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Her husband nodded and grabbed the newspaper, heading for his favorite chair in the living room

Carol wanted to shout at hian preparing dinner, a meal she had no appetite for

CHAPTER 16

ALIX TOWNSEND

S itting at atable in Starbucks, Alix concentrated onthe stitches fro the row No one else in class see concept Carol was already working on her second blanket Jacqueline was having a few difficulties, but not nearly as many as Alix No matter how hard she concentrated, Alix would start out with a hundred and seventy-one stitches and by the tihty or

Lydia reassured her on a regular basis that this was a common problem and explained with li the stitch properly Well, duh! Then she’d show her again And Alix would iving up until she learned to knit, even if it killed her She already had thirty bucks invested in this project!

At the end of the row Alix paused, sipped her frappuccino, a rare treat, and counted the stitches Daain and added stitches where she shouldn’t "Damn, damn, damn," sheApparently being around Jacqueline was rubbing off on her She barely used the F-word any onto her lap, Alix closed her eyes, trying to ignore the frustration This class was supposed to help her with anger ement? That was a joke if she’d ever heard one

Even , Laurel was at the apartment with John and had asked Alix to stay away for a couple of hours She didn’t knoas going on with those two, but Alix didn’t think it could possibly be good Things had gotten pretty intense between theular appearances at the video store, and Alix hated the way Laurel gushed all over the sleaze As far as she was concerned, John was bad news

Once her nerves were cal out one stitch at a tiing row in the first place Two stitches frorip on the needle and dropped a stitch A muttered curse escaped before she could stop herself

Good thing Jacqueline wasn’t there to hear it She was offended each and every tiot the better of Alix, which unfortunately was often Still, she was i

Thus far, Alix had avoided a confrontation with the other wo At best Jacqueline tolerated Alix, and Alix felt the same way about her

Jacqueline had a twisted view of the world, in Alix’s opinion The only things that seee At each class, she sat and chatted away, putting on airs as if anyone really cared who she saw at social events and club s Most of the ti about, anyway Jacqueline spentso down on her lower lip, Alix ed to pick up the dropped stitch and then just before she could slip it onto the needle, she lost it and the whole thing unraveled another ts

She muttered an even more furious curse under her breath and was tempted to ditch the entire project If she had any sense she’d throw it in the garbage, needles and all, and slalanced up to find Jordan Turner standing next to her table Her mouth went dry and her mind went blank He was the last person she’d expected to see

"Looks like you’re having a bit of trouble" He pulled out the chair beside her, turned it around and sat down facing her

All Alix could do was stare at hi open She hadn’t seen hi they have coffee sometime, he’d vanished Alix had been bummed out ever since It was the story of her life; the uy he either ended up in jail or skipped town

"What are you doing here?" she asked,sure he knew she wasn’t pleased to see hi for you" He folded his arms over the top of the chair and leaned toward her

"Sure you did" That was the type of line John fed Laurel Alix wasn’t going to fall for it

"It’s the truth You can talk to Danny I went into the store and asked him if he knehere I could find you" Danny worked part-ti the day shift and was reliable If she asked hi Jordan, she caught the dropped stitch and finished the row before she raised her eyes "Why were you looking for ht I’d buy you a cup of coffee Are you always this difficult?"

She fixed her gaze on hiive-a-damn attitude is for my benefit?"

She smiled despite her mood "You could say that"

Her lack of welcome apparently didn’t bother hiain It sounded childish and petty to say she was disappointed because he’d led her to believe he’d be by to take her to coffee Then…nothing Rather than tell hi close attention to her stitches, concentrating as she co it onto the next needle "I haven’t seen you around lately," she said casually

"Are you iht a lot about you while I ay, you know"

She shrugged, looked up and felt a sht have"

He liked hearing that; Alix could tell by the way he shifted in his chair and leaned closer He watched her for a ?"

"A baby blanket for the Linus Project"

Jordan nodded "I’ve heard of that There was a notice in the church bulletin about it a couple of o"

Damn, he went to church, too? She really kne to pick ’e this wonderful deed out of the kindness ofthis much effort into a baby blanket out of civic duty"

"Then why knit it for the Linus Project?"