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“Really? Trayna said you bit her head off the other day And last Sunday after church, you didn’t even look at Luke and Vivi And then there was the barrel-racing banquet youto notice”
Winona sighed “I knowI want” She couldn’t even put it in words, this new need of hers Its darkness embarrassed her She didn’t just want Luke to suddenly love her That wasn’t enough anymore She wanted it to hurt Vivi Ann, to make her understand—for once—how it felt to lose
“It’s us, Win,” Aurora said quietly, reaching for her hand “The Grey sisters You can’t let Luke mean more than we do”
“I know,” she said, and it was true She did knoas right here, what she had to do She just couldn’t do it, and the realization of that hurt assuit Before, that had meant only that she ate too h, her ees Soht, when she found herself hoping soedy would befall Vivi Ann (not a death or anything, but soh that Luke would leave her), Winona wondered what she was capable of “Just watch Vivi Ann, okay? You’ll see she doesn’t love Luke”
“Ah, Win,” Aurora said “You don’t get it The point is, he loves her”
“He wouldn’t if he knew the truth”
Aurora was staring at her now; even in the pale glow of the porch light, her worry was obvious “You wouldn’t do so stupid, would you?”
Winona laughed It only took a little effort to pull off “Me? I’ stupid”
Aurora i to sound sort of Single White Female”
“You know me better than that,” she said, butback to the Outlaw, re how Luke had looked at Vivi Ann, Winona worried about herself, too, worried about what she would someday do
Fro room, Vivi Ann could see the yard, the barn, and the paddock In the pink light of this earlylooked soft and a little surreal
She told herself she was setting the table, just as she always did, that she wasn’t waiting at the , but when Dallas ca her face into neutral, she opened the door “Hey,” she said, wiping her hands on a pink rag It was the first time she’d been here for breakfast with hi a mistake
Be careful, Vivi Ann
“You gonna leave the dang door open allup behind her
“Co him toward the table