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Clehed She dropped her spoon, and it clattered against the bowl

"Oh! Are you all right?"

Her nurse scowled atat little splatters of soup Clemmy waved her away impatiently "Sue?" she repeated

It caured lip, but she was perfectly comprehensible

"Oh yes He’s very protective of the Boudreaux brand"

Flabbergasted, Brig and Clemmy stared at each other

Shiitaketo ss over

"And then, uh, he hiredat his home when his chef quit at the last minute" I faltered in the middle of my sentence when I sa Jackson’s parents both reared their heads back in surprise at the mention of a charity benefit, but I was too far in to stop "Which turned out to be an incredibly successful event YouI enjoyed a brief and crushing sense of terror "He raised a few million dollars to help soldiers in need?"

By this ti, and I was ready to hide under the table But then Jackson’s father exhaled and he said, "Well that’swonderful That’s really wonderful, son"

I felt like I’d just scored the winning touchdown My terror evaporated, I looked to Jackson, grinning

Glowering at his plate, he slowly pressed the sharp edge of the knife into the grape and sliced it in two

I tried to kick his were too short "Anyway," I said too brightly, willing him to look at an Now here we are!"

My attempt to weave a believable love story ended with a thud I should’ve just said "Slap, slap kiss" and left it at that We lapsed into aard silence

There were never any aard silences in, passing food and sharing stories, easy and happy in one another’s cos so bad?

I could tell both of Jackson’s parents had affection for hi like my definition of love But mostly there see to be the first to reach across And Jackson was visibly wilting with each passing er he’d be able to sit in his chair before he slid onto the floor and expired

Suddenly Iheat to my eyes I dabbed at theenuinely concerned, Brig said, "Bianca? Are you all right?"

Jackson finally looked at me When his head jerked up, his narrowed eyes were a little tooand forced a smile