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“Dahlia, what’s wrong?”

“You working?”

“No What’s going on?”

“I shouldn’t have called” Shit, I shouldn’t have called

“Where are you?”

“No, really, Michael, it’s stupid I’ a baby”

“Dahlia, where are you?”

I told him where I was

“I’ll be there in five minutes”

He hung up before I could ask hiet here so fast from Southie

As I waited, I tried to caluument It was a verbal beatdown

I pushed off the tree I was leaning on when I saw Michael’s old Ford turning the corner He pulled up beside et in, and that electric awareness zinged through me when our eyes met

“How did you get here so fast?”

“I was in Malden”

“Why?”