âI made you uncomfortable.â
Charityâs heart lurched. âWhy do you think that?â
âBecause I asked you out,â Wayne said. âYouâre sitting there trying to make casual conversation with someone you have nothing in common with except work.â
Heâd nailed it. A little while ago sheâd felt giddy about meeting him. Now she was uncomfortable and floundering.
âItâs okay,â he said. âI know youâre leaving. This is what you want to make it, nothing more. I like you. Youâre very attractive. But maybe mixing business and pleasure was a stupid idea.â
âNo. I was glad you asked me out. Truly. I like you, too. Itâs just that â¦â Charity hesitated.
âWe have an advantage here,â Wayne continued.
âWe do?â
âSure. When you go back to Atlanta, you never have to see me again. That ought to be freeing, not inhibiting.â
âSort of like Las Vegas?â
âYup. Or not. But I guess what Iâm saying is, relax. Be yourself. I wonât hold it against you.â
He made sense, she realized. There were advantages.
âAh, youâre smiling again,â he observed. âGood. This was supposed to be fun, not trial by fire.â
***
Be sure to check out the next books in Conard County: The Next Generation series!
Chapter 1
Charity Atkins drove into the outskirts of Conard City and suddenly felt sickeningly out of her depth. It was a grandiose name for a small town, she realized, and although she was a good arson investigator, sheâd only worked in industrial areas and other businesses in large cities, not on ranches out in the boondocks.
It didnât help to remind herself that location didnât matter, that figuring out whether the arson was attempted fraud remained the same no matter where it occurred. For the first time, though, she knew why Todd had claimed he couldnât handle this job and had recommended Charity take his place. All the stuff heâd said about how she was such a great investigator? Sheâd thought it was exaggerated at the time, but now she knew why. Separating Todd from his metropolitan comforts might have been too much to ask. She snorted.
Two minutes later she realized she couldnât have been more inappropriately dressed. The casual clothes of people she passed were mostly well-worn versions of Western style. Wearing a gray business suit and high heels was going to make her stick out like a sore thumb. Of course, given the size of this place sheâd probably stick out anyway.
She felt like an alien, but that was something she was fairly used to. Always being on the road kind of created that feeling.
She reminded herself that arson was arson no matter where it occurred. Still, when sheâd been told to come to Conard City, sheâd envisioned a much larger place. Flying in on a four-seater Cessna hadnât concerned her, and she hadnât really thought about it when she climbed into a rental car that wasnât new enough to have a GPS mapping console.
Only now, driving down Front Street toward what she hoped would be the fire station, did she get a clear picture. The houses were all older Victorian and Craftsman styles commingling contentedly. The leafy trees looked as old as the houses, and for a main street this one struck her as awfully narrow, narrow enough that parking was allowed on only one side. Sheâd been in some older neighborhoods in Atlanta like this, but if this was the whole town...oh, boy.
She was a city girl in rural territory, and immediately she began imagining all kinds of problems with the locals whoâd probably resent the heck out of her. She had traveled the world throughout her entire life and knew that outsiders were rarely welcomed. Looking into a big industrial fire often only drew flak from the owners. In a place this small she might draw flak from the entire community. But she always drew flak, some of it potentially dangerous. Sheâd been threatened more than once.
She shook herself and continued the slow drive. Sheâd manage. She wasnât here to be liked, merely to protect her insurance company against fraud.
The firehouse was near the town square, sheâd been told at the airport. Couldnât miss it. Well, she hadnât passed anything resembling a town square yet so...
Just then sirens penetrated her thoughts. She pulled over immediately to the curb, and soon a fire engine came racing by. Behind it was a red SUV with flashing white-and-red lights. She hesitated, then figured that in a burg this size it was unlikely the chief would still be at the station. Heâd probably be out helping.