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to me very forcefully all day yesterday.
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Lisa Marie Rice
Exactly. There was something about Douglas that made her feel safe, just having
him in the room made her feel better. She d never seen John, Suzanne s husband. She d
only had dinner with him and Suzanne once, and they d spoken briefly at the
Foundation, but something told her he was in many ways similar to Douglas. Tall and
with a deep voice, though not as deep as Douglas , steady and calm.
You could almost feel the glow coming off Suzanne whenever she talked about her
husband.
That s the way I feel about Douglas. Like he knows exactly what he s doing. And,
boy, does he. Blood rushed back to her face. She felt like a stoplight. Whoa, did that
come out wrong.
Suzanne laughed again. Uh huh. If he s anything like John, um, in intimacy, I ll
just bet he knows what he s doing.
Who knows what he s doing? Hi Allegra, hi Suzanne. Before Allegra could
answer, there was a flurry of air, soft lips kissed her cheek, and Claire s voice said, I
made it! I left Mr. Impossibly Grumpy for two whole hours and got here! It s so good to
be out of the hospital and, Claire breathed in deeply, smelling something besides
rubbing alcohol and formaldehyde! It wouldn t be so bad if it weren t for the fact that
Bud keeps trying to get out of bed, though he s attached to machinery by a thousand
tubes. If I hadn t stopped him, he would have pulled out his IV this morning. I swear,
that man survived surgery only to get murdered by his nurses.
Hi, Claire. Allegra smiled. Claire was so sweet. She could just see her with Bud,
patient and gentle with a grouchy male. Men could be so impossible. She remembered
her father when he d had gallstone surgery and had morphed right into a cranky old
bear who
A sharp pain flared deep in her head then spread, pounding. Allegra gasped and
held her head.
Hey, sweetie. Suzanne s cool hand touched her forehead. Is something the
matter? Do you need something?
Another head. That s what she needed. And while she was at it, another life. This
happened to her often when she thought of her father, another cruel blow of fate.
No, no, nothing s wrong, Allegra lied. She brought her hand down, forced a smile
on her face. I m fine. Sorry. So Bud is okay? We were so worried, Douglas and I. But
Douglas told me that if a gunshot wound doesn t kill you immediately, there s an
excellent chance of survival and recovery. And I suppose he should know.
Yes, he ll be fine. I think it s a sign of recovery that Bud s threatening to pull his
gun on the doctors unless they tell him when he can go home. Preferably yesterday, to
his way of thinking. Why, right after surgery& Claire s voice trailed off and Allegra
could practically hear her head swivel. Douglas? You ve got a guy named Douglas?
Who s Doug heavens! Not your husband s partner? This to Suzanne. She sounded
shocked.
The same. Suzanne s voice was dry. Senior Chief Douglas Kowalski.
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Silence. More silence.
Wow, Claire said finally.
Yeah, Allegra said, feeling the blood rise to her face again. Wow. You can say
that again. It s been great. Just great. I ve never had such an exciting time with a man
before. I mean oh God. That came out all wrong, all over again. She must be
radiating heat from her blush.
Suzanne and Claire laughed.
Ladies? Your meals will be here shortly. May I take your drink orders? Allegra
wondered if it was the tall waiter who had the demeanor of an undertaker or the short,
hairy one who looked like Robin Williams. They each ordered a glass of wine a Merlot
for her, Riesling for Claire and Zinfandel for Suzanne. The waiter disappeared in a
cloud of scent. He d obviously rolled out of bed this morning straight into a vat of
aftershave.
So, they said all at once, and laughed.
So. Allegra turned toward Claire. I want to hear all about Bud.
I don t, Suzanne said promptly.
Me neither. Claire tapped Allegra s hand. I m sick of thinking of Bud. I ve done
nothing but care for him for the past thirty-six hours and I m going back to him when
lunch is over, so I m all Bud-ed out right now. I want to hear about& Douglas. There it
was again, that tone. Suzanne had it too, when she said his name. What was that about?
Come on, Allegra. Tell all. And I mean everything. Every little detail.
There was a scraping sound as the two minxes actually brought their chairs closer
to her, so as not to miss anything.
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