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"I’ll have a beer, then" He leaned forward and braced his elbow on his knees, letting his forearuess?" she asked as she handed hi "Was I born stupid or did I recently acquire this personality trait?"

"The answer depends on your probleh Rick could be, it was difficult to stay angry with hi personality was ashad conant," he said

Carol stared at hiht attendant I’ve seen a few times"

"Obviously you’ve done er This was unbelievable For a ht be a bad joke, but one look told her he was serious Just a feeeks ago he’d declared his undying love for his ex-wife

"What about Ellie?" she cried "The last tiether with her" Sleeping with some other woman certainly didn’t prove his devotion

"I know…I love Ellie and I want her back"

"Then ere you doing with Lisa?"

"It just sort of happened," he mumbled dejectedly

Carol shook her head, barely able to take in what her brother was telling her "You just sort of fell into bed together?" Her voice grew itated with every word So this was the reason Ellie didn’t trust him She’d hinted at the truth, but Carol had refused to listen, refused to believe that her big, strong, wonderful brother had clay feet--and a clay heart

"Say so her brother in an entirely different light All these years he’d been her hero; now, all of a sudden she saw him for the weak charmer he really was "You’ve certainly made a mess this ti I haven’t already said to "

"And exactly whose fault is that?" she deer, she ju the room "You’re too smart to have unprotected sex, damn it!"

Rick closed his eyes

"Does Ellie know?"

"No!" He nearly shouted the word "I’ her, either, that’s for sure"

"What about Lisa?"

"What about her? She’s in shock, too--apparently whatever she used for birth control failed"

"No kidding" Carol was furious with her brother and too angry to care what he thought

She took a few ain and placed her hand over her mouth Her brother hadn’t co for soest

"You’re one hundred percent sure the baby is yours?"

He nodded and studied his hands "We’ve been pretty involved lately"

She sed a retort "How far along is she?" she asked instead, her voice brisk

"She just found out A uess"

Carol flipped her hair away from her face and tried to concentrate "When did she tell you?"

"Yesterday She phoned me in a panic and, hell, I didn’t knohat to say What could I say?"

"Do you love her?"

Rick considered her question for a moment, then slowly shook his head "I care about her and I like her, but as for loving her, not really I know I don’t want to ot to s sory all at once "I love Ellie," he murmured "It’s Ellie I want to be with, it’s Ellie I need in my life"

"Then you should’ve kept your pants zipped" Carol didn’t mean to be crude, but her brother frustrated her If he loved Ellie, truly loved her, he should be willing to do whatever it took to win her back Sleeping with a flight attendant shouldn’t even be on that list