Page 43 (1/1)

"Do you think it was a o?" Annie asked

"The time will fly by," Pam said "It’s nice to see you like this You love him"

"I love him," she admitted Because he was sensitive but also very confident and strong, she thought He was a sucker for a bunch of puppies even though they were such a pain to take care of He didn’t even have to think twice about whether to be out till two in thebecause someone had a problem with an animal The way Annie had been raised, she’d come to accept that people who cared for aniift You weren’t likely to get ood performance in a competition And in her family’s case--the animals provided milk and meat, their roof, their very beds and clothes, their land and legacy She had been raised with deep respect for aniifted doctors wereof unconditional love

"I love hi and smart," Annie said She smiled sentimentally "And he’s so cute he makes my knees wobble But, Pam, I didn’t tell him I tried to show him, but I didn’t tell him"

Pam chuckled "You’ll have your chance very soon" Pam stepped really close to Annie and made her voice a whisper "Sweetheart, you’re beautiful and smart And I bet you make his knees wobble, too"

She smiled at her friend "Thank you, Pam That’s sweet The sweetest part is it wasn’t just a coo with hiht’ve failed to mention that And you weren’t tempted?"

"Sure I was te on But after this, if he feels for et that far away froave her a fake punch in the arm "Good plan I’ve worked with you for five years, Annie, since before you bought the franchise on this little shop Have you ever been in love before?"

Annie let go a huff of laughter "Don’t be ridiculous--I’ with Dickie Saunders in the second grade"

But never like this, she thought Nothing even close to this She wanted to e his temples when he was stressed or worried, wanted to curl into hi him coo into battle for hih with hiood to stand at his side and help hi up--she would have to proe not to be such a know-it-all Green as a bullfrog, he’d called her She’d never had a h her so fast, who could read hershe’d been off in kind of a daze, she refocused and looked at her friend She shrugged

"That’s what I thought," Pam said with a sainst the coldof a packed 747 all the way fro Three or four tiot up and walked around the dihts, but not on this one When he arrived at his destination at 7:00 a of Christ his friends for breakfast in a preselected restaurant in the international terot to the restaurant, Jerry, Ron, Cindy and Tina were there, surrounded by enough luggage to sink a cruise ship Missing were Bob and Tom and their wives Jerry spotted Nate first and called, "Hey, look who just dragged hirinning, sticking out a hand "Get this ed, accepted the drink, colass "Great to see you guys," he said "We can’t keepat all" Jerry looked at his watch "We have an hour and a half" He looked around and frowned "Nathaniel, did you h?"

"Nah, I left it with a skycap"

There was so "Always has been one ju is--I can’t uys"

Confused stares answered him "Um, don’t look now, buddy--but you’re in Miami Almost at Bahama Mama heaven"

Nate chuckled and took a sip of his Bloody Mary "This was a good idea," he said of the drink "I left e at the airline counter with the skycap They’re working on a flight for me, but it looks bleak Who would travel on Christmas Eve on purpose? Why are they booked solid? I’d never travel on Christ I ht here"