Things fell into their usual rhythm, and the other guys got out of Jim and Eddie’s way as they went around, closing the gap from where they’d stopped the day before, sealing things up from the spring rains that were just starting. The house was going to be about fifteen thousand square feet in size, so to get it battened down tight in just one week was a tall order. Still, Jim and Eddie were busting ass, and the roofers were already halfway across the rafters. By the end of the weekend, they weren’t going to have to worry about the cold drizzle or the freezing wind anymore, and thank God for it. Yesterday had been a suckfest of wet and nasty, and there were still puddles here and there that splashed up onto his jeans.

Lunchtime came quickly, which was what happened when he worked with Eddie, and while the other guys propped themselves on the edge of the house facing the sun, Jim went back to his truck and ate alone sitting in the cab.

The sandwich was still cold, which always improved the taste, and the Coke was spectacular.

As he sat on his own and chewed, he glanced over to the empty seat next to him…and remembered dark hair spilling over the upholstery and the arch of a female neck in the dash lights and the feel of a soft body beneath his.

He was such a shit, taking advantage of her like that, and yet, after it was all done, she’d smiled up at him as if he’d given her exactly what she’d wanted. Except that couldn’t be true. Sex between strangers was just a temporary reprieve from loneliness. How could that be enough for someone like her? Christ, he didn’t even know her name. When the deep breathing had passed, she’d kissed him and lingered on his lips; then she’d pulled the top of her dress up and the bottom of it down, and left him.

With a curse, Jim threw open the driver’s-side door and took his lunch around to the back bumper. It was warmer out in the sun, but more to the point, the air smelled like fresh pine boards, not perfume. As he turned his face to the sky and tried to wipe clean his mind, he lost interest in the sandwich, putting it aside on its Saran Wrap and focusing on the Coke instead.

The dog appeared a moment later, peeking out from behind a stack of felled trees that were due for removal. The thing was the size of a small terrier and had a coat that looked like mottled steel wool. One ear was flopped over and it had some kind of scar on its muzzle.

Jim lowered his Coke bottle as the two of them locked stares.