Linn swallowed gulps of frosty air and tried to get her frozen legs to move faster. She didn’t want to look next to her, to see who was stalking her in the dark. There was no one else around—not even a car passing by.
“Hi again.”
The voice registered as familiar. Her head whipped around. It was the guy from the coffee shop. Her body nearly thawed with relief. She slowed her frantic pace and turned.
The car stopped beside her, idling.
“I thought that was you, but I wasn’t sure,” the guy said, smiling. “It’s not safe to walk around by yourself at night.”
“I was supposed to take the bus, but . . .” She shrugged, not wanting to repeat that she’d left her money at home.
“Ah.” His head tipped back slightly as if he was remembering her cash problem. A car buzzed around him, honking for good measure. “Can I give you a lift?” He seemed hesitant to ask, as if he knew the fear and uncertainty that would automatically enter a girl’s mind at such a question. “I don’t feel good about leaving you out here all alone.”
Weighing the threat of those guys returning and the unknown threats ahead against the seemingly nice guy in the car, Linn decided the offer was definitely the lesser of two evils. She nodded. “Thanks.”
He opened the car door from inside, and she hopped in. The car’s warmth encased her like a fleece blanket.
“3702 Cermak.”
He checked the traffic and made a U-turn in the middle of the street.
Great. I was going the wrong way. She put the mocha cup between her knees and rubbed her hands together.
He turned up the heat to full blast. “You must be new to the area.”
“I’ve only been here three days.”
“Here as in Cicero or here as in Chicago?”
“Chicago. I’m starting at Loyola in January.”
“Good school. Where did you come from?”
He had a pleasant voice and a kind demeanor that made her feel more comfortable than she had in all the time since she left home. She realized only then how strange it felt to know only one person in the whole city.
“Jackson Hole, Wyoming.”
“Ah. That’s where the Tetons are, right?”
“Right.”
He was making a left at the first street she’d questioned. She remembered Mrs. Geischen, her fifth-grade teacher, telling the class, “Always go with your first impression on tests.” Maybe that applied to real life too. She wiggled her toes inside her boots. Now that she was inside the car and sitting still, she realized they also were half-frozen.
“Warming up?” he asked.
“Yes, thanks.” She peeked at him discreetly. He was such a cutie. Or maybe she should say he was attractive, since he seemed less like a guy and more like a man. His dark hair was clipped short, and he had a strong profile that reminded her of a movie star.
She blinked. What was she doing? The last thing she needed to be thinking about was men. After her nightmarish record on that account and her precarious future, she needed to focus on keeping a roof over her head.
Just then he turned onto her street, and everything looked familiar again.
“You wouldn’t happen to know anyone looking for some part-time help, would you?” she asked.
“Are you looking?” He glanced at her sideways, and she quickly averted her eyes. He was way too distracting.
“I had a job lined up, but it fell through tonight.” She pointed toward her apartment building. “It’s right there.”
“You’ve had a rough night, haven’t you?” When he pulled up to the curb, the way his lips went crooked made her smile.
“What gave it away? The fact that I: a) left my money at home, b) had to walk home and got lost, or c) lost my job before I even started?”
“D. All of the above?”
“Ding, ding, ding. We have a lucky winner.”
The sound of his laugh made warmth curl in her stomach in a place that had previously ached. It was such a pleasant sensation that she didn’t have the strength to fight it.
He grinned. “I can tell you’re a student. Even conversation is in the form of a test.”
Linn reached for the handle. “Listen, I really appreciate the ride.”
“Wait. You asked about a job.”
She faced him, the tingling of her thawing extremities temporarily forgotten.
“There’s nothing available at the coffee shop right now, but one of our new employees might not work out. Joe, the manager, has been talking about finding someone else. Interested?”
“Sure. I’ve waitressed, so I’m used to waiting on the public. And I’m a quick learner.”
“Just not so good with the north and south thing?” His eyes played with her.
She whacked him on the arm, though he probably couldn’t feel it under the layers of nylon and down.
He grabbed a three-ring notebook and pencil from the backseat floor. “Jot down your name and number if you want, and I’ll pass it on to Joe.” He flipped on the interior lights.
“I really appreciate that.” She turned past a bunch of notes to a blank page. As she flipped through, she caught the phrases “divine truth” and “inerrancy of Scripture.” Was this guy a preacher or something? He didn’t look like one.
She wrote down her name and new phone number with the stubby pencil and handed it back to him.
“My name’s Adam, by the way.” He put his hand out.
She shook his hand, feeling suddenly shy. “Thanks again for the ride.” She reached for the handle again and opened the door.
“Now, don’t get in the habit of hitching rides around here. You’re not in Kansas anymore, Dorothy.”
She smiled. “I’ll be careful.” She waved him off, wondering why he even cared about a stranger like her.
“What do you think?” David asked.
Natalie, one of Paula’s sisters, and her soon-to-be husband, Kyle Keaton, strolled through the two-story home, eying the distressed wood floor and the freshly painted walls.
David had been as surprised as everyone else at Natalie and Kyle’s whirlwind engagement. Even the wedding, planned for Christmas Eve, was coming at lightning speed, though the couple seemed confident in their plans and thoroughly in love.
“I love it.” Natalie shifted the baby in her arms.
“Want me to take her?” Kyle asked.
Natalie handed little Gracie over, and Kyle cradled her in one arm like a football.
“The floor is beautiful,” Natalie said. “And I like the way the master bedroom is downstairs and the other rooms are upstairs.”
“Are we going to be able to hear Gracie from down here?” Kyle asked.
“We can use a nursery monitor.”
David watched how the two of them communicated so kindly and felt a tightness in his gut that he recognized as jealousy. When was the last time he and Paula had spoken to each other so amicably? Of course, he reminded himself, these two weren’t even married yet. And talk about full plates. Natalie had two boys from her first marriage, an ex-husband who’d betrayed her, and a newly adopted baby who just happened to be her ex-husband’s love child. Maybe David’s life wasn’t so whacked after all.
“The house has only been on the market three weeks, but the owners are moving out of state, so I imagine they’re eager to sell.” David flipped to the disclosure page. “The furnace is original. The roof was replaced three years ago. Everything seems to be in good condition.”
“Could we find out what the utilities run?” Kyle asked.
“Sure. Anything else you want to look at before we move on to the next house?”
Natalie and Kyle shook their heads no and stepped out the front door. David locked the door behind him, putting the key back in the lockbox before joining them in the vehicle. The baby was still asleep, nestled now in the infant seat like a caterpillar in a cocoon.
A yearning sprang up from someplace deep inside David. A yearning he’d pushed away for months. Why hadn’t he and Paula—
“What time did Paula get in last night?” Natalie asked from the backseat.
He would have been glad to change the direction of his thoughts, but this was another subject he wanted to avoid. He wondered when Natalie was going to bring up her sister. She had steered clear of the topic . . . until now.
“She decided not to come home.” He put the car in reverse and backed out of the drive.
He knew the silence didn’t indicate that the subject would be dropped.
“Oh,” Natalie said, sounding puzzled. “Nothing’s wrong, is it?”
How would he know? “I don’t think so.”
The baby woke and gave a squeaky little cry, but whatever Natalie did calmed her down quickly.
“How did her first week go?” Natalie asked.
David wished she’d just drop the subject. If she wanted to know how her sister was, she should call herself. “I have no idea, Natalie.”
“You haven’t called her?”
“No, I have not.” David picked up the listing on the next house and scanned the sheet for the street address.
“Not at all? How do we know she even made it safely to Chicago?”
In his peripheral vision, David saw Kyle slip his hand between the seats and set it on Natalie’s knee.
“She e-mailed to let me know she wasn’t coming home, so I’m sure she’s fine.”
Paula hadn’t said that. Hadn’t said anything except:
I’m going to need time to prepare for my first week solo, so I’m staying in Chicago this weekend.
Not one word about how her week went or a single question about how his work was going. He’d sold a ranch this week worth 5.4 million, but did she care?
David turned into the drive of the next house he was showing Natalie and Kyle. Maybe he could help this couple find a home where they, too, could experience the wonderful journey to wedded bliss.