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.She wanted to go on trying out Maisie swonderful recipes.She wanted tohelp Beth redecorate.Matt had mentioned that he hadwritten a hundred twenty pagesof a science fiction epic and she wanted to read it.She couldn t leave them.Julia started at the wet muzzle laid adoringly on herknee.Federico, her sleekSiamese, had found another family to lord it over.Notlike Fred.Fred needed her.Shecouldn t leave Fred.She couldn t leave Cooper.Not in a million years.It had been the emotion and relief of the moment thathad made her react that way,but the fog was beginning to clear.She wanted Cooperback her Cooper who made her feel safe and excited all at once, who scolded her andrepaired things for her.Cooperwho was so exciting in bed she sometimes thought herheart would stop.That great tidal wave of emotions was receding,leaving her calmer now andresolute.She d been foolish, but that was okay.Cooper wouldforgive her.He had to or shed& she d beat him up.They d had a mock fight once,and he d laughed so hard she dmanaged to wrestle him to the floor.Some martial arts expert.Well, if he had his stupid pride, she didn t.Julia stoodup, grateful her knees werefinally steady.She picked up the phone and stared at it.There was nodial tone.She shook it as ifthat would give her a signal.The phone rang, startlingher and she dropped the receiver,frowning at it.It rang again and she realized that it wasthe doorbell ringing and not thephone.Whoever it was would have to go away because shedidn t want to talk to anyone right now but Cooper.Julia opened the door.Mary Ferguson stood on herdoorstep, shoulders covered insnow, clutching an overnight case. Hi. Mary smiledtimidly. I m leaving.Going backto Daddy.I guess he was right all along.I just wantedto say goodbye.Can I come in fora minute? Mary definitely wasn t Cooper.Julia wanted her to goaway.Good manners warredbriefly with her desire to run after Cooper and goodmanners won by a hair.She d saygoodbye to Mary and then go run after Cooper. Sure. Julia smiled wanly and stepped back. Comeon in. That was some excitement we had this afternoon, Mary said.She put her case onthe floor. I was scared to death. Yeah. Julia went into the kitchen to put some wateron to boil and came backholding two mugs. I m glad the whole thing is over. Well, that s the thing, Julia, Mary said regretfully. I m afraid it isn t over at all. Julia could barely hear the sound of the mugsshattering over the roaring in her ears. Mary Ferguson was holding a gun, pointed right at her.* * * * *Cooper regretted leaving Julia almost as soon as hewas out of town.His pickupbucked over a hillock of snow and he fought fiercelyfor control of the wheel.The windwas blowing the snow straight into his windshield, andthe wipers could hardly keepup.Even the wind wanted him to turn around and go back.Pride was a funny thing, he mused.Cooper men hadbeen choking on their pride forfour generations.But pride didn t make you laugh orwarm your bed at night.Pridemade a very cold companion.So she said she wanted to go home.Big deal.Of courseshe wanted to go home.Anyone would.He d watched her blend in so well inSimpson that he d forgotten thatshe hadn t been born here, that she d left a life behindher.He hadn t even given her a chance to say anything.Hehadn t allowed for theaftermath of shock and fear.No, siree.He d just coldlyinformed her that she d be accompanied to the airport.Cooper could imagine Julia now, forlorn and shakenfrom the day s events.Hecould just see her, curled up in a small ball on thatridiculous couch with the brokensprings.Tonight, of all nights, Julia shouldn t be left alone.Hecould kick himself for hisbehavior.He should be there now, comforting her,cooking a lousy meal for her,watching her choke it down and inventing outrageouscompliments on his cooking.The pickup bucked again and Cooper slowed.All of asudden, he couldn t wait toget back to her.He didn t want Julia to spend one moresecond feeling lost and lonely.He tried to keep the pickup on the road with one handwhile he fished for his cell phonewith another to tell her that he was turning back.Heswitched it on and dialed hernumber.There was no answering ring.He must have dialed a wrong number.Cooper stoppedthe pickup and punchedJulia s number again, frowning.He tried three moretimes, then switched the phone off
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