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"You know, as I was sitting in the police departht"

"Uh-oh"

"At this point, if it weren’t for Candace, I would have no proble over soht about now You were right But now she’s in the picture, and…" He trailed off, frustrated at his own inability to express in words what he was feeling: that noanywhere He could keep his word on that, at least

"You’ll get things up and going again, don’t worry Shut down for a couple of weeks or so, get everything functional and you’ll be fine While you were in giving your stateoing to get to it as fast as they can, so at least everything will be protected fro And I’lanced at him, then clapped him on the shoulder "Don’tto clear out all the gnawing emotion "Does Dad know?"

"Yeah, I called him too He’ll help out any way he can We all will"

"You guys have given ain"

"Now you’re just being dramatic Your insurance should cover crireat and all, but I still feel like I’round up, and I want that piece of crap to pay for it, because he can This was personal, and I want it taken out of his ass"

"Regardless, we can’t sit around and wait for that to happen I know you’re pissed, but keep your head on straight" When Brian didn’t reply, Evan went on "Everyone is really proud of you, whether you see it or not And we’re all outraged about this The dae If Jameson Andrews did this, they won’t lethis ass get nailed for every penny"

They turned onto Dermamania’s street, and Brian’s sto into view Dra away for a few hours, it looked even worse than before "You and me both"

Candace took the week to concentrate on her finals and unwind from the wild events of the prior weekend Once that was over and done with--and she somehow passed all her courses--she welco tooover want ads and turning in job applications Even if it was so part ti that tiny bit of independence could only be helpful to the soul

And thank God, she got her period When it was a day late, she’d nearly panicked, thinking that one ht’ve had far ined possible It ht feel awesorowing in her belly, but for twenty-four long hours she’d done nothing but bite her nails and wonder what on God’s green earth she’d do with a kid at this point Yeah, she’d definitely been scared straight on that one She’d gone straight to her doctor and gotten on the Pill

Whenever Brian called, she answered, like he’d said she would But surprisingly, he didn’t push her He talked about how Der She could tell how excited he was to be reopening soon He and his e up the place Kara and Marco had coot his own Candace was disappointed she didn’t get a chance to see them, but she was determined to stay away for now

It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out his strategy His way of chasing her was giving her the space she’d deifts, candy or stalking techniques he could ever have employed, because she missed him like crazy