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Chapters (58)
  1. Cover
  2. Praise for Abbi Waxman and her novels
  3. Berkley Titles by Abbi Waxman
  4. Dedication
  5. Epigraph
  6. Summer
  7. ONE
  8. TWO
  9. THREE
  10. FOUR
  11. FIVE
  12. SIX
  13. SEVEN
  14. EIGHT
  15. NINE
  16. TEN
  17. ELEVEN
  18. TWELVE
  19. THIRTEEN
  20. FOURTEEN
  21. FIFTEEN
  22. SIXTEEN
  23. SEVENTEEN
  24. EIGHTEEN
  25. NINETEEN
  26. TWENTY
  27. TWENTY-ONE
  28. TWENTY-TWO
  29. TWENTY-THREE
  30. TWENTY-FOUR
  31. TWENTY-FIVE
  32. TWENTY-SIX
  33. TWENTY-SEVEN
  34. TWENTY-EIGHT
  35. TWENTY-NINE
  36. THIRTY
  37. THIRTY-ONE
  38. THIRTY-TWO
  39. THIRTY-THREE
  40. THIRTY-FOUR
  41. THIRTY-FIVE
  42. THIRTY-SIX
  43. THIRTY-SEVEN
  44. Fall
  45. THIRTY-EIGHT
  46. THIRTY-NINE
  47. FORTY
  48. FORTY-ONE
  49. FORTY-TWO
  50. FORTY-THREE
  51. FORTY-FOUR
  52. FORTY-FIVE
  53. EPILOGUE
  54. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  55. Readers Guide
  56. Questions for Discussion
  57. About the Author
  58. What’s next onyour reading list?

Laura was thinking about the things she thought about to stop herself from thinking. She started mentally listing the bones of the foot, of which there are twenty-six. She started reciting organs of the body in alphabetical order, followed by major nerves, and was halfway through the glands of the endocrine system when they arrived home.

It worked, as it often did. Laura was able to turn to Bob as they pulled up and say, without a shadow of tremor in her voice, “Thanks so much for today, I really had fun.” Her face was composed; nothing had happened at all, nothing worth discussing.

“Are you feeling better now?”

She gave him a broad smile. “Of course! Sorry, I guess I’m more easily startled than I thought.” Then she opened the door of the truck and walked toward the house.

Bob rubbed the back of his neck and opened his own door. He was pretty sure he’d just been lied to again.

TWENTY-THREE

As they approached the house, loud music spilled out to the street, and Laura hesitated. “Wait . . . what’s that?”

Bob literally clapped his hand to his forehead. “I forgot. It’s Poker Night.”

Laura stopped walking. “Sorry?”

Bob gazed at her, and a slow smile spread across his face. “Your first Poker Night at Maggie’s, and I’m here to witness it. There is a God.”

Laura snorted and headed into the house. Someone was playing the Pointer Sisters and leaning on the volume. Top ten song of all time.

Bob watched her go and frowned. On the one hand, now he didn’t have to worry about a clumsy good-night, but on the other hand, his time alone with Laura was over. He stopped on the lawn and looked up at the night sky. Despite the humidity and heat of the day, the darkness was unclouded and the stars bright diamonds on velvet. He needed to breathe and settle himself down. He’d been attracted to Laura, and then worried about her, and then confused by her. He’d had a relationship in college with a woman who’d become emotionally unstable, and it had put him through the wringer. He saw how strong Laura was, but twice now she’d freaked out and then pretended nothing was happening. It wasn’t the freaking out that worried him so much. It was the pretending.

Bob shook his head at himself and followed Laura inside.

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