Montana Fever. Jackie Merritt
much. Probably because of the music. They’ve got their own style of music, Lola, much more so than our generation did.”
Lola nodded. “You’re probably right, but I remember liking all kinds of music.”
A moment of silence ensued. Duke gave her a look. “Well, how about it? Want to go?”
She thought for a second. Did she want to dance with Duke? On the other hand, the Grange was not a place of low lights and romantic music. The band played polkas and waltzes and two-steps. Even some old-time schottisches. And she had learned the Virginia reel out there many years ago. If they still played those old songs and rhythms, she could dance with anyone without worrying about intimacy.
“Yes,” she said with conviction. “It sounds like fun.”
“Great.” Duke got the car moving.
“Did something happen to Bud’s father?” Lola asked when they were on their way. The boy hadn’t mentioned his father to her.
“Jake Hawkins works for a building contractor. He fell from a roof rafter and broke both legs about two months back. I was glad to hear Bud say he’s doing all right.”
Lola turned her head to look at Duke. “You know everyone in the area, don’t you?”
“Just about.” Duke took his eyes from the road to return her look. “Don’t you? You grew up here, too.”
“Yes, but I’ve been gone for so long…since high school graduation, really. After that it was college, then—”
“Where’d you go to college?” Duke asked.
“I started in Bozeman, then transferred to Tempe, Arizona.”
“Wanderlust had already set in?”
“I think I was born with wanderlust,” Lola said with a small laugh.
“But you came home. Where’s all that wanderlust now?”
“Gone. I guess I used it up.”
“Are you as sure of that as you sound?”
“Positive. I’m right where I want to be, where I plan to stay.”
“So there really is no place like home?”
“Exactly,” Lola murmured. “For me, anyway.” It had happened rather suddenly, she recalled. One day she was content living thousands of miles from Montana and home, and the next day she wasn’t. It had taken some time for the loneliness to really settle in, but when it did, she sold everything she possessed except for her clothes and bought a plane ticket.
“Why did you go into business?” Duke asked.
“Why?” she echoed. “That’s a strange question. I wanted something to do, of course.”
“But you could have gotten a job. Why take on the headaches of operating a business?”
She turned in the seat, enough to give him a good long look. “You’re just full of questions, aren’t you?”
His eyes left the road to slide in her direction. “I don’t know any way to get answers other than to ask questions, do you?”
“And you’re looking for answers? Why, Duke?”
“Only because I’m interested, Lola, very interested. I haven’t told you how beautiful you look in that dress, but you do. You’re an especially beautiful woman in any case, but the color of that dress is perfect for you.”
“That’s what the saleslady said when I tried it on in a little backstreet shop in Paris. She was trying to sell me the dress, Duke. What are you trying to sell me?”
He sent her a grin. “You have a suspicious nature, sweetheart.”
She lifted her chin. “You’re flirting again, like you did the day you came into the store. Do you know something, Duke? You’re more than one person.”
“I’m what?” he asked with a laugh.
“Who were you with Charlie and Bud? You were very different with them than you are with me.”
“Well, I would hope so,” he said with a snort of laughter. “I have absolutely no desire to date either one of them.”
She put on a saccharine smile. “Very funny.”
“If I’m so funny, how come you’re not laughing?”
“I was being sarcastic. As if you didn’t know.”
Duke made a right turn from the highway onto another road. “You’re fighting this, aren’t you?”
“Fighting what?”
“What’s happening between us. I have to ask myself why you’d do that. You see, with you being the self-confident, independent woman you are, I don’t think you’d be in this car with me right now if you’d rather be somewhere else. Which leads me to believe that you like me. Stop me if I’m wrong,” he said, sending her a quick glance, before asking point-blank, “do you like me?”
She gave an incredulous laugh. “We barely know each other. What on earth are you hoping I’ll say?”
“Just the truth, honey. Just the plain old truth.”
“The unvarnished truth, Duke Sheridan, is that you’re making me very uncomfortable.”
“Ah, a clue to your inner feelings.”
“Clue, my left foot! I wish you’d stop trying to figure me out.”
“Aren’t you trying to figure me out?”
“Absolutely not. I thought we were going to see a movie. Going to a movie with a man doesn’t call for an analysis of his psyche. At least I never thought it did.”
“I have a totally different opinion on that subject,” Duke said calmly. “When a man and woman meet for the first time and the air all but sizzles around them, I think they start delving into each other’s personality right from the get-go.”
She arched an eyebrow. “Oh, really?” But she didn’t refute his remark about “sizzling air,” though it was certainly an exaggeration of their first meeting. Still, denying that she had felt something uniquely exciting that day would be a lie, and she suspected that he would be only too willing to debate the point. It was a discussion she preferred avoiding, even though she usually spoke her mind without wondering if she should. A disturbing thought came to her. If Duke was a different person with her, so was she with him. What should she make of that?
“Almost there,” Duke remarked, making another turn. “Getting back to personalities—”
She cut in, “Let’s not.”
“Do you usually avoid controversial conversations?”
“No, I do not. But I think you’re making far too much of a first date.”
Duke took one hand from the wheel and snapped his fingers. “I got it now. You’re more willing to talk about meaningful relationships on a second date.”
Giving him a startled look, she saw the humorous waggling of his eyebrows in the dash lights.
“You are having far too good a time at my expense,” she accused.
He laughed. “I am having a good time, honey. But that’s only because I’m with you. You’re not mad at me for teasing you a little, are you?”
He was too damned cute, but her annoyance melted away until she gave a small laugh. “No, I’m not mad at you.”
“That’s good. It’s hard dancing with someone who’s mad at you.”
“I’m sure you’ve had the experience,” she said dryly.
“There’s