LITMIR.BIZ

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of humor.

      She glanced at Dean driving the rental car. He’d already returned to his terse manner and stone face, which would help her adjust to the fact that the man she’d spent the week with was nothing like the man she worked with.

      Once on the plane, Jodie picked up one of the magazines she’d bought and waited for takeoff.

      Dean touched her hand and she looked at him. “Thank you for being here this week.”

      “I enjoyed it. I’m not looking forward to Chicago’s winter, I can assure you.”

      She closed her eyes during takeoff and prayed that the pilot could get the large plane in the air without a problem since they were immediately over water.

      Once they leveled off, the flight attendant brought their meals and drinks. After she ate, Jodie closed her eyes and willed herself to sleep, determinedly putting the islands and the memories there to the back of her mind.

      They arrived in Chicago Sunday morning. Dean gathered their bags and said, “I’ll take you home.”

      “Thank you.”

      “Wait here and I’ll bring the car around.”

      While she waited, she looked out at the gray skies and the people huddled into their winter coats to get away from the wind. Yes, Dorothy, you’ve returned to Kansas and Oz is only a memory. There was nothing more tangible than the weather to remind her that her fantasy vacation had come to an end.

      She saw a late-model sports car pull up to the curb, and Dean stepped out. She picked up her suitcase, and in a few strides he’d come inside and picked up the rest of their luggage. With customary efficiency Dean loaded the bags in the surprisingly roomy trunk and opened the passenger door for her.

      Once they were both inside, he pulled away from the curb. “Where to?”

      She gave him directions and settled into the comfortable seat. He drove with efficiency just as he did everything else. When he reached her apartment complex, she said, “You can let me out here. I can—”

      “I’d like to see where you live,” he said bluntly.

      “Why?” she asked just as bluntly.

      “No reason, really. Do you have a problem with my knowing where you live?”

      “Of course not. Personnel has it on record.”

      “You’ve been really quiet this morning. Any particular reason?”

      “I’m just tired. I had trouble sleeping on the plane.”

      “Well, now that you’re home you can sleep the day away.”

      She directed him to the entrance of the underground parking and showed him her second parking space. He pulled in next to her red car.

      “Yours?” he asked, getting out and going to the trunk.

      “Yes.”

      He picked up her luggage, which included the ukulele case, locked his car with the remote and followed her to the elevator. Once inside, she pushed the button for her floor and they waited in silence.

      When she opened her door and motioned for him to go ahead of her, he walked in. She’d hoped he would put the cases down in the hallway and leave. No such luck. He set them in the hallway and continued into the living room.

      “Nice place,” he said, glancing around.

      “I like it.”

      He walked over to her and without a word took her in his arms and kissed her, taking his time. She didn’t want to respond to him; she couldn’t allow herself to respond to him and she was unnerved by how much she wanted to.

      When he released her, his words were quietly prosaic. “I’ll see you at work tomorrow,” he said and let himself out.

      Jodie stood there and stared at the door. With one kiss he had brought the fantasy home to Chicago. What was she going to do?

      After she unpacked and began to wash clothes, she called Lynette. Kent answered.

      “Hi, Aunt Jodie. Are you calling from Hawaii?”

      “No, sweetheart. I’m back home. Is your mom there?”

      “Uh-huh.”

      “May I speak to her?”

      “Uh-huh.”

      She could still hear him breathing into the phone. She heard Lynette in the background say, “May I have the phone, please?”

      Kent sounded fainter as he said, “Uh-huh.”

      Lynette took the phone and said, “Do you think I need to increase my son’s vocabulary?”

      Jodie replied, “Uh-huh.”

      They both laughed. “How was the trip? Did you throttle your boss? Toss him in the ocean? Drop him into one of the volcanoes? Tell me everything.”

      Her feelings toward Dean had changed so much in the week she’d been gone that for a moment she didn’t understand why Lynette would say those things.

      “Actually he was fun to be with. I enjoyed being there with him.”

      After a prolonged silence Lynette said, “Who is this? Hello? Was I cut off from my sister? Hello? Hello?”

      Jodie chuckled. “Cut it out. And you needn’t worry about my sanity. He was on vacation and I had an opportunity to see another side to him.”

      “Somehow I never expected to hear the words fun and Dean Logan in the same sentence coming from you. What in the world happened to turn Mr. Hyde into Dr. Jekyll?”

      Jodie sighed. “Doesn’t matter. Mr. Hyde was definitely present once we landed at the airport. By noon tomorrow I’ll have forgotten completely the friendly, funny man I met on the island.” The kiss didn’t count.

      “Speaking of meeting men, did you spot any good-looking hunks strolling the beaches?”

      “Quite a few, actually,” Jodie replied, grinning. “Of course, most of them were accompanied by professional swimsuit models. Or if they weren’t, they should be.”

      “You can hold your own with the best of them, kiddo.”

      “I had at least ten pounds on the heaviest ones.”

      “And all in the right places. Did you have Dean drooling?”

      Her throat tightened and for a moment she couldn’t speak. Finally she said, “Not so you’d notice.”

      “Plan to come over tonight for dinner. I hope you took lots of photos so I can be envious and jealous and all that stuff.”

      Jodie laughed. “You are so full of it. You wouldn’t be away that long from the kids.”

      “True. But I can dream. See you tonight.”

      Jodie turned off the handset and said, “Dreaming isn’t real.” She didn’t need to tell Lynette that, of course. She needed to remind herself.

      She took a nap before going over to Lynette and Chuck’s. She carefully dressed and hoped that they couldn’t read her face. Maybe they’d think the glow was all suntan. She could only hope.

      Kent and Kyle greeted her at the door that evening with whoops and hollers that made her laugh.

      “Boys!” Lynette said. “Hush or you’ll wake Emily.”

      They immediately quieted. “Did you bring us something?” Kyle asked expectantly, eyeing the large shopping bag she carried.

      “Kyle!” Lynette scolded. “You know better than that!” She hugged Jodie before she stepped back. “Don’t you look great! The tan really emphasizes the color of your eyes.”

      Chuck joined them. “Looking

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