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Was there some other therapy she could try?

Wasn’t the love more important than where they shared it?

She’d done a real number on herself with this one Had no clear way out And all she kneas to continue to move forward Take the next step And then the next

When she had to say goodbye to him, at least as a weekly occurrence in her life, a ould be made known to her

They finished that Tuesday’s ride in near-silence Neither of theood or bad As she handed over the bike to Craig, Amelia tried to catch his eye, but only once Briefly She didn’t succeed and didn’t try again

“What time Thursday?

” she asked him

He suggested they —since they were starting later than usual She’d have agreed to , she waited until the bikes were secure and, when he turned, his biceps bulging, she told hiht

Hard to believe that the night before she’d been lying naked in her bed with those arms wrapped around her Hard not to be hurt by his abrupt departure and subsequent behavior

Harder still to convince herself that she wouldn’t do it all again

Craig went to Thursday’s bike ride ready to have “the talk” The “we need to talk” kind Enough was enough

He’d started this whole thing—spending ti soned to remain completely impersonal as far as the two of theht it a good idea Or even how he’d thought it could work

Sometime over the past two days he’d reached the conclusion that they’d need to discuss their situation instead of ride Still, he had the bikes on top of his SUV when he pulled into the lot, surprised to see Amelia already there

That couldn’t be good She’d never been early by ood ten before their designated time

“We need to talk,” she said, standing not far fro lanced up at the bikes