LITMIR.BIZ

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      Hannah pulled into the parking stall in front of her motel room. “So, did you go to the bank?”

      “No. Not yet.”

      Hannah continued as she got out of the car. “I thought you were meeting with them this afternoon?”

      “I had to cover your appointments, honey.”

      Lizzie sounded funny. “Is everything okay yet?”

      “Everything’s fine. I’m waiting for a call from our loan officer and I’m telling Taylor tonight about the change in our appointment.”

      “You sure this is still a go?” Hannah got out of the car and walked to the edge of a field bordering the motel. A few shoots of green worked themselves through the tangle of weeds covering the field.

      “Absolutely. So when you coming back?” Lizzie asked, abruptly shifting the conversation to another topic.

      “Dan Westerveld wanted me to take some time to think about my decision. I’ll talk to him on Sunday.”

      “Excellent idea. Take your time, Hannah. You could use a break. You’ve been working day and night on that stupid business plan. You’ve already paid for your ticket. You may as well enjoy some time off work.”

      “Not my idea of a holiday,” Hannah said, lifting her face to the warm spring sun. “Did you talk to the landlord about that leaky tap?”

      “He says he’ll get to it when he gets to it.” Lizzie hummed a little tune and Hannah braced herself.

      “What’s up, Lizzie?” she asked.

      “What do you mean?”

      “You’re humming. Every time you hum, you’ve got some confession to make.”

      Lizzie sighed. “Well, I was going to wait until you were back. I knew once we start running the salon, you’ll have more money and you’ll probably enjoy being on your own. The apartment won’t cost much ’cause it’s part of the salon….”

      Hannah’s heart sank while Lizzie continued.

      “And Pete’s been making noises about us getting more serious.”

      “Don’t tell me he wants you to move in with him,” Hannah said.

      “Now don’t even start on your old-lady fussing and moralizing,” Lizzie continued. “We’re going to get married once you and me get the salon going.”

      “You sound like my mother.” Hannah couldn’t keep the slightly bitter tone out of her voice. “I’m guessing you’re moving out tonight?”

      “Yeah.”

      “I’m disappointed Pete thinks you’re that easy, Lizzie.” And no sooner had the words left her mouth than Hannah wished she could take them back.

      “Not all of us are willing to keep guys at arm’s length just because we don’t trust them,” Lizzie snapped. “You haven’t gone out with anyone since Alex dumped you.”

      “I’ll date when I find a guy worth dating.” Unlike my mother who, after Sam, went out with any man that smiled at her longer than two seconds.

      “And you won’t find a guy worth dating if you don’t date.”

      Hannah checked her next comment. She needed Lizzie and didn’t dare push her too far. “So you’ll be moved out when I’m back.” Hannah deliberately pitched her voice low and forced a smile to her face.

      “Pete’s a good guy, Hannah. He’s solid.”

      Not solid enough to want to marry her.

      “Anyway, I gotta go. Gotta make a few more calls about this business….” Lizzie let the sentence hang and Hannah felt a niggle of doubt creep into her mind.

      “You sure everything’s okay, Lizzie?”

      “Yeah. Hey, whaddya think about Pete coming in on this deal? He’s got a few dollars he can put in. Will help us out a lot.”

      “I don’t think it’s a good idea.” She decided to forgo the obvious complications of bringing in a partner who knew precious little about the salon business, never mind the fact that if Lizzie and Pete broke up, the business would be affected.

      “I kinda thought you would say that.” Lizzie sighed. “Okay. Gotta go. Take care.”

      Hannah said goodbye, flipped her phone shut and slipped it into her pocket. Lizzie sounded distracted. The whole business deal was taking more out of both of them than Hannah wanted to admit.

      She glanced at her watch. Lots of time left in this day. Maybe she should go for a drive and get her mind off all the events bombarding her mind the past few days.

      Fifteen minutes later she was heading out of town, down the highway. The only other vehicle was a bright red truck and he had his signal light on for the next exit.

      Ethan Westerveld, she realized as she came closer. The truck turned onto a gravel road marked with a hand-painted sign announcing a farm for sale. Was Sam’s farm at the end of the road? And what did it look like, this place Sam wanted to split between her and his nephew?

      Dan’s comment slipped to the forefront of her mind.

      Was she sure she didn’t want to see the place where Sam grew up?

      A niggling curiosity had her putting one foot on the clutch, the other on the brake and her hand on the signal light.

      What if he’s not going to the farm?

      She had little else to do today. She geared down and turned onto the gravel road, following the dust from Ethan’s truck.

      She passed a dairy farm and a few other yards. Some neat, some messy. Some of the houses were newer, some old. She passed an abandoned farm site, the graying timbers of the house sagging sadly toward the earth as if missing its previous owners.

      And space and space and more space.

      She came to the next crossroad and slowed down. A faint cloud of dust hung over the road going left. South of the road, she thought she saw a yard. She caught the glimpse of a house roof tucked against a clump of trees and beyond that, a hip roof barn painted green.

      And parked by the barn, a red pickup truck. Ethan’s truck.

      Hannah put the car in gear, spun the wheel and almost popped the clutch as she gunned the car around the corner, stilling the second thoughts spinning through her head as her tires spun on the gravel.

      The sign at the end of the driveway, an exact replica of the one at the entrance to Dan and Tilly’s place, assured her that this indeed was Sam’s place.

      Doubts immediately assailed Hannah. What was she doing here? She had no intention of sticking around; why check the place out?

      But Sam had come from and had returned to this place. Why not discover more about the place the man she once loved had spent much of his life? Why not find out what she was turning down, just so she’d know for sure she had made the right decision?

      Sam’s place had the same treed driveway. But as she came closer to the house, her heart lightened.

      Where Dan and Tilly’s house clearly said no money had been spared, this place created an entirely different ambience.

      The house was a simple cottage style, with a covered veranda, two bay windows flanking a main door. Above the veranda, two dormer windows broke the steeply pitched roof. The house was perched on a hill and, behind and below it, Hannah caught the glint of sunshine bouncing off a small lake.

      The place was like a tiny jewel. The classic country house in the classic country setting.

      So this is what I’m turning down. Hannah rested her hands on the steering wheel, her eyes taking in the flow of the land, the way the house was set so perfectly on the low

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