and had to jump back to avoid being hit by a Prius driven by a distracted tourist.
As she got closer to Simon, she realized he had traded in his white coat and dark trousers for jeans and a long-sleeved shirt. She hadn’t known him for long, but he didn’t strike her as a casual dresser. She would never have guessed he even owned jeans. Not that he didn’t look good in them.
“Hi,” she said as she approached. She was nervous and didn’t know what to do with her hands. Should she offer to shake, or give a little wave? “Good afternoon.”
Simon’s voice was as steady as his gaze. He looked calm, cool and completely unimpressed with her. How fair was that? He was the new guy in town. Shouldn’t he be at least a little uncomfortable?
But he wasn’t, and there was no getting around it. And if she didn’t get out of her head pretty soon she was going to make herself crazy.
Purpose, she told herself. She had a purpose. She had been assigned a task by the mayor and she would see it through to the best of her abilities. Starting right now.
“I thought I’d show you the town,” she said, hoping she sounded cheerful and confident. She was a happy person, so the cheerful part was easy enough. As for the confidence, weren’t they always saying, “Fake it until you make it”? God knew she’d been faking it for years.
“That’s what you offered,” Simon said, watching her in that steady way of his. “A tour of the town.”
She blinked. “Right. That is what I said.” She tried to smile, found herself fighting nerves again, then went to a safer place. She’d been learning about the history of Fool’s Gold since the first grade. When in doubt, stick to the facts.
She cleared her throat.
“In the early thirteen hundreds a matriarchal tribe called the Maa-zib settled on the shores of our lake. Not much is known about them. Legend has it that they’re a branch of Maya Indians who came looking for a place where women and their children could live in harmony. Without men.”
Simon raised his eyebrows. “So they died out?”
She laughed. “Okay, men were allowed in the village for certain purposes. They say there is a curse that keeps the men out. Maybe that’s the reason Fool’s Gold has a man shortage. Or at least we used to. More men are moving here all the time.”
She thought about saying that he could move here, but didn’t think that was especially subtle. Although having him agree would get her job done very quickly.
She motioned toward the park and started walking. Simon fell into step beside her.
“In fifteen eighty-one an English crewman who served with Sir Francis Drake wrote about being injured in the mountains and cared for by a matriarchal tribe of natives. His account suggests he was here in Fool’s Gold and that the women were from the Maa-zib tribe.”
Simon glanced at her. “Let me guess. He had sex with several of the women but they didn’t let him stay.”
She grinned. “You have to respect their ability to get what they want.”
“Would you still respect their actions if the tribe in question had been men?”
“An unfair question. The women chose to get pregnant by him. I assume they wanted to refresh the gene pool, although they wouldn’t think of it that way. That’s completely different than a man getting a woman pregnant and walking away.”
“Except he lost his children. He wasn’t allowed to see them or raise them.”
“A good point,” she admitted. “But it’s kind of the town thing to respect the women.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
They walked down to the lake. As usual, children were feeding ducks, young couples picnicked on blankets in the shade of trees, and a few joggers made their way along the bike path.
Montana paused to take in the familiar scene. This had always been her home. She’d tried living somewhere else, briefly, and hated it. She knew some people left for the big city and she was sure any large urban area had its charms. But this was where she belonged.
She was aware of Simon standing next to her. He didn’t say much, which wasn’t a surprise. What she hadn’t expected was how much she didn’t mind his quietness. It was oddly relaxing. She was also aware of his height and his broad shoulders, but told herself not to be silly. Becoming interested in Simon as anything but a project for Mayor Marsha was just plain stupid.
If he kept glancing at her, it was probably because he was waiting for the next burst of factoids or wondering if there was going to be a town history quiz. There was no way he was… She frowned. If she hadn’t known better, she would have sworn Simon was looking at her mouth. Not possible, she told herself. No way she could attract a man like Simon.
Not that she would mind, but if the other men in her life hadn’t found her to be attractive enough, she figured she would be woefully lacking in Simon’s eyes, too.
She motioned to the trucks parked along the side road by the lake. “They’re setting up for the Fourth of July celebration. Fool’s Gold is known for its festivals. I don’t know how many we have every year. A lot. There’s the Book Festival and the Waterskiing Festival. The Fall Festival, which is before the Halloween party.” She glanced at him. “It’s fun.”
“An active community.”
She couldn’t tell if he meant that in a good way or a bad way, and decided not to ask.
She led him back to the main street and started pointing out various businesses before continuing her discussion of the town. “Mayor Marsha is the longest serving mayor in the state of California. The festivals are run by my friend Pia. It’s a big job and, now that she’s pregnant, it’s even more difficult. Although she has a new assistant, which is helping.” She searched her mind for some other factoids. “My family was one of the founding families, on my dad’s side. Not counting the matriarchal tribe, of course. There’s Morgan’s Books.”
She led him to the store and showed him the window display of Liz Sutton, their resident mystery writer.
“Have you read her?” she asked.
Simon shook his head and shifted so he was on her other side. “Is she any good?”
“Of course. She’s fabulous. She’s married to my brother, Ethan. They have one son together and are raising her two nieces. It’s complicated.”
“Most family relationships are.”
“Tell me about it.” She started walking again and Simon fell into step beside her. “My dad passed away eleven years ago, so it’s not surprising my mom has started dating. It really would have been okay, only she seemed fine alone and now we have to get used to this and it’s strange. I want her to be happy, but it’s the whole parental thing. She talks about her dates and we want to be supportive, but then she talks about kissing with tongue and I just want to cover my ears and hum.”
She came to a stop. “You’re a medical professional. Why is hearing about parents having sex so creepy? Okay, not creepy exactly, but strange.”
“I don’t have an answer to that.”
“Didn’t you go to medical school? Don’t they have a class on this?”
And then it happened. Simon smiled at her. His lips curved, there was a flash of white teeth and a surprising dimple on his unscarred cheek.
Montana felt a sudden rush of sensation in her midsection. Not attraction exactly, but not disinterest either. The smile was unexpected and very appealing. It made her want to hear his laugh and maybe even make him smile again.
“I must’ve missed that day,” he told her. “Sorry.”
“You work at a hospital. You could ask around.”
“Is it really that important to you?”
“I don’t like feeling uncomfortable. Especially around my mother. I love her and we’re really close. And I feel like a really good daughter would be able to talk about her mother’s dating life.”
“Not even a good daughter is expected to discuss tongue.”
She laughed and saw he was smiling again. Suddenly the morning seemed a little brighter, the sky a little bluer.
They came to a stop at the corner. Montana walked over to push the Walk button, then returned to Simon’s
