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"So you bought it? Shana, for heaven’s sake, what do you know about running any kind of restaurant?"

"Not much," she said, "but I’ve worked in sales and with people all these years I was ready for a break, and this seemed practically fated"

"But how could you afford to buy an established business?"

Shana had an answer for that, too "I had a chunk of cash in savings" Thea hundred dollars a ed to double her money Just then, she couldn’t think of a better way to spend it Buying this business was iht

That Sunday in the park she’d ad, no honeymoon with Brad Shana drew in her breath She refused to think about it anymore She’d entered a new phase of her life

"It’s a cute place You’ll like it," sheit hers The Olsens had promised to help transfer ownership as seamlessly as possible

"You rented a house?"

"That very same Sunday" Once she’d made her decision, Shana had been on aher As luck would have it, there was a house two streets over that had just been vacated The owner had recently painted it and installed new carpeting Shana had taken one look around the 1950s-style bungaloith its small front porch and brick fireplace and declared it perfect She’d given the rental agent a check i her job--and phoned Brad That conversation had been short, sweet and utterly satisfying

"Making a move like this couldn’t have been easy," Ali commiserated

"You wouldn’t believe how easy it was," Shana said gleefully "I suppose you’re curious about what Brad had to say" She was dying to tell her

"Well…"

"I called hi for Ali to respond, "and naturally he wanted to knohere I’d been all weekend"

"You told hiewise He was pretty upset He told me hoorried he was, and how he’d spent the entire weekend calling ht’ve done As if I’d do so lethal over him," she scoffed Shana suspected that his concern was all for show, but none of that mattered now "When he cooled down, I calone for a drive"

"A three-day drive," Ali inserted

"Right Well, he got huffy, saying the least I could’ve done was let him know I’d made plans" What came next was the best part "So I told him I’d made plans for the rest of led and it sounded exactly the way it had when they were girls, sharing a bedroo up and started packing stuff in my apartment"

"Didn’t he try to phone you back?"

"Not for the first couple of days He e-mailed me on the third day and I immediately put a block on his name" That must have infuriated him--not that Shana cared Well, she did, a little Okay, more than a little Unfortunately she didn’t have the satisfaction of knohat his reaction had been In the past, she’d always been the one who patched any rift That was her problem; she couldn’t stand conflict, so she’d done all the co Over the course of their relationship, Brad had coer She was finished Brad Moore was history

Instead of kicking herself for taking so long to see the light, she was iving up on ht, she’d had her fill Men weren’t worth the effort and the grief

"I never was that fond of Brad," Ali confessed

"You " Shana realized her tone was a little annoyed In the five years she’d dated Brad, there’d certainly been opportunities for Ali to share her opinion

"How could I? We just met once, and you seeer, we h drifted over the phone "That’s what happens when you’re in the Navy They own your life Now honestly, are you all right?"

Shana paused to consider the question A second later, she gave Ali her answer "Honestly? I feel great, and that’s the truth Yes, this breakup hurt, butup sooner I feel fabulous It’s as if I’ve been released froot a whole new attitude toward ht think you’re fine, but there’s a chance you’re not totally over Brad"

"What do you ain her sister hesitated "I rerief were overwhel for weeks"

"This is different," Shana insisted "It’s less…iht back

"But you feel better now, don’t you?"

"Yes One day, out of the blue, I discovered I could shter needed h" Her voice wavered but eventually regained strength

"I’ll always love Peter, too," Shana said, sing hard "He was one of a kind" Her brother-in-law had been a loving husband and father, and her heart ached for her sister even now The situation with Brad didn’t coht infor the subject