LITMIR.BIZ

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out of her, and he decided to not try to explain how something was always missing, though on paper he and his computer dates had seemed well matched. He couldn’t figure out a lot of things these days, like the heightened desire to find a compatible partner, and the constant disappointment with his dates. “What do you say we take the dome?”

      “Today?”

      “It’s only ten. We can head up there and eat lunch then I promise to take you right home.”

      She flashed her signature challenging look. “I’ll race you to the top!” And she was off before he could get his backpack over his shoulders.

      “That’s not fair, speedy!” He resorted to taunting her with the nickname he’d given her in high school for always finishing last in the 800M race. She laughed and her feet stuttered on loose gravel. Anne grabbed a root sticking out of a rock to steady her and glared over her shoulder. It wasn’t a real glare, but one of Anne’s pretend angry looks, and it took him right back to high school and that girl he used to know. Now he was getting somewhere.

      The drive home was companionably quiet. Anne couldn’t help but think Jack had something else he wanted to say. The muscle worked at the corner of his jaw, his hand gripped the steering wheel harder than necessary. Why did she have the compulsion to run her fingers through the close cropped dark blond waves on his head? Instead, she sighed and looked out the passenger window.

      When he pulled into her driveway, he threw the car into Park and turned toward her. “You remember Drew?”

      She nodded. Drew had been Jack’s best friend in high school. Evidently they were still close.

      “He’s got his own hot air balloon company right over in Marshfield. I used to work for him on weekends and during the summers when I went to CSUCI. Why don’t you let me take you up for a ride next Saturday? You can’t say you’ve really seen Whispering Oaks until you’ve seen it from the air.”

      She ignored the charming glint in those fern green eyes.

      The thought of floating in the air hanging in a basket with Jack had its merits, but last night, when she couldn’t fall asleep, she’d promised not to fall back into their old pattern of being the odd man out with Brianna at the center. And a lot of today had been about Bri. Of course Brianna deserved it, and it was a good starting off place for her and Jack to try to sort things out from before, but everything still seemed so confusing. And how much guilt could she take with Brianna’s memory breathing over her shoulder reminding her how she’d betrayed her best friend by loving Jack, by stealing his attention when Brianna was getting sick and no one even knew it.

      I think Jack likes someone else, she’d told Anne over the phone the week before the diagnosis.

      If she was still this messed up over their situation, how must Jack feel?

      Anne glanced at Jack and got the distinct impression he needed to spend time with her. She’d worked with grieving families as a nurse, and recognized his need for closure. And God only knew how much needed to be closed, but didn’t she have enough on her plate with her mom and dad? And, really, what was the point? They weren’t involved in each other’s lives anymore.

      “Jack, it’s been great seeing you again. I really enjoyed the hike today, but I’m here to take care of my parents. I’m afraid I’ll have to pass.”

      He didn’t try to hide his disappointment. “You? Afraid?”

      “What?”

      “You said, ‘I’m afraid I’ll have to pass’ but what I heard was ‘I’m afraid’. You’ve never been afraid of anything, Anne.”

      She tossed him a disbelieving glance. “You sure we’re talking about the same person?”

      He shrugged. “That’s how I’ve always seen it.”

      Was that a challenge in his eyes? Was it finally time to see if those embers of interest were still ignitable? Maybe where Jack was concerned she was afraid, and she definitely didn’t want to deal with these mixed-up guilty thoughts. Not now. Not under these circumstances. He’d put her through hell. She’d left town because of him—well that and college. And hadn’t she seen him with another woman last night, computer date or not! Why set herself up for more heartache? Besides, once Lucas got home, she was leaving. Again. She had moved on.

      “Thanks for the vote of confidence, but I’ve got to go inside,” she said as she opened the car door.

      “You’ll burn out if you’re not careful.” He wasn’t making it easy, but she closed the door anyway. “Call me if you need anything, okay?”

      She bent and ducked her head through the window. “Okay. But Jack? You’ve got to understand that I can’t be your buddy anymore.”

      She bit her bottom lip. Jack used to like her straight-arrow honesty, but from the thoughtful, almost hurt expression on his face, she knew she’d gone too far. Too late. She couldn’t take back what she’d already said, and it was how she felt.

      “That’s not what I’m asking,” he said, brows low, eyes crinkled and staring at the steering wheel.

      “Sorry.” She didn’t give him the chance to explain further as she strode up the walkway to her front door and let herself in.

      I can’t be your buddy because it hurts too damn much.

      Sunday, Anne and Beverly got confirmation that Kieran would indeed be discharged on Monday. When Anne questioned being able to fit Dad into the family compact sedan, she’d been assured by her father that the transportation home had been prearranged.

      Monday afternoon an ancient yet familiar beat-up blue van pulled into the driveway, and once again, in her own home, Anne felt conspired against. She rolled the wheelchair to the sliding door where her father smiled, casted leg extended from one captain seat to the other in the huge belly of the vehicle. Jack sat behind the wheel with a tentative look on his face. It was the first time she’d seen him since she’d slammed him about trying to pick up where they’d left off. At least he didn’t look like he hated her.

      She nodded at him. He lifted a hand as a wave. “Hold on a minute, let me help,” he said, hopping out the door and rounding the van.

      Beverly stood behind Anne waving at her husband. “Welcome home, sweetie.”

      “It’s great to be back, babe!”

      “I’ll take care of this,” Jack said, as Anne pushed the wheelchair right to the side of the car. “We worked everything out at the hospital when we loaded him up.”

      Several minutes passed as Jack and her dad played the maxi-van version of Twister, but emerged with Dad tottering on crutches just long enough to hop to the wheelchair.

      Thinking in advance, Anne had put a sturdy slab of plywood over the two inch step-up through the kitchen door. With arm muscles tight and bulging, Jack pushed the two hundred pounds of her father, plus full leg cast, as if they weighed no more than a Hello Kitty stroller.

      Anne tried her best not to watch, but gave in at the first glimpse of his deltoids.

      Once inside, Beverly hugged Kieran, smiling until her eyes disappeared. He kissed her on the cheek since she was still smiling. “It’s great to be home,” he said.

      Bart was beside himself with his favorite person back from “gone,” and high stepped and whined for attention. “There’s my boy,” Kieran said, kissing the dog’s nose and rubbing his ears. If dogs could smile, Bart was.

      “Where should I put him?” Jack asked.

      “Over here.” Beverly pointed the way to the family room and Jack steered past.

      Anne brought in the crutches left leaning against the van, anything to distance herself from Jack and his invasion of her family. When she stepped back into the kitchen, she heard her father ask his favorite question. “What’s to eat? Do you have any idea how

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