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For the picture, her short brown hair had been styled in loose curls Her dark-brown eyes were s and friendly, which was exactly the impression she hoped to convey She was a little shocked by the importance of Paul’s reaction--by her need that he find her attractive

She waited impatiently for his response A week later she received an e-raph and they were soon writing and e- back and forth at a feverish pace A day without some form of communication fro-distance relationship before, and the intensity of her feelings for this er with a schoolgirl crush Ruth was a mature, responsible adult Or at least she had been until she slipped a siot a reply froeant named Paul Gordon

Ruth walked quickly to the tiny rental house she shared with Lynn Blumenthal, then ran up the front steps to the porch Lynn was eighteen and away froees and interests, they’d gotten along fairly well With her heart pounding hard, Ruth forced herself to draw in a deep breath as she started toward the mailbox

The screen door flew open and Lynn ca home?" she asked, then shook her head "Neverfor a letter fro to deny the obvious "I haven’t heard from him in three days"

Lynn rolled her eyes "I don’t understand you"

"I know" Ruth didn’t want to get into another detailed discussion with her roos known about this relationship froently tried to tell her, it was none of her business That didn’t prevent the younger wo her views Lynn said that Ruth was only setting herself up for heartache A part of Ruth actually agreed, but by the ti, she was emotionally involved with Paul

"You hardly ever see Clay anymore," Lynn chastised, hands on her hips "He called and asked about you the other night"

Ruth stared at the snment duty, Paul didn’t always have computer access and sometimes wrote letters instead "Clay and I are just friends"

"Not according to hi each other a lot following a Halloween party last October Like her, Clay Mattheas obtaining his master’s of education, and they seemed to have a lot in common But her interest in him had already started to wane before she’d mailed that Christmas card to Paul The problem was, Clay hadn’t noticed

"I’ and I think the way you’ve treated him the last few ood seven inches taller than Ruth, could be intirimace of disapproval

Ruth had tried to let Clay down easily, but it hadn’t worked They’d gone to the library together last Thursday Unfortunately, that had been a ht ahen Clay pressured her to have coffee with him afterward It would’ve been better to end the relationship entirely and forget about staying friends He was younger, for one thing, and while that hadn’t see to coainst Paul, Clay see and insecure

"You said he phoned?" Frowning, she glanced at Lynn

Lynn nodded "He wants to knohat’s going on"

Oh, brother! Ruth couldn’t haveto be cruel, she’d tried to bolster his ego by referring to all the positive aspects of his personality--but apparently, that had only led hi to tell him He’d refused to take her very obvious hints, and in her frustration, she’d bluntly announced that she wasn’t interested in seeing him anymore That seemed pretty clear-cut to her; how he could be confused about it left Ruth shaking her head

The fact that he’d phoned and cried on her rooood example of what she found adolescent about his behavior She was absolutely certain Paul would never do that If he had a problem, he’d take it directly to the source

"I think you’re being foolish," Lynn said, and added, "Not that you askedthe n along the bottoh it, she could tell that the day’s mail had been delivered The envelope inside hite, and her spirits sank There just had to be so from Paul If not a real letter, then an e-

"Who did?" Ruth asked distractedly She was dying to open the mailbox, but she wanted to do it in privacy

"Clay," Lynn cried, sounding co about?"

Suddenly Ruth understood She looked away from the mailbox and focused her attention on Lynn "You’re attracted to hinantly "Don’t be ridiculous"

"Sit down," Ruth said, gesturing toward the front steps where they’d often sat before It was a lovely spring afternoon, the first week of April, and she needed to clear the air with her rooot further out of hand

"What?" Lynn said with a defensive edge "You’ve got the wrong idea here I was just trying to help a friend"

"Sit," Ruth ordered

"I have class in twentyat her watch

"Sit down"

The eighteen-year-old capitulated with ill grace "All right, but I already knohat you’re going to say" She folded her arht ahead

"I’m fine with it," Ruth said softly "Go out with him if you want Like I said earlier, I’m not interested in Clay"

"You would be if it wasn’t for soldier boy"