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where I am going to be working. I failed to take her feelings into
consideration when I took the assignment overseas."
"Bad call," he groaned. She bit her tongue to keep from snapping at him. They
were finally getting along and she didn't want to ruin the moment. "Sorry,
like you said I shouldn't be giving relationship advice."
"I almost said it," she laughed as she laced her fingers together. "I'm trying
Dad. I really am. I need to let this go. And on that note how is Jessica
doing?"
"She hasn't talked to me in years," he wearily responded. "You weren't the
only one I hurt."
"No that one falls in my lap,' she grumbled. "I was the one who hurt her. She
was just a kid who didn't even know what was going on." She glanced over at
her father her heart sank as she caught the look of sadness on his face.
"For a little over one month in my life I acted like an ass and caused so many
people a lifetime of pain," he sniffed.
"I never realized that the affair was so short," she absently responded.
"Frankly, it wasn't any of your business," he sighed.
"True," she conceded wondering if he had simply come to his senses one day or
had her mother found out? Then again it really wasn't any of her business. It
was, however, time to let it go. "So what do you think about what Mom told us
about the prison?"
"A mass grave and all those people locked up in deplorable conditions, no
wonder it is haunted," he laughed.
"Becoming a believer?" She teased.
"Who me?" He scoffed. "Nonsense."
"Yeah that's just how I used to say it for the cameras," she snickered. "I
remember I almost confessed once in Toronto. We were at this old farmhouse
walking from room to room. Shawn is going on about I feel this or that and I'm
just ignoring her. We get to the kid's bedroom and I swear this rocking horse
just starts rocking. I just about jumped out of my skin."
"I would have peed my pants," Stan laughed.
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"I almost did," Faith supplied. "I still went on camera denying that there was
anything strange. I like not having to do that anymore."
"So you like the aspect you are involved with now? You didn't seem to enjoy
Kansas," he asked.
"I like it," she nodded inhaling the brisk night air. "I get to interview
people and research stuff; I just like it more when I get to do it with
Shawn."
"I really hope the two of you work things out," he comforted her as he wrapped
his arm around her shoulders. For the first time in years she allowed him to
comfort her.
"So do I Dad, so do I," she sighed happily.
***
New York City, 2003
Shawn stretched out her aching body as she had been working on the computer
for days trying to get things ready for her next book. She also busied herself
with researching her next project. She had hoped that by keeping busy she
wouldn't have to worry about what would happen when Faith arrived. She knew
that deep in her heart she wanted things to work out between the two of them.
She was just leery about jumping back into a relationship with the enigmatic
reporter.
"Maybe that is where we went wrong the last time?" She pondered aloud as she
stood and wandered off to her tiny kitchen so she could pour yet another cup
of coffee. It was the constant wondering that they had jumped from being
adversaries to lovers much too quickly that concerned her the most. What if
Faith panicked again and left Shawn behind for a second time, could she
survive it? "Now how am I going to keep things at a safe distance when she
will be staying with me?" She groused as she sipped her coffee.
Suddenly her skin prickled and her heart skipped a beat. "And she's early,"
she sighed heavily as she placed her cup on the counter and made her way to
her front door. Faith jumped with surprise when Shawn opened the door before
she had the opportunity to knock.
"I hate it when you do that," Faith scowled as she tried to balance her
traveling bags and the boutique of flowers she was carrying.
"That is why I do it," Shawn quipped as she took in Faith's uneasy manner. She
stepped aside allowing the tall brunette to enter her apartment. "You're
early."
"I'm not interrupting anything am I?" Faith cautiously inquired as she stepped
into Shawn's home. Shawn was mildly amused by the way the brunette was
shifting nervously and averted her gaze.
"No, you're timing is perfect," Shawn teased her ex-lover. "I just sent the
dancing girls home for the night."
"Sorry I missed that," Faith grumbled with a slight sneer. Shawn was perplexed
as to why Faith was just standing there strangling the flowers she had
brought. She was frustrated that she couldn't get a bead on what was going
through the brunette's head. She gave the taller woman a curious glance before
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turning and closing the front door. "Did those flowers do something heinous?"
"What?"
"The flowers, you're crushing them," Shawn informed the brooding woman as she [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]