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Ripley was right about the solstice Cafe Book was so busy Mia had taken on two part-time clerks for the shop and added another behind the cafe counter

The run on the vegetarian dishes over a two-day period kept Nell in a constant state of panic

"We&039;re running low on eggplant and alfalfa," she said as Peg caht I&039;d calculated Hell" She yanked off her apron "I&039;et what I can I e the menu for the rest of the day"

"Hey, whatever Don&039;t sweat it"

Easy for you to say, Nell thought as she rushed downstairs She&039;d run out of hazelnut muffins by noon, and there was no way the chocolate chunk cookies were going to last the day at the rate they were disappearing It was her responsibility toin the cafe ran as Mia expected it to run If she made a mistake-

In her rush to the back door, she all but ran over Lulu

"I&039;m sorry I&039;ht?"

"I&039;ll live" Lulu brushed fussily at her shirt The girl had put in a good three weeks&039; work, but that didn&039;t mean Lulu was ready to trust her "Slon Just because you&039;re off shift doesn&039;t mean you have to run out of the place like it&039;s on fire"

"No, I&039;m sorry Is Mia-would you tell Mia I&039;ht back?"

She bolted out the door and didn&039;t stop running until she was in the produce section of Island Market Panic and dread churned in her sto supplies was an essential part of her job Hadn&039;t she been told to expect larger crowds over the solstice weekend? Afor it

The pressure in her chest was ht, but she forced herself to think, to study her choices, to select She filled her basket quickly, waiting in agony in the checkout line as the minutes ticked away

Dorcas chatted at her, and Nell ed to make so: Hurry!

She gathered the three heavy bags and, cursing herself for not thinking to bring her car, began to carry thee back to the shop

"Nell! Nell, wait ahis head when she didn&039;t respond, Zack jogged across the street "Let ive you a hand with those"

It aht out of her sneakers as he reached out, took two of the bags "I can get them I can do it I&039;m in a hurry"

"You&039;ll hed down Supplies for the cafe"

"Yes Yes" She was nearly running again She could get another salad put together Ten redients for sandwiches Then she could deal with the sweets If she could get started right away, there uess you&039;re pretty busy" He didn&039;t like the look on her face It was so grio to war

"I should&039;ve anticipated There&039;s no excuse for it"

She shoved through the back door of the shop, bolted up the stairs By the ti

"Thank you I can take care of it now I knohat to do"

She lassy and face pale

"I thought you got off at two, Nell"

"Two?" She didn&039;t bother to look up, but continued to chop, grate, &039;s going to be all right It&039;s going to be fine No one&039;s going to be upset or inconvenienced I should have planned better I will next time I proie pita-Jeez, Nell," Peg murmured as she stepped to the doorway

Zack put a hand on her arm "Get Mia," he said quietly

"Two specials and a veggie Okay Okay" Nell set the bean-and-cucuht soplant, so we&039;ll be fine Just fine"

"No one&039;s upset, Nell You don&039;t need to worry Why don&039;t you sit down a minute?"

"I only need a half hour Twenty uests will be disturbed" She picked up the orders, spun around, then jerked to a halt as Mia caht We&039;ll have plenty of everything"

"I&039;ll take those" Peg eased by, slipped the orders out of Nell&039;s hand "They look great"

"I&039;ether a new salad" There were bands around her chest, around her head Tightening, tightening "It won&039;t take any time at all Then I&039;ll take care of the rest I&039;ll take care of it Don&039;t be angry"

"No one&039;s angry, Nell I think you should take a break now"

"I don&039;t need one I&039;ll just finish" In desperation, she grabbed a bag of nuts "I know I should&039;ve planned better, and I&039;&039;s perfect"

He couldn&039;t stand it, couldn&039;t stand to see her standing there, tre now, her face white "Hell with this," Zack spat, and stepped toward her

"Don&039;t!" She stuuard her face from a blow The moment she did, shame smothered panic

"Oh, baby" Zack&039;s voice was ripe with sy but turn away from it

"I want you to coht? Come with me now"

Miserably embarrassed, helplessly shaken, Nell let herself be led away Zack jammed his hands in his pockets and felt useless

"I don&039;t knohat got into ely a blur

"I&039;d say you had a big, whopping panic attack Now sit down" Mia walked across her office, opened what Nell had taken to be a file drawer Instead she saw a e stocked with small bottles of water and juice

"You don&039;t have to talk to ave Nell an opened bottle of water "But you should think about talking to so, Nell rubbed the chilled bottle over her face It was beyond ridiculous, she thought now, falling to pieces over eggplant "I thought I was over it That hasn&039;t happened in a really long ti low It got bigger and bigger in plant, the world was going to end" She drank now, deeply "Stupid"

"Not stupid if you were used to being punished for so just that petty in the past"

Nell lowered the bottle "He&039;s not here He can&039;t hurt me"

"Can&039;t he? Little sister, he&039;s never stopped hurting you"

"If that&039;s true, it&039;sany or a doormat"

"Good to hear"

She pressed her fingers to her te out, she realized Lift soain "We had a party once and ran out of martini olives It was the first tiistered no shock, no judg did you stay with him?"

There was no censure in the question, no slick surface of pity or underlying sness Because the question was asked in a brisk and practical tone, Nell responded in kind "Three years If he finds me, he&039;ll kill me I knew that when I left He&039;s an importantfor you?"

"No, he thinks I&039;m dead Nearly nine months now I&039;d rather be dead than live the way I was living That sounds melodramatic, but-"

"No, it doesn&039;t The employment forms you filled out for rand, false stateet new identification, a driver&039;s license, Social Security nu a brow, Mia sood with computers I used to-"

"You don&039;t have to tell ht I helped run a business, a catering business, with o I used a co to keep the books, the records, I took so to run, I did a lot of research I knew I&039;d only get one chance

God I&039;ve never been able to talk to anyone about it I never thought I could"

"Do you want to tell ets stuck so a fist on her chest

"If you decide you want to, coardens My cliffs Meanwhile, take a breather, take a walk, take a nap"

"Mia, I&039;d like to finish in the cafe Not because I&039;m upset or worried I&039;d just like to finish"

"All right"

The drive up the coast was breathtaking The curving road with its sudden, unexpected twists The steady roar of the water, the rush of wind The ht back should have disturbed her, left her shaken Instead as Nell pushed her poor rust-bucket of a car for speed, she felt exhilarated As if she were leaving all her excess weight on the twisted road behind her

Maybe it was the sight of that tall white tower against the summer sky and the broody stone house beside it They looked like so out of a storybook Old and sturdy and wonderfully secret

The painting she&039;d seen on the mainland hadn&039;t done them justice Oil and canvas hadn&039;t been able to translate the sweep of the wind, the texture of the rocks, the gnarled huht as she rounded the last turn, the painting hadn&039;t had Mia, standing between two vivid flows of flowers in a blue dress with herin the wind

Nell parked her sad car behind Mia&039;s shiny silver convertible

"I hope you don&039;t take this the wrong way," Nell called out

"I always take things the right way"

"I was just thinking, if I were a "

When Mia only laughed, Nell tipped back her head and tried to take in all the house at once-the dour stone, the fanciful gables, the romance of the &039;s walk

"It&039;s wonderful It suits you"

"It certainly does"

"But so far fro, everyone You&039;re not lonely here?"

"I enjoy hts?"