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"Maybe’s he’s using any excuse to spend time away froe soAlex’s"

"Obviously," Mark said, "a Nolan should never marry anyone who’s too much like us"

"I think a Nolan should never marry anyone who’d have us"

Whatever the reason, Alex had continued to contribute to the restoration As a result of their coun to look better Or at least like so normal people could live in

"If you try to kickto end up buried in the backyard"

They both kneever, that there was no chance Sam would ever kick them out Because Sam, perhaps to his own surprise more than anyone else’s, had taken to the child with instant devotion Like Mark, he would have died for Holly if necessary She got the best of everything they had

At first cautious with her affection, Holly had quickly becos fro outsiders not to spoil her, neither Saence was doing any harm In fact, both of them would have been happy to see a littlewhat she was told

When Holly wasn’t in school, she acco site at Friday Harbor, watching the massive drum roaster heat raw arabica beans until their pale yellow skins caraht her ice creao "boat-shopping," browsing along rows of yachts, Nordic tugs, family cruisers, and crab boats with haystacked pots on the back decks

Sam often took Holly out with him to tend the vines, or to hunt for starfish and sand dollars at low tide on False Bay He wore pasta neckties she had hout the house

"I had no idea what this was like," Sa Holly into the house when she’d fallen asleep in the car They had spent the afternoon at English Ca joint occupation of the island until it had been awarded to the Americans The national park, with its two miles of shoreline, was the perfect place to have a picnic and throw Frisbees They had indulged in acrobatics toto catch the Frisbee They had brought her little tackle box and fishing rod, and Mark had taught her to cast for sea perch along the shore

"What what’s like?" Mark had opened the front door and flipped on the porch lights

"Having a little kid around" So a little kid love you"

Holly’s presence in their lives offered a kind of grace neither of the happened to you, they discovered, when you were given the unconditional love and trust of a child

You wanted to try to deserve it

Mark and Holly went into the house through the kitchen, setting the packages and the conch on the table in the old-fashioned corner breakfast nook with built-in benches They found Sam in the parlor, a painfully bare room with uncovered Sheetrock walls and a fractured chimney temporarily encased in steela frame for a soon-to-be-poured ce to be a son of a gun to fix," he said, in the ure out hoe can use the same chimney to vent two different fireplaces This one leads directly to the upstairs bedroo down, Mark murmured to Holly, "Go ask hi to Sa herand retreated a few steps

Mark saw Sa slowly to look at the little girl A questioning note had tipped his husky voice

Holly shook her head, looking grave

"Yes, you are, you just said so"

"No, I didn’t" A titter escaped her as she saw Saain, by God! Say my name Say it"

"Uncle Herbert"

Saainst his chest "Herbert? Oh, now it’s going to be chicken lips and lizard feet for dinner" Still clasping Holly, he looked at Mark with a wondering shake of his head, his color high, his eyes containing a suspicious glitter "Hoas all he could e to ask

"Later," Mark said, and shetti sauce on the stove Holly was busy in the next room with her new puzzle "How did you do it?"

Mark uncapped a beer and tilted the bottle back "Wasn’t -cold s "We were in that toy shop on Spring Street, the new one, and there was this cute little redhead behind the counter I’ve never seen her before--"

"I knoho she is Maggie so Conner, Carter…"

"Conroy You’ve o out with her"

"He never mentioned her toout with Shelby"

"Shelby and I aren’t exclusive"