“No” said Paige Anderson firmly over a mouthful of cinnamon bun.“It’s only an intimate little dinner. 

There won’t be hordes of people” said her sister Donna.

“That’s what bothers me,” answered Paige.  “It will be just you, Jack, me, and whoever strikes you as the next entry in the ‘let’s set up poor Paige’ sweepstakes.”

Paige regretted her harsh refusal when she saw the hurt look on her sister’s face.  She reached out and put a hand over Donna’s on the diner’s table. “I’m sorry Sis.  I don’t mean to be ungrateful and I’d love to have dinner with you and Jack.  I just don’t want to be pushed into a relationship .  I want to take care of that on my own.

Ouch, she thought. Like I’ve really been doing a great job of that.  Her five year relationship with Justin had ended disastrously and she’d escaped by running home.  At least, by coming back to her home town and back to her old job in the local library.  She’d even, on the spur of the moment, bought an old house on the edge of town.  Some sort of a statement, maybe.

She gave a quick hug to Donna as they left the diner and waved her off.  Then she turned to her old Escort. Oh no! She had turned her lights on because of morning fog and forgot to turn them off.  Sure enough, after several tries at the ignition, her old battery just wouldn’t start.  A knock at the glass turned her gaze to a smiling dark-haired man gesturing for her to roll down the window.

“Need a boost?  I have cables in my trunk.”

In no time he had her Escort running.  She watched his sure movements as he closed her hood and put away the cables.  Then he turned.  She blushed, realizing he had caught her examining him.

“I’m Todd Winfield,” he said holding out his hand. “Are you new in town too?”

“Paige Anderson,” she answered to the deep brown eyes with laughter crinkles around them.  “I used to live here but just moved back.”

“Me too.  My parents moved away when I was young.  Well, you’ll be fine now.” He let go of her hand which she realized he had held onto long after the introductions were over.  “See you around.”

Oh, I sincerely hope so thought Paige.  The memory of those deep laughing eyes was not going to go away easily.

She drove back to her new home on the edge of town and settled in to do some unpacking.  As she started to fill the bedroom closet, she noticed a box on the top shelf.  She pulled it down and discovered it held a set of old journals, not conventional diaries, but notebooks filled with observations.  She closed the first one after reading a few paragraphs.  They seemed quite personal and she felt like an intruder, even though she knew the former owner of the house had passed away.

The next day she packed up the journals and dropped them off at the real estate office.  They would have information of next of kin and could return the journals to family.

Donna phoned next morning.  “I’m changing plans.” She said.  “Come for a barbeque tonight instead.  We’re just having a few friends over”

Safety in numbers, Paige thought and agreed.

Later in the afternoon a knock at the door interrupted her unpacking.  She opened the door to see her morning rescuer from the day before. 

“I didn’t know yesterday you were the one who had bought Grandmother’s house.” Todd  began.  “Ken from the realtor’s office rang me. I wanted to thank you for returning the journals.” 

“Come in,” said Paige, becoming alarmingly aware of her dishevelled appearance.  Her hair stood on end and she just knew she was covered with black streaks from unwrapping newspaper covered dishes. “Would you like some coffee?  I have something else to show you.”

From his eager acceptance, Todd didn’t seem to mind the streaks. She showed him some old books she had found in the attic along with a box of assorted knick-knacks.

While he examined the box, she excused herself and took a quick swipe at her hair and the dirt streaks on her face in the bathroom.  “Not much improvement” she said ruefully to the mirror, “but at least I’m clean.”

 Over coffee she learned that he was an engineer and had come back to Brooks to work at the new fertilizer plant opening up.  Like her, he was into new beginnings in an old setting. They talked like old friends and neither noticed time passing.

Then Todd did a double-take as he looked at her kitchen clock.  “I’ve got to run,” he said.  “I have a couple of errands to take care of.  Then I’m due at a barbeque in the west end tonight.  Say,” he said looking directly into her eyes with those gorgeous brown ones. “Would you like to come to a barbeque?  It’s quite informal and Donna and Jack are great people. They’d love to have you”

Paige’s mouth fell open.  “I’m sure they would,” she murmured.  “I’ll meet you there”, she said. “Then I’ll explain my sister to you.”

He looked at her uncomprehendingly.  “You’ll need the address,” he said.  But she only grinned.  “Don’t be late with your errands. I know exactly where I’m going.”  And she did.