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As the group, all headed to the small ceremony for Matt in the church. They all knew this was the real end to the situation. They thought it had ended years before, but now there was no one left but them. They were now sitting as a group behind Matt’s parents, and the children all hugged them as well. They turned to Mack, “He is gone now. I hope you don’t mind if we adopt them as our grandchildren. We have known you and your cousin since you were born.”
“Ma’am, if that is what you want to do, my wife and I would love you share them with you,” Mack replied, and Henni nodded. The kids all stood with their parents. “Matt was their godfather. It would honor him to have you a part of their lives.”
Mack moved into the pew, and the kids sandwiched between them. “Daddy?” his daughter asked as he whispered.
“What, sweetheart?” Mack asked quietly as the service was going to start in a moment.
“Why are we here?” she asked and
Kat ThomasComing up next month: The Heaviness in the Air. This is the prequel to Across the Desk but is Max's story. It follows him through one case that changes his life forever......
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The Friend Trap 1
“Why are you bringing your friends here?” Henrietta Hanson asked her brother, who was sitting across the table from her as the two sat at the table on her patio eating a quick lunch together. There were complete opposites in everything in their lives, even though they were not only brother and sister. They were twins. They couldn’t not be any more different if they actually tried.Christian looked at her as he took another bit of food. He looked at her through his soulful brown eyes as he met her light blue ones. He had long accepted that his twin was different from him. He knew that everything about her was something he didn’t understand. Unlike most of their family, he tried to keep in contact with her and help her understand the differences in life that she didn’t seem to get. “You need to meet some new people.” He easily replied after he swallowed his bite
The Friend Trap 2
It was almost a week from their lunch date when she heard from her brother again. He often would forget until the last minute, and then he would call and leave a voice mail for her on her work phone. Which is exactly what he had done this time. He had left her a message while she had been busy running a few tests at the hospital she had worked at for the past four years. Chris’s friends and he were going out in about two hours from when she had got the message.He knew that things were always on a schedule for her. Some extra time would have been nice for her to be able to get herself together, but he didn’t think like that. He was ready to go hang out with his friends and drag his poor sister along to meet people, and that was that. It was all he cared about. She shook her head to clear her thoughts. She didn’t want to go out tonight. It had been a long day already, and she had been
The Friend Trap 3
She drove to the place her brother had told her about in his message, and she spotted his car. She knew he was there even though she was a little late. She figured they might have moved on already. She knew that they often hopped places from her brother's stories when they got together during the week for lunch or dinner. She had a good idea of the group of friends that he was going to introduce her to as well. Things about them had been dropping for a while. Christian seemed to really like some of them. Henni was leery because it seemed they were more interested in their family and not just Christian. She just didn’t want her brother to get hurt. That would be something that would set her temper off. She might not like the family, but she did like Christian. He did try with her.Henni got out of the car, took off her hospital lanyard, and then thought twice about it. Somehow it being there around her neck would give her the
The Friend Trap 4
“I am an online marking rep for a marking agency. I also co-own a boutique with my sister. Which we design the clothes for.” She said as she looked over Henni again and was taking in everything about her. This was one of the mean girls that every school had. It was time to take her down a few notches. Christian also could feel the wave of pain that Henni was going to bring with only a few words. He shook his head behind her, knowing that his friend Gabe’s girl had brought this on her own. He wasn’t too fond of Abby on her own. She was worse when she had other women there. When Chris made these plans, she had not been invited. They simply didn’t take directions well. Chris knew that Henni had struck a nerve.“Online marketing? “Henni asked, “Oh, Christian told me about you. You’re in graduate school for it.”“Yes. I am.” She
The Friend Trap 5
As Henni walked back into the hospital, she avoided all the main places that her co-workers would go. She didn’t want to be seen if she could help it. She then slipped into her office and closed the door. No one would know that she was there. As long as she really didn’t make any noise or someone didn’t go looking into her office for something that they needed. She settled into her desk, and then she picked up a folder and turned on her computer. There was a new email from the detective she had just met.She looked over the email, and it was rather basic. She had to wonder when it was actually sent. It had to be before they had met a few minutes ago. She smiled to herself. It isn’t like that working with the good-looking detective would be hard unless he was attached to one of those women she had just put into their place. She shook her head. That is one of the reasons that she hated meeting new people. She
The Friend Trap 6
“Of them? No,” he said. “They were not supposed to be there tonight. That was the only reason I went.”“So what are they trying to set you up as well? “she asked.“Yes.” He said with a sigh. “The women have a thing for the people that surround my family. Actually, my cousin's family. All of them are friends and have been for years. They all want to date or have some chance with one of the members of the family. Abby and her sister Beth are the worst in the bunch. You put Abby in her place. That was the highlight of my entire week. Right now, she is trying like hell to set me up with one of her friends. That will not be happening. I can’t stand her friends or any of them for the most part. I only go out to enjoy my cousin and friends, not them.”“It seems like you have no love lost between you and her.” She said as she started digging through the files and then lifted the
The Friend Trap 7
“How about now?” he asked as he looked at the time. “It is only nine.”“Do places still serve after nine?” She asked, and he laughed at the comment.“Yes. They do.” He said as he was still chuckling. “Sometimes, it is even better a little later.”“Really?” she asked. Then she thought that she would have to stop off at the cafeteria and pick something up to eat there as she left for the night. Going out was not something she had planned on. She looked at him, though, and she didn’t think he minded that she was still in her scrubs and probably smelled like the hospital as well. “Alright.”“Good.” He said as he smiled. “Are you ready now?”“Yeah, I can be.” She said as she handed over the stack of papers that had been copied for him as they talked. He l
The Friend Trap 8
“It is a little different.” He said as they made their way out to the lot, and then he showed her which car to go to. “Most of the time there is fifty-fifty custody with normally the mother having the primary custody of the children.”“Oh.” She said, “Well, she had the others almost all the time. She would talk so badly about our dad, so he didn’t get them often. He wanted too though, but it was almost a lost cause. The damage she did to the others with her demands basically severed contact with my dad and me.”“But you?” he asked. He knew he was prying, but now he was intrigued even more about her. She was beautiful and looked like a goddess in her own right, but she didn’t see it. She had no idea that her smallness was a turn-on for most men. The fact her curves were in the right places as well as another. The scrubs she was wearing didn’t hide any of those either. His guess w
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