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me.”
    “I know.” He didn’t look forward to it, either.
    Indy took a deep breath. “Don’t call me. Don’t come
by. Don’t write,” she said. “Unless it’s to tell me she’s no longer in the
picture. Do you get me?”
    “Yes, but I don’t—”
    “Bye, Reno.” She hung up.
    He stayed in the car a while longer, putting his
jeans back on and making sure he was presentable, before getting out and making
his way upstairs.
    In the bathroom, he washed up, splashed water on his
face, then went back into his dad’s office where he
fell, face first, onto the sofa-bed, suddenly exhausted. Images of him and Indy
together played in his head until he drifted off to sleep, a smile curving his
lips.
     

Chapter Five
     
    He didn’t get the chance to sit Jenna down to tell
her his decision to speed up their timetable like he’d wanted. At breakfast,
she’d waved at him then disappeared with his mother to get the supplies needed
for an impromptu barbecue. Reno had stayed behind with his dad, cleaning up the
backyard.
    During a break for refreshments, he sat down next to
his father on the back steps.
    “Dad, can I talk to you?” He’d always been able to
talk to his parents about anything, even the opposite sex, but Indy had made it
so he couldn’t. Now, he needed his father’s advice.
    “Sure, son.” His
father wiped the sweat off his brow. “What’s up?”
    “I’m in love with someone.”
    A wide smile creased his dad’s face. “That’s great
son, that’s—” Reno watched as confusion clouded his father’s face. “Wait, you
said someone.” He gripped Reno’s knee. “Not Jenna?”
    Reno pursed his lips and shook his head. “Not Jenna,
Dad. I told you and Mom, she’s just a friend.”
    His dad looked lost. “But I thought—what’s going
on?” Turning to face him fully, his dad squinted. “Is this about why you left,
why you suddenly decided to go off to take that job in California?”
    “Yes.” He chose his words carefully. “We were
together then, and I thought she wanted to build something, but instead, when
she learned about the offer I got in California, she told me to go and broke
things off when I said no.”
    “Who is she, somebody local?”
    “I’m not going to reveal her identity, but Dad,
she’s open to giving me another chance, and I—”
    “You want to go there again.”
    “Yes.”
    “What are you going to do about it?”
    He shrugged. “I’m going to talk to Jenna, see if she
wants to head to New York early, say tomorrow, and I’ll take her.”
    His dad studied his face. “This other woman, why
didn’t she want to be with you out in the open? She married?”
    “No! Hell no, Dad.” He’d
never go that route, get involved with a married
someone. “She’s got some issues, and then she’s a bit older—”
    “How much older?”
    “Twelve years.” Reno watched his dad from the corner
of his eyes as he spoke. Fortunately, his father didn’t blink.
    “That’s not so bad.”
    “Thank you, that’s what I
said.”
    “Son, maybe she’s just using the age thing as an
excuse. Did you think about that? Maybe it’s something deeper.” His father
patted his shoulder. “Find out what that problem is before you decide to make
irrevocable changes in your life to fit into hers.”
    Yeah. He
knew that. He stood and stretched. “Thanks for the talk, Dad.” He held out a
hand, and his father took it. He pulled the older man up. “And
for not judging.”
    “Anytime.” His
dad smiled, brown eyes twinkling. “And I am judging. A
little.”
    Reno blushed. They glanced up in tandem when
pounding echoed from the abandoned house next door.
    Reno squinted. “What’s going on? They
fixing up old man Redding’s house?” The old two-family home had been
empty since old man Redding passed almost three years ago. His kids had done
nothing with the house, choosing to leave it empty while they went back to
their lives in Washington.
    “Yeah.” His
dad motioned him to