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She "

He’d been with a lot of woe of all the invitations thrown his way As he’d gotten older, he’d been more interested in quality than volume, but women had always been available

He’d been charmed, bloay and knocked sideways by different wo hiut with a handful of words

He wanted to tell her that she was right to trust his Only they were having dinner, not getting married It was the town, he told hi her eyes got when she looked at hirin "You were expecting so else?" Because as a lotabout the evening and hoould progress Not serving alcohol went a long way toward allowing her to relax

He stepped back and poured thelass, then led the way out onto the patio

The barbecue was at the far end There were a couple of lounge chairs by the back door She took one, and he settled in the other They clinked glasses

"How’s Starr?" he asked

"Better We’ve had a few therapy sessions" She s on a sofa, talking about your feelings?"

She laughed "No We sit upright and talk about probleestions on how to approach the to have chores she has to do every week and get an allowance We’ve made a list of house rules and punishood?"

"It’s strange, but yes, I think it’s good Nore responsibilities Starr has consistency We both knohat’s expected and what the consequences are if she breaks a rule So I don’t have to worry about being the bad guy We’ve negotiated everything in advance, so she’s a part of the decision-s had been when he’d been a kid How his father would lash out for no apparent reason, and the consequences were often destructive

"My parents could have used a system like that," she continued "There weren’t any rules What I could and couldn’t do changed from day to day A lot of my friends were envious, but it wasn’t as fun as it sounded"

"You never knew if you were okay," he said

"You’re right I don’t want that for Starr I want her to feel safe" She turned toward hiht? To ski?"