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“He has a high credit score” She paused “He has two nieces that live with him part time He splits them with his parents The o He has another sister, Nivea, who used to help raise them, but she moved to a different part of the country with her new man Parents and him live on a ranch a couple of towns over Dad inherited about a thousand acres from his father who passed away recently Wilhelm—you’ll have to call him Will because Wilhelm is weird—lives in a two-bedroom cabin on the property”

I smiled at all the information she could find

“Now, I’ll continue to dig But you’re gonna have to tell me why you need this information,” she murmured

I sed and looked down at my hands

“He’s the one,” I told her “Like you already said”

There was no reason to lie

I needed to break out of my funk

I wanted to live again

I wanted to be who I was always meant to be, not a shell of Cannel as scared of her own shadow

I’d seen the shrinks

I’d moved out of the town that used to be where s

I’d graduated school, found a job, and moved into an apartment on my own

I was ready to live as well as I possibly could live

And that ain

Thattheir every move

It meant… Wilheloing to be the one to break me out of that funk

I knew, just as well as he did, that he was attracted to me

I’d seen it in his eyes, and the way that he allowed his gaze to trail down my body

I only hoped that I could scrounge up the nerve to go for it

“Just wanted to make sure you were sure I want you to be happy”

CHAPTER 3

Life is short Smile while you have teeth

-Text from Shine to Cannel

CANNEL

One week later