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“Abby?”

She must have hit her head, because she would swear she heard To about hily flutter in her belly, like little winged butterflies She cared for hiretted one thing, it was stopping hi He would have been patient and gentle and thorough The kind of lover she needed, and she’d pushed him away

He was the sort of man who loved deeply and forever, wasn’t he? She could have had just a taste of that, to know just once what it was like to be the focus of all that intense devotion Maybe it wouldn’t have been real and it probably wouldn’t have lasted, but it would have been enough

“Abby! Please answer me! Are you in there?”

Okay, so that wasn’t just her na deh her heart “I’ position with a wince God, she seemed to hurt all over

There was the sound of boards being ain “Abs? Where are you?”

The relief at knowing it was truly hi “I’m over here Be careful There are boards everywhere and I don’t kno stable things are”

“Hang on I’ll be careful Are you hurt?”

“I don’t know I don’t think so”

“Keep talking I’ll be there before you know it”

She got herself together a little “Tom?”

“Yeah, honey?”

She alood to hear your voice”

There was a ripping sound and one of the boards closing her off from the entrance was pulled away She could see his work boots and she started to laugh through her tears How she loved those damned boots

He knelt and peered through the gap “Hang in there I’et you out, but I have to be careful I don’t want to make the rest come down”