From Chapter One Set up: Upon reaching Cooperville and preoccupied looking for her motel, Julie has rear-ended Gregory's brand new car. This is their first encounter, from Gregory's point of view: A few minutes later, he and the woman were face-to-face, standing on the sidewalk next to their parked vehicles. The woman wrote her information on a piece of paper, balanced on what looked like a thick address book. Gregory did the same, grabbing a sheet from the notebook he always carried in his inside jacket pocket. Gregory finished first. He raised his head and looked at the woman, really seeing her for the first time. Her hair was a pretty auburn color , with copper highlights where the sun hit it. It was pulled into a ponytail at the nape; but, being the kind of curly hair that defies taming, little tendrils had escaped and hung in corkscrews around her face. Most of her features were hidden as she bent to write, so he studied the rest of her. She wore a baggy blue cotton blouse and khaki shorts. Between the shorts and clunky, Army-surplus-type shoes were incredibly long and shapely legs. Light hairs shone against a glaze of tan. Involuntarily, Gregory sucked in a breath. The woman finished writing and glanced up. Wide-set hazel eyes with a touch more green than brown gazed at him. A turned-up nose and a bow-shaped mouth gave her a sweet look. Sweet, hah! This woman who had ruined his new Jeep was anything but sweet. And so what if she did have the best-looking legs he'd seen in a long, long time. "Here." She handed him her slip of paper. "I'm from out of town, but I'll be staying in Cooperville for the summer. I've written down my local phone number at the Mountain View Inn. . . . I'll phone my insurance company about this right away." "I'd appreciate that," he said, grudgingly. He had to admit she'd done everything by the rules. He gave her his paper. When she looked at it, her face went suddenly white. "Gregory . . . Linscott," she said, as though she couldn't believe her eyes. He peered at her. "What's the matter? Have you heard of me? I thought you were from out of town?" "I--no, I haven't, uh, heard of you. And, yes, I am from out of town." She looked stricken. Maybe it was a delayed reaction to the accident. Gregory studied the paper she'd given him. It said her name was Julie Foster. Well, he'd never heard of her, either. He stuffed the paper into his notebook and tucked the notebook in his inside jacket pocket. "I guess that does it, then." He turned on his heel and headed back to his Jeep. "Any problems, just call me," she said to his back. "I'll be at the Mountain View Inn--if I ever find it." Her comment hinted that she'd appreciate him giving her directions. But Gregory made no reply. He didn't care if she found her destination or not. ###

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