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One

I slide into the passenger seat of the low-slung car as the door thuds shut behindthe opportunity to watch him as he crosses the front of the car His strides are confident, unhurried The fingers of his left hand skiht and reaches the driver’s side door

I suddenly feel uneasy, and I never feel uneasy

This car is too s cooped up inside the same ten square feet as him all the way to Philadelphia I justthis effect on me?

The door handle clicks and he’s behind the wheel, the engine purring a second later I watch him buckle hiht, oes on too long He’s staring at , apparently content to wait until he has my attention I turn my head andtall, dark and handsoht up with amusement as he speaks, which unsettles me Why?

“How can you possibly think Finn Caht man for you?”

That’s why

Two

Sixteen Years Ago

I clutch my brand-new Strawberry Shortcake backpack inclose, and it’s ht stop I’et to take the bus ho er and that’s his job To pick et, because he loves rounded for a week if he forgot

The bus turns onto Norrans Drive This is hter and eye the distance to the door

“Everly!” Timmy Stuart pops his head over the seat in front ofa tooth and his hair is a disaster It’s a disaster because he let me cut it Mom says I need a lot of supervision I don’t think his hair would have turned out any better if she’d been watching h, so I don’t think that’s true