Page 33 (1/2)

Why wouldn’t he want that? That intensity? That caring? Of course he did But it wasn’t there Never had been He liked a woman for a while and then wanted to move on That ho he was

"I heard from Misaki and Kaori," Isabel said as she finished her dessert and dropped the paper container into a recycling bin "They’re really excited I’ve already sold two pieces They’rewith the thehtful"

"I know You’re lucky to have h his "I am I’m still confused about Sonia, but I’ll heal I’ll learn fro with the Force" He changed his voice to sound like Yoda frohed again "I appreciate the co I’ve earned"

"Sure you have You’re forgetting, I saw you grow up"

They walked around a young couple with a double stroller The little boys inside were obviously identical twins An older girl sat on her father’s shoulders

"Those letters," she said with a groan "I knew they’d coirl When you screwed up at UCLA, you took responsibility You recognized what you’d done wrong and made amends We can’t be perfect That’s what I learned in ht the first ti lazy That’s what you did"

"You’re giving me way tooto propose There was nothing between us, but you wanted to do the right thing I respect that"

"I wasn’t sure what to do," she aded, then s you read theh soh times" He paused and kissed her "You always told me to stay safe"

"I worried about you No one knehere you were or what you were doing It was scary Worse for your family, but still"

He remembered hoould tell himself he didn’t care about her letters, but that he always looked for them That when they came, he saved them until he could have so bad happened, he went back to the letters That he wrapped a few in plastic and tucked them in the bottom of his backpack when he went on a h," he said "Now I’h their conversation

"Yes, I know she’s an elephant"

Ford stopped and turned toward the speaker He saw Felicia staring down a tattooed man

Felicia leaned closer, obviously not intilare "Priscilla is a part of this community as ht a special saddle so the children could ride Priscilla This is a festival Rides are a given"

"Yeah, but now no one wants to ride my ponies"

"Wouldn’t you rather ride an elephant than a pony?"

The man shuffled his feet "Yeah Maybe"

"Then why are you surprised?" Felicia drew in a breath "But I understand you need toat this, too I’ll move you to the other side of the park We’ll raise the ticket price on the elephant rides to cover an additional ride on your ponies Then it becoe, tattooed man nodded his head and kicked his booted foot into the sidewalk "You know they’re good little guys It’s not their fault they’re s a tablet in her ar for you" She turned and saw them

She walked briskly toward them "Hello, Isabel Ford Please don’t tell me you two have a proble the show"

Felicia drew in a breath "I swear, he’sall the attention than he is about losing money Which probably speaks well for his character But Priscilla has attention needs, too" She made a noise low in her throat "This is not a normal town I suspect it’s why I fit in so well, but there are constant challenges If you’ll excuse o

"I’ve seen her get men and equipment into places where all the experts said it couldn’t be done If NASA really wants a colony on the moon within the next decade, they should talk to her"

"I don’t think she wants to ht Come on I’ll buy you an elephant ear All this talk of Priscilla has ross and we just had S’Mores"

"You had S’Mores Besides, they’re the last of the season"

"You get one," she said, leaning into his other than an elephant ear that he would like her to nibble on, but that was for later He had big plans for tonight A fire in the fireplace, soined a nad Isabel holding the can and asking, "Where exactly is this supposed to go?"

But she would be game, as she alas Given which team he preferred to play for, Eric wasn’t co Ford supposed if he had to say, he was a little bit pleased that he’d been the one to teach her how much fun intimacy could be

"You knoe need a pumpkin for the porch," Isabel told him as they walked toward the food carts "Maybe a couple I hate to admit this, but I haven’t carved a pumpkin in years Do you kno? I don’t want to have the only freak pu to be Halloween Freaks are a good thing"

"Yeah, but I’m afraid mine would be freakishly bad"

"I kno to carve a pumpkin I did it as a kid, and someti the seasons?"

"As best they could"

Fool’s Gold was about as far froht he would have trouble fitting in, but he hadn’t Mostly because of Isabel, he realized She’d been his buffer

As they stood in line for elephant ears, he found hi to ask her to stay But he couldn’t Not only was New York her drea to offer in return

He had to let her go--he owed her She’d given him the haven he hadn’t known he needed

CHAPTER NINETEEN

GENERALLY THE MUSIC in the bridal shop was cals about broken hearts were allowed Sort of rock-edged spain her head The Clash song "Should I Stay or Should I Go?" played over and over as she checked inventory and ordered samples