"You didn't."
"I had to. I wasn't about to lie to the kid and keep his dog."
"But Shoe was abandoned, abused."
"Lost is more like it. The boy called me at work after Shoe arrived to thank me. Shoe is safe and his owner is happy."
"Then you did the right thing."
"It wasn't easy."
"You really liked that dog."
"You can't always have what you want. What do you want to tell me, Sara?"
"We need to talk."
"About?"
"Things. Can we talk inside?"
"Okay" Sara stood aside as Kerney approached the front door. The expression on her face looked dead serious.
He ducked past her, sat on the couch, and waited for her to join him.
She sat on the floor across from him, a good six feet away, and tucked one leg under the other.
"I didn't come here to say good-bye, Kerney. If I wanted to kiss you off, there are much easier ways to doit."
"What do you want?"
"First, I want to apologize for the way I left. But I had to get my head straight. I was feeling shy, frightened, wary, and confused."
"About what?" Kerney asked.
"You."
"I thought we were getting along well." His body felt stiff. He tried to relax, but couldn't.
"We were. Look, I came here thinking it would be great to see you and that it would just be a lot of fun.
Then I wound up realizing that I couldn't treat this lightly" "This?"
"You and me. My feelings about you aren't casual."
Sara's gaze drilled into Kerney.
"What do you want, Kerney?"
Kerney opened his mouth, closed it, and rubbed the back of his neck.
"I don't want to lose you."
A faint smile crossed Sara's lips.
"My friend Susie says I should hit you with my best shot."
"Which is?"
"A straightforward question: How do you feel about marriage?"
Kerney's felt the muscles in his shoulders loosen up.
"The woman would have to be very special."
"Don't be glib."
"I take it back."
"I'm not going to give up my career."
Kerney nodded glumly.
"I know that. And I can't see myself following you around from post to post for the next ten or twenty years."
"I wouldn't ask you to." She threw up her hands in frustration.
"See? It's too damn impossible. Only a complete fool would jump into a part-time, long-distance marriage."
"I've been called a lot worse."
"I'm not talking about you." Sara studied Kerney's face.
"Why are you grinning at me?"
Kerney's got off the couch and sat next to Sara.
"I don't know. Maybe I'm feeling foolish."
Sara pulled away when Kerney tried to touch her, and got to her feet.
"Don't do that." She looked down at him.
Kerney froze and the tension in his shoulders returned. The frosty look in Sara's eyes kept him from speaking.
"Tell me how you really feel," Sara said.