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purchasing it at any price she asked indicated it could be worth a pretty penny.
    Maybe she should get the land valued.
    A knock on the door sounded and she looked up to see her manager hovering in the doorway.
    “Hey, Allen, what’s up?”
    “Have you got a minute? There’s some news I need to discuss with you.”
    “Certainly.”
    She hoped it was good news after the disappointing tidbit she’d received from the lawyer. Maybe he was going to tell her they were extending her contract. When she’d first arrived there had been talk about a possible extension, but as the end of her contract drew closer and closer, the prospect of returning to Australia seemed the more likely outcome.
    She attempted to contain her thoughts as she followed Allen down the hall. She wanted to stay longer. She had so much more to give to the firm. But it could be something completely different that he wanted to talk about. Though the company was small, it seemed very busy. They could have another project for her to review.
    “Take a seat, Charlotte,” Allen directed as he took his own place at the head of the boardroom.
    Charlotte smiled at the other occupants of the room. This had to be serious if the other two partners were also in the room.
    Allen cleared his throat. “Charlotte, we’ve been very happy with the service you’ve provided the company over the last four months. As you know, we hired you on a six-month contract with the possibility of an extension. Your visa is a temporary work visa. We deliberately did this for a couple of reasons. One of them was, while you came highly recommended to us, we hadn’t worked with you before and we didn’t want to commit to a long-term contract if you didn’t fit in with our firm. We knew after a week that wouldn’t be an issue.”
    “Thank you, Allen. I really enjoy working here. It’s been a great challenge,” she interjected.
    “We’re glad you feel that way. Another reason for the temporary visa was because of our long-term plans. If we felt you were suitable and it became obvious to us that you enjoyed working and living in the United States, we would look at commencing a green card process if you were interested.”
    The excitement bubble took on a life of its own. She loved working in the States. She’d grown up an ex-pat kid, so she’d lived in Australia off and on during her life. Only it never felt like her real home. Maybe because she’d traveled around so much she had no idea what home really meant. One of the longest periods she had stayed in Australia had been while she completed her final two years of high school and the years it took to get her environmental science degree. But once she started working, she’d started to feel restless, like she needed something more, something bigger in her life than living and working in Sydney. She’d identified the feeling as itchy feet, so when the opportunity to work for Gold Star Eco had come up, she’d jumped at it.
    “I’m very interested in this opportunity, Allen. I’ve been hoping you would extend my contract, as I feel I have so much more to give.”
    “Excellent. We will look into what we have to do and the cost involved with this process. We’ve never done anything like this before. In fact, you are our first international employee, so it’s all unchartered waters for us, as well.”
    “You won’t be disappointed with your decision. I’ll make sure of it.”
    • • •
    Charlotte pulled into the Sweet Ridge Inn’s car park. It had taken her longer than she’d anticipated to head down to Sweet Ridge. It seemed everyone wanted to head out of town this particular weekend and the roads had been chaotic. If there was one thing she disliked about living in Houston, it was the traffic. People were crazy on the roads. Their love affair for talking or texting as they drove astounded her.
    She got out of the car, grabbed her overnight bag, and headed to reception. Within minutes she was getting into an elevator