? I saw you holding hands in the car. And he practically caressed you helping you into your jacket in the restaurant this noon. Quit holding out on me, Sis."
"You're incorrigible, Paula."
"It’s about time you got serious about someone. You can't mope over Cory forever, you know."
"I never mope!"
"Whatever you call it, I'd stop doing it, if I had a guy like Jeff looking at me like that."
“Like what?”
Paula slid a sideways glance at her. “Like he was hungry or something.”
"Paula, let me alone, and go to bed."
"Okay, okay. See you tomorrow." She flounced out.
Diane groaned, and threw down her hairbrush. This was just the small town reaction she'd been dreading. She made a wry face at herself in the mirror of her dresser and went downstairs to face her parents and Jeff.
An hour later when they found themselves alone in the kitchen, her mother said, "Such a nice man. Any dating going on between you?"
"Honestly, Mom. You'd find romance under a rock. We've never had a real date, just gone to lunches or out after work with the rest of the office gang."
"Aha. Then you have been seeing him. Didn't you tell me he took you to dinner tonight?"
"That wasn't a date! He drove all the way back because he thought I was stranded here. I couldn't very well tell him 'thanks, but no thanks,' could I?"
Rose pursed her lips thoughtfully and shook her head. "Let's go back to the living room before they wonder what's keeping us."
"There you are," Bill said, "with some of Paula's delicious fudge, I see. Fresh popcorn, too. Jeff, here, was telling me he cut his teeth on computers under his father. Later, he's going to give me a few tips on downloading files from the Internet with my new modem."
"I thought you didn't like computers, Jeff." Diane sent a surprised look at him.
"I didn't say I didn't like them. Only that I wanted a change from programming after spending years at it. I learned a lot just from hearing my parents discuss business at the dinner table all the time I was growing up," Jeff said. "You probably learned a lot about your parents' jobs even if you didn't elect to do them yourself, too."
"Well, yes," she admitted. "And it comes in handy sometimes, like today."
"Today?"
"Mom's a nurse," she explained. "I picked up most of my first aid training from her."
"I see."
"Yes," her mother agreed with a laugh. "In fact, that's how she got her job with the travel agency."
"Really?"
"Oh, come on, Mom. Must you tell everyone that story?" asked Diane, feeling her cheeks heat.
"Why not?" Jeff asked, looking very interested. "I'd like to hear it!"
"Well," said Rose, crossing her slim legs. "It all happened about two years ago at the ski resort. Diane and I were coming down the slope. When we came over a rise, we nearly fell over this boy lying in the snow. He'd been hurt, so we stopped to help him."
"You were skiing?" Jeff asked incredulously. Then he had the grace to look embarrassed, evidently realizing he’d made it sound as though she were too old to be doing that.
"Certainly," Rose said tartly.
Diane swallowed a smile as she noted that her mother's tone cooled a bit tow
ards Jeff.
Rose continued, "I'm still quite able to stand up. As a matter of fact, my father still occasionally skis, also."
"I'm sorry," Jeff murmured. "I didn't think...."
"Anyway," her mother went on, "Alice Cortell was in charge of the ski group the boy had come with, so naturally we met her. Then, when we went to the hospital later to see how the boy was doing, we had coffee with her. We got to talking about the agency and she offered Diane a job."
"Just like that?" Jeff asked raising an eyebrow disbelievingly.
"As a matter of fact, yes. Just like that. Of course, it helped a bit when Alice found out we'd been all over the world on vacations ourselves, since Bill is an airline pilot."
"You are?" Jeff turned back to her father, and they were off on that subject.
"Well," Diane said with a yawn, "I'm going up to bed. "It's been quite a day."
"Goodnight," Jeff said quietly.
"Goodnight, Diane,” her father echoed. “You'd better sleep late in the morning. You're looking peaked."
"Thanks, Dad," she said stiffly.
"Yes, Diane, do that," Jeff said, as though she hadn't spoken. He eyed her speculatively. "I'll catch a ride to the gas station with Paula when she goes to work in the morning and get my car fixed. Later, maybe you can show me the rest of the valley, since it's Saturday, and we both have the day off."
"Of course," she agreed. What else could she say? She went up the stairs to bed. Sleep late indeed. Why hadn't he come right out and said she looked awful and been done with it?
"Ooh, that man. I wish I'd never met him," she fumed, punching her pillow and trying to get comfortable enough to sleep. But she knew she didn't really wish that at all. Instead, she kept thinking that he would be sleeping in the guest room only a few feet away, and going over all the nice moments that had happened between them.
Getting up, she sat on the window seat and stared down at the lights twinkling over the valley. Why did he attract her so? She'd been determined to avoid entanglements, but this man had a special, disturbing quality about him. She sensed a depth to him. Several times today she'd had the feeling that he was being deliberately evasive.
Diane continued to stare out her window. Off to her right, a light still shone on the lawn from her father's study window. Perhaps Jeff was still there talking to her father.
Finally, she went back to bed, with no more answers than when she'd gotten up.
***
In the morning, Diane woke up with a headache. Looking in her mirror, she saw that her face was pale and her eyes looked puffy and tired.
She repaired the damage as best she could by taking a hot shower, brushing her blonde curls until they shone, and applying makeup with extra care. Then she slipped into a pair of plaid slacks, a matching soft burgundy sweater and low walking shoes. With a last grimace at her mirror, she sighed and went downstairs, hoping Jeff would have already gone as he'd planned.
She was in luck about that, he was nowhere in sight. Diane poured herself a steaming cup of coffee and sat down at the dining room table. The sun was shining so brightly it hurt her eyes and aggravated her headache, but it accentuated the fall colors spread out before her. Through the glass doors that led to the redwood deck she could see the trees dressed in red, gold, yellow, bronze and orange leaves, mixed with a scattering of evergreens. Down the valley, the brilliant colors cascaded in steps.
At the edge of their backyard, only a few hundred feet away, the land dropped sharply, so that their house really sat almost at the edge of the cliff.
Her mother sat down across from her. "Not feeling well, Diane?"
"Only a headache."
"And insomnia?"
"Yes," she admitted.
"Did you take some aspirin?"
"Yes, Mom." She sighed. "Really, I'm a big girl, now. I can take care of myself."
"Of course. Sorry, mothering gets to be a habit. Toast? An egg perhaps?"
"You're still mothering." Diane laughed wryly, shaking her head.
"I am not," her mother returned, her blue eyes flashing. "I'm a hostess offering her guest breakfast. Who might be polite, even if she does have a headache."
"Sorry, Mom. Only more coffee, please," Diane said contritely. "Did Jeff leave with Paula?"
"Yes, they left hours ago. He should be back soon. He said to tell you he'd pick you up as soon as his car is fixed and he’d stopped at the clothing store for a clean shirt."
"Great," Diane said, but her tone of voice made the opposite statement.
Her mother looked concerned and sympathetic. "Don't you want to go? I can tell him you're ill."
"No, don't do that," Diane shook her head and sighed. "I'm okay, really. Besides, my car is in the city and I still need a ride back there. No reason to ask one of you to make the trip when he has to go back anyway.” She hesitated, then added, “I'm a bit nervous about what he may report to Alice."
"Surely you don't feel she sent him on this trip to spy on you? That doesn't sound like Alice at all. She seemed so nice."
"Oh, not quite like that, Mom. But he is my superior, and I’m sure Alice would feel she had to accept his version of our fiasco yesterday. Though it really turned out all right except that we were behind schedule. And of course, Mr. Jesset's heart attack wasn't anything we could have foreseen. All the same, I'd rather not irritate him any further."
At that moment Bill walked in.
"Irritate who any further? What have you been up to now?"
With a sigh, Diane explained it all over again to her father. Jeff's attentiveness last night seemed just a faraway dream and all she could remember were her office goofs.
"He seems like a nice enough young man to me," her father said, frowning. "You're probably exaggerating. We talked for hours last night," he went on enthusiastically. "He figured out most of the problems I've been having with my computer. I swear you can ask that fella anything about them and he's got the answers right on the tip of his tongue! I could listen to him explain things for hours."
"Not only could, Bill. You did,” Rose chided. “I thought you were never going to come to bed last night."
"Well, he made it all sound so simple. I guess it is once you understand it, eh? Jeff really knows his stuff."
He looked at her quizzically. "Are you two serious?"
"Dad! You're getting as bad as Mom. I hardly know the man. We've haven’t even dated."
"Aren't you showing him the valley today?"
"Well, yes, but that's not a date, Dad, just small-town hospitality."
Bill laughed. "Nice distinction, daughter. But I was thinking that he'd be a handy son-in-law to have. I could call him when I had a problem with my computer. That character I bought it from doesn't know half as much, and is crabby when I call him besides."
"Some reason to marry a man."
"Well, I've heard of sillier ones. And you're not getting any younger, you know."
"Who are you marrying?" a deep voice asked from the kitchen doorway.
Chapter 4
Diane turned quickly to find Jeff standing behind them. Her face grew hot. She caught her breath, but couldn’t think of an answer.
"No one," Bill said. "That's the problem. Come in, come in, Jeff. There's some coffee left. How about some eggs? Just teasing my daughter here a little, telling her how much you taught me last night."
Diane's face was burning and she would have given anything to have disappeared over the cliff outside the sliding glass doors. Instead she said nothing, thankful that Jeff dropped the subject. He and her parents chatted comfortably while he polished off the breakfast her mother set in front of him.
But she couldn't help admiring how the soft cream color of his new shirt set off the dark brown of his hair and eyes. She had never seen such attractive brows, and wanted to stroke them. Then she realized where her thoughts were wandering and caught them up short and pushed them away. She was not getting involved with another playboy.
Starting off on their tour
of the valley in his newly repaired car, they were finally alone again on their way back down the hill.
She glanced nervously at him and said, "Sorry about that. I should have warned you about my folks' preoccupation with marrying me off. It doesn't mean anything."
He took his gaze off the steep road for a second to cast her a penetrating gaze. "Sorry to hear that. Does that mean you don’t think I’m attractive?" he asked, an edge to his voice.
"I didn't mean that," she protested. Why did she always manage to put her foot in her mouth when she was with him? Now she’d insulted him, getting deeper in trouble instead of getting out of it.
A frown creased his brow. "What did you mean?"
"I meant that I don't want you to get the idea that I'm looking for a husband, because I'm not."
"You're a feminist?" He made it sound like something dirty.
"Not really, although I certainly agree with some of their ideas, especially on things like equal pay for equal work and protection for battered women and children. No, I just like being single. For the moment, at least."
"Aha! Then they are right after all. You are interested in marriage."
"Perhaps someday," she admitted, "but not yet. There are too many things I want to do before I get trapped into doing the laundry and dishes routine."
"Like what? See the world, perhaps?"
That’s just what I’d be doing, if they hadn’t brought you in to be the new tour guide. She swallowed the resentful lump in her throat and said, "Perhaps. Anyway, I don't believe in my parents’ notion that every unmarried girl over twenty-five is an old maid. That idea was outdated years ago. It embarrasses me that they still cling to it."
He glanced at her from under his dark lashes, as though to assess the truth of her words.
Managing a tentative smile, she attempted to change the subject. "Isn't the valley gorgeous?" She was sure he’d been about to reopen the painful subject of her past, which he'd managed to find out about last night. She’d put that awful time after Cory had dumped her firmly in the past, and was not about to discuss it. Quickly, she asked, "Where would you like to go first?"
