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She nodded, gazing out myat the blue sky "Lynn loves hirandfather, which is saying a lot, because that man" She didn’t have to finish Everybody knew Mr Moreau was hard to get along with If he loved Sawyer, Saas special

"Lynn says I’ve been too hard on hi it with your father, I think I rong to ground you, or to prevent you fro a condom in addition to your IUD every time, yes?"

"Mom," I said with both hands splayed in front of me, "we broke up"

"Oh" My ry with her that I couldn’t even feel anymore I flopped backward on the bed and closed my eyes

"Tell me what happened," cah a lot," I said woodenly, "but you have been awful There was just so uess"

She shifted up the bed and twisted a lock of ered it out "I’m confident you can solve that probleer, and iven you credit for I’m sorry"

I opened one eye, and then the other, to stare at her in disbelief She concentrated on pulling out the twist and placing the curl across aze She said again, "I’ as I said, "I have an appointement"

My mother raised her eyebrows "That’s a positive step"

"I think so too It was Sawyer’s idea He set it up for o out on the boat with you and your father tomorrow? He can stay for lunch"

"Because we are not spea-king," I enunciated My et that Sawyer and I were broken up for good

Then she said, "You need to eat breakfast, or lunch, or whatever you want to call it I’ll fix you anything you like But right now, you need to hop downstairs, because Aidan is here"

"Oh My God" The last person on earth I wanted to deal with this afternoon The thought of hihed five hundred pounds and had sunk permanently into the bed "I don’t suppose you could tell him I’m asleep Or dead?"

My mother shook her head, as I knew she would She’d never in my life let me avoid a confrontation