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  games with you.”

  “Well, tough.” Dani expelled a deep breath. “You screwed me for three years, screwed Erica for four, and now you got Julia. You don’t want to play? You should date outside the O’Hara pool.”

  “What happened to you?” He took a step back. “You were never this bitter before.”

  “I have to come home and find you still playing puppet to one of my sisters. Don’t act outraged that I’m tired of it.”

  “Dani—”

  “No. I never left because of you, Jake. I don’t want you to feel that you had that much power over my decisions.” She narrowed her eyes. “You were the only thing that kept me here. Once you were gone, I was gone. So you can stop holding onto that guilt and this idea that you were the reason I left. It’s just not true and it never was. I tried to even lie to myself and say you were the reason, but I couldn’t.”

  Jake glanced over his shoulder. Kate had gotten out of her seat and approached the car. She looked good. That was Dani’s first thought. The Kate from her day had been skinny, dressed in goth, and adorned with a spiteful attitude that told the world to go to hell. This Kate had gained about ten pounds, had a soft smile, and even smoother skin. She looked healthy and happy.

  “So the rumors are true.” Kate waved a hand. “Hi, Dani. It’s been a long time.”

  They’d never talked except for one time. Both had been ordered to the counselor’s office. In the lobby, Kate cursed at her and Dani moved down a seat. That had been the extent of the interaction and their history.

  “Kate.”

  “How you holding up against the Craigstown scrutiny?”

  “Oh, you know, the power of one eye-twitch can go a long way.”

  “Yeah.” Kate laughed, resting on one hip. “The nonverbals in this town should be legendary. I remember in school. I’d walk through a store and by the time I finished making one trip, I envisioned twenty different scenarios where the owner wanted to kill me.”

  “You’ve had your fair share of public scrutiny, if memory serves correct.”

  “Oh yeah. Memory serves correct.” Kate still laughed it off. “So, is it true? Are you and Jonah Bannon an item? That’s what I heard from one of the regulars at the Piggly Squiggly. Everyone is talking about the two of you.”

  “Kate!”

  “What?” She looked at Jake.

  He argued, “I can’t believe you listen to that stuff. That’s just all rumors and gossip. You, of all people, should know the people at the Piggly Squiggly are half drunks and half psychopaths.”

  “Sometimes they got the best dirt.” Kate shrugged. “Sometimes they get to see the best dirt because no one will listen to them. I did when I was younger. So is it true, Dani? You and Jonah Bannon?”

  “Kate, how can you even think something that outrageous?!” Jake wasn’t done. He was still outraged. “That’s just stupid and it goes against all logic and reasoning. Dani and Jonah? Seriously. If those two aren’t the oddest and complete opposites than I don’t know who is—”

  “Like you and Erica?” Dani interrupted.

  Jake fell silent.

  Kate remarked, “And opposites sometimes attract, Jake.”

  “Like you and Erica?” Dani repeated.

  Jake shook his head. “That’s completely different.”

  “How come?”

  Kate closed her laughing mouth as her eyes darted between the two.

  “Dani.”

  “Jake.”

  “Come on.” He now laughed. “What are you—are you serious? You and Jonah? Jonah Bannon?”

  Dani had no intention, but Jake had no right commenting or speculating on her lovelife. He’d been a part and played his part well, but he was out. He’d been out for a long, long time. He had no place passing judgement.

  “Maybe.”

  Kate held back a laugh.

  “Are you really serious?”

  Dani sighed. “I think you should be asking yourself why you care so much.”

  Kate tipped her head back and laughed out loud.

  “Kate.” Jake shot her a glare and it shut her up.

  Dani had already reversed and was pulling into traffic. She didn’t see how Kate shook her head, standing a moment to watch Dani’s car with a small grin as Jake stomped inside the store.

  Her sister had been buried. She had been clothed, prayed upon, and blessed. She had been put into that dirt earth. It was something that Dani was beyond familiar with. Feeling the same emptiness that worked her at night, she heaved a deep breath and shook her head clear. She couldn’t expel the shiver that ran down her back, putting the hairs on her neck straight up.

  “Hello?”

  Startled, Dani jumped and cursed.

  “Sorry.” Jonah poked his head through the open door. Dani realized that she’d forgotten to shut it. After leaving town, she went to the cemetery. When she got back, she’d done nothing but space out in her kitchen. With a quick glance at the coffee maker, she realized that the coffee was old now.

  “What time is it?”

  He checked his watch. “It’s about sixish. You were going to let me take that sweet ride, remember?”

  “Oh yeah.” The emptiness had dwindled. She frowned. “I, uh…sorry. I was just…” She pushed away from the counter and dumped the coffee into the sink. “Sorry, I got busy and I forgot all about tonight.”

  “That’s okay.” He produced a package from behind his back. “Two steaks. You forgot to buy them this morning. I went back this afternoon.”

  “Oh. Thanks.”

  “Yeah.” Jonah nodded and moved to her side. “Do you want to spice those up? I’ll go light the grill.”

  He was out the door as her hand came up to take the steaks from him. He’d already placed them on the counter and she could hear him removing the cover from the grill outside.

  Her mother once told her that spices attracted the best magic. They each had their own purpose. Like garlic protected the soul against invading temptations. Oregano protected against cynicism. Parsley protected against old age. Her mother would go down the list and Dani would sit there, mesmerized by everything her mother told her. She remembered lying in bed that night and as she looked up at the ceiling, Dani saw all the spices dancing above her. They each twinkled and flew around, blending into one giant spice that protected her against the world.

  Dani had believed that for the longest time.

  As she took the steaks out of the wrappings and placed them on a plate, Dani perused Aunt Mae’s old spice rack. Her eyes fell upon the ginger and for a moment, her fingers lingered. She had learned the truth. Spices held no magic, at least not for her.

  “Those steaks ready?” Jonah called from outside.

  Instead of answering, Dani moved through the door. “I don’t like my meat spiced.”

  “Oh. Okay.” Jonah cast her an easy grin and flipped open the grill top. As he put the steaks inside, he asked, “You got anything else in there that you want grilled? I know folks around here like a roasted corncob every now and then.”

  A moment later, with pats of butter placed inside the corn’s husk, Dani sat on the porch’s step as she watched Jonah flip the meat and everything else on the grill. She grabbed a few more vegetables and put them in tin foil for the grill.

  “You know,” Jonah began, his back turned to her. “The steaks are a bribe, right?” He glanced at her and flashed a grin.

  Dani stared back. Her eyes emotionless.

  He continued, “I needed more time to try and use my persuading ways—”

  “The car’s not for sale.”

  “Yeah. I’m getting that.” A moment later he let out a whistle and announced, “The steaks look like my best work, if I have to say so myself.”

  “I’m not really hungry.”

  “Yeah.” Jonah’s voice had grown soft. “I know.”

  “You do?”

  He didn’t reply, but instead filled the plate with their food. Placing it on the porch’s table, he asked,
“Got anything around here to drink? Maybe even some utensils?”

  She’d forgotten to prepare the table.

  She’d forgotten about a lot.

  “I’m sorry, I was just…” Dani trailed off and saw that he wasn’t even waiting for a reply. Jonah had already ducked inside and emerged with most everything they needed. Plates. Forks. Knives. Butter. Salt. Two glasses and a pitcher of water.

  She took the plates from his hand and each arranged the table with the food in the middle. When she sat down, Jonah still stood. As she cast a questionable grin his way, Jonah chuckled and pulled out a bottle of beer from his back pocket.

  “We can share, if you tell me one thing.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Why you love that car so much that you’re immune to my charm?”

  She’d been to hell and back and that car was the only thing that still stood intact. “I bought that car with money I earned and because my sisters hated it.”

  “I bet their boyfriends loved it.”

  “That made them hate it even more.” Dani grinned. It was true. Julia had thrown more than her share of fits. She threatened, she pleaded, she cried and every time—Aunt Kathryn and Erica would get pulled into it. Aunt Kathryn hated that car almost as much as Julia and Erica.

  “I know I did.”

  Dani looked up.

  He shrugged as he pulled back the parted husks. “We both know that I dated your little sis for a week—”

  “Three days.”

  “Three days.” He nodded. “I’d never been to your home except one time. I saw your car and I asked your sis about it, if it was hers, who owned it…questions like those. Your sister blew up, literally just—she went off like a firecracker.”

  “That made her hotter.”

  “No.” Jonah laughed. “I guess I was always grateful in some way.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I don’t know.” He shifted and leaned his elbows on the table, holding the corn just before his mouth. “I think, when I asked those questions about your car, your sister’s lid flew off and I always thought that I got blessed and was given a window to the future. I saw a little in your sister and it was enough to scare me away from her.”

  “You never dated Julia,” Dani noted. She still hadn’t moved to place any food on her plate. Her hands hadn’t left her lap, but Jonah didn’t comment.

  “Ah nah. Julia—she was always kinda quiet around my crew, but some of the guys were into her, but I wasn’t. Nah, I wanted to know who that owner of the Mustang was.”

  “How come you never said anything?”

  Jonah shrugged. “We were at the Rush and I saw you pull up to pick up Erica. I was going to come over then, but when you got out of the car…I just…you had this look about you that…”

  “What?”

  “When I saw you, I recognized you from around town. I never really took notice of you, but that day at Tenderfoot, it looked like you wanted to be anywhere, but around Tenderfoot Rush. And then Erica snapped at you and she made you wait for her.”

  Erica wanted to finish hearing about Kelley Lynn’s date with Ted Foster. Dani knew from previous experience that Erica still wouldn’t be satisfied hearing the gossip for hours and she hadn’t wanted to wait. So when Erica turned her back on Dani, after chewing her head off, Dani had turned right around and got inside the Mustang and left. After Erica had screamed her head off at her sister that night, Dani had been treated with the silent treatment for two weeks. No one treated Erica O’Hara that way and got away with it.

  She laughed now at the memory. Those two weeks had been a vacation. “I left her.”

  “Yeah.” Jonah grinned over his corncob at her. “Your sister was pissed.”

  “So you never introduced yourself to me because of that?”

  “I never introduced myself because I saw why you didn’t want to deal with the rest of us.”

  “You thought I didn’t like dealing with you guys?”

  “Every time I saw you, you were always walking away from something or someone.”

  She left. That’s she had done her entire life. She just left and walked away. She left Boone. She left her family. She left for five years and she left everything that she’d done in those five years.

  Jonah began cutting into his steak. “I always felt that I would’ve been pestering you if I ever said hello or something.”

  Dani’s plate was still untouched. Her hands had yet to leave her lap.

  He added, holding her gaze, “Truth is you kinda intrigued me after that day when you ditched your sister. I though it took some balls for someone to do that to Erica O’Hara. No one did that. All those girls worshiped the ground your sister walked on, but I thought you must’ve had steel in that spine of yours to do what you did.”

  “I was her sister.” Her voice grew hoarse. She didn’t know what compelled her, but Dani started, “I was across the ocean. I wanted to travel and I wanted to…I wanted to be something else than what I’d always been here. I worked here and there and helped out in some of the hospitals, but I ended up hooking up with some other travelers. There was a group of us, maybe five or six. At first, it was great. Everyone was so much fun. We laughed, we drank, we…they were nice to me.” Then Boone joined their group and things changed. “This one girl, her name was Parker. She—she had this thing for this guy who started traveling with us. She was a little like Erica. She got all the guys and when we’d go to the discos, she always brought one home with her. She started to hate me and pretty soon most of the group started to hate me too.” Boone had chosen her. “So I went off and traveled by myself again.” Boone had followed.

  She blushed. “Sorry, I don’t know what I was talking about.”

  “What happened to the guy?”

  Boone had fallen in love with her. “Nothing.” She’d left him too. “I’m a walker.”

  “I know.”

  Her breath caught in her throat. She stared in those eyes and she saw a man who wasn’t what everyone professed him to be. Neither was she. “I’m not here to break up Jake and Julia.”

  “I’m not here for that.”

  “You’re here for my car.”

  “Not really.”

  “You’re here for a ride.”

  “That’d be nice too.” Jonah grinned and leaned over the table.

  Dani’s eyes widened, a little alarmed that he would close the distance between them, but he didn’t. Their faces weren’t touching, but if either shifted ahead a mere five inches, they would’ve been.

  She spoke without thinking, “I was in a storm. I’d taken a job as a teacher at this orphanage and we got stranded in this building. The storm lasted forever and we couldn’t get to safety and…”

  She saw herself. Dani had given up by then. Search parties should’ve come for them, but every time that sun would come up, no one ever came and it finally dawned on her that no one came because no one could come. They’d all died from the storm. She was in that room again. Weak. She couldn’t speak. And she just laid her head down when the first light shone through their window. She hadn’t heard the boat’s engine. “It felt like everyone died, but me.”

  “You were in a storm?”

  “I was in the tsunami that hit Indonesia.”

  Millions had died that day. And continued for weeks after.

  “That wasn’t a storm. That was a natural disaster.”