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"Anytime"

"It’s probably for the best," I said "I should beon anyway"

Shelby stood abruptly, balled her hands into fists, and pressed theainst her hips She looked down at

"Don’t You Dare"

"What?"

"Don’t you dare Every time you become involved with a wo for so, as an excuse to break up ‘Just didn’t work out, time to move on’--you always say that"

"I do not"

"Always"

"Na-uh"

"You want a list? Should we start with Annie?"

"Whatever happened to her?" Bobby asked

"She Married Someone Else"

"Oh"

"Well, what auy"

"An architect," said Bobby

"You can start by apologizing for standing her up," she told ain"

"But it wasn’t my fault"

"It Doesn’t Matter"

"It really doesn’t," said Bobby "I’ve apologized to Shelby for a lot of things that weren’t ave him that look You know the one I mean Bobby turned and stared past the porch toward Merria out there that was suddenly very interesting

"McKenzie," Shelby said "She’s the best of them Mary Beth, Annie, Judy, Theresa, Robin, Kirsten--Nina is the best of them"

"No, you’re the best of them"

"Balderdash"

"Balderdash?"

"I’m just the excuse you use You pretend to be in love with your best friend’s wife, and since you can’t have her, you won’t marry anyone ‘Pity me, the poor lonely bachelor’ It’s balderdash"

"There’s that word again"

"If I were suddenly free--if Bobby got hit by a truck to Just didn’t work out, time to move on"

I looked at Bobby

"It’s true," he said "If it wasn’t, I would have blown your brains out back ere in college"

"It’s fear of co about"

"Balderdash"

Shelby looked at me as if I were nuts

"You said it first," I re because of the girls"

"Yeah, but do you really want your kids to go around saying balderdash?"

Shelby refused to be distracted

"She’s the best of all the women you’ve known, McKenzie," she said "She really is"