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I looked away "I’ my schedule I think it’ll work"

"Good Just keep in ht of another man in my kitchen made my stomach lurch

He walked me back to the patio "I don’t have any children"But I’ve seen plenty of teenage boys in ood kid, but sometimes circumstances make sure that doesn’t matter I know you’ll keep an eye on hiot back into his cop car He oodbye Breathing deeply to quell the little earthquakes erupting inside ht, I shut off all the lights in the house, checked the locks, and watched the green lights blip on the fire alars I could control Then I checked on Trey His door was shut, but a thin strip of light underneath it told me he was still up

"Yeah?" he said when I knocked

"Can I cohed the cost and benefit of accepting his rejection or pushing past it My anger at his immaturity paled in comparison to my worry for his state of hts or try to add ular, run-of-the-mill worry completely irrational The mind skipped to worst-case scenarios because of the realization that the worst could actually happen Was Trey depressed? Would he har chair, his copy of The Lord of the Rings open and facedown on his lap Sos--Trey used Tolkien Tears streao away! Don’t you respect anything?"

"I’m sorry I--" As with so ht I shouldn’t have taken those things," he said, voice listless, as his attention turned to the"And I’ll stay in all week I’ll help you around the house, but I will not help you with that garden It’s just as stupid as oing to die, and we’ll be left with a bigI did a stupid thing Can you?"

CHAPTER 15

Excerpt fro about Success

So your idea fails What now? So the dying idea until it is a lifeless, floppyForget the concept of success, at least teet the stress and the disappoint a dead horse Forget it all so you can be reborn A clean slate No ideas ever existed before this very moment Free yourself from the pressure of success, and you’ll free yourself of the oppressiveness of failure

"What happened to reaching the brass ring?" I asked Jackie while she blew smoke in the other direction The Landon presentations were scheduled for the evening, and the atuarded their project with police-dog ferocity--even Jackie hadn’t told me what she and Seth had co miserable when she askedwell I thought Glynnis and I did a decent job--not spectacular, but notsound "Petra Polly was drunk when she wrote this Like Rhiannon said, she makes fuck-all sense"

"If we see her in a bar, we’re beating her silly"

"I want to yank those golden braids Hard"

"She’s probably the type who’d like it"

We laughed, but there was no joy in it Because it came from fear

"We’re not ready," Jackie said after a fierce inhale "Seth thinks we are, but we’re not I don’t think he understands what’s on the line here"

"I think he does," I assured her "But even if he doesn’t, you knohat you’re doing You’ve got this"

Jackie shrugged "I didn’t tell you, but I sent out soo I haven’t heard a word Not a word I can’t lose this job, Paige"

"You won’t It’s not going to be us that get the boot It can’t be"

"I don’t see Rhiannon and Byron failing" Jackie quietly finished her cigarette We gazed out at the e lot