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His announcement was followed by a stunned silence "Rachel quit?"

"Apparently," Bruce said, hardly able to fathom it Rachel had worked at the salon for ten years It was a second home; her clients were her friends, and the other staffshocked hiet away and the reason, the only reason he could figure, was directly related to hierness to convince her to coo?"

If Bruce had any inkling, this neouldn’t be nearly as devastating "I don’t have a clue"

"Jane wouldn’t tell you?"

He shook his head "Either she genuinely doesn’t know or she isn’t willing to divulge the information"

"Really?" Jolene’s eyes widened

"I can’t believe Rachel would quit without telling , but notit to him felt like…like a betrayal He was afraid he’d lost Rachel entirely and that she never intended to return to their family He refused to think that was the case

"I told you she’s a witch," Jolene said calmly She stood and carried the bowls of salsa and sour cream to the kitchen counter "If Rachel’s decided she wants out of our lives, then I say we should let her go" She hummed softly to herself, evidently happy with this turn of events

Bruce stood so quickly that his chair scraped against the hardwood floor "How can you say that?"

She spun around to face hio She’sto divorce her, aren’t you?"

Divorce her? How could Jolene even suggest it? "No!" He nearly shouted the word

"But we don’t need her I can do the cooking and laundry and cleaning I made dinner all by myself, didn’t I? It’s way better when it’s just the two of us like before you hter could be so callous "What about the baby?"

"Well…" Jolene shrugged "The baby’s a sree"

"A small coet the words out fast enough "This shter, your brother or sister"

"I know that"

"In case you haven’t noticed, Imore than to have her back It’s wonderful that you can reat taco dinner--don’t think I’ dinner and doing the laundry She’s my wife, my best friend, and I’inable that his daughter could be so self-centered, that all she thought about were her own interests and desires She saw this pregnancy as a complication, while he orried sick about his wife and child

He sagged back into his chair "I called Teri Polgar and she doesn’t knohere Rachel’s living, either"

"Rachel doesn’t want anyone to know Not you, not her friends We should just accept that," Jolene said earnestly

Bruce looked up "Have you heard anything I said?"

"Yes, but I don’t agree Dad, Rachel wants to get away from us"

Bruce didn’t believe that

"You say you love her and everything, but if she wants to live somewhere else, that’s up to her, isn’t it?"

Jolene see out that Rachel had left of her own free will That she was the one who’d chosen to keep her whereabouts a secret

"Sit down, okay?" Bruce spoke soothingly, gesturing toward the chair

Sighing, Jolene reclai her arms defiantly

"Do you remember, after your mother died, how you tried to hold on to your ently

Jolene nodded

"Every night when I put you to bed you’d askto your stories about Mom," she said "Soo all soft and I could really, really see how much you loved her"

"I did love your mother I still do and I alill After we lost her, I didn’t think I could ever love another woman as much as I loved Stephanie Then I--"

"But Rachel ruined everything!"

"No, Jolene You didn’t let ain was possible--with Rachel I want my wife back and I want us all to be a fahter would see how sad Rachel’s departure had made him

"Daddy, you and I are a family Rachel isn’t one of us"