A vehicle pulled into the parking space next to her. Startled, she glanced around to see Jeremy in the SUV.
He rolled down the window. “Checking out your new domain?”
She nodded, feeling a little shy because he’d read her so easily. “I wanted to see where the building was located and how the town was laid out.”
“Where’s your car?”
“I walked down from the hotel. I needed the exercise after spending all those hours in traffic yesterday.”
“Good thinking. I’m heading for the bridge site south of here, down toward Desolation Canyon. I saw you when I pulled out of the parking lot at the DOT building and wondered if you’d like to go along. The scenery is pretty nice.”
The educational offices were across the street from the courthouse. The squat building down from the courthouse was the one he pointed out as the DOT regional headquarters. She hadn’t realized it would be near her workplace.
“You probably don’t want to be trapped in a car again after your long trip yesterday,” Jeremy said when she failed to respond.
She turned to him. “Sorry, I was thinking about work. If you’re sure I won’t be in the way, I’d love a scenic tour of the area,” she said on an impulse she couldn’t quite explain.
“Hop in,” he invited with an engaging smile.
As they drove out of town, she had to chuckle at the dinosaur that welcomed visitors.
“Yeah,” Jeremy said. “It takes some getting used to.”
“Why pink?”
“Beats me.”
It was nice, she realized, to laugh with him, to have someone to be at ease with. Jeremy was the only person who knew all the ugly details of her secret past, so she didn’t have to be on guard with him every minute the way she was with her family and friends back in Idaho. In fact, she hadn’t really been free and easy with anyone in ages, perhaps not since she was nineteen.
That was the past, she reminded herself hastily. When she’d agreed to take the new position, she’d decided the move would be a starting point, a new day in her life. Regret and mistakes would be wiped out, and she’d start over with a clean slate.
Could that be done? Her emotional upheaval since the wedding had upset those grand schemes, and now she was unsure she’d done the correct thing.
Her gaze was drawn to her companion. What an irony that the one person who knew all the details of her foolish, betrayed heart should be here, reminding her of long-ago dreams and the confidence she’d once had in them.
“Look,” he said softly, pointing out the rugged view in front of the truck. “The Uinta Mountains of this area are unique in that they run east-west rather than north-south like most ranges. We also have eleven peaks over thirteen-thousand feet. King’s Peak, at 13,498, is the highest in the state.” He paused. “Am I boring you with the travelogue?”
“Not at all. I like knowing about the area where I live. Most people don’t realize there are canyons and cliffs up here that are as impressive as the Grand Canyon.”
“Yeah, Desolation Canyon of the Green River for one. It’s a prime rafting area.”
“Have you gone down it in a raft?”
“Several times. It’s fun.”
“If you like life-threatening adventure,” she murmured wryly.
His chuckle was low and husky. Intimate. It sent a funny sensation down her spine. Being with Jeremy, away from their common environment, put a different angle on their knowing each other, as if the past was too far away to count.
She frowned as an uneasy feeling disturbed her pleasure with the scenery. She wasn’t an adventurer, she decided. She liked life to be predictable and stable. She no longer considered living in a van and following the best surf to be the height of fun as she had as a four-year-old. She was no longer positive she knew everything worth knowing as she had been at nineteen.
Young and foolish? Yeah, been there, done that.
When he pulled off the road at a vista point, she got out of the SUV and stood on the lookout, wary and disturbed.
To the west rose the Badland cliffs. To the east was the gorge of the river. She and Jeremy stood on a mile-high plateau between the two. A breeze from the canyon caressed their faces, cooling the heat that enveloped her when he moved near.
“Look,” he said, speaking close to her ear, “I think there’s a bighorn on that bluff.”
She saw a white spot moving in the distance. The mountain sheep clambered up the steep incline and disappeared over the ridge.
“How do they manage such slopes?” she asked in awe.
“Suction cups for feet, I think.”
His breath touched her temple as he laughed. Instinctively she turned her face to his as amusement caught her unawares. She sucked in a quick, startled breath as she realized their lips were only inches apart. And that she wanted…
His eyes, which had some surprising green flecks near the pupil, locked on hers as if he could read that internal yearning. For a second that seemed an eternity, they stared at each other.
He stepped back. “We’d better move on. It’s a short distance to the site but very winding.”
They were mostly silent on the rest of the trip, other than her exclaiming over each new panoramic view, which seemed to occur with each bend in the road.
When they arrived at the construction camp, around thirty people were there, most of them operating huge machines that ate up big chucks of dirt and moved boulders as if they were toy building blocks. She was pleased to see a woman driving one of the behemoths and another, obviously in the last trimester of pregnancy, going into a trailer that had a sign declaring it to be the office.
Jeremy led the way to it. “Tina Ramsey, Zia Peters,” he introduced her to the pregnant woman. “Tina is the executive assistant of the site and keeps things on track around here. Zia is the new curriculum coordinator for the county education department. She arrived in town yesterday.”
“Glad to meet you,” the younger woman said. “Are you at the residential hotel? Everyone stays there when they arrive.”
“Yes. I rented a suite for a month while I’m looking for a place of my own,” Zia told the friendly younger woman.
“My cousin Jim is in real estate. You should check with him. Are you looking to rent or buy?”
“Rent for now. I would like a small house, if possible.”
Tina wrinkled her nose. “Those are hard to find. People tend to stay put.” Her laughter was infectious. “There was an article in the local paper about the county’s plans for the school system, if the federal funds come through. It mentioned you.”
Zia liked the vivacious young woman. She was friendly and very pretty with thick black hair that almost reached her waist, fair skin and intriguing gray eyes that flashed like quicksilver as she talked.
Tina turned her attention to her boss. “I have the lading bills for you to look over. Also, I need your signature for the overtime hours last week.”
Zia glanced out the trailer window at the busy compound while they conferred. Jeremy had just started his new position, yet the two seemed very comfortable with each other.
She wasn’t particularly comfortable with anyone at first meeting. For her, friendship had to grow slowly. Only time would tell if the person was trustworthy. Her attitude was a lot different from what it had been at one time, when she’d been prone to snap judgments.
Maybe