The great mood from the night before stayed with when I woke. Even the dreaded house hunting today didn't faze me in the slightest. Wearing a silk, jade coloured camisole, black slacks with my favourite 3-inch zebra print heels. Not only did I look great but felt fantastic.

With some arm-twisting, and help from Nate, Mady agreed to call an acquaintance of hers to facilitate me in finding a new home. Agreeing to meet in front of his office today at 9 am was a god sent. Only my fourth day in this new town, I didn't want to become a burden by overstaying my welcome. Staying with them was great, but this was not a vacation and I needed my independence. Wanted to start my new life.

Pulling up to the office five minutes early I spotted a balding, short portly man. His dirty blonde thinning hair was in a professional cut, small beady light green eyes. With his pale complexion should have looked washed out with his well-fitted, single-breasted dove grey suit but the bright red power tie balanced out the dullness of the man and his suit, which made him stand out.

"Sam?" Assuming it was the gentlemen in the suit, my attention went to him as I got out of my car. "Umm, yes."

"I'm Bill, Bill Collins, the agent that will be showing you some homes today," he said, walking around the car and offered me his hand.

A nice firm hand shake without any of the previous issues I have got from most of the people of this town. Huh, maybe it was just my nerves after all. "Nice to meet you Mr. Collins," I greeted.

Bill fluffs off the formality. "Please call me Bill. May I call you Sam, or do you prefer something else?"

"Sam is fine," I reassured him.

"Great. Mady didn't go into any specifics on what you were looking for, so I pulled out seven homes for us to see. They have a little bit of everything. I figure the worst thing that can happen is that after we go see them you will have a better idea on what you do want."

"Sounds good. Lead the way, I'm all yours." Following him, to what I thought was to the office; instead going to a cute sporty Mazda, he opened the passenger side door.

Bill noticed the pause in my step. "I thought we would take my car so you can look at the information of each of the houses before we get there," he stated, passing over some papers.

Understanding the convenience of it, even though I wasn't the most comfortable with the idea, I climbed in. If I would have known those were the last four seconds of quiet I was going to have while he walked around the car to get in, I would have insisted in taken my own car. He was a great guy, very friendly, upbeat, and a little too helpful most of the time. He wanted to make sure I seen every inch in every house. If I would have gone on my own, I could have easily seen all these homes in half the amount of time. It was a very long four and a half hours.

By the time we made it back to the office my good mood was straining to stay in place. Liking two of the properties, I arranged to see them again tomorrow on my own. Thankfully, Bill didn't take that to heart, he completely understood, telling me if I wanted to make an offer to contact him.

I didn't remember it being this taxing looking at houses when I bought my first and only home. It probably didn't help that I compared all seven homes to my former one. I did have to admit the two I did like were completely different from each other and my old one.

Practically bolting out of the man's car before he found something else to talk about, I quickly shook his hand, said thanks, and then waved over my shoulder trying to keep a steady pace without running.

Stomach demanding food, I decided to stop at the first place I saw. Spotting a decent size patio with a few customers sitting, enjoying the sun as they ate, I pulled into a spot just past the restaurant. Walking up, I glanced up at the sign and had to do a double take to make sure I read it properly. What kind of name is Furball's for a restaurant? Debating on trying somewhere else that sounded a little more appetizing, my stomach protested so loud I wondered if anyone else heard. The odour that followed as a young girl who walked out the restaurants door was absolutely mouth water; my stomach may be onto something.

Inside the place looked a lot bigger than it did outside; dimly lit, almost in a romantic setting but not quite. The solid oak, well taking care of bar to the right took up most of the wall, dark green almost black padded high back oak bar stools surrounding it. The opposite corner held a good size empty stage with a dance floor beneath it. The rest of the area held bar height table and chairs, with a few leather couches against two of the walls. Windows were blacked out except for the patio doors that lead outside where tinted, putting this place from the restaurant category to bar and grill.

Taking another step in, a violent shiver took over my body, at the same time the temperature dropped drastically, which brought on the goose bumps, and to top it off my stomach did some major award winning flips. The thought once again of leaving hit but was due to the uncomfortable coolness of the room passed as quickly as the sensation did. I put it off to hunger and the stressful morning with house hunting. Spotting an empty table past the bar in the corner, I headed for it.

Before I had a chance to get comfortable in the seat, a cute, petite waitress came up and handed me a menu, and took my drink order. What looked to be the standard uniform here, she wore black dress pants, white crisp short sleeve blouse and one of those half aprons with pockets. Her brown hair pulled back tightly in a ponytail, accentuated her high cheekbones and big round brown eyes. Waiting for my drink, I took the time to really look over the place. The only thing on the walls were black and white photos of wild cats and captivating shots of the wild. The place was not flashy, but more of a homey feeling, a very clean homey feeling. The grey rug didn't even to seem to have a stain from a spilt drink. Maybe that's why they keep the lights down so it's easier to hide the stains, giving it a spotless look. In my own little world, I was startled when the waitress came back with my coke.

"Here's you drink. Would you like a few more minutes, or are you ready to order?" the waitress asked pleasantly.

"Thank you and yes a few more minutes would be great." So far great customer service. I hoped the food was as good.

"Ok. My name is Cathy, and I will be your waitress today. If you need me just call out, I'll hear you," she smiled as she began to walk away.

"Thank you, Cathy." Pulling my attention to the menu. It was an easy decision, and by the time Cathy came back, I was ready to order and in need of another drink.

The once oh so friendly Cathy came back with a huge chip on her shoulder, it could not be mistaken, it had something to do with me. The once friendly server was now cold as ice. Her smile could not have been more fake. I can piss off people but not usually this quick and I usually know what I did first. All I could tell was that before coming back to my table, Cathy and another table had their heads together chatting.

"Have you decided yet?" She asked, with annoyance and a cold smile.

With some caution, I answered, "Um...yes. Can I please have a burger with fries and another drink, please?"

Writing down the order, she asked, "Are you here for the camping?"

Why would that matter? From what Mady had told her the tourist started coming in April and stayed steady until September. You would think she would be a little nicer to paying customers. Not knowing if this was going to set little Miss. Sunshine off, I put on my best pleasant smile, and said, "No. I just moved here." I did not get the reaction I expected, Cathy's shoulders tensed and the look of hate radiated from her eyes. What the hell was wrong with this woman?

Pulling herself together in front of my eyes stood an emotionless Cathy. I wasn't sure what was worse, the hatred or the lack of existence. "So you're Sam," Cathy said, with the same emotionless tone as what was on her face and stance.

Not wanting to make a scene was the only thing that kept my ass in the chair instead of leaving or asking her what crawled up her ass. Their voices were low, but I could feel others start to stare. Letting out a strained laugh to cover how uncomfortable I really felt. "Wow. News sure travels fast. I just arrived Friday night and it's only Monday."

"I'll get your order into the kitchen. It won't take long, you must have many things to do. We don't want to keep you any longer than necessary," Cathy said fighting to keep the sneer of her face, then walked to the kitchen.

I couldn't remember the last time I had to literally bite my tongue never mind doing it several times within a five minute conversation. This woman was a real bitch but if I even made the slightest comment I wasn't sure what extras might end up on my food. That charming thought had me rethink my views on staying or leaving. There had to be a friendlier place then this. This time when my stomach growled I knew people heard. The couple a few tables over gave me a look of pity before turning back to their own meal. Was it because they knew my food wasn't going to be safe or the loud rumble my stomach continued to make?