s [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

creature that was some breed of miniature dog. For all her desire to have
pets, she knew very little about them. Smiling at Tuesday, she said,  I ll
give you another thousand dollars if you let Dane, Jr. sit on you, okay?
 Quit calling him that! yelled Dane from the kitchen.  You are
not naming any furballs after me. Especially that one.
 Fine. I ll call him DJ.
 Rissa! You will not call ouch! Dishes clattered followed by
human thuds.  Tell this cat my toes are not for nibbling.
Nibbling? Something truly risqué popped into her mind involving
nibbling, herself, and Dane, but she managed to hold her tongue. She
didn t want to embarrass herself in front of Tuesday by blurting out her
fantasies. The cats settled deeper into her lap, purring, as she petted their
soft fur.
Well, soft, after she, Dane and Tuesday had bathed them. All the
animals had received a thorough cleaning in the backyard, though almost
all of them complained about it. Despite the loss of a back leg, the Dane
ran well and fast especially when chased by a water hose and two irate
men.
Fluffy leapt off the couch, vibrated more than walked to Tuesday,
and plopped onto his neck. DJ lifted his head from Tuesday s chest and
licked the little knot of fur.
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r r
Dane walked into the living room and Marissa s gaze immediately
went to him. He d donned a pair of khaki shorts and a tan-stripped shirt.
Earlier, during what he d dubbed Animal Hell With Water, he d worn
cut-off jeans and, gulp, no shirt. Her senses had hummed the whole
time not even the perpetual scowl creasing his face had dampened her
feelings of desire. Her senses hummed now, too. He settled into a recliner
and a huge sigh of relief billowed out of him.
The blind kitten, which Marissa had named Shadow, simply
because the poor dear had attached itself to Dane and followed him
everywhere, leapt onto Dane s lap, curled into a black ball, and began to
purr. Dane rolled his eyes, but stroked the kitten s fur. Marissa bit back a
grin. Dane would never admit he liked the cat, but he did, even if he
wanted to pretend he was putting up with all the animals for her sake.
 I think we can mark going to the zoo off your list, he said,
 since you ve created your own animal kingdom right here.
Oh dear. The list. Soon it would be Saturday the anniversary of
Gillie s death. Somehow, finishing the list, the last thing she d done with
her sister, would be her final good-bye. It was time to let go of her old
life and start a new one.  Sorry, Dane. Going to the zoo is of the utmost
importance.
Had it only been five days since she d met Dane? For the first
time in years, she felt like she d lived a normal okay, not normal but
happy, free life. Now that she d put aside her fear and taken that list of
dreams into the world...she felt all grown up. If only Gillie were here to
see her succeed. Sudden grief gripped her. I miss you, Gillie.
 Rissa?
To her horror, tears filled her eyes. She removed the cats from her
lap and stood.  Wouldn t it be terrible if I were allergic to animals? She
laughed, almost choking on the falseness of the sound.
She couldn t meet Dane s hard stare, so she crossed the living
room to look out the floor-to-ceiling window. The not-yet landscaped
grounds were a tangle of long grass, summer flowers, and old trees. The
area looked as wild and as untamable as she felt at this moment.
The swiftness of the emotions claiming her made her realize the
depth of her denial. She had done a fabulous job of pretending this week
that she didn t have a care in the world, as if the list were the most
important thing in her life. She didn t have to think about how her sister
was dead and how her parents would fear the same for her if they knew
she d escaped from Geoffrey. She blew out a breath.
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r r
They wouldn t know. Geoffrey was her friend and, even though
she d duped him, he wouldn t trouble her parents. She d left the note and
promised to return. Yet, if Geoffrey had panicked...had called her parents
to return from Europe, they would search for her. They would find her,
too.
She shook away the thoughts. What did it matter if she returned or
if her parents found her? She was a legal adult; they couldn t force her to
live in their house anymore. She d only stayed after her eighteenth
birthday because, well, because every year they convinced her to do so.
And every year, she caved in because through their love and their
worry, they d made her fear. Fear living. Fear the outside world. Their
first child had been kidnapped and their eldest had died because she
ventured out from their protection. Marissa didn t need a psychologist s
degree to understand their motivations. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]