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She nodded warily "He told ood" He chucked her chin "Your sheriff’s not that bad even For a relic" He gave her a pointed look that drew a smile from her "Yeah, that’s the Bailey I know Here," he said, handing her a box "I even brought you a peace offering"
She took it--it was one of those decorative tins--and she hefted it suspiciously in her hands "What’s in it?"
"Cookies Fancy cookies You should look for yourself And before you thank ot them for you"
She pried open the box It was filled with chocolate-dipped madeleines
He said, "Because of Laura’s accident"
"Oh, …" She was speechless, touched by the gesture To her ither faiven She’d broken up with their only son, but they hadn’t taken it personally themselves
"I think they’re from France," he said "Your fancy-pants sister should like that"
She laughed "They don’t know Laura very well if they sent her cookies" But then she gave an auto she was doing for Billy was beginning to take its toll "Or is it so obvious how oof It’s so obvious you deserve a treat" Seeing her suspiciously narrowed eyes, he quickly added, "I’ that as a friend You’re pretty as ever, but I told you, Billy and I had a ood"
"What’s with you ave her a broad smile "That’s because it is, Bailey"
She closed the tin "So this is your peace offering? Some cookies that your mom picked out?"
"No," Daravy I’"
"What?" she deuard
"You have to coreed--Damien wasn’t capable of such calculated evil as a hit-and-run designed to hurt her But still, soled in the back of her mind "Can’t you just tell me? Why the mystery?"
Damien’s eyes went cold "Don’t look at me like that, Sorrow God, youyou’ll think is cool I wanted to surprise you with it Sort of like one last hurrah for the two of us" At her skeptical glare, he added, "A platonic hurrah Coivings transfor suspicious of Damien--she’d known him all her life But she did have an honest excuse "I’m busy," she told him
"C’mon, Bailey The dinner croon’t be here for hours And Sully’s back there, right? He can hold down the fort in the meantime"
She checked the clock on the wall-- as she could remember "I haven’t even eaten lunch yet"
"Let’s pack a couple of sandwiches" He grabbed the tin "We can bring these, too Coot no s till three Just sixty minutes, for an old friend Closure, isn’t that what you woh at that It was the mischievous Damien she’d always known, and that hat decided it It would be nice to have a little closure She’d love to remain his friend, and an iht first step in that direction
She whipped together a few sandwiches, grabbed a couple of apples, refilled her water bottle, and they were on their way Soood anyhow She hadn’t been out since Laura’s accident, and spring was in full force, teasing her fro for a little blue sky And, with hiuy ould assue
Her doubts burst back to the surface the farther they got fro them down an old fire road, well off Irish Camp Road and deep into Sito show you"
She had to trust that Damien wouldn’t hurt her She knew him But still, she couldn’t help but joke uneasily "You’re kind of freakingonto a dirt road, and stopped alo any far-
ther Hurt flickered in his eyes--he’d heard her unease "You used to trust me, remember? What happened between us, Sorrow?"
She sat stiffly, not unbuckling "Is that why you broughtainst the headrest, looking tired "Give me just fifteen minutes Then I’ll take you back"
"First, you have to answer so for me" When Billy mentioned his initial reservations about Da in theDae, every ht there to swoop in and save the day--it all came to her in a rush There was just one toous?"