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"You did what?"

Zack stuck his head in the refrigerator and rued for a beer He knew that tone His wife didn&039;t use it often, which hy it was so effective

He took a long ti out the beer and made sure his face was relaxed and composed when he looked back at her

She stood in front of the stove, where so She had a wooden spoon in her fist and her fists on her hips He thought she looked like an outraged, and very sexy, Betty Crocker But he figured it wouldn&039;t be healthy to say so just at the moment

"I invited Sam to dinner" He smiled when he said it, and twisted the top off the beer "You kno I like to show off "

When she only slitted her eyes, he took a deep gulp from the bottle "Problem? You never mind company for dinner"

"I don&039;t ht have been a little reckless as a kid, but he was never sleazy And he&039;s one of my oldest friends"

"And he broke the heart of one of my friends - and yours He left her flat and went off toNew York to

do God-knohat forup a fine rage, "he slithers back on-island and expects everybody to greet him with open arms"

She slapped the spoon on the counter "I for one aan"

"How about just one trumpet player?"

"You think this is a joke?" She swiveled on her heel and strode to the back door He et there in time to brace a hand on the door "No Sorry Nell" He ran his hand over her cap of hair "Look, I&039;m sorry about what happened between Sam and Mia I was sorry then, and I&039;reith Sam, and ere friends Good friends"

"Isn&039;t &039;were&039; the operative word?"

"Not for me" And for Zack it was just that simple "Mia matters to me, and so does he I don&039;t want to be put in the position of taking sides, not in , I don&039;t want you and me at odds over it But I shouldn&039;t have asked hio head hih, but couldn&039;t quitethat to make me feel small and low"

He waited a beat "Did it work?"

"Yes, daave hi co it"

But he didn&039;t move aside Instead he took her hands and squeezed "Thanks"

"Don&039;t thankhim hives or warts"

"Gotcha How about I set the table?"

"How about you do?"

"You want candles?"

"Yeah, black ones" She smirked as she walked over to check her wild rice "To ward off negative energy"

Zack heaved out a breath "Should be soood wine and sunny yellow daffodils But she wasn&039;t mollified She was polite, brutally so, and served the wine on the coether at the last minute

Sam wasn&039;t sure if she meant that to be friendly or to illustrate that he would be ado to any trouble," Sauests"

"No, there isn&039;t, is there?" she replied sweetly "But then again, I&039;m sure you&039;re not used to potluck, so we&039;ll allback into the house, and Sa in, but in painful stages "This is going well"

"Mia means a lot to her For a lot of reasons"

Sam merely nodded, wandered to the rail of the front porch Lucy, Zack&039;s black Lab, rolled over to expose her belly for a rub, batting her tail for a bit of chared her He knew the reasons for Nell&039;s fierce loyalty to Mia He&039;d made it his business to knohat happened on the island over the years He knew Nell had been on the run when she&039;d arrived on Three Sisters, escaping an abusive husband She had faked her own death - and he had to aded her naed across the country, picking up jobs waitressing, cooking

He&039;d seen the news reports on Evan Re tiiven Nell a job running the bookstore cafe, had given her a hoift

He&039;d recognized Nell as one of the three the h tih She risked her life to save her life When she got here, Mia gave her a chance to dig in, put down roots I&039;ve got to be grateful to Mia for that, too Anduntil Saton"

"Hollywoodpower broker, wife beater, psychopath" He straightened "And I know he took a slice out of you trying to get to Nell"

"Yeah" Absently, Zack rubbed a hand over his shoulder where Reton had stabbed hiot to her, then he tookhe&039;d come after her and probably not take the tirim at the memory "When I took off after them, Ripley and Mia were here They knew Nell was in trouble"

"Yes, Mia would know"

"The son of a bitch had a knife to her throat" Even now, theinto hiotten a shot off, maybe not, but he&039;d have killed her either way She&039;s the one who took hiathered as inside her, what she is, and with Mia and Ripley, turned what he was back on him

"I watched it happen," Zack e where you&039;re staying

now A circle of light, out of nowhere Then Ree and faith"

"She does," Zack agreed "She&039;s everything"

"You&039;re a lucky ht of a wo to aEven when she&039;s pissed," Sam said with a weak smile, "the way she&039;s pissed now that you&039;ve invited Judas to her table"

"Why did you do it? Why did you leave?"

Sauring out When I have the an awful lot of her"

Salass "Maybe I always did"

Zack worked hard to keep the conversation light and friendly at dinner By his calculations, he talkedthat hour at the table than he nor look, she ignored it

"I can see why the cafe&039;s taken a bite out of our lunch trade," Sam said "You&039;re an artist in the kitchen, Mrs Todd My biggest regret is that you didn&039;t walk into the hotel instead of Cafe Book when you cao"

"Do you believe in that? In destiny?"

"Absolutely" She got to her feet to clear the table

"So do I Absolutely" He rose as well, picked up his plate When Nell&039;s back was turned he gave Zack a little head signal

Make yourself scarce

Weighing his wife&039;s ire against the sheer exhaustion of playing buffer, Zack pushed away fro his dog as an excuse, he hurried out Nell sent a fulo on with Zack? I&039;ll make a pot of fresh coffee in a ray cat that had uncurled from under the table to stretch It hissed at hiive you a hand," he said after barely saving his hand froive the cat he&039;d heard her call Diego a s nod

"I don&039;t want a hand"

"You don&039;t want my hand," Sam corrected "Zack&039;s the best friend I ever had"

Rather than spare hi "You have an odd way of defining friendship"

"However I define it, it&039;s a fact He matters to both of us So, for his sake, I hope we can call a truce"

"I&039;ain It had plopped down beside its mistress to wash and watch Sam narrowly

"You&039;d like to be"

"Fine" She sla you by your toes for what you did to Mia And while you&039;re hanging by your toes, I&039;d like to start a nice, steady fire under you, so you&039;d roast slowly and in great pain And while you were roasting slowly and in great pain, I&039;d like to - "

"I get the picture"

"If you do, you know just how useless it is for you to try to charht choices, the best choices, the wisest choices, when you were twenty?"

She slapped on the hot water, squirted soap under the stream "I never deliberately hurt so would you expect to be punished for it? Danored hiht back, lifted a hand to turn it on again Infuriated, he closed his hand over hers Light, shiers

Nell went very still as her anger slid under shock She left her hand in his as she shifted her body, angling it until they were face-to-face and she could look directly into his eyes

"Why didn&039;t anyone tell ht low "Sister"

Baffled now, she shook her head "There are only three who form the circle"

"Three who came from three But four elee Mine is water You believe in destiny, in the Craft We&039;re connected, and you can&039;t change that"

"No" But she would have to think about it, hard and long Slowly, she slid her hand from under his "I don&039;t have to like it, or you"

"You believe in fate, in the Craft, but not in forgiveness"

"I believe in forgiveness When it&039;s earned"

He stepped away, ja on char you To scrape away a few layers of your resenth having your oldest friend&039;s wife detest you"

He picked up the wine bottle, poured solass she&039;d yet to clear "Part of that was strategy"

He drank "I know very well that you and Ripley stand in front of Mia"

"I won&039;t see her hurt again"

"And you&039;re sure that&039;s what I&039;ll do" He brought his glass to the counter "Then I caether What you&039;ve h you&039;d rather have hung , I&039;lanced around the kitchen It had always been a warm and friendly room Once, he&039;d been welcome there "I admire you, for what you made out of your life And I envy you your clear vision and your happy home Zack&039;s i "It&039;s hard, I iine, for you to buy that, but it&039;s fact I don&039;t intend to do anything that coo out the back while he&039;s busy with his Lucy"

Nell dried her hands "I haven&039;t made coffee yet"

He turned at the door, just looked at her