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"She toldeven though it was in pain and could have bitten you"

Gideon chuckled "Yeah, she yelled at me about that Said I should have known better"

Withoutat his hands "Did you love her?"

Gideon instinctively wanted to surge to the door He stopped himself in time and stayed where he was

He knew the correct answer to the question, and he knew the truth They weren’t the same Felicia would tell him this wasn’t about him That Carter was the one who mattered For someone who’d never been around children, she seemed to have the instincts of a natural-born mother

"I loved her," he lied

Carter looked at him "But you had to leave?"

He nodded "I warned her fro out, and I didn’t kno long I’d be gone I never knew she’d gotten pregnant"

"She toldyou, but by then 9-11 had happened and you would have been sent to war After a while she stopped talking about you" Carter turned the card over in his hands "When she got sick a few years ago, she told me your name You know, in case she didn’t h that"

"Me, too It was cancer For a while we thought she was going to be fine, but then it caether "She dated some, but she always said they didn’tfor you or anything"

Gideon hoped not He wasn’t worth waiting for Worse, he’d never once thought of going back Ellie had been in his past

His son stared at hi ure out what he was supposed to say, but there was nothing After a few ot up and walked away, and Gideon was left sitting by himself

FORD AND ANGEL started up the ropes Consuelo watched them intently The two men kept pace with each other, then as they reached the end, Angel surged upward and hit the bell first

Consuelo groaned "How is that possible? Angel broke his shoulder years ago That lie of motion Ford should have won easily"

"Maybe he’s distracted," Felicia said "Or you’re wrong about the shoulder"

Consuelo rolled her eyes "Really? Wrong about it?"

"Sorry," Felicia said, grinning "I forgot that you’re never wrong"

"I can be wrong Just not about stuff like that" She turned away fro in the outdoor workout center behind CDS "At least this ti I don’t think I could stand another week of Ford’s idea of gourmet cuisine"

"Pretty bad?"

"He’s fine on the barbecue, but everything else is horrible" They headed for the offices "This co out of hand If they keep at it, one of the to kill the other I told theoing to look for a place"

"Does that mean he won or lost?"

Consuelo considered the question, then laughed "I don’t know and I’el is the better cook The things that uiniher workouts for a couple of days, but it orth it

They stepped inside The teht dimmer She led the way to the break rooerator

Felicia studied her "Don’t you find it interesting that you live with two very attractive men and you’ve never dated either of theel very well, and Ford always thought ofyou would have said yes if he’d asked?"

Felicia tilted her head to the left, then the right "Maybe e first met but now I don’t have any sexual interest in hi else Soht wistfully One who didn’t know a Glock frole throat in his life A guy atched sports on weekends and gru out the trash A man who called his ht dinner and a ht She was sure such men existed, but they had no reason to be interested in her Not if they knew the truth about her

"How’s it going with Carter?" she asked

Felicia s and Gideon spends his ti he’d planned on"

"No one expects a kid to show up Woe with that one We always knoe have offspring"

"You have brothers," Felicia said "What did they like to do?"

"Get in trouble How old is Carter?"

"Thirteen"

Consuelo shrugged "I’m not the person to ask about this By the time they were thirteen, each of my brothers had already been arrested"

They’d taken the easy path--joining a gang She wanted to blairl, she’d been able to avoid a lot of trouble Her interest in getting out of their urban neighborhood had been concealed behind study and reading Sure, the neighbor kids had thought she eird, but because she was female, they’d left her alone Her brothers had been forced toharassed Soot dead

"Has he made any friends?" she asked

"He’s been up at the suned hirandmother was the one with the booth"

"I remember," Consuelo said Reese’s father had been the handsome man with the kind eyes

Felicia sipped her water "Are you still thinking about offering a self-defense class for people in town? What if you had a class for kids his age? I’m sure it would be popular, and then he could ins That would help a lot I kno difficult it is not to fit in"