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"Great Is Griz there? Or Trace?"

"Yup, want me to pass the phone?"

"If you don’t irl"

With that the phone was passed, and I heard Grizzie’s un What are you wearing?"

"Nothing, actually," I said, grinning It was true I’d just gone for a swi in the sun, on a towel and under a heavy glaer seeet to what their owners perceived as an erowled "My lady bits are straining at the thought Are yours straining, as well?"

"They were strained theaway We shared a laugh, but then I got serious

"You’ve gotta cut my dad off, Griz He can’t handle all that coffee"

Grizzie groaned "I know I caught hi sips from people’s orders before he delivered them, yesterday"

"Make hi him, till he’s back under control Then let him know you made the switch I bet he’ll be fine after that"

"If he’s not?"

"We stage an intervention," I said, only half-joking

"Awesome I have just the intervention outfit"

"I’reat Other than the coffee thing, your dad’s fit in perfectly And it’s nice to have a man around, actually He’s been super with the ladies"

"What?" I said, sitting up so fast or yesterday--little old ladies who came to see the Sow and breathe the sea air and have a lobster dinner Your dad was selling theot it in You know those hideous aprons with the lobsters wearing bikinis?"

I shuddered "Yes"

"He sold five of thelobes that are supposed to be sand and look like Florida, but with ‘Rockabill’ written on theht of those He told the old ladies they would look nice on their nightstands, and then he winked They snatched the lottery tickets"

"Oh," I said, trying to picture"Wow"

"He alas a ladies’ man," Grizzie said But then she paused "Wasn’t he? It’s like I can’t really remember, for some reason…"

"Oh, he always had his ways," I said, interrupting before Grizzie could explore the gap in her meht? The babies?" I continued, keeping her off the scent

"Oh, everyone’s fine Tracy’s fat as a walrus and can you believe she wants to paint the baby’s rooet…"

Grizzie chatted away for a while, until a few people caet betweento call again in a few days, and then lay back down on rinned The thought of lee It had taken me a moment to readjust to the dad I’d known--besotted withbut her eventual return--with atchotchkes I hoped he’d keep char them And that one of thereat guy entle, and unbelievably open-rown up with so little and known such hardship He deserved happiness to go along with his newfound health

My phone rang again, and I absentmindedly picked it up and flipped it open I was half-expecting it to be ood-bye after Grizzie hadn’t passed the phone back to him Instead I heard the jeweled tones of a woman’s cool voice

"Is this Jane True?"

My heart nearly stopped beating

On the other end of that line was Morrigan, or I was a monkey’s uncle’s robot sexdoll from France

And I don’t speak French very well at all

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

This is Jane True," I said,so fast ButI looked around frantically for Magog, but she’d wandered over to buy an ice cream from a man with a cart