Page 24 (1/2)

"Hi," she said

"Hi" His voice was too deep, too gruff

"Iwas thinking about those one-night no-obligation flings you talked about"

He felt as if he’d suddenly become paralyzed, and then he felt as if so the fierce longing that ripped through hiize I can tell that" She started to step back, to close her side of the door He stopped her, his hand firmly on the door she would have closed

"Don’t you see?" he asked her, his tone harsh "I do know your nuht him She didn’t run in embarrassment

She met his eyes "Yes, yes, it would Thank you Thank you for rejecting me I think"

"I’d never really reject you," he whispered

She looked down and then back up at him, a trace of aain And good night"

Olivia shut the door, and he allowed her to do so He went to bed, knowing he should have been seeking a killer in hisabout clues, about putting together sical order

Instead

He dreaht have been

8

No way out of it Olivia was al would be incredibly aard She wasn’t sure why she’d done what she’d done; ether or how much they’d shared Maybe it was simply that she’d been impressed with the man from the iven too much of herself and her life to the Horse Farm

It was a wonderful place No, they weren’t a cure-all or a fix for everything that befell humanity They didn’t cause autism to vanish; they didn’t make Down syndrome disappear They couldn’t autoht But they did help people learn about trust, self-worth and their ability to control themselves, their own lives, within the world around them Most important, perhaps, to believe that they could love themselves All this because of Marcus Danby

All of it could be ruined And here she was, upset about being rejected when she’d ressive move ever An action she still didn’t entirely understand

But what a nice rejection

For a moment, mortification seized her Did men talk? Would he call Malachi and say, "That cousin of yours is really soht"

She didn’t think so--oh, not that men didn’t talk! She just didn’t think Dustin would be so callous

She’d just finished brushing her hair when there was a tap on the connecting door She opened it Dustin was dressed and ready to go "I figure you have to be at work," he said

"I do But I have to go by the house first to take care of Sa at your place first, anyway I want to see if we have footprints on your porch" He grimaced "You can tell I don’t have a pet"

"You should have a pet," she told hiood pet owner"

"Pets deserve lanced at his watch "Let’s grab some coffee in the lobby and drive to your house After that, once you get your own car, I’ood"

She picked up her backpack and they walked to the lobby, where the motel offered coffee and Danishes They each filled cups and quickly chose soether wasn’t aard at all He was completely natural Still fun, still quick to smile, even quicker to tease her

But when he pulled into her driveway, he sat there for a few seconds, looking over at her It was going to get aard then, she just knew it

"I don’t even kno to say what I want to say, what I want you to know I can’t tell you how ht You’respellbinding That’s the only word I can think of You must have some idea how attractive you are More than attractive--beautiful, inside and out And I adht I’d want a lot more And we both knohat it’s like when people leave--or when you have to go"

She gazed down at her hands and then raised her eyes to meet his "When I said thank you, I meant it You were really decent about thesituation You were honest--and kind You’re a good person" To her, there was no higher praise

"No, no, I’ why I was a freak Then I spenta freak--but for dealing with it so well I finally figured out that ht line of Good? Decent? I don’t know I’m kind of hard and brash and not always socially adept I’ overwho o out by now," she said

He s his head "Yeah But first"