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It was still dark when Nell tiptoed down to Mia&039;s kitchen The house was huge, and took soh she wasn&039;t sure what time Mia rose for the day, she brewed a pot of coffee for her hostess and wrote a note of thanks before she left

They would have to talk, Nell thought as she drove hos And they would, she decided, as soon as she could figure out where to begin

She could alht had been nothing ne-induced dream Almost But it was too clear in herout of stars like liquid silver A rising wind full of song A wos should be fantasy But they weren&039;t if they were real and she had a part in them, she needed to knohat it all meant

For the first time in nearly four years she felt absolutely steady, absolutely calh

By noon she was too busy to think about more than the job at hand There was a paycheck in her pocket, and a day off around the corner

"Iced hazelnut cappuccino, large" The an to work She judged him as mid-thirties, health-club fit, and a mainlander

It pleased her that she could already, with very decent accuracy, spot areaction of an islander

"So, how much aphrodisiac do you put in those cookies?" he asked her

She glanced at him "I&039;m sorry?"

"Ever since I tasted your oatet you out of my mind"

"Really? I could&039;ve sworn I put all the aphrodisiac in the macadamia nut"

"In that case I&039;ll take three," he said "I&039;oods"

"Then you&039;d better stay away from my three-bean salad It&039;ll ruin you for all other women"

"If I buy all the three-bean salad, will you marry me and have my children?"

"Well, I would, Jim, but I&039;ve taken a sacred oath to stay free to bake for all the world" She capped his coffee, bagged it "Do you really want those cookies?"

"You bet How about a claoing to do in soht a clambake, to him up, took his money with a smile "Better safe than sorry But thanks"

"You&039;re breakingheavily, he walked away

"Oh, ht until he&039;d gone downstairs "You&039;re really not interested?"

"No" Nell took off her apron, rolled her shoulders

"Then you wouldn&039;t uest There&039;s plenty of bean salad in the fridge Oh, and Peg? Thanks for being understanding about yesterday"

"Hey, everybody gets weird now and then See you Monday"

See you Monday, Nell thought It was just that simple She was a member of the team, she had friends She had deflected an overture fro the jitters

In fact, she enjoyed it, the way she used to enjoy such things The day ht come when she didn&039;t feel coo to a clah, enjoy the coht, casual friendships She could do that There couldn&039;t be any serious relationships in her future even if she could learn to handle one eally married

But now, just now, that fact was htmare it had been She was free to be whoever she wanted to be, but not free enough to be bound again, not to any man

She decided to treat herself to an ice cream cone, and a detour to the beach People called her by name as she passed, and that was a quiet thrill

As she crossed the sand, she spotted Pete Stahr and his infa Both looked sheepish as Zack stood beside them, hands on hips

He never wore a hat as he&039;d advised her to do when gardening As a result his hair was lighter at the tips and almost always disordered froe either, she noted, but the gun rode in the holster at his hip almost casually

It occurred to her that if he had stopped by the cafe and asked her to go to a claht not have brushed hi lifted his paw hopefully, Zack shook his head, pointed to the leash that Pete held Once the leash was secured,low

Zack turned, the sun bouncing off his dark glasses And she knew instinctively that he was looking at her Nell braced herself and went to him

"Sheriff"

"Nell Pete let his dog off the leash again Mutt s"

"It&039;s hot" Nell licked at the cone and decided to get it over with "About yesterday-"

"Feeling better?"

"Yes"

"Good Gonna share any of that?"

"What? Oh Sure" She held out the cone, felt a little tingle in the blood when he licked just above her fingertips Funny, she thought, she hadn&039;t gotten any tingles fro to ask?"

"Not as long as you&039;d rather I didn&039;t" Yes, he&039;d looked at her And had seen the deliberate squaring of her shoulders before she started toward him "Why don&039;t you ith me a while? There&039;s a nice breeze off the water"

"I ondering what does Lucy do all day when you&039;re out upholding the law?"

"This and that Dog chores"

That tickled a laugh out of her "Dog chores?"

"Sure So around the house, roll in the grass, and think long thoughts Other times, she comes on in to the office with me, when she&039;s in theher a brother or sister"

"I was thinking about getting a cat I&039;m not sure I&039;d be able to train a puppy A cat would be easier I saw a notice on the board in the irl&039;s cat They&039;ve still got one or two left, last I heard Their place is over on Bay White saltbox, blue shutters"

She nodded, stopped Impulse, she re it? "Zack, I&039;uini with sun-dried to"

He lifted her hand, took another taste of her dripping ice crea plans for tonight, and as sheriff I do what I can to serve the needs of the coht with you?"

"Works foran appetite," she said as she hurried away

"Count on it," he said, and tipped down his dark glasses to watch her dash back toward the village

At seven, the appetizers were ready, and the as chilling Nell had bought a secondhand table and planned to spend part of her day off scraping and painting it But for now she covered the scarred wood and peeling green paint with a sheet

It stood on her back lawn, along with the two old chairs she&039;d picked up for a song They weren&039;t particularly pretty at the moment, but they had potential And they were hers

She&039;d set the table with two plates, tls, and wineglasses-all purchases froht the result was cheerful and char

And as far from the formal china and heavy silver of her past as possible

Her garden was co well, and the tomato and pepper plants, the squash and zucchini, would all be put in the following ain, and completely content

"Well, now, doesn&039;t that look sweet?"

Nell turned to see Gladys Macey standing on the edge of her lawn, gripping an enormous white purse

"Just as pretty as a picture"

"Mrs Macey Hello"

"Hope you don&039;tby this way I&039;d&039;ve called, but you haven&039;t got a phone"

"No, of course not U to drink?"

"No, no, don&039;t you fuss I&039;ve come by on business"

"Business?"

"Yes, indeed" Her tidy helave a sharp nod "Carl and I got our thirtieth anniversary coratulations"

"You can say that again Two people stick it out for three decades, it&039;s saying so Since it is, I want a party, and I just finished telling Carl he&039;s not getting out of putting on a suit for it, either I ondering if you&039;d take care of putting the refreshether for me"

"Oh Well"

"I want a catered affair," Gladys said definitely "And I want it spiffy When o last April, we hired a caterer from the mainland Too snippy for my taste, and too dear for Carl&039;s, but we didn&039;t haveto get snippy with &039;s ransom for a bowl of cold shri of me, but I&039;ot tiot a list here of howof" She pulled a file folder out of the enormous purse, pushed it into Nell&039;s hand "I want to have it right at ood china and so forth You just look over what I&039;ve put together there, and we&039;ll talk about it tomorrow You come on by the house tomorrow afternoon"

"I&039;d certainly like to help you Maybe I can" She looked down at the folder, saw that Gladys had marked it "Thirtieth Anniversary" and had added a heart with her initials and Carl&039;s in the center

Touched, she tucked the folder under her arm, "I&039;ll see what I can do"

"You&039;re a nice girl, Nell" Gladys glanced over her shoulder at the sound of a car, lifted her eyebrows as she recognized Zack&039;s cruiser "And you&039;ve got good taste You come on by tomorrow, and we&039;ll talk this out Have a nice dinner now"

She strolled toward her car, stopping to say a feords to Zack She gave him a pat on the cheek, noted the flowers in his hand By the ti who she&039;d call first to spread the news that Zachariah Todd was sparking the little Channing girl

"I&039;e Put ht"

"I thought you arden"

She smiled at the pot of Shasta daisies "They&039;re perfect Thanks" She took theet the wine and the appetizers"

He walked into the kitchen behind her "Soot started, I tried out a couple of different recipes You&039;ve got your work cut out for you"

"I&039;m up for it Nohat&039;s this?" He crouched down, stroked a finger over the sray kitten circled on a pillow in the corner

"That&039;s Diego We&039;re living together"

The kitten an to bat at Zack&039;s shoelaces "You&039;ve been busy Cooking, buying furniture, getting a rooo, he turned toward her "Nobody&039;s going to find anyand handso at his shoulder

He&039;d brought her white daisies in a plastic pot

"Oh, daain, took a breath "I et the wrong is I&039;m very attracted to you, but I&039;s It&039;s only fair to tell you that up front There are good reasons for it, but I&039;et into thes"

He listened soberly, rubbing a finger between the kitten&039;s silky ears "I appreciate you spelling that out for h" He plucked a stuffed olive fro around, if it&039;s all the same to you Why don&039;t I take the wine outside?"

He picked up the bottle and, still carrying Diego, bumped the screened door with his hip "Oh, and in the interest of fair play, I&039;ll tell you I&039;ll be nudging you out of that place you&039;re in"

With that said, he held the door open "You want to bring those on out?"

"I&039;ht think"

"Honey, there&039;s nothing easy about you"

She picked up the tray, sailed by him "I take that as a compliment"

"It was meant as one Nohy don&039;t we have some wine, relax, and you can tell me what Gladys Macey was after"