A Time To Come Home. Darlene Gardner

brain whirled as she tried to figure out how to bring the topic around to Tyler. The more she knew about him, the better prepared she would be to tell him about Jaye. “I imagine a lot of people we went to school with are already married.”

      He nodded. “That’s true.”

      What to say? Diana wondered. How to say it? “Funny, I just happened to see one of our ex-classmates when I was driving through town. Tyler Benton.”

      This time she was sure she didn’t imagine Chris’s body stiffening. She tried to sound nonchalant. “Is Tyler married?”

      The seconds ticked by before Chris answered, marked by the heavy beating of her heart. Things would go more smoothly if Tyler wasn’t married, she told herself. Not all wives would be accepting of a child from another relationship.

      “No,” Chris finally said, causing the knot in her stomach to unfurl. “Although I don’t expect he’ll wait much longer.”

      The knot balled up again. “Do you mean he’s engaged?”

      Chris fidgeted in his seat. “Not as far as I know. I meant the right kind of wife can help further the career of a guy like Benton, and the woman he’s dating fits the bill. Any particular reason you’re so curious?”

      “Not really, except we used to be friends,” she said quickly while she wondered what kind of impact the sudden appearance of a child would have on Tyler’s life.

      “That’s right,” Chris said. “I vaguely remember that now that you mention it.”

      “We weren’t all that close,” she said, deliberately downplaying the connection. Until she told Tyler about Jaye, she couldn’t afford to get tongues wagging, not that Chris had ever struck her as a gossip. “I probably wouldn’t have much to say to him even if I had stopped and talked to him. Because, like I said, we weren’t close.”

      Shut up, Diana, she instructed herself.

      It appeared as though her long-winded explanation had piqued Chris’s curiosity instead of sating it. But when he spoke, it wasn’t of Tyler. “Getting back to the career training center you mentioned, what are you planning to study?”

      She relaxed slightly. That question was simple enough to answer. “Business administration.”

      “Do you have a job lined up?”

      Another easy question. “Yeah. I was waitressing at a Scarlet Pimpernel in Nashville. Do you know the chain? There’s a restaurant in Gaithersburg.”

      He tapped the top of the table with the fingertips of one hand, and she could almost see gears turning in his brain. “What I’m going to say might sound crazy, but would you consider working for me instead?”

      She felt her jaw drop. “Here in Bentonsville?”

      He smiled. “That is where the community center is located.”

      Bentonsville was also the place of so much hurt for her, the place where Tyler and her mother still lived. Merely driving here had been emotional. “Working in Bentonsville never occurred to me.”

      “That’s because you didn’t know I’d offer you a job. My office manager left last week. Doing both jobs is getting to be a strain. I wouldn’t expect you to step into her position right away, but I could sure use the help, and from someone I know I can trust.”

      “You’re serious.” She read the verification on his face. “But don’t you have an application process where you need to interview other candidates?”

      “We’re a nonprofit organization that operates under a grant that comes up for review every few years. I don’t answer to anyone other than myself on personnel issues.”

      “But you don’t know anything about me anymore.”

      “That’s not true,” he said. “I know you’re a single mom with secretarial experience who used to live in Bentonsville. I also know you’re the sister of the guy who used to be my best friend.”

      Chris and J.D. had once been as tight as two people could be, hanging out in the weight room, on the football field, in the halls at school. But they hadn’t been close at the end. If guilt festered inside Chris, it was a different variety than the kind Diana lived with every day of her life.

      “This is just about J.D., isn’t it?” she asked quietly. “That’s why you’re offering me a job.”

      He glanced briefly away before his eyes settled on her once again. “I’ve always felt bad about how we drifted apart. So, yeah, J.D. has something to do with it. The fact that I used to think of you as a kid sister does, too. But the bottom line is I need to hire somebody soon, and you need a job.”

      “I have a job lined up.”

      “Not in the field you’re planning to study, you don’t. I’ll show you the ropes, teach you some things about running an office. Think of it as on-the-job training.” He named a figure on par with what she expected to earn as a waitress. Then he threw in better benefits.

      She had to admit the job sounded like a godsend, but the allure of the position warred with panic at the thought of being back in Bentonsville. “I couldn’t work nine to five, because my classes are in the mornings.”

      “Then work one to nine. Nine o’clock is when the community center closes. We’re open seven days a week, but you can have two days off. Say, Sunday and Thursday.”

      “That would mean driving back to Gaithersburg every night on the dark, country roads.”

      “Don’t live in Gaithersburg. Live in Bentonsville. You could even stay with your mother.” He must have picked up on her tension, because he added. “Or rent an apartment. Housing costs in Bentonsville are relatively cheap. I might even know of a place.”

      She fidgeted with her coffee cup. The people who remembered her would recall that she’d been pregnant and unmarried when she left home, subjecting Jaye to unwanted curiosity once the child moved in with her. But while Diana’s mind rejected Chris’s suggestion that she live in Bentonsville, she didn’t entirely dismiss the idea of working in town. It might be awkward for her, but she’d faced a lot worse than awkward the last few months and survived.

      “I’m tempted,” she said, thinking aloud.

      “Wait ’til you see the center. There’s not much going on today because of the holiday weekend. But come with me, have a look around first.”

      “You sure you have the time to give me a tour?”

      “For you, Tag-Along, I’ll make the time.” Chris stood up, extending his hand to her. “So what do you say?”

      The safe thing would be to refuse on the spot, but instead she placed her hand in his. What could it hurt to look?

      DIANA INSERTED a chicken marsala frozen dinner in the compact microwave, set the controls on high for five minutes, then flopped down on her hotel bed.

      A rerun of the pilot episode of Everybody Loves Raymond played on the television set across from the bed. As she watched the hectic beginning scenes, she vaguely remembered the plot. Ray’s wife’s birthday was approaching, and she wanted peace and quiet away from ringing phones, demanding kids and friends and family dropping by unannounced.

      Three shrill beeps signaled her food was ready. Diana grabbed the remote and flicked off the TV before getting up from the bed.

      Spending a quiet birthday wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. She should know. She’d had one last month. It had been only slightly more bearable than the lonesome Labor Day weekend that was finally coming to an end. But she had only herself to blame for that. If she were really through being a coward, she’d have accepted Connor’s invitation to spend the holiday with him. And Jaye.

      Setting the packaged dinner down on the desk, she removed a cola from the small refrigerator and sat