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MARA SIMMONS TUCKED her tote bag under her arht along several of her favorite movies, a couple of library books, as well as a pack of playing cards and some snacks All Matt had told her was that Eli and Kay were in hiding but that Eli had asked hi, and not just because she figured poor Kay had to be going crazy stuck in a house with Eli for the past teeks

There was a good chance she ood a ti up brownie points

"So, why did we park so far away?" Mara huffed, already irritated that she had to lug her heavy tote bag so far

"I don’t want to park right in front of the house They’re trying to keep a low profile, not advertise that there’s a bunch of people there"

"Oh, right That h several yards Matt see, so she kept her mouth shut and followed his lead It occurred to her then that he knew the way because he’d lived here for a few months last year It was so weird sometimes to think that there were stretches of his life she wasn’t a part of For years they’d shared soabout him It made her feel distant andfrom the back" Matt had his cell phone to his ear He held up his hand to halt Mara’s steps A few seconds later, the curtains on the back s of the house in front of the up and then twitched his head toward the house "Co for us"

"This is all very cloak-and-dagger I had no idea your life was so mysterious"

Matt scoffed and gave her a sardonic look "There’s nothing mysterious about it I just had to call ahead and warn theain

Matt smirked

She pursed her lips and shook her head slowly "Ha ha Very funny"

"Thanks for co pretty isolated right about now I think she could use a little girl talk"

Mara suppressed a twinge of guilt It wasn’t that she didn’t want to see Kay She did Of course, she wouldn’t have been quite as eager to give up her weekend if she didn’t need to ask Eli for a favor She hitched her bag higher on her shoulder To be honest, she was probably in need of girl talk just as much as Kay Once she asked Eli for help, she wouldn’t be able to take it back And it wasn’t so with her brother or any of their other friends

But Kay was a relative newcoive an unbiased opinion on the whole mess

The back door opened and Matt stepped back to allow her to go first As soon as she crossed the threshold, she was grabbed by the arlad you’re here, too!"

Her breath left her lungs as Kay tackled her in a hug tight enough to al, too