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"Laura, I&039;ain"

"Betsy, it&039;s fine I&039;hted ooo see ooo again! Is ooo my best wittle boy? Is ooo?"

"Really, really sorry But I had plans for tonight and frankly, if I don&039;t do this now, I&039;ll never psych ain"

She had all the baby crap, was hauling it (and BabyJon) easily into the front hall "Betsy, will you stop? It&039;s my pleasure to help out You&039;ll let his onna be happy when she finds out I shirked BabyJon on you Just re her blond hair away from her face "Goodness! I&039;m sure she&039;ll be fine You know, Betsy, Mrs Taylor isn&039;t nearly as bad as you-"

Okay, if I had to get the "give your steprown up with her, I was going to pop a blood vessel "Yeah, well, thanks, I owe you, bye!" I gave her a helpful shove

I closed the big front door and leaned on it Right BabyJon given the bootie: check Sinclair off with Tina somewhere: check No pop-ins that I knew of: check Marc at work: check Toni and Garrett prowling around outside, him to eat and her for kicks: check (Iwith bad guys) Cathie-the-ghost nowhere in evidence: check

Jessica knitting in her rooish rooold wallpaper and all the trim and old furniture in blond wood, as if the Scandinavian carpenters who built thisof their wives&039; hair when they designed and built it

I rapped on the half-closed door and went in at her, "C&039; Usually she brought her yarn bag into the kitchen with us, or went into the basement with Garrett, or took it to a craft class But Marc had explained that she got tired earlier, and took longer to get going when she got up

"Got a minute?" I asked

"Uh-huh"

"I can&039;t tell where the one on the bed is, and the one you&039;re working on starts," I joked It was true, though: she was lying on a navy crocheted coverlet, and crocheting another one, this one red

"Yeah, well, you&039;re an idiot" She grinned

"Uh-huh" I barely heard the insult I started to sit on the bed, then got up and sort of prowled around the foot of it for alately I mean, a lot"

"Do you need some Advil?"

"This is serious!" I almost shouted at her "Listen-I can&039;t believe I&039; to you about this-"

"No," she said

"What?"

"No You can&039;t bite me You can&039;t turn me into a vampire I won&039;t allow it"

My oft-rehearsed speech disappeared in a whirl of relief and indignation "What? How did you know? Oh, those big-mouthed idiots!"

"Yes, that&039;s how I&039;d describe Tina and Sinclair Come on, Betsy Nobody had to tellprivate conversations with experienced vampires, but frankly, every ti at a raw steak"

"Huh"