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of foundation he could lay.
    He dragged off the comfy long-sleeved T-shirt over his head and pulled an ironed shirt out of the closet before changing into his clean jeans. There’d once been a time when all he’d owned were T-shirts and ratty jeans and he’d been okay with that—until he figured out that people judged you by what you wore and treated you accordingly.
    Dani showed up fifteen minutes later and he was glad to see she was driving the newer truck she’d had hitched to the horse trailer at the sale, rather than the one that threatened dust poisoning.
    “Do you want to eat first, before we pick up my car?” he asked as he got into the passenger seat.
    “That’d probably be easiest,” Dani agreed without looking at him.
    Gabe settled back into his seat, telling himself that all things took time. He couldn’t risk pushing matters.
    “Any ideas where to eat?” he asked.
    “That all depends if you prefer Mexican or burgers.”
    “If I prefer burgers are you taking me to a drive-in?”
    “No. A café with booths,” she said. “Red vinyl.”
    “It doesn’t get any better than that.”
    She smiled politely and started the truck. Ten minutes later she parked in front of a building that had obviously once been a gas station. He held the door for her and a woman in a classic pink waitress’s uniform pointed them to a booth in the corner. The menus were waiting at the table, but Dani made no move to look at hers.
    “There’s only one thing to get here—The Works.”
    “I always make it a point of trusting those that know,” he said, stashing the menu back behind the napkin holder.
    “An excellent practice,” she said, sipping her water. The waitress started toward them but stopped when Dani held up two fingers. “I hope you don’t mind Coke,” she said. “It’s either that or orange soda.”
    “Coke is fine,” he said reaching for his own water. “Quite the ordering system you have here.”
    “Saves time.”
    “Looking to get away fast?” he couldn’t help asking.
    “Oh, no,” Dani replied, looking vaguely guilty. “It’s just that...” She fought with herself for a moment, then one corner of her mouth twisted a little before she said, “To be honest, I was engaged to be married until a little over a month ago. I’m not looking for, well...anything.”
    “Not even friendship?”
    She frowned as she studied him, as if debating whether or not that was possible. “Friendship is fine,” she finally said. “But I make friends slowly.”
    “Warning me off again?”
    “I’m a believer in full disclosure,” she said, her hazel gaze meeting his candidly. “I like to know where I stand and I assume other people are the same.”
    “I agree.”
    Dani leaned back as the waitress set two Cokes on the table, waiting until the woman walked away before saying, “Please understand that I’m not saying we won’t become friends. It’s just—”
    “Full disclosure. I get it.”
    “Thanks.” She pushed the napkin-wrapped flatware aside so that she could rest her elbows on the table. “How is it that you came to vacation at the Staley house?”
    He gave a casual shrug. “I wanted to...disappear, I guess—somewhere in Montana—and I found the place through a private company that specializes in leasing executive homes.”
    “Oh.” She gave a considering nod. “I always thought of the Staley house as more of a big-ass mansion than an executive home.”
    Gabe smiled. “It is huge. I rattle around in it, but the windows are big and the light is great.”
    “You’ll have to give me a tour before you leave. I’ve lived next door, endured their traffic while growing up, but have never been in the place.”
    “Sure,” Gabe said, pleased that she was talking about seeing him again sometime in the future. “Does the traffic across your place bother you?”
    She shook her head. “Not recently, because no one has lived there, but when the Staleys were in residence, yeah. The road is