Read A Time for Home: A Snowberry Creek Novel for Free Online Page B

things, there’s a bigger store in the next town over. Just follow this road north another five miles.”
    “Thanks.” He shifted from one foot to the other, getting up the courage to ask one last question. “Are we still on for dinner tonight?”
    Callie nodded. “Sure thing.”
    Unfortunately, another car had pulled up behind her, so Nick stepped back. “I’ll call you later to get specifics.”
    She smiled again. “Sounds good. I’m looking forward to it. Enjoy your run, guys.”
    He led Mooch back to the other side of the road as Callie waved at them one last time before pulling away. She wasn’t the only one looking forward to dinner. As he and Mooch resumed their run, he let various scenarios play out in his head. Was she thinking casual and hamburgers? Or steaks and a tie? Not that he had one with him. Should he stop someplace and buy one just in case?
    Another sign he still hadn’t acclimated to being back stateside. He hadn’t been out on a date since before he’d been deployed, not that this was really a date. He wasn’t sure what it was, though. They weren’t exactly friends, more like two people who’d had one friend in common. Two, if they counted Mooch. He just hoped they’d find something to talk about other than how much they both missed Spence.
    Rather than dwell on it, he kicked it into high gear. “Come on, dog. I’m going to take a shower and then make a quick run into town to pick up some groceries for the two of us.”
    Even if they left tomorrow, he’d need more kibble for Mooch and a few things for himself. After that, though, the long hours of the afternoon stretched out in front of him with nothing to do.
    As they turned back into the driveway, he let Mooch off the leash. He dropped down on the porch step to cool off and catch his breath while the dog made sure the squirrels hadn’t returned in their absence. Staring at the overgrown yard, it occurred to Nick that maybe he could make himself useful around the place.
    After he got back from town, he’d check out the garage and see what kinds of yard tools he could find. A few hours of manual labor out in the sun would go a long way toward taking the edge off his mood.
    “Come on inside, Mooch. I’ve got places to be and things to do.”

Chapter 5

    C allie spent the morning meeting with various people at city hall, talking about permits, building codes, and zoning. In the end, she’d come back home more frustrated than informed and not a little discouraged. All of her previous experience in dealing with home repairs was pretty much limited to calling a landlord to report a problem. Most of the time, it was fixed while she was at work, so she didn’t have the chance to see how things were done.
    Yeah, her dad had always been pretty handy around the house, but she’d never done more than hand him the occasional hammer or screwdriver. She’d preferred to spend her time at home with her nose in a book or online playing video games. Looking back, she wished she’d paid more attention.
    As she got out of the car, she heard a noise coming from next door. What was Nick up to now?
    Her mind flashed back to earlier that morning when she’d seen him running through town. Hot damn, he’d looked so good, she’d been unable to resist stopping to watch. Even if he’d been a total stranger, she would’ve noticed him and the effortless way he moved.
    And he’d claimed to be getting fat and lazy. Yeah, right. If anything, Nick looked as if he could stand to put on a few pounds. She hadn’t missed that long scar peeking out from the sleeve of his T-shirt. Although it had obviously healed, the wound had left behind a jagged red streak twisting down the side of his upper arm.
    It looked recent enough to make her wonder if he’d been injured in the same attack that had taken Spence’s life. There was no way she’d ask Nick about it. If he brought it up, she’d listen, but she had no burning desire to learn the details of that awful