Fifty miles past Omaha, I walked through Sidney, Iowa, the self-proclaimed “Rodeo Town, USA.” Sidney is a pert little town with a barbershop, a café, and two law offices—which seemed excessive to me until I remembered a story my father once told me about a town that had only one lawyer, who just about starved until a second lawyer moved into the town and then they both became rich.

In the center of Sidney I stopped at a small grocery store to stock up on food and water. I was the only customer in the store, and the market’s lone employee, an attractive, thirty-something woman at the checkout counter, was reading a magazine off the rack when I approached her with my purchases. She set her magazine down and smiled at me. She had short blond hair that framed a pretty, delicate face with striking features, almond-shaped eyes, high cheekbones, and a slightly upturned nose. In contrast to her blond hair, she had brown eyes and dark eyebrows.

“I like your hat,” she said as she rang up my items.

“It makes my hair look shorter,” I replied.

She smiled. “No. It doesn’t.”

I smiled back. “Well, at least it keeps the sun off my face while I’m walking.”

“Where are you walking to?”

I picked up a package of gum and a tube of lip balm from a display next to the counter and added it to my purchases. “Key West, Florida.”

Her eyebrows raised. “Wow. You’re a long way from Florida. Actually, from here, you’re a long way from anywhere. Where did you start walking?”

“Seattle.”

“Seattle.” She thought about it. “Then you’re about halfway there, aren’t you?”

“Pretty close.”

“I bet you’re halfway,” she said. “What’s in Key West?”

I shrugged. “Sand, I guess.”

“Sand?”

“I guess. That’s why I’m walking. To find out what’s there.”

She smiled. “I like your answer.”

“So are there any hotels or bed-and-breakfasts in town?”

“Sorry. Not around here. The nearest one would be in Nebraska City, but you’re going the other direction, aren’t you? Probably St. Joseph. That’s about a hundred miles from here.”

“Thank you. I’ll just find a place to camp. Is there a park around here?”

She cocked her head a little. “A park? No. But you can stay at our place. My home is nice.”

“You’ve got a yard I can camp in?”

“We do, but I didn’t mean you had to camp. We have a guest room.”

I was surprised by her offer. That would never have happened in Seattle. “I wouldn’t want to impose.”

“It’s no trouble. Frankly, we’d love the company. It would be the most exciting thing that’s happened around here all year. Besides, I’m making spaghetti tonight with Chairman of the Board clam sauce.”

“Chairman of the Board?”