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The cause was si He couldn’t change the reality of either probleret one second of his ti, well, there was only so much any one body could do

While Larissa pushed the smaller chairs into place, he tackled the second sofa They walked to the big, square coffee table at the sah Besides, I’"

He wasn’t surprised she’d noticed Larissa knew his body as well as he did Usually that wasn’t a problem Her familiarity with his aches and pains ood for a couple of days But lately he’d been avoiding her Or rather her es Ti to do with his destroyed right shoulder

They carried the coffee table into place A couple of lamps later, the room was back to normal She headed for the kitchen

"Come on," she called over her shoulder "You know you need this"

He hesitated only a second, then trailed after her While she went to the half bath to get a bottle of lotion, he unbuttoned his cuffs, then moved to the front of the shirt By the time he sat down in the kitchen chair she’d pulled out, he had his shirt in his hands She took it froht side and pressed her fingers into his shoulder

The relief was nearly as powerful as the ache She knew exactly how hard to press and where the scar tissue thickened She was able to dig deeper, to find the places that bothered hies with her weren’t gentle and they weren’t pleasant, but when she was done, he was healed At least for a couple of days

He relaxed into the fa he would sleep better because of it At the sa their sessions Or at least ask why he had Only as he supposed to say to that? The truth was iet turned on again Talk about hu

Twenty minutes later, she stepped back "Better?"

"Much Thanks" He reached for his shirt and shrugged it on "Want to get lunch?"

"Sure What do you have in the refrigerator?"

He had no idea She was forever putting stuff in there, then later, throwing it out if he didn’t eat it As he watched, she crossed the hardwood floor and opened the refrigerator

"There’s plenty We’ll have a bit of everything How does that sound?"

"Good"

He rotated his areable level When he went back to the office, he would spend some time in the steam room and be practically like new

At her instruction, he collected plates and bowls, along with forks, knives and napkins She heated containers in the microwave, then put food on the table

There was an eclectic collection of leftover Chinese and Italian, a salad frorabbed a diet cola for her and a bottle of water for himself, then joined her at the table

"Quite the feast," he said as he sat across frorinned "I really wanted to add Cheetos, but that seemed too much"

"There’s always roo spoonful of spicy cashew chicken and passed him the carton

"I’ers

Jack found hi with her erous state of affairs, he reminded himself, and forced his attention back to the topic at hand

"Why?"

She took a s to college He doesn’t know anyone who’s done that I think he’s nervous about having too erous"

A problem Jack understood Lucas hadn’t allowed himself to dream He’d been careful to think in terms of days, not months or years Later, when he’d had his heart transplant, the future had been his There had been so much he’d wanted to see and do The whole family had started to believe in possibilities Only they’d been wrong about the he wasn’t going to mention his brother

"That’s what he said"

"Once he has that, the next step will be oing to need a job A real one Not just extra work at Score," she said "So where he feels really useful"

"You don’t think he feels useful at Score? Taryn’s a tough taskmaster"

"She is, but Percy knows he’s only there because of you"

Jack took a bite of the burrito and chewed Who knew that jalapeño-flavored beans ith marinara sauce?

"He’s not there because of me," he said when he’d sed "You’re the one who found hi with you You’re the one he looks up to"

Jack shrugged "Like I said, he’ll figure it out One step at a tiht"

"When a?"

The worry didn’t leave her eyes "What if the whole nurture-nature thing is right? What if Percy can’t escape his environs He’s a good kid He wants h to get to Fool’s Gold He kneould be a better place for him And thanks to you, it is Now have a little faith"

Jack reached for his water and took a s

"You’ll talk to him about safe sex?" she asked

He started to choke

Larissa waited until he could breathe again "I need you to say yes"

"I’ about the birds and bees with Percy"

"I’m sure he knohere babies co a child noould s really hard on his had been going so well for at least the past--Jack checked his watch--fifteen et an entire day after Wendy leaves before you drop this particular bo, her irl pregnant?"

At least one of therimly But that wasn’t her point Larissa’s concern had a whole lot more to do with her past than with Percy Not that she would admit it

He stared into her blue eyes and saw the weariness of carrying around unreasonable guilt for years It didn’t o wasn’t her fault It didn’tand that two people who never should have gotten married had It wasn’t her responsibility that they’d been desperately unhappy until they’d finally divorced

Larissa was the oldest child She considered herself the reason her parents had been forced into an unhappy e The fact that they were now happily married to other people didn’t make her feel better at all

Had she been nearly anyone else, he would have told her to get over it But he couldn’t Because he carried the sauilt around, too Not about his parents, but about his brother

"Jack?"

"I’ll talk to hiht after I finish banging ainst the wall"