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"You ht now?"

"If it’s convenient We can walk down the hill It’s not far" At least she hadn’t i

"Perhaps another ti ed off her rejection

"I’ll call you," she said next, as if to suggest she’d prefer it if he didn’t call her

Okay, on to plan B "I had soive her extra incentive to accept his invitation

"Really"

Her interest was piqued, he could see That was good He hated to resort tohim a lot of options In the past, he’d rarely had to be so blatant

"I had another talk with the friend who looked at Shaork" Will didn’t offer any more information than that Nor was he disposed to do so If she wanted an update, she’d have to meet him for coffee

With the check in her hand, she waited for an aardShaasn’t forthco, she made her excuses

"I’ll see you to the door," Will said, walking beside her

"You don’t need to do that"

He was te He could bring up any nu However, he said nothing

"Thank you again," sheafternoon

"You’re welco she’d hear the turn of the lock That was intentional He didn’t want her to think he was begging or that he was desperate for her coued and attracted hiood for each other And, he had to acknowledge with a hint of shame, he wasn’t immune to the thrill of the chase

Briefly he wondered if soossip she’d heard about hi had mentioned their Internet relationship His sister wouldn’t have, either No, that couldn’t be it

What had happened with Grace was regrettable Little did Will know then that within a few years he’d be returning to live in Cedar Cove That whole situation, which had begun as a mild flirtation via the Internet, had become extremely unpleasant, and he was happy to put it behind hienuinely fond of Grace, still was Her husband was a nice guy--and not soe had worked out Besides, he didn’t believe in fouling his own nest, so to speak

Will turned off the gallery showroohts and went upstairs to his small apartment He’d made the transition froallery because he’d found someone to sublet the place he’d first rented Mack, the son of PI Roy McAfee down the street, had recently joined the Cedar Cove fire departallery still needed plenty of work, but it was adequate for now Sighing, he decided to relax with a glass of wine He had no idea how long he’d been sitting in front of the television when the phone rang, jolting him out of his stupor

Caller ID infor smile, he muted the volume on the TV and reached for the receiver "Hello, Shirley"

"Mr Jefferson"

"Please call ht, Will…Is that invitation for coffee still open?"

"Sure" He tried not to reveal how pleased he was to hear from her

"Great" She sounded anxious to see hilass on the side table and leaned back in his recliner

"Could we ested?"

"Perfect," he said "It’s a bit late now Can I convince you to dine with ht… As I said, I have a previous engageotten that Coffee it is, then"

"Could we meet at Mocha Mama’s?"

"Of course" He didn’t particularly care where they went He hoped to put her at ease, and if everything went as he wished, this "previous engageressed

"Shall we say in fifteen e that" Will lowered his feet frohter along?"

That definitely wasn’t part of his game plan "Why…sure"

"Shaw’s at work When I mentioned to Tanni that you had some information for Shaw, she called hi…"

"He is," Shirley elaborated "At Mocha Mama’s We’ll see you in fifteen minutes," she said cheerfully

"Okay," he responded "I’ll be there" But she’d already hung up