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KIM BALDWIN. his name, but she recognized the rather attractive F fty-ish bachelor as the proprietor of the Pine River Lumberyard
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his name, but she recognized the rather attractive F fty-ish bachelor as the proprietor of the Pine River Lumberyard, where she shopped on occasion. He’s got money, she thought, recalling the gossip when the village’s F rst Hummer had appeared on Main Street.
The chief announced it was time for the three-legged race, and Gable could see from a distance that Tim had somehow won the animated F ve-way discussion over who would get to be Erin’s partner.
They lined up side by side at the edge of the F eld near the food area. Gable had a perfect view. She felt a sudden twitch of jealously as she watched Tim curl his arm around Erin’s shoulder, and it grew into a gnawing ache in the pit of her gut when Erin’s hand snaked around Tim’s waist. She frowned, holding back tears that sprang from nowhere.
“On your mark…” the chief hollered through the bullhorn.
Erin looked directly at Gable.
“Get set…”
The smile on Erin’s face evaporated as she registered that Gable didn’t look quite right.
“Go!”
Erin stumbled brief y as Tim lurched their joined legs forward, but her attention snapped back to the race and they quickly joined the other competitors dashing toward the other end of the F eld. Couples tripped and fell, but Tim and Erin had a steady, smooth rhythm going that edged them just ahead of the others. The F reF ghters in the crowd roared approval as the couple lunged toward the F nish line and collapsed in a laughing heap of arms and legs on the other side.
Gable didn’t have a great view when Erin and Tim got their blue ribbons—they were too far away for her to read their expressions.
But she was seeing much more than she wanted to, anyway. After the ribbons were handed out, Tim scooped Erin up in his arms and twirled her around, then planted a big kiss on her to the cheers of the crowd.
Why are you torturing yourself? Gable decided it was time to leave. She would be in no mood for F reworks tonight.
That night, she stared at the ceiling for a long while, unable to sleep. Seeing Erin with others was killing her. She needed some distance. Maybe she should avoid her for a while. The prospect only made her feel even worse.
• 104 •
FORCE OF NATURE
v
When she got home from work the next night, Gable found a message from Erin on her answering machine.
“Hi, Gable! Sorry I didn’t get a chance to say good-bye yesterday, hope everything is okay. I know you’re not home yet, but I wanted to call and invite you over for dinner. Nothing fancy. Just lasagna and garlic bread. And I promise I won’t make you move furniture! Tim helped me, so it’s all done. Call me.”
Tim was at her house. Helping her move her bed into her bedroom.
Gable could picture it with all-too-vivid clarity. The two of them together, getting more and more comfortable with each other. Did he kiss yousome more? With all that privacy, did he make a move? That thought led her mind to a dangerous place. She closed her eyes and imagined what it would be like to kiss Erin, to feel those soft lips beneath hers. It would be wonderful, she had no doubt. An ache blossomed in her chest with the realization it could never be.
Gable debated with herself a full ten minutes on whether to return the call at all, but her ingrained sense of common courtesy wouldn’t allow her to ignore it. So she had to call. And she would have to lie. She hated that part. But there was no alternative. Distance, remember? Youcan’t see her. It will only drive you crazy. Maybe she’d wait a couple of hours, so Erin couldn’t talk her into coming over. You can say youstayed to have dinner in Meriwether with some people from work.
The phone rang a half hour later as she was munching on a tuna sandwich. She let the machine get it. “Hi again, it’s Erin. Thought you’d be home by now, and maybe just missed my message. Anyway, call me!”
Gable felt like a heel. Her appetite gone, she tossed the remainder of her sandwich out the door for some lucky raccoon or possum to F nd. It’s all for the best. You can’t go on like this. But she was unable to convince herself it was the right thing to do. She was deliberately hurting Erin, and there was no way she could feel good about that.
She forced herself to wait two hours before calling Erin back.
Keep it short and sweet. Her hands trembled slightly as she dialed the number she had memorized. She had actually rehearsed what she would say, afraid her voice would betray her, afraid Erin could tell she
• 105 •
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