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Chapter One

Kelly Morrison’s tiny aparthter, conversation and roup of single friends had gathered, as they did on the first weekend of each ah not in any particular order, and tonight they had congregated at Kelly’s place

Carrying a tray of cheese cubes, fruit slices and crackers, she walked out of her kitchen with the slight limp she hardly even noticed anymore She set the tray on the round oak table that took up one corner of her co rooathered around the table, waiting for her to rejoin them “Whose turn is it?” she asked

“Yours,” Heather Pearson said, reaching for an apple slice “Roll the dice”

Kelly took her seat, rolled the dice and roaned when she saw the category “Sportsgreat My worst category Okay, what’s the question?”

Heather’s twin brother, Scott, read froame card “Who won the NASCAR Winston Cup series in 1995, 1997 and again in 1998, becoest driver ever to win three Winston Cup titles?”

Kelly mentally debated between the few race car drivers she could actually name “Jeff Gordon?” she hazarded

Scott nodded “Correct”

Froets all the easy ones,” he complained “Who didn’t know that one? My last question was about soht no one could have named except maybe his mother”

Kelly laughed and reached for her diet soda “Just lucky, I guess”

She sathered in mis, Cameron North, Heather Pearson and Amber Wallace, all in their est by a year or two, but she fit in very well

It had always been very important to Kelly to fit in

She looked auto chair next to her Soht, and she missed him—just as she would miss any of her friends who hadn’t been able to attend the monthly event, she assured herself

Following her glance, Heather ht? It’s not like hi”

“He didn’t even call you, Cam?” Amber asked

Brushing his heavy blond hair away froed in his chair and shook his head “Haven’t heard fro”

Kelly frowned, reluctantly picturing Shane with the leggy, busty redhead he’d introduced her to at a party a couple of weeks earlier Kelly hadn’t liked her At all Of course it wasn’t any of her business who Shane Walker dated, she thought hastily She and Shane were buddies Pals Practically faet in

volved in each other’s love lives

Not that Kelly actually had a love life

Scott was frowning at an es?”

“You ate the Soht’ve liked to have a few”

Kelly chuckled and pushed herself out of the chair again “As it happens, there are more in the kitchen Since I kno Scott is about chocolate, I bought extra”

Scott’s green eyes lit with greed “There are more?”