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2388845
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Everybody's heart is like a cup. They stumble from place to place and person to person, trying to get them filled. They get cracked, those cups, and even broken. Some people throw them away, thinking that it will stop the pain. Poor fools. Nobody can fill a cup but Almighty God Himself. Nobody.
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Linda Lael Miller |
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ea637b9
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Courage, like so many other things, was not something one did or didn't have; it was a decision, a choice.
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Linda Lael Miller |
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f76aedb
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Sometimes, everything in the world seems to be lined up against you. All the evidence says you ought to run the other way. Make the bravest choice, not the safest. It's not the best advice, but it's all I have to offer
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Linda Lael Miller |
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7991b24
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Everything worth doing involves risk.
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Linda Lael Miller |
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74b7244
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Nostalgia is a way of remembering people and places and things, and wishing things hadn't changed. It has a sweetness to it. Sadness is just--well--being sad.
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Linda Lael Miller |
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f92afeb
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Wait until you see him up on a horse
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Linda Lael Miller |
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f07c27b
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Being a McKettrick meant claiming a piece of ground to stand on and putting your roots down deep into it. Holding on, no matter what came at you. It meant loving with passion and taking the rough spots with the smooth. It meant fighting for what you wanted, letting go when that was the best thing to do.
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Linda Lael Miller |
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04c6685
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Oh my god" Meg ranted. "Her water just broke!" Margaret" Eve said, "get a grip - and a towel. I'll be there in five minutes." (After her sister is off to the hospital and Meg comes close to hyperventalating) Shouldn't we have called an ambulance or something?" Meg fretted. Oh for heavens sakes," Eve replied. "You don't need an ambulance!" Not for me, Mother for Sierra."
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Linda Lael Miller |
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549d089
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Liking something and wanting to take it for a ride are two very different things', Joslyn sais, climbing out of the truck to stand on the ground. Hutch's eyes sparkled as he came around to face her. 'I'm not touching that one with a ten-foot pole,' he told her.
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romance
modern-western
ranching
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Linda Lael Miller |
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8557a59
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But he was bent on making that ride, Brody, and if he hadn't gotten himself thrown that day, he'd have done it some other day. What I'm trying to get at here is that folks seem to come into this life with a list of things they need to get done while they're here inscribed on their souls. Old or young, when their work is done, they leave.
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Linda Lael Miller |
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cfdc52c
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Without a word, Carolyn held him...for a long, long time. Then, presently, she stood up, took hold of his hand and led him back to her bed, where she proceeded to put him back together again, piece by piece.
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Linda Lael Miller |
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86cdf24
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It's not smart to hold yourself away from the shocks of life, the good ones or the bad. They're all part of the mix, and paradoxically, shying away from them only makes things harder.
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Linda Lael Miller |
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02b815d
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That was then. This is now.
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Linda Lael Miller |
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3a373e0
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You're the one with the badge," I admitted, "but I'm the one being haunted by a seven-year-old in a ballerina costume."
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pg-32
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Linda Lael Miller |
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a5495d1
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attitudes
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Linda Lael Miller |
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acc3b53
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unless you've walked in another person's skin, you don't know what he's put up with, what he's gone through,
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Linda Lael Miller |
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c4119ab
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Her fatigue was gone; she felt vital and strong, like a tree coming back to life in the springtime, vibrant with sap, ready to put out buds and then blossoms.
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Linda Lael Miller |
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5b9c48c
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Tal vez habia cambiado de verdad. Y tal vez, si ella se ponia unas zapatillas rojas y entrechocaba los talones, aparecia en Kansas.
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Linda Lael Miller |
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82b76b8
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I'm a sucker for punishment," Joslyn answered cheerfully. "There's something about him--" "Raw sexual magnetism, maybe?" Kendra prompted, beginning to perk up as the caffeine hit her bloodstream. "You noticed," Joslyn joked. "It's hard not to," Kendra replied. "I think God was showing off a little when He decided to throw Slade Barlow together." "Amen," agreed Joslyn."
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Linda Lael Miller |
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dfc017b
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Your people back in Pennsylvania--what are they like?" Caleb finished his work and turned to face Lily, his arms folded. Because the barn was shadowy and he was wearing that blasted campaign hat of his she could barely see his face. "Decent, hardworking, ordinary enough." "Rich?" Lily inquired. "Yes, you could say that." Lily sighed. Marrying the major might eliminate her current dilemma, but once the back-east Hallidays got a good look at ..
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Linda Lael Miller |
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cf1fe19
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Our children are going to be remarkably stubborn," he commented as they started down the main street of town. Lily tried to ignore the avid stares of passers-by. "We aren't going to have any children," she said. Some instinct caused her to lie. "My--my monthly arrived today." Caleb fell silent, and in a sidelong glance Lily saw his disappointment. She laid a hand on his arm but could not. bring herself to admit the truth. If the major belie..
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Linda Lael Miller |
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fb3fe77
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He was a man. He should have acted more like one - thought about how all that self-indulgence might affect his daughter, if not his wife.
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Linda Lael Miller |
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dd7e7eb
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will your daughter be here?
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Linda Lael Miller |
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6147d2a
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Why won't you give up this silly idea of homesteading?" Gertrude went on. Her tone of voice was moderate, but her blue eyes were snapping. "I can't help thinking you're just being stubborn, Lily. Caleb is well able to provide for you, I assure you. He comes from one of the finest families in Pennsylvania--I've known the Hallidays a long time." Lily looked down at the floor for a moment, gathering her courage. "You wouldn't understand," she ..
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Linda Lael Miller |
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c74bca7
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Cause I'm not a stray cat or something you found by the side of the road." Tully grinned. "You mean like Kyle?" Tully leaned over and said, "His daddy don't like to talk about it, but he picked Kyle up over on Jessup Road hidin' under a car." Kyle wanted to be mad, but he couldn't. Not with Emma around. "Yeah. And your momma told me she got you from the pound. Had you fixed there, too."
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Linda Lael Miller |
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c9d96ed
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How did it start?" he asked finally, turning away from her to stand facing the snapping fire on his hearth. Even the cloth of his shirt didn't hide the uncompromising rigidity of his back and shoulder muscles. Lily looked around the shadowy room, stalling for time. If she told the truth, she knew Caleb would do something rash and probably ruin his career in the process, yet she didn't see where she had any real choice. "There was a man insi..
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Linda Lael Miller |
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b8f71c1
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I want to practice my marksmanship," she said. "Touch those rifles and I'll tan your hide," Caleb warned. Lily squared her shoulders. "I'll just have to do it on my own, I guess. Though I daresay there are plenty of soldiers on this post who would be glad to help me." Caleb had poured himself a drink, and the look in his eyes was deadly. "I'll personally horsewhip the man who tries," he said in a dangerous undertone. Lily"
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Linda Lael Miller |
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ef30520
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Yet in all the years she'd stared at others, Emma had never seen so many good-looking people in one place before. The nurse...gorgeous. The doctor...gorgeous and so damn sweet. And that deputy guy...well, he went beyond gorgeous, but he was anything but sweet.
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Linda Lael Miller |
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52ecff7
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caught up in causes and concerns and plans for the future and forget what truly mattered--loving and being loved, in the present moment.
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Linda Lael Miller |
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e0a8686
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Lily stepped back to admit him, her gaze catching on the chocolates again. It was Caleb's aim to make her look at him just the way she was looking at that red satin box. He extended the candy and knew by the pleasure in her eyes that she'd received few gifts in her life. And for one insensible, fevered moment Caleb wanted to give her everything. He wanted to drag the world to her feet and make it bow.
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Linda Lael Miller |
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c74e373
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I see he gave you a ring," Rupert remarked, glancing at the twinkling diamond on Lily's finger. "I'm only wearing it because it won't come off." "Why did you put it on in the first place?" Lily sighed. "I didn't--Caleb did." "I see. We've come full circle, Lily--back to my original question, which you so neatly evaded. Do you love Caleb Halliday?" Lily lowered her head. "Yes," she answered weakly. "I think about him all the time, and I get ..
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Linda Lael Miller |
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e7e0e6e
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Caleb rode up just as she was trying to submerge herself in an ice-cold creek no more than six inches deep. Calmly he hung his hat on the horn of his saddle, then he put his hands on his hips, an infuriating grin spreading across his face. "Ants?" he inquired cordially. He was at once the first and last person Lily would have wanted to see. She sat up in the creek, her hair dripping, her arms covering her breasts, ants banished at last. Her..
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Linda Lael Miller |
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91714e2
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Were you following me?" she asked, hugging her knees and watching her supper cook. "Yes," Caleb answered in his direct way. He sat down across from Lily, and the firelight did a primitive dance over his features. "I wanted to see how you could get by on your own." He didn't need to tell Lily that she'd failed the test miserably; she knew, and her pride had been stripped as bare as the supper rabbit. "I thought I could reach Tylerville, at l..
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Linda Lael Miller |
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523b7a3
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He caught her left hand in his and lifted it so that the diamond sparkled in the firelight. "I see you haven't cut off your finger yet." Lily smiled sleepily. "That would have hurt too much."
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Linda Lael Miller |
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df78ebe
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Insanity, the saying went, was doing the same thing over and over again and expecting to get different results.
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Linda Lael Miller |
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59b502a
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His arm slipped around her shoulders, and she was too tired, she told herself, to shrug it off. She turned her head to look up at him. "Thank you," she said softly. "For what?" Caleb asked, watching her face with an expression of tenderness that made her throat constrict. "For fixing that rabbit," Lily replied, "and for not yelling at me or giving me a lecture on my foolhardy ways." Caleb kissed her forehead lightly, the way one might kiss ..
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Linda Lael Miller |
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cab24be
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room. Angus cleared his throat, and Rafe and Kade stared down at their plates, all signs of their previous amusement
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Linda Lael Miller |
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b627cde
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Caleb stood on the Tibbet porch, gazing after Lily through the thin veil of rain sliding down from the porch roof. He'd been employing the tactics the colonel had recommended, and he'd liked the results--until he'd noticed Lily leaving the house with Corporal Pierce. When he'd seen her take that green kid's arm and look up at him as though he'd just cured all the ills of humanity in a single sentence, Caleb had wanted to vault over the porc..
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Linda Lael Miller |
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7515d57
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After taking a shell from her apron pocket and putting it carefully into the weapon's chamber, she pointed the shotgun away from the house and Dancer, who was tethered nearby, and drew back on the trigger. There was a deafening explosion, and Lily was flung backwards onto the ground, the butt of the shotgun striking her square in the stomach as she fell. It sure wasn't anything like using a .22 caliber to hunt grouse. "Damnation!" she shout..
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Linda Lael Miller |
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3023c7c
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It's wonderful to see you falling in love at last, Caleb. I was beginning to think I'd never dance at your wedding." Caleb went to the porch swing and sat down beside her, taking her hand in his and giving her knuckles a brief kiss. He didn't know if he was in love, but he wasn't about to spoil Gertrude's delight. "If I can't have you," he teased, "I'll have to settle." "She'll still be giving you trouble when you're ninety, you know. Lily'..
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Linda Lael Miller |
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cf762f1
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You're not going anywhere," he breathed. And even though Lily knew it was fear for her safety and not cruelty that drove him, she was annoyed. "Let me go, Caleb." His grip tightened. "You'll spend the night here," he said. Lily's eyes widened. "Caleb, it's bad enough that I'm alone with you under this roof right now. Can you imagine what people will say if I stay till morning?" "I don't give a damn what they say," Caleb replied, and Lily kn..
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Linda Lael Miller |
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016617a
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If you ever do that again," he managed, in a mock-threatening tone of voice, "I swear to God I'll sign over everything I own and let you lead me around like a lap dog." Lily circled one of his taut nipples with the tip of her finger. "Your warning has been duly noted--sir." Caleb laughed. "Vixen." She"
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Linda Lael Miller |
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e5b39cb
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Lily came suddenly and violently awake a few hours later, and she stared up at Caleb with wide eyes as he held her in place on the bed, her hands pressed into the pillows. "Who was it?" he demanded. Lily knew he was asking who had attacked her in her cottage the night of the fire, knew he wouldn't wait any longer to be told. Still she hesitated, not to protect Judd, but because she feared what could happen to Caleb if he took his revenge. "..
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Linda Lael Miller |
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5792ba8
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I have another problem." Caleb's grin was at once endearing and obnoxious. "You're naked in my bed, and you don't own a stitch of clothing in the world," he agreed. "You needn't look so pleased about it!" Lily snapped, drawing up her knees and wrapping her arms around them. She was very careful not to let the covers slip away from her breasts. "Not only that," Caleb went on, as though she hadn't spoken, "but the whole fort is talking about ..
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Linda Lael Miller |