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jealousy for the woman who might have captured his heart, and wondered how much sacrifice he
might have been willing to make for her, if the woman ever existed.
After they'd had dessert, and deciding it was time to get back to the house and check on Abby,
Genie said to Ryan, "That was a wonderful meal the salmon, the beans, the grilled onions, the corn
on the cob and Annie, your fresh strawberry pie was wonderful."
"Except that we couldn't bite through the crust," Annie groused.
"Well, perfection in crusts will come with experience," Genie said, "but I think I need to get back
and relieve your mom and dad of Abby." She went over and gave Annie and Ryan each a hug, then
looked at Josh, who mentioned nothing more about going riding the next day, and said, "See you
around." He shrugged, and she turned and left.
The walk from Annie and Ryan's house to where the ranch road met the road that looped through
the compound was about a ten-minute walk. Around five minutes into it, however, Genie sensed that
she was being followed, and when she glanced around, she saw Josh walking behind her. She couldn't
decide if he'd left so he could catch up with her, or because he was done for the night, but since he'd
given no indication during the evening that he wanted to spend any time with her, she ignored him and
walked on.
By the time she reached the intersection where the ranch roads joined, Josh caught up with her,
took her arm to keep her from turning toward Matt and Ruth's house, and said, "Okay, you've got my
curiosity."
"Where are you taking me?" Genie asked, as Josh steered her away from her destination.
"To the lodge," Josh replied.
"Why there?" Genie asked.
"Because I want to see you run four balls in a row."
"It's easy," Genie said. "You let your subconscious mind take over and shoot without aiming. It
works every time." She tried not to be distracted by the feel of Josh's hand wrapped around her arm,
but it was firmly connected, and she was making no attempt to pull it away.
"I also want to know how you did the thumb trick," Josh said.
"I told you, it was mind over matter, but if it wasn't, I still wouldn't tell you because it would
break one of the seven principles of the magician's code, which is secrecy. A magician only reveals
secrets to other magicians. "
"You're not a magician. You're a nurse."
"A nurse on leave. I might not be going back."
"Why?"
"I already told you, it's too complicated to explain."
"No, you told me it was complicated. Nothing's too complicated to explain, unless you don't
know yourself why you're quitting, which I'm sure is not the case."
"You can't be sure of anything because you don't even know me," Genie said.
"I know enough," Josh replied. "I did some research."
"What kind of research?"
"The Annie kind."
Genie looked at Josh in curiosity. "You asked Annie questions about me?"
Josh nodded.
"Why?"
"Because I want to know what makes Nurse Ratched tick, kind of like standing back and studying
a two-thousand pound, pissed off, insanely angry bull to know how he reacts in different
circumstances."
Uncertain how to interpret his analogy, Genie set it aside for the moment, and said, "You were
only in the hospital three days, after which we parted company, presumably for good, except that
you've continued playing with bulls which will ultimately get you back into Nurse Ratched's ward,
but since you still believe you're invincible, you don't think that way, so why did you want to know
what makes me tick if you never expected to see me again?"
"I believe in fate," Josh replied.
"Fate that you'd end up back in my ward, or that I'd end up here?" Genie asked.
"Neither. I just turn it over to fate."
When they reached the lodge, Josh, who was still holding onto Genie's arm, which she was still
making no attempt to pull free, guided her to the front entrance. Through the window she saw ranch
guests inside three sitting in a grouping, and a couple standing and talking but no one was playing
pool. She was relieved that guests were present though. She wasn't prepared to spend time alone with
Josh. It wasn't conducive with keeping her distance from him. And right now, she was going against
everything she'd programmed herself not to do by trailing along with him to the lodge instead of going
back to the house because, if the guests decided to leave, she could find herself alone with Josh, and
he wasn't the one she feared. His nearness affected her in ways she couldn't explain. Yet ignoring her
instincts, she continued with him into the lodge.
CHAPTER 5
On entering the lodge, Josh dropped Genie's arm and walked to the rack of cue sticks mounted on
the wall behind the pool table. Taking a stick down, he handed it to Genie. She took it and stepped
aside while Josh proceeded to rack the balls.
"What are you setting up for?" she asked.
"Eight-ball," Josh replied. "You have any preference as to how the balls are racked?"
"Is this to be a game, or did you just want to see me run four balls in a row?" Genie asked.
"Whatever you want."
"Okay then, just do a standard rack."
After Josh set up the balls, he removed the rack from around them and stepped back, then
motioned for Genie to make the break. After a brief calculation, Genie positioned the white cue ball
and quickly shot. An equal number of solid and striped balls scattered in all directions while sending
two balls into pockets. After glancing into each pocket, she announced, "I'll take solids." Leaning
over the table again, she positioned her cue stick, made a brief mental adjustment and shot, sending
another solid ball into a pocket. Moving around the table, she made another quick decision and sent
the cue ball bouncing off a striped ball, which sent a solid ball dropping into a corner pocket. "That's
four balls," she announced, then stood and waited for Josh to comment.
He looked completely perplexed. And ticked. The macho male routed by a female.
"So, are you just going to stand there looking pissed, or do you want to know the secret? This
isn't magic. I can tell all. It's also something anyone can learn."
Josh eyed the balls with a look of curiosity and interest, like he wanted to know and understand
but was too proud to ask. Then his gaze crisscrossed around the table, and he looked at her
thoughtfully, and said, "How long did it take you to learn this?"
"Half my life," Genie replied. "It's something Dad taught my brother Dimitri and me years ago. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] - zanotowane.pl
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