The Influence Read Free Page B

from when they were young and knew it was futile to argue with her. “Thanks,” he said sincerely.  
    “We’ll leave you alone, let you get settled. I’ll give you a shout out when dinner’s ready. You can eat with us or take it back here to the shack, whatever you want.” 
    Already he felt awkward, an intruder in their lives. “Do you need some help?” he asked. “I’m not a great cook, but if you want someone to—” 
    “I can handle it.” She smiled. “Just get yourself settled in. We’ll sort out the details tomorrow. And thank you for the cookbook. You didn’t have to go to all that trouble, but it was very thoughtful of you.”  
    “The CDs, too!” Dave called as they headed out the door. “The Beatles,” Ross heard him say as they walked back to the house. “A boxed set!”  
    He spent the rest of the afternoon putting things away, checking his email every other minute and walking around, pacing. He felt restless, unsure of what to do with himself, and thought he had probably made a huge mistake in coming here. He was not a rural/country/wilderness kind of guy; this wasn’t the place for someone like him. He wasn’t going to sit in his room and write a novel, wasn’t going to set up an easel and paint a picture of the surrounding scenery. He was an engineer, for God’s sake. He worked on projects, with other people, in a crowded office, and even his leisure activities involved city life. But out here he couldn’t go to movies or clubs or concerts, couldn’t hang with his friends at a pizza joint or do any of the things he usually did.  
    At least he had his computer. 
    He played Plants vs. Zombies and Angry Birds until Lita stepped into the yard and announced that it was time to eat. Glancing through the window, he was surprised to see that the day was gone and it was dark already. Walking between the two buildings, he could see the lights of town in the distance, slightly downslope, though the road to the ranch had seemed flat. Above, an amazing array of stars filled the sky, so thick in spots that they appeared to be clouds. He hadn’t noticed such details when he’d come up last month for the weekend, and it hit him that he was no longer a tourist. He lived here. For now, at least, this was his home. 
    He had never felt more alone. 
    Unsure of the etiquette involved, he knocked on the kitchen door and waited for Lita to open it before going inside. “Don’t be so formal,” she admonished him.  
    “I wasn’t sure—” 
    “If there’s something you’re not supposed to see,” she said, “the door will be locked. Otherwise, just come in. Our house is yours.” 
    Sitting at the kitchen table, Dave reddened. 
    “Well, uh, thanks,” Ross managed to get out. 
    “Welcome to my world,” Dave said wryly.  
    Lita smiled. “He loves it.” 
    Neither of them were quite sure to what she was referring, so they did not respond as Ross sat down awkwardly at the table across from Dave.  
    Lita had made chicken enchiladas, from a recipe in the cookbook he’d given her. “But it’s not exact,” she warned. “I had to change a few things because we didn’t have all the ingredients. As you might have noticed, out here we can’t just run down to the local supermarket if we need something.”  
    “Now that you mention it, where do you get your groceries?” Ross wondered.  
    “We make a monthly run over to Willcox for the things that’ll keep,” Dave said, motioning toward the open larder to the right of the refrigerator. “Beans, rice, detergent, what have you. There’s a small grocery store in town for some of the day-to-day stuff, but a lot of things we barter or buy from neighbors.” 
    “Or pick up at the farmer’s market,” Lita offered, bringing over a plate of enchiladas. 
    “Or pick up at the farmer’s market,” Dave agreed. “We sell there, too.” 
    “There might not be as many choices as there are in a big city,” Lita conceded. “But we