“She said, "Look down at your chest." I held the cell phone to my ear as I bend my head. Two red dots, quivering slightly, danced right over my heart. "You are one second away from death," said the caller.”

“I had just finished cleaning up after breakfast when my cell phone rang. The caller identification came across as ‘G-Man’? “Hello?” “Hey baby,” the soft, sexy voice said. “Slate?” “Who the fuck else would be calling you that?” “Did you program your number into my cell phone?” “Uhh, yeah - is that a problem?”

“When she said sweet things in my ear, it would slide right down into my heart”

“Okay, now you really don’t need to do that blushing virgin bit anymore—I got to ogle your body at my leisure for hours. Matter of fact, I had so long, I could have painted you, instead of just taking pictures with my sat-phone.” He held up his phone with a wink.“I loathe you,” she said, precariously bending to collect her toiletries and clothes. As she headed for the bathroom, she gave him the evilest eye she could muster….”

“But through it all I held Mrs. Pettibone's words in my heart-the ones she spoke to me after the funeral when she took my hand, looked into my face and said, "You've got your father's eyes.”

“No, no, no. No way!” I shook my head and looked at the offending black motorcycle. “I am not getting on that thing!”“Sophie, it’s a motorcycle, it doesn’t bite.”I turned my head to look at the beast. “Really? It looks like it could bite, to me.”“Please, Sophie,” he held out a helmet.I crossed my arms over my chest. “What if I fall off?”“You’re supposed to hang on to me, Soph. What happened to my mighty little she-wolf?”“She packed her bags and left,” I said.”