A Fresh Start by Trisha Grace

around.”
    She looked down at the clothes over her arms and grinned. “This is how I shop. I prefer plain, simple clothes, and I know the designs that suit me. So whenever I find a design I like, I’ll buy it in the different colors I think are nice,” she said. “So, you haven’t told me what you do exactly.”
    “I buy old houses, revamp them, then sell them away.”
    “Is that why you were away from Pine Bluffs?”
    “The Seymours told you?”
    “No.” She shook her head and took her eyes off a dress she was looking at. “When they saw you, Mrs. Seymour said something about being finally back in Pine.”
    He sighed softly, apparently she hadn’t heard his stories. “Not exactly. You haven’t been around much in Pine, have you?”
    “Why?”
    “Just wondering if you had a taste on the gossipy nature of small towns. Since you’re from New York, I doubt you’ve experienced that before.”
    A corner of her lips snaked up and she shook her head. “Oh, I’ve experienced that already. I was walking around, trying to familiarize myself with the neighborhood when people came up to me, smiling and introducing themselves, then proceeded to their various attempts at digging information out of me. Much like you have.”
    “So they know you’re from New York.”
    She placed a dress in front of her and turned to him. “How does this look?”
    “You need better skills at changing subjects.”
    “I’m going to try this out.”
    Justin watched as she retreated into a changing room, shaking his head with a grin.
    No wonder she hadn’t been out much in town. She didn’t want to lie about her past, but neither did she want to reveal anything to anyone.  
    That made both of them prisoners in their own house.
    He leaned against a wall and wondered what she would think of him if she found out why he didn’t want to go out entertaining people and would rather be here shopping with her over the weekends.

    Justin turned into Marquardt Avenue and grinned the moment he saw Paige’s car.
    “I should move the car,” she said, probably realizing the source of his amusement.
    “Don’t crash.” He stopped his car in front of the Seymours instead of directly behind Paige’s car.
    She glared at him, then hopped out of his car and moved hers forward, allowing Justin to drive his car all the way up to the front of her house.
    He got out of the car as she came trotting up the stairs.
    “I’ll take the bags. Why don’t you open the doors?”
    She watched him for a moment before nodding and turning toward the door.
    Submissive. Another characteristic added to his understanding of Paige. She rarely fought his decisions. Even when she did, she backed down after some insistence on his part.
    She must had been a perfect student in school, one who scored well on every tests and lamented when she failed to get an A. One who probably had more than enough credits to graduate and apply for early admissions into great colleges.  
    So why would someone like her move all the way into a small town like Pine?
    He thought about the conversation they had in his car, about her reaction when he had asked if she was in trouble. What trouble can someone with such mild personality get into? “Where do you want them?”
    “Just put them here.”
    He placed the bags down and leaned them against the wall. “The tiles and stuff will be here on Monday, I’ll start work then?”
    “Yeah. Thanks for driving me there and helping me with the bags.”
    “You need anything else?”
    She shook her head, then paused. “Can you show me how to get the circuit up if the lights get cut off like last night?”
    He cocked his head toward the kitchen and went out of the house through the back door. He showed her the switches and reminded her to keep the torchlight nearby so that she wouldn’t have to go stumbling around in the dark.
    “I don’t have a torchlight.”
    Justin went back out to the car, reached into the bag of stuff he’d bought, and