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Finn M Malone 16040K 2023-09-01

He pulls ain Part ofhiy than I have to expend For now, it’s enough just that he’s here

"I missed you So much Don’t stay away from me, Finn I know you think it’s best for me but it’s not This is what I need" At another tiret ht now I don’t care It’s how I feel and I’

"I need you, too And I won’t be staying away fro I have to take care of first"

"What do you have to take care of?" I ask but the question is interrupted by a giant yawn

His lips brush over ht now, you need to sleep Close your eyes, angel I’ll still be here when you wake up Then we’ll talk"

The next hter I always sleep like the dead after I’ve had a ht was no exception Especially since Finn was there I always sleep better when he’s there

I open my eyes and frown at the empty space next to me I prop myself up on my elbow and look around The house is quiet but the pillow still has the slight indentation where his head rested Why would Finn sneak out in the lance at the clock on the dresser and scraet out of bed It’s alet in to work I only hope the other girls haven’t neededfast shower, I dress in a white T-shirt and jeans, pulling o apron on over it I pick up my purse and pull out s everywhere I’ve never had so many unread texts, voicemails and emails simultaneously before

I quickly scan the texts The oldest one is fro and didn’t want to wake me The rest are all from Daphne and Tara Same with the voicemails Once I see that my emails arefeeling in od, Rissa You have to get in to the office"

"What is going on? I have so ot a call from Mercers They’ve been sold and the nener isn’t renewing our contract"

I clap a hand over my mouth We knew this was a possibility I’d heard rumors over the years that the owners of Mercers wanted to sell and relocate but they were being really choosy about potential buyers They wanted to sell to so ties to the community and there aren’t many people in this area with that kind of ht causes a curl of dread to unfurl in e the owner’sthat because they want to keep their options open"

Daphne doesn’t say anything and the dread in my stomach explodes "Who is it, Daph? Who’s the nener?"

"Are you co in? We have a lot of stuff to talk about"

It’s a classic Daphne evasion tactic She hates conflict and she’ll do anything to avoid it Tara and I have been teasing her for years that she could probably teach the military about escape and evade ain I’ end of it I take a deep breath so I won’t end up yelling at one of my best friends Then she’ll cry and I’ll really feel like an ogre