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“You’re close to your family.”
“Yep, I try to get down there every Sunday unless I’m working.”
“Down is where?”
“Escondido. Almost to the city line. I have an ulterior motive though; I get enough food so I don’t have to cook all week.”
“I hate to cook,” Faith replied. “It’s so pointless to cook for one person.”
“I never turn down food when it’s offered to me.”
They laughed at that, eating dessert.
“So I guess the question now is, are you seeing anyone?” she asked, grinning at him.
“Not yet,” he answered, smiling.
And at that moment, Karin’s truck pulled into the driveway.
“Oh! It’s Karin Smith,” Faith announced, looking right at him.
“She’s here to garden.”
“She does my garden, too. When she’s home, that is.”
“We rode past your house yesterday. I like your property, right on the edge of the incline. Do you ever have any trouble with rockslides?”
“It’s funny you should ask that because yes! I had my first damage from falling rocks last winter. The answer was to install wire mesh cages over the windows on that side of the house.
“See that crack?” She pointed to a fissure between the chinking in the logs of the cabin. “Earthquake. We don’t get many around here, and when we do, they’re not big ones, but they tend to find any weakness in your house and wreak havoc.”
Paul had lived in California all his life and, as a firefighter, knew the dangers of living in an earthquake zone, but he graciously let her keep talking, biting his lip when he wanted to yawn, nodding his head in response to her comments.
Finally, after she’d been there for about half an hour, she looked at her phone and squealed. “My father is going to have my head on a stick. I’m late!”
She popped up out of the chair, reaching for her dishes to take to the trash.
“I can get that.”
“Walk out with me,” she said, confusing him.
He didn’t know why but followed her out. Then he thought maybe she didn’t want to be seen coming out of the cabin alone. That made sense. They walked to her car together, and Karin straightened up from digging in the garden.
“Hey, Dr. Faith! How are the resident four-leggeds doing?”
“They’re great. Are you headed over to my place today?” she asked. It was all cordial, not at all seemingly uncomfortable.
“I’ll go over as soon as I’m done here,” she answered, watching Paul.
He stood by while Faith got in her truck, and not until she drove off did he approach Karin. He was going to be cautious until he knew exactly what the dynamics were.
“Did you ride yesterday?” he asked, hoping to get that awkwardness out of the way.
“I did. I try to ride every day when I’m home.” She’d gone back down on her knees, pulling weeds while she talked.
“Where do you go to school?”
“Southern Utah,” she said. “It’s close enough that I can get home in about seven hours if I have to.”
