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He thought about flowers Somehow Cody didn&039;t think Abra was the type of woht of a few roses He considered a straight-out apology, the kind of no-frills shoot-froht offer another But he didn&039;t think Abra saw hi out would freeze the words before they got froht she would accept for the tiether over the next teeks, often shoulder to shoulder The distance between thereat as that between the sun and the moon Consultations were often necessary, but Abra always arranged it so that they weren&039;t alone With a skill he was forced to admire, she used Charlie Gray as a buffer It couldn&039;t have been easy, but she avoided Cody altogether whenever possible Understanding the need for a cooling-off period, he did nothing to change the situation Twice he made brief trips, once to the hos in a o

Each time he returned he stuck a toe in the waters of Abra&039;s teid

With his hard hat in place and his eyes shielded by tinted glasses, Cody watched the glass of the do lowered into place

"A nice touch A class touch" Barlow looked up, grinning at the light that caold spears

"WW" Cody relaxed a bit when the glass settled on the opening like a cap on a bottle "Didn&039;t know you were back in town"

"Doing so" Barlow et that cooling syste"

"It&039;s on today&039;s schedule"

"Good Good" Barlow turned around, wanting to take in the entire sweep of building It pleased hinable, yet at the same tilass arch of roof that brought the mountain into the lobby He approved of the drauests would check in and out First and last i certain they would be lasting ones Landscapers would plant a few desert shrubs and cacti, then let nature take over All along the ere wide arching s that let in the vast arena of desert and butte To the west,the stone pool for the waterfall

"I&039;ll say this, boy - you deliver" It was the kind of blunt coave only when it was deserved "I&039;ll admit I had some bad moments over the blueprints and thein all this I ith his judght You&039;vehere, Cody Not every man can look back on his life and say the sa to want you to show me the rest" He slapped Cody on the back "Meantiet a beer around here?"

"I think we can arrange it" Cody led the way outside to an ice chest and dug out two cans

Barlow drank deeply and sighed His thinning hair was covered by a straw hat with a paisley band A porch hat, Cody&039;sthe millionaire look like a retired tobacco farmer

"I&039;ll be sixty-fivequite like a cold beer on a hot afternoon" Barlow glanced toward the health club and caught a gli" With a quick bray of laughter he sat down on the ice chest and loosened his collar "I like to think of ure I made most of my money that way"

"Mmm-hmm," Cody responded absently He, too, had spotted Abra She earing baggy bib overalls that should have made her appear sexless They didn&039;t Cody kept re how she&039;d looked in the little black dress

"Seems to lass" Barloigged his beer with si to do with a long-legged engineer, would it?"

"Might" Cody sent hiarettes He offered Barlow one, but the older ive the to her," he continued, switching back easily to the subject of Abra "&039;Course, ot brains and grit Might have scared rinned and took off his hat to fan his face "Seemed to me you two had a tiff at that do we had at Tim Thornway&039;s"

"You could call it that" Cody sipped and considered "I was jealous of you"

"Jealous?" Barlow had lifted the can to his lips Now he had to set it on the ground for fear he&039;d drop it as he roared with laughter Cutting loose, he rocked back and forth on the chest,face with his handkerchief "You just knocked twenty years off otta thank you" He sucked in air, then let it out again in a wheeze "I sonofabitch like you jealous of an old"A rich old man Well, well, I don&039;t suppose the little lady took kindly to that"

"The little lady," Cody drawled, "carit" Barlow stuffed his handkerchief back in his pocket, then picked up his beer Life still had soht Thank God "Fact is, I had her in mind for my son" At Cody&039;s look, he chuckled and dropped the hat back on his head "Don&039;t get your dander up now, boy A man can only take so ainst it when I saw the way she looked at you"

"That sis"

"Between you and me, anyway," Barlow pointed out "Otherwise, I&039;d say you were about waist-deep in quicksand"

"Pretty accurate estiestions?"

"Better find yourself a rope, son, and haul your tail out"

"My father always used flowers," Codyat a few creaks in his joints, Barlow rose "Neither would groveling" He noted Cody&039;s expression and laughed again "Too young for groveling yet," he said "But you&039;ll learn" He gave Cody a thump on the back "Yes, indeed, you&039;ll learn"

He wasn&039;t about to grovel Absolutely not But he thought it ive the flowers a shot If a woman hadn&039;t cooled off so to cool off at all - at least not without a little help

In any case, Cody told hihed a little to hier lilies to his other hand It seeies back and forth since the first minute they&039;d met Why break the pattern? he mused as he stood in front of her door If she didn&039;t accept it now, he&039;d just stick around and drive her crazy until she did

Each of the the other crazy

Besides, he&039;dwith her about the project He&039;d uard was down He&039;d , uninhibited way her arlanced at the flowers in his hand Tiger lilies were a pretty fragile rope, but they were better than none at all Even if she tossed thee fro at Ti to say to get his foot in the door

It wasn&039;t Abra who answered, but the blonde frouessed was about forty She was dressed very simply, in a copper-colored jumpsuit that complemented her hair and her eyes, which were so much like Abra&039;s Cody smiled at her, as much for that as for the fact that, in her porcelain way, she was a knockout

"Well, hello" She smiled back at him and offered a hand "I&039;m Jessie Peters"

"Cody Johnson I&039;ave hi study that was laced with fe Abra&039;sassociates Would you like a drink? Abra&039;s in the shower"

"Sure" He re cold, if you have it"

"I&039;ve just made some lemonade Fresh Make yourself at ho kitchen "Was Abra expecting you?"

"No" He glanced around, noting that the apart

"A surprise, then I love surprises" She walked back in with two tall glasses crackling with ice "Are you an engineer?"

"I&039;m an architect"

Jessie paused for a moment Then a sesturing for Cody to sit "I believe Abra&039;s mentioned you"

"I&039;ll bet" He set the flowers on the newly dusted table

"She didn&039;t s and settled back "But it&039;s like her to keep a thing like that to herself" She ran a fingertip down her glass as she su, like the novelty er, a s band "You&039;re froht Florida"

"I never think of Florida as the east," she commented "I always think of Disney World"

"Did I hear the door? I - Oh" Abra cay white pants and an oversize sweatshirt with a pair of battered-looking sandals Her hair was still damp and curled froathered up the flowers "Bearing gifts"

"Yes, I see" Abra dug her hands into the deep pockets of her pants

With her bright smile still in place, Jessie buried her face in the bloonized tension and romance As far as she was concerned, one asted without the other "Why don&039;t I put these in water for you, sweetheart? You don&039;t happen to have a vase, do you?"

"Somewhere"

"Of course"

Abra waited until Jessie went into the kitchen to search for it Cautious, she kept her voice low "What do you want?"

"To see you"

Abra&039;s hands tightened into fists in her pockets when he rose "You&039;ve done that Now, if you&039;ll excuse ize," Cody continued

She hesitated, then let out a long breath She had gone to hiy, and he had accepted If there was one thing she understood, it was how difficult it was to try to ht," she said, and et it"

"Wouldn&039;t you like an explanation?" He took a step forward She took one backward

"I don&039;t think so It ht be best if - "

"I found one" Jessie ca a milk bottle, "So to speak Actually, I think they look char in this, don&039;t you?" She set the flowers in the center of the coffee table, then stepped back to ade the water, Abra And it wouldn&039;t hurt to lift the vase up when you dust"

"Moenuine astonish

"That&039;s the nicest compliment I&039;ve had all day," she said "If I didn&039;t love her soup on her toes, she kissed Abra&039;s cheek, then brushed lightly at the faint s Don&039;t forget to call s to do" Jessie gave her daughter&039;s hand a squeeze, then offered her own to Cody "It was lovely ain, Mrs Peters"

"Jessie" She sain "I insist that all handsoesture of a practiced flirt "Good night, sweetheart Oh, you&039;re alent"

Abra let out a huff of breath when the door closed

"Are you sure that&039;s your ers through her hair Jessie always left her feeling bewildered "Look, Cody, I appreciate you co by to clear the air"

"Now clear out?"

"I don&039;t want to be rude I think both of us have used up our share of rudeness for this year, but it would si hours"

"I never said I wanted things simple" He took a step closer Her eyes stayed warily on his as he toyed with the damp ends of her hair "But if you do, fine 1 look at you and I want It doesn&039;t get much simpler than that"

"For you" If it was difficult not to step away, it was much et into all of the reasons, but when I told you that I wasn&039;t ready I was being perfectly honest Added to that is the fact that we just don&039;t get along very well We don&039;t know each other We don&039;t understand each other"

"All right So we&039;ll get to know each other"

"You&039;re si"

"Isn&039;t that what you just said you wanted?"

Feeling trapped, she turned away and sat down "Cody, I told you, I have reasons for not wanting to get involved with you, with anyone"

"Let&039;s just stick with me" He sat across from her For the life of him he couldn&039;t understand why he was so keyed up He had very little tiy to put into a relationship at this point in his life He certainly wasn&039;t looking for one He corrected himself Hadn&039;t been This one, one he couldn&039;t seem to resist, had crashed onto his head "Okay, Wilson, why don&039;t we look at this logically? Engineers are logical people, right?"

"We are" She wished the floeren&039;t sitting so bright and lovely between theether for a few months yet If there&039;s tension between people, they don&039;t ell If we keep walking on eggshells around each other the e have been the last couple weeks, the project&039;s going to suffer"

"Okay, you have a point" She so to bed with you to ease the tension"

"And I thought you were dedicated" He sat back and braced his ankle on his knee "If that&039;s out" He raised a questioning brow

"Definitely"

"How about pizza and a ical She was trained to take facts to the correct conclusion "Nothing else?"

"That would depend"