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Though they&039;ll probably never read it, this book is dedicated to all the coaches - baseball, football, volleyball, soccer - who&039;ve worked through so many years, often for no monetary reward, to coax athletic performances out ofof The Game God bless you all, and thanks froh rain, cold, heat, and ht be watching the night gae with more information than I could use - Maria Lima, Sandilee Lloyd, Holly Nelson, Jean Hontz, and M R "Murv" Sellars I owe further thanks to other experts in different fields: Kevin Ryer, who knows s than most people do about their own pets; Dr D P Lyle, who is so gracious about answering medical questions; and, of course, Doris Ann Norris, reference librarian to the stars

If I have e these kind people imparted, I&039;ll do my best to somehow blaot ho shift at Merlotte&039;s, but since ere at the tail end of December, the day darkened early So Bill, my former boyfriend - that&039;s Bill Coulars at Merlotte&039;s call hie within the previous hour He can&039;t get up until dark

I hadn&039;t seen Bill in over a week, and our parting hadn&039;t been a happy one But touching the envelope with my name written on it h I&039;m twenty-six - I&039;d never had, and lost, a boyfriend before

You&039;d be right

Nore as I a I&039;m messed up in the head since I started school

They&039;re right

That&039;s not to say I don&039;t get groped at the bar occasionally Guys get drunk I look good They forget their eness and otten close tofrom him had hurtat the old, scarred kitchen table I still had loves

Dearest Sookie - I wanted to come over to talk to you when you had somewhat recovered from the unfortunate events of earlier this month

"Unfortunate events," my round rear end The bruises had finally faded, but I had a knee that still ached in the cold, and I suspected that it alould Every injury I had incurred had been in the course of rescuing roup of vampires that included his forure out why Bill had been so infatuated with Lorena that he&039;d answered her summons to Mississippi

Probably, you have a lot of questions about what happened

Daht

If you&039;ll talk to me face-to-face, come to the front door and letI pondered for athat while I didn&039;t trust Bill anymore, I didn&039;t believe that he would physically harh the house to the front door I opened it and called, "Okay, co the clearing in which ht of hi the land next to h from his years as a Confederate soldier, before his death in 1867 Bill&039;s nose was straight off a Greek vase His hair was dark brown and clipped close to his head, and his eyes were just as dark He looked exactly the sa, and he alould

He hesitated before he crossed the threshold, but I&039;d given him permission, and Iroom filled with old, comfortable furniture and neat as a pin

"Thank you," he said in his cold, se of sheer lust Many things had gone wrong between us, but they hadn&039;t started in bed "I wanted to talk to you before I left"

"Where are you going?" I tried to sound as calm as he

"To Peru The queen&039;s orders"

"Still working on your, ah, database?" I knew al about computers, but Bill had studied hard to ot a little reat fund of knowledge about those of our race on his continent, and I have an appoint while I&039;e to offer Bill a bottle of synthetic blood, which would have been the hospitable thing to do "Have a seat," I said curtly, and nodded at the sofa I sat on the edge of the old recliner catty-cornered to it Then a silence fell, a silence that made me even more conscious of how unhappy I was

"How&039;s Bubba?" I asked finally

"He&039;s in New Orleans right now," Bill said "The queen likes to keep him around from time to time, and he was so visible here over the last ood idea to take hinize Bubba if you saw hiht over" too successfully Probably the nored the tiny spark of life But since he was a great fan, he hadn&039;t been able to resist the attempt, and now the entire southern vampire community shuffled Bubba around and tried to keep him from public view

Another silence fell I&039;d planned on taking offtelevision with a Freschetta pizza by my side It was a hu

"If you have soo on and say it," I told him