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E "No one he can trust"

"That certainly says a lot about old Sam's lifestyle and choice of friends, doesn't it?" Verity muttered

"I another person on the face of the earth he can call on in an eency"

"How do you think he got to the ripe old age of eighty?"

E people, that's for damn sure"

Verity gazed at Jonas for a long moment He sipped his vodka quietly and looked back at her, his eyes steady and intent She knew there was no point in arguing any further She had been trying to talk theh's call on the restaurant phone yesterday

It wasn't so difficult to accept her father's decision Verity was accusto ways But when she thought about Jonas going away, she could feel a knife twisting deep inside

"What about your writing, Dad?" she tried, knowing it was a futile attempt "You said you had a deadline for that first futuristic western You'lloff to Mexico"

"I can probably get an extension," Eive me one, he can shove it"

Verity winced and turned to Jonas "You were just starting to reat hopes for your lentil stew The customers love it"

Jonas's et back you can finish givinglessons"

Verity put both pal the inevitable with bad grace, "ill you be leaving?"

Jonas studied her for aEarly"

Verity nodded "Well, good luck Tell Sah I said hello" She pushed herself to her feet abruptly

She was dazed at the i lost this battle If this was not the end, it was surely the beginning of the end

Perhaps it would be better if Jonas ain, ht of never seeing hi him drift in and out of her life over the next fifty or sixty years was equally hard to accept The vision of a lifetis almost overwhelmed her

Daht as she swept a couple of glasses off a nearby table She walked through the erily blinking back the tears that threatened to spill down her cheeks