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"Are you finished yet?" she asked and yawned rudely to signal her boredom

Her question was followed by a short silence "You’ve changed, Shana"

"Yes," she told him in a curt voice "Yes, I have"

"I can’t believe you don’t love me anymore"

Shana noticed he hadn’t even bothered to ask about the girl who’d answered the phone

Brad seemed shocked that she wasn’t ready to race back into his arms just because he’d rateful for each little cruood She felt good

"What’s happened to my sweet Shana?" he asked "This isn’t like you"

"I woke up," she informed him, "and I didn’t respect the woman I’d become It was time to clean house Out with the old and in with the new"

The line went silent as he absorbed this "You’re dating someone else, aren’t you?"

The teht have given in to it, if not for Jaz to every word, Shana felt honor-bound to tell the truth

"It’s just like you to think that, but no, I’ anyone else" She bit back the words to tell hile father who ht’ve been interested--and Adam Kennedy

His relief was instantaneous "You’ll always love me…"

"No," she said firmly "I won’t I don’t Not anyain"

He started to argue, but Shana wasn’t willing to listen She should’ve hung up the phone long before, but some perverse satisfaction had kept her on the line

As she replaced the receiver, she looked over at Jazo, Aunt Shana!"

They exchanged high fives Shana felt exuberant and then guilty for not experiencing even the slightest disappointrateful Brad had phoned because this conversation had provided complete and final proof that she’d reclaimed her own life

"Can I tell Uncle Adam about this?" Jazmine asked happily

"Adam?" Her suspicions immediately rose to the surface "Whatever for?"

"Because," Jazmine replied as if it should be obvious "He should know that you really are over Brad The door’s open, isn’t it? I y "I am cured, but let’s just keep this between us for now, okay?"

Jazmine frowned "If you say so," she said without enthusiasether Presumably she’d abandoned her earlier hopes for Adam and her mother "I want your promise that you won’t talk to Ada under her breath, Jazmine shook her head Halfway to her room, she turned back "Uncle Adam wanted ht, isn’t it?"

"Of course it is" Not until later did Shana realize how dejected she was at the thought of waiting alain

Chapter Nine

Ali read Shana’s e-mail a second time and smiled This was exactly what she’d hoped--but didn’t dare believe--would happen Although her sister was skirting the issue, she was interested in Adaotten Shana’s attention

It took half an hour for Ali to answer her sister She worked hard on the wording for fear she’d say too h Adam was a lot like Peter in the ways that reallywork ethic and an endearing sense of hued hiet married Personally Ali didn’t understand why Ada As far as she knew he dated, but obviously hadn’t found the one woman hom he wanted to spend the rest of his life Could Shana be that wo Much better if a relationship developed without herall the romantic assistance they needed--or didn’t need--from Jazmine

Once she’d finished her e-mail, Ali prepared for her shift It’d taken some adjustment, but she’d become accustomed to life aboard the aircraft carrier Routine helped pass the days, and being able to stay in touch with her daughter through the Internet eased her mind about Jazmine

The hours went by quickly as she responded to sencies

She was almost finished with her shift when Commander Frank Dillon entered the sick bay His complexion was sickly pale, and his forehead was beaded with sweat When he saw that Ali was the duty nurse, he attempted a weak smile but she noticed that his jaas clenched and he was clearly in pain

Ali remembered him from her first day in the wardrooht about hi those few seconds when he’d reached out to steady her in the passageway Just seconds--it couldn’t have beeninto such a minor incident Still, she’d fantasized about hi number of times in the weeks since No one had to remind her of the professional issues involved in fraternization aboard ship

"Co forward to assist hiainst his side "What happened?"

"So," heout "I need a doctor"

Ali led him into an examination room, and learned that he’d had a storown steadily worse and now the pain had become intolerable She alerted Captain Robert Coleman, the physician on duty, who examined the commander