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"Remind me to thank her"

He didn’t say any ht it out to the car Charlotte was so relieved, she wanted to ith gratitude Her spirits lifted--more than lifted--they soared as she and Carrie followed hiot in the front, hoping her jeans wouldn’t split

The ball field was severalthe conversation Thrilled with the outing, the girl had plenty to say

Charlotte had never been to this park before, and when she saw it she was astonished she hadn’t heard of it It had several baseball diamonds, and an equal number of soccer fields The Green River intersected the park, with several footbridges spanning its banks

"I didn’tanyone," Jason told her after he’d parked the car "Everyone’s going to ask you a bunch of e questions Do youhis eyes "Don’t worry about it" She was a big girl--she could deal with a bit of curiosity

"I don’t usually bring someone"

Charlotte stiffened, not because she was timid or dreaded the questions, but because it confirht then Jason was attracted to her As attracted as she was to hiht be taking their tiht really start to care for her That would be disastrous You care for him, her heart re was all they’d done; it was all Charlotte had allowed A few innocent kisses didn’t amount to uessed they were seven or eight--raced across the green laard Jason One glance told her the pair were identical twins

"Hello, boys," Jason said with a wide smile

They stopped abruptly when they noticed Charlotte and Carrie, their eyes huge and questioning Suspicious

"These aretoward theirls," one of the pair muttered

"I noticed that myself," a tall, athleticthe same uniform as Jason Charlotte didn’t need an introduction to know this was his brother

"This is Paul,a couple of baseball bats under his arreat deal of attention

In the next five minutes, Charlotte was introduced to Leah, Paul’s wife, as fiveafter a toddler naer brother, Rich, his wife, Jamie, and their two children, Bethany and Jeremy, arrived shortly afterward, and there was another series of introductions

Charlotte’s head was spinning with all the names and faces Everyone was friendly and helpful Openly curious, too Carrie, who loved children, was delighted when Rich’s daughter wanted to sit in the bleachers with her

Theup when Ja on her other side Charlotte smiled from one to the other Their curiosity was althened Charlotte frantically sorted through a nuht, theshe could think of was the weather

Oh, what the heck, she decided "I i she’d had, she wasn’t up to a game of Twenty Questions

"We didn’t mean to be so blatant about it," Leah, the shorter of the two, murmured She had one of the nicest smiles Charlotte had ever seen

"You weren’t," Charlotte lied

"Yes, ere," Jah "We can’t help it"

"Ask away," Charlotte invited

"How long have you known Jason?" Rich’s wife asked without hesitation

Charlotte found Ja to be a study in contrasts Rich, Ja lance, his wife see first impressions could be Five minutes with Jamie, and Charlotte ed by her radiance She had an inner glow that touched those around her

"I o," Charlotte answered, when she realized both wohter and I live in one of his apart forward so she could exchange a wide-eyed look with Leah "Did you hear that? He’s known her a whole year"

Charlotte felt she should explain further "Actually, I o, but we’ve only recently started to, uh, know each other"

"I see" Once again it was Leah who spoke, wearing a subtle suise it