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Huh? Ginnie s thoughts had to scurry to catch up after hearing sleep over . She and Harry hadn t
done much actual sleeping together. Move in with you?
Sure. I have a two-bedroom apartment, and only my cat uses the other room. When you get the
deposit and settlement check She tapped the paperwork, you can get your own place. Or you can
stay. We seem to get along pretty well.
Ginnie smiled at her new friend. Lara was a wonderful person. And maybe getting away from Harry
would clarify matters. He probably preferred she go, anyway.
The man didn t want a relationship.
Ginnie felt a pang of regret. Okay. Later this afternoon? I m packing pretty light these days.
Lara laughed. Of course. I ll help anyway. It ll be fun to get another look at that fabulous house of
his. That living room was like crawling inside a TV into Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous. I ve been in
real estate for a few years now, and I ve never seen a home as gorgeous as his, not outside of the historical
register.
Ginnie had to agree, it was a stunning home. Her mother would be drooling over it and, if she could,
picking Ginnie up and throwing her at Harry. She wouldn t care that Harry said he didn t want a
relationship. She d only care that he was single and rich. Her biggest concern would be that Ginnie would
screw it up.
Suddenly Ginnie was seventeen again, standing in the small bathroom she shared with her mother.
She was getting ready for a date, brushing her hair, when her mother walked in. Her mom was dating,
herself, in the aftermath of Ginnie s father s abandonment, and the woman was gazing in the mirror and
smoothing a low-cut silky black cocktail dress.
What do you think, Mom? Ginnie posed in her new jeans and a figure-hugging peach cashmere
sweater. Good enough?
Her mother stared. Finally she said, No. You ll never be a man-magnet. But if you re shrewd and
don t do anything stupid like fall in love, you might do okay.
Her mother s words were a curse, piercing Ginnie through the heart. She wanted to cry. She wanted to
curl up in a ball somewhere dark and stay there forever.
She d gone on the date, but felt clumsy and ugly and painfully self-conscious the whole time. Added
to the guilt she felt over her dad s abandonment, it hammered her self-esteem into the ground. Where it
more or less stayed.
She hadn t felt fully appreciated, or truly seen and cherished, until that night with Harry.
www.samhainpublishing.com 49
Christina Crooks
Ginnie? Lara leaned across her desk. Are you okay?
I m just realizing you re right. I can t change Harry. He doesn t want me, not in any way that counts,
so I shouldn t do anything stupid like fall in love with him.
Lara scraped off a fleck of purple nail polish, thoughtful. She placed it carefully into the trash next to
her desk. He is an idiot, she pronounced, with the gravity of a doctor declaring a time of death.
You re right, we will get along fine, Ginnie said, and they both laughed.
The laughter eased her hurt. As for Harry, the man didn t want her around. He d made himself very
clear.
She had to respect that, and respect herself enough to let him go.
50 www.samhainpublishing.com
Chapter Five
Ginnie opened Lara s door and stared. At Harry.
Harry stood on Lara s porch.
Only one week had gone by, and he looked exactly the same pulled-together and delicious. Her
heart gave a lurch. He was really here, just as she d dreamed.
She wished she weren t wearing her ratty old flannel pajamas at one o clock in the afternoon, and that
her hair wasn t flattened from being slept on. Most of all, she wished he wasn t seeing her blotchy face,
reddened eyes and cheeks wet with tears.
What are you doing here? She wiped her face with her sleeve.
His face was almost comical with guilt. At another time, she might have been amused. Or gratified.
At the moment, all she felt was miserable.
Um. Are you okay? Harry fidgeted. It was funny to see such a solidly built, in-charge man fidget.
Clearly he thought he d mortally wounded her.
I ve been better. This& She indicated her face, & has nothing to do with you. Best to get that fact
across quickly. No sense in his thinking for a second she was moping over him. Even if she d missed him
worlds more than she d thought she would. What brings you across town?
Your stuff. The trunk on my porch is gone. And one of the neighbors across the street saw a man
putting it into a sport wagon. He didn t know if the man was a friend of yours. Are you okay? he repeated,
with more concern.
I m not sure yet. Give me a sec. Ginnie held on to the doorway, taking deep breaths. When it rains,
it pours, she finally muttered. And then your house crashes down, and then& Okay. Where s the hidden
camera?
Harry looked pained. His expression was half-angry, half-guilty. I should have put that trunk in the
house.
I m the one who told you to leave it on the porch. She remembered her cavalier words, her trust that
it wouldn t be stolen, her certainty she d be right back to pick it up, and could kick herself. Somebody else
had picked it up. Somebody who had a sport wagon to put it in. I can t believe he did that.
You know who it was?
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