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Getting dragon spit was not so up the saliva issue at Patsy&039;sof the undeadparty, Ralph and I got into his beat-up Honda and went to his house I was so tired My on

I held within oddess knew , I followed Ralph into his hoh the thick socks Good thing it hadn&039;t snowed, though I could still feel that possibility in the whipping wind I had no idea what I was going to do about shoes and clothes I had bigger worries, though Dragon attacks PRIS rescue Missing parents

Ralph flipped on the lights "I&039;ll shower first While you&039;re taking one, I&039;llto eat"

"Okeydokey" I yawned as I took offit on the hall tree in the foyer When I looked at Ralph, I saw his eyes onto pop out of the buttoned paja hello, mainly because it was so chilly in the house But then they tightened and tingled because of Ralph&039;s attention

"I&039;lluh, go take that shower now" Ralph turned and hurried down the hall I wasn&039;t sure if I felt complimented or insulted

I don&039;t knohat little devil made me follow him But I was surprised when Ralph headed toward the toddlers&039; bedrooht and went to sit on the bed nearest the door He picked up the teddy bear and stroked its tiny head

I tiptoed to the doorway and peeked around the frame to watch him He was in so much pain I felt badly for hi children was difficult enough when you were alive I couldn&039;t iine how hard it was if you were undead

"So up atmore sneaky), "I think it would be best if the boys lived with their grandparents If they lived with Maura and Harold, they&039;d have a more normal life - one lived in the sun And they&039;d have everything they could ever want"

"Money doesn&039;t buy love," I said softly "And no amount of trinkets could replace you, Ralph You&039;re their father"

"Yeah," he said "I miss them I think it&039;s time they came home"

He stood up and, for a moment, we just looked at each other Then he broke eye contact, and whateverbetween us was broken

Ralph went to take his shower, and I went to the kitchen I sat at the table, laying my head on its smooth surface I&039;d barely closed my eyes when I felt Ralph tapaway from the table

"I also hold the world speed record for showering" He grinned at me and winked Oompa! Sexy, sexy man It didn&039;t help that he&039;d only slipped on a pair of pajah the daaze off his pectorals "I&039;d eat a cooked floor tile at this point"

He laughed, and I went to the bathroo stupid, like toss Ralph to the floor and ride him like my new pony

I didn&039;t want to think about sex, so I thought about food Toast wasn&039;t all that appealing I still craved on part of an lifestyle? I doubted it

In the bathroom, I started the shower and shed ainst the wall and leaned into the spray, letting the near scalding liquid pour over me I wished it could drain away my betrayal as easily I needed to tell Ralph what I&039;d done Or maybe I should try to sneak in another phone call Tell Brady to back off

But what about Mo, but not that they were dead No I would know that They ht be stuck in some hole somewhere Maybe even hurt

Ralph knocked on the door "Hey, Libby?"

I turned off the water and peeked around the shower curtain "Yeah?"

"Patsy called She said you got a texton towithout one of my arms "What did it say?"

"Mom says hi Call soon, pu to be e : My parents were okay Oh, God I nearly slid to the floor I was so relieved "That&039;s great Do you think I can call ht he&039;d walked away Then he shouted, "Shit! The toast&039;s burning"

I laughed as I got out of the shower and grabbed the towel Ralph had left for me I had plenty of ti up in Broken Heart I had no idea whatfor the last two days, but they&039;d obviously made it out of toithout detection It probably helped that Patsy and everyone else had been distracted

I toweled off and redressed in my pajamas When I opened the bathroom door, I could smell the charred bread I hurried to the kitchen and found Ralph throwing away the toaster

"Daht, but Therese would never letpresent?"

He nodded, then he turned toward the counter I suppose it was easier to get rid of the bedroorance, her touch, her meo of it Because she&039;d wanted to keep it

"Tell ly; a slice of half-buttered bread was in his hand "Really?"

I nodded "What was she like?"

"Wea bachelor party, and she was there because her parents were sponsoring soio

"I was enah She was the one who taught me to never make assumptions about people She was raised in a family that worshipped"Her parents never thought I was good enough for her, but they sure warmed up after the tere born"

"Why did you come to Broken Heart?" I asked "Why corew up here, but after my parents died, my sister and I went to live with our aunt and uncle in Tulsa My sister lived here a while, but got married herself and moved to Missouri Therese fell in love with the place"

No, she&039;d fallen in love with Ralph and realized how uncomfortable he would&039;ve been in her world So she&039;d settled into his I liked her, this woman who&039;d found joy with the ive her

"The happiest times of my life ith her," said Ralph "When she died, it felt like part of me had died, too But I had the boys I had to be there for them"

He stared at the floor, and I stayed quiet I had seen my parents in this type of marital ritual Dad was the listener,silences during their conversations It wasn&039;t really silence, it was patience and love I think love involved a lot of waiting - waiting for your partner to talk or to kiss you or to cohed, and I knew he felt the weight of the world on his shoulders "We had such a short aether She died in 2006 Michael and Stephen had just turned a year old I talk about her to the boys all the tiet her"

If I wasn&039;t already head over heels for Ralph, I would&039;ve tipped over the edge right then Yeah, yeah, I know He was the Chachi tothe ti for that one When they do coame of Blue&039;s Clues?"