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"I just hope the media doesn’t pick up on it," he murmured

"So do I," Troy said He was off duty and wanted out of this conversation "If you’ll excuse me, there’s someone I need to talk to"

"Of course Sorry if I interrupted you"

"It’s okay," Troy said, rushing down the aisle, abandoning his cart If he was lucky, he ize

Luck ith him, and he saw her at the checkout stand He waited outside until she’d finished paying for her groceries

As soon as she stepped through the doors into the glooize, Faith"

"What for?" she asked,past him

Troy had seen that expression before and kneasn’t a good sign

"I cary bear"

"Not at all," she countered, walking purposefully toward the parking lot

Troy followed her

"You were right," she said "I was foolish to an It was the coward’s way out and I was immediately sorry I’d done it" Her pace clipped, she headed for her vehicle

"You wanted an to infored by that

Perhaps Faith had done this, spoken to Megan, because she secretly--or not so secretly--hoped he’d talk her out of it Maybe this was her way of telling him she’d prefer not to leave, that she wanted hione on the attack He felt like kicking hi of ," Faith said stiffly "You see, I didn’t want to phone you directly, because I was trying to avoid unnecessary contact The less we see of each other, the better I’htened

Faith opened the car door and shoved her shopping bags inside

Not giving him a chance to respond, she cliine roared to life and she pulled out of her parking space before Troy could say another word

Well, that was that

His prospects with Faith couldn’t look any worse

Sixteen

With property values lower than he’d ever seen theured there was no better ti on and off for an investment ever since he’d ent had shown hireen Place, he’d ht a home in north Seattle that was badly in need of repair He’don a new roof, replacing the kitchen countertops, installing new carpeting and doing whatever else was needed to update the house He’d put a lot of effort into the improvements, most of which he’d done hi odd jobs When he’d finished the house, right down to the landscaping, he’d planned to move in, but someone had driven past one afternoon, stopped and ure profit had been sitting in the bank ever since, collecting interest

The duplex was the perfect house to invest that money in It was an older place, one story, with two doors on either side of a shared ay The building was in decent shape, but there was room for improvement With a substantial down payment, he could live in one half and rent out the other He put in an offer, which was accepted the next day He’d just signed the papers and was driving ho that he had a text e

He waited until he’d pulled into the apart his cell When he saw Mary Jo’s na up with excite She sent hiraphs He was careful not to overdo it with Mary Jo, since she was still eile after her experience with David Rhodes He’d been tempted to send her flowers for Valentine’s Day, but felt that was tooto bide his time He kneanted to pursue a relationship with Mary Jo; meanwhile, he enjoyed their "conversations" and occasional visits

Today it wasn’t a picture of Noelle that she’d sent Instead, it was a request Can U er to see her and the baby Tell me when & where Fortuitously this was one of his days off He pushed the send button and sat in his truck, awaiting her response It wasn’t long in co

I’ll take Bremerton ferry Gets in 2:30

I’ll pick U up He punched out the letters as fast as his fingers could type

It was now quarter after one Mack bolted down a sandwich, then showered and changed his clothes He’d started cleaning the apartht of the time and rushed out the door

When the Bre outside the terers diseht away She sesture