Free Love at First Sight by B.J. Daniels Page B

wonderful, Jack. What a find. It’s like it hasn’t been touched in over forty years.”
    “It’s exactly like that,” he said as he opened the front door. Off in the distance, a gas generator cranked over and rumbled to life. The lights came on inside the lodge and Jack stepped aside to let her enter.
    Karen took one step and stopped. “Oh, Jack.” It was like a cabin her grandparents owned in the Gallatin Canyon, rustic and very Western, yet homey with old-fashioned furniture, handmade woven rugs, thick slatted pine flooring and a stone fireplace.
    “I think ‘Oh, Jack’ means you like it?” he asked, lifting a brow as he smiled over at her.
    “Oh, yes.” She moved to a log hutch and ran her hand over the varnished wood. “How did you find this place?”
    “It found me,” he said, taking the groceries to the kitchen. “It belonged to my great-uncle. I hardly knew him but when he passed on last month, he left it to me.”
    “How wonderful! I mean—”
    He laughed. “I know what you mean. The rest of my family thinks it’s a white elephant. They all think I should tear down the buildings, sell the land and use the money to buy myself a nice condo in town.”
    “You wouldn’t!” she cried.
    He turned to look over his shoulder at her. “I haven’t really made up my mind yet. That was something I planned to decide after I’d spent some time up here and really looked the place over. It would take a lot of work—”
    “But it will be worth it,” she chimed in.
    He laughed. “Well, at least now I know a good woodworker.”
    His gaze warmed her like summer sun. “Can I help you with dinner?”
     
    J ACK BUILT A FIRE in the stone fireplace then cooked two thick, juicy steaks over the coals, while Karen made a salad to go with everything else he’d bought for their dinner.
    “So what were you doing before you came home to run the family business?” he asked after they’d eaten and had fallen into a companionable silence in front of the fire.
    “Finishing up a degree in child development,” she said. “A friend wanted me to teach at her preschool.”
    “No kidding.”
    Something about the way he said it made her look over at him. He was smiling, his brown eyes warm and full of humor. Oh, what just one look from this man did to her.
    “I take it you like kids,” he said, holding her gaze.
    “I love kids. How about you?”
    He smiled. “Until just recently, I hadn’t thought much about kids of my own. But now that I have, I can’t seem to get the idea out of my head.”
    They laughed and talked in front of the fire until the logs died down to glowing embers. The lights dimmed and Jack excused himself to gas up the generator. Karen wandered out to look at the view again.
    Jack found her sitting on the stone wall below the lodge, staring out at the lights in the distance and the darkness, deep in thought.
    “A penny for your thoughts?” he said, joining her on the wall.
    The rock felt cold and rough but it felt good to have something solid under her. “Thinking about Liz,” she answered. “You know, I didn’t really know her but I got the feeling that she was lonely. Maybe that’s why she let this man into her life so easily, too easily. She needed someone to love and to love her. It’s just so tragic.”
    Jack nodded. “But isn’t that what everyone wants, someone to love?”
    She turned to look at him. His hair shone like autumn wheat in the moonlight, softening his face and making his eyes golden. “I’ve always thought people who constantly looked for love were like lemmings rushing to the sea.”
    “Some people are like that. But I think a lot of us are afraid to even hope there’s someone who’s right for us out there, let alone that there’s a perfect mate for each of us.”
    She laughed. “You sound like this elderly woman I know. She’s convinced there is a perfect match for each of us, like a shoe that’s missing its mate. Unfortunately, she feels it’s her mission