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front of the restaurant.
    Katie stared at him as he bolted from his chair, tossed some money on the table to cover the check, and dashed out the door. Out the front window she could see a group of teenage boys and older men milling around Nick's Trans Am with their hands to their ears and stunned expressions on their faces. A police car pulled up, and Peter Ramsey got out looking grim and official. Katie cautiously made her way outside, as confused as everyone else.
    “I didn't mean to touch it!” one boy yelled above the din.
    “It's okay, really!” Nick shouted as he fished for his keys and looked embarrassed. “It's just the alarm. I've been meaning to get it disconnected.”
    “Fella's got an alarm on his car,” one old- timer said to another. The expressions on their faces clearly said they'd never heard of such a thing.
    “Where'd you say he was from?”
    “New York.” Each raised his brows as if that said it all.
    “That's a mighty unholy racket,” Officer Ramsey commented as Nick reached into the car and turned the alarm off.
    “I'm really sorry,” Nick said, blushing as he glanced askance at the crowd that had gathered on the street.
    Katie came to stand beside Nick.
    “Evening, Katie.” Ramsey's blue eyes lingered on her a moment. His frown deepened as he gave Nick a hard look. “We haven't had a car theft in Briarwood in nearly twenty years. You might keep that in mind.”
    “I will.” Nick nodded as the policeman walked away. He rubbed a hand over his face and peeked through his fingers at Katie. Her fist pressed to her lips, she was trying valiantly not to laugh. The crowd was wandering away. “I can't believe
I
feel like an idiot because someone set off my car alarm. That's why I had the thing installed!”
    “Nick, this is a small town,” Katie said as she did allow herself to laugh. She shook her head, going around to the passenger's side of the car.Nick slid into the driver's seat and unlocked her door. She eased herself down to the low bucket seat. “Most everyone here leaves their keys in the ignition and the windows rolled down.”
    “Ha! If you did that in New York, your car would be gone before you could put change in the meter.”
    He didn't drive her straight home. Instead he cruised the streets, pointing out to Katie reasons why he had moved to Briarwood, as if he needed to reassure himself after the embarrassing incident. The spring- evening sky was still light. Peo ple were working in their yards, tending their budding flower gardens.
    “I think this place is great. Smell those trees and flowers,” he said, breathing deep the sweet scents of boxwood shrubs and flowering dogwood trees and a thousand other rich green scents. “Incredible. It's like living in a greenhouse. And look at how many old homes and buildings have been preserved. Everyone seems so proud of the history here. It's fantastic.”
    Nick was so enthusiastic about everything. Katie couldn't help but be touched by his exu berant love for his new home. It won him alittle more of her heart, because she loved Briarwood too.
    “The location of the town is perfect,” he said. “It's just far enough away from D.C. to be a small town instead of a suburb. And five thousand people seemed a large enough population to support another restaurant. Especially since there's also a healthy tourist trade. The fact that the college is nearby is a plus too.”
    He turned the car into the parking lot at the edge of Donner Park, just outside the main gates of Briarwood College. With most of the students on spring break the area was deserted as the day faded into night.
    Katie shifted uncomfortably as her back began to ache. She'd spent too much time in the low car for one day. “Would you like to see the statue of the unknown Confederate war dead? He looks just like Charlton Heston,” she said, hoping they could get out and stretch for a minute.
    “I don't think so,” Nick said softly. He watched her eyes, silvery in the