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could see it happening. She knew she was only going to make

things worse by trying to say the right thing.

Dallas faced Quinn. She nodded silently, turned around,

and walked back into the house. It no longer felt like any sort

of den. The house was just a house and the Smyth’s were good

people. They’d opened themselves up to Dallas again,

welcomed her again, and she wasn’t going to let it end this

way. She was no bacon wrapped ham. She had more backbone

than that. She wasn’t going down as anything less than a thick,

juicy steak.

She had Quinn’s number. She’d call her in the morning or

afternoon or evening. Whenever. Sometime. She’d talk to her

before she had to go back to Tampa and she’d make this right.

She might be willing to go in there and say her goodbye’s

to everyone like Quinn asked, to end the night on a good note

and not spoil anything for anyone, but she wasn’t going to

walk out of Quinn’s life like she had the first time. She’d

thought she could get in and get out of Topeka. She’d been

waiting to catch a flight before, but deep down she wasn’t sure

she could have got on it. Now she knew for certain that she

could. She would. She’d get on it. She’d go back to Tampa.

But she wouldn’t, and couldn’t, leave things like this.

Chapter 17

Quinn

Quinn snuck back into the house. She hated creeping

through the back door and down the hall like she’d done

something wrong. She needed to get to the bathroom, where

she could wash her face with cold water before she started

crying. Orrrr maybe after. She just needed to get there, into a

small, private space, where she could think about what just