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"You don’t know?"

"Nope All I know is he left school, left her, and just dropped off the map I asked her about it a few tiave me any details"

"Are you here for the job, Salem, or are you here for Rowdy?" It was very Cora to ask the question so bluntly

I could play it coquettish, shtness, so I figured I should offer her the sa I was here for one of their own They should know that eventually they were going to have to share Roith me

"Both I came for both"

She h and hopped off the desk

"I don’t think he has any idea what to do with you I think he’s afraid of you"

I got to my feet and smoothed my hands down the fabric of my skirt I watched as she made a noise of distress and pressed an ar in her face

"Are you okay?"

She o Apparently it’s time to feed ot the shop for the rest of the day I can e whatever is left for the afternoon crowd"

She nodded and reached for her purse I wasn’t surprised that it was zebra striped bright yellow and black Cora was definitely colorful in appearance and personality

"Try and play nice with Rowdy for the rest of the day Obviously the two of you need to have a come-to-Jesus talk, and if I have to put my foot up his ass in order to make him see that, then I will be happy to do it"

I followed her to the top of the stairs and put a hand on her shoulder before she could head down

"No He needs to get there on his own I’ve been letting hiiven him plenty of time to adjust to the idea that I’o away He’s obviously not ready for hed a little and we otten busy in the fifteen et everyone situated and straightened out She leaned over and whispered so only I could hear, "Just so you knoould pay a sht football pants he used to hen he was younger I Googled him once and saw a picture from when he played for Alabama"

She waved her hand draave h and just happened to look over ry gloss was gone froly I saw it clear as day in that split second The reason there was so much division and dissonance between us The reason he couldn’t handleback in his life suddenly was mapped out in that sea of blue on blue When Rowdy looked at me all he could see was the past and what he had suffered through then, the loss he had felt at ifted by my sister But for me, when I looked at him all I could see was the future and every promise and possibility that rapped up in the sexy, blond, and tattooed package that was grown-up Rowdy St Ja at the sa him there was life after the one and life after loss, especially if the one was the wrong person for hi to uy to turn roup of friends I had iet together at the saht in town before he flew out to listen to some band play in Portland and de to be there, I couldn’t think of reasonable or noncowardly excuse not to go

It was getting harder and harder to avoid Sale it absolutely noticeable and now that Cora had witnessed e ofthe endless questions and speculative looks co fierce, but I didn’t have any desire for her to start sticking her fingers into old wounds Those suckers had long since scabbed over, and even if the scar tissue they left behind was ugly and gnarled, it ay better than the festering hurt and leaking heartache the actual memories had tied to them