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The doorbell rang Great, so else to deal with She was full-up on issues today She’d get rid of whoever was at the door and then order the pizza that was calling her name

“Woof” Boo bed and hurried toward the door

“Oh, no, you don’t Get back here, Booed him into the kitchen Normally he would climb into his crate without much hassle, but not when someone was at the door She pointed his head into his crate and shoved her entire backside against his butt He was one strong sucker She finally overpowered him and he fell face-first into the crate

She slae shut before he could escape “Whew”

The bell rang again “Co”

She opened the door to find Alex and Mariana on the other side, each holding a plastic bag

She was ridiculously happy to see them both Especially since it looked like they’d solved her food problem “What’s all this?”

Alex stepped through the door and pressed his lips to her cheek She felt like a giddy schoolgirl, swooning because the boy she liked had kissed her “Dinner You had that big deliverable today and I figured you wouldn’t have had much time to think about food”

He’d been doing lots of little things like this for her since they’d started officially “dating”

“Here, Dad I’ into Alex’s arms and sprinted up the stairs

She kissed hi into the pantry, hoping some idea would jump out at me”

“Then this is perfect You get a ready-et to spend ain, a proht That was one perk of dating Alex she wasn’t going to deny she liked—the kisses at the end of the night

It was hard, each of the kids on their own, to find ti so well, they often spent tiether, the four of the herself suspiciously scarce recently, like at the end of the day, when she and Alex had a chance to be alone Well, as alone as they could be with two airls sprawled on the floor while she and Alex got to snuggle on the couch

Moain Nothing as fancy as the country club, but ti to know each other Compared east coast and west coast childhoods Alex shared soht with therated from Central Mexico, and she described how her life in California was so different than Virginia They even talked about falling in love—with their spouses For as ugly as the end was, the beginning of her relationship with Josh had been great Those were the ti his neck for leaving her alone with their daughter

Each night together with Alex ended with a kiss on her porch She loved talking to Alex, listening to the deep ruhed, but those few ht were some of her favorite times