DIXIE RIPPED THE TAB off the envelope."This is so exciting." Elisabeth bounced on the balls of her feet, hovering over Dixie's shoulder."It's not that exciting." She nudged the other woman away before pulling the photographs out of the envelope."Are you kidding? It is too exciting. Let me see."Together they poured over the dozen images of local landmarks and buildings that had withstood the fire of 68 and time. Dixie had been hesitant about taking on this project, but she and Elisabeth had made it into their personal scavenger hunt. They'd even found a few old farmhouses to document that hadn't been part of the original project."Those look so good." Elisabeth squealed and clapped her hands together."They're just snapshots of some buildings." Dixie smiled and flipped through the pictures one more time."Are you going to tell Benji about this now?" Elisabeth turned and leaned against the island in Dixie's house, facing her."I should." She winced and glanced at the

DIXIE STOOD BACK, ADMIRING the photographs. The ones she'd taken with Benji's camera.Shit.She wasn't supposed to be thinking about him."Why are you still here? Are you hiding?" Elisabeth breezed into the room that had been re-purposed for assembling the new scrapbooks."Yes." Dixie winced. There was no point in lying to her best friend."Have you seen or spoken to him since Saturday?" Elisabeth set the stack of newspapers down on the long table that stretched down the middle of the room."No." Dixie's insides quaked. It wasn't uncommon for her early week schedule to make it hard to see Benji, but they always talked."Seriously? No texts? Phone calls? Nothing?""It'll be too hard if we talk. I have to go cold turkey.""Okay. Does he know you're breaking up with him?""I thought I was pretty clear the last time we spoke." Or had she only thought those things? That whole conversation in her driveway was a blur. She'd been operating on autopilot and all she wanted to

DIXIE PEERED DOWN THE street at her house.Why did Jace have to do this on a Wednesday?She silently cursed her ex.The coast looked clear. On a normal day she'd be home maybe half an hour before Benji got there, if she was lucky. Her luck stunk lately.She accelerated down the street and hit the garage opener. For the last week she'd stayed at Elisabeth's. It was nice. Comforting to be around others. Plus Jace was a pain in the ass. She hadn't missed him being in rehab one bit. What was worse, it didn't appear to have dampened his temper.Dixie parked in the garage and slipped out to get a look at her front door. The metal mailbox bolted next to the door was ripped off. Some of the siding was cracked and it would need to be repaired.Great.One more thing to add to the list of things to do.When Liam Jones had called her about it during the work day, she'd almost cried. Except Jace wasn't worth her tears. The only thing to be done was get a handyman out to fix it."G

DIXIE THUMBED THROUGH THE book, the group's conversation washing over her. Book club night usually energized her. It was a bi-monthly opportunity to be in a room full of women she counted as friends. They'd selected a paranormal book this time, and though Dixie had tried she just couldn't get into it. Hear head and heart were stuck in the real world and no amount of sexy werewolf shifter could fix that.Shonda leaned over and gestured at Dixie's plate. "Are you done with your dinner?""Oh, yeah. Thanks.""Something wrong?" Shonda's gaze narrowed."No."Shonda stared at her for a moment longer. She wasn't fooled and Dixie knew it. If she could put Shonda off another week or two she'd be able to talk about Benji without crying uncontrollably. At least that's what Dixie was hoping.She glanced across the room at where Elisabeth sat. She'd arrived late and had to squeeze in where she could. Had something happened at the library? Would Elisabeth tell Shonda about Benji before Di

DIXIE SAT CURLED UP on the sofa staring at the carpet.Elisabeth was in the kitchen heating up leftovers for lunch. She hadn't said much to Dixie this morning, and that was fine with her. Dixie wanted to be alone with her thoughts."Your phone is ringing again," Elisabeth called out.Dixie was inclined to wait for the caller to be forwarded to voicemail, but the irritation in Elisabeth's voice told her she was on thin ice. Dixie wasn't ready to go home or deal with life by herself.She got up and crossed to the table.Mother Robinson lit up the screen.Dixie recoiled."Who is it?" Elisabeth peered over her shoulder. "Again?"Dixie ignored the call. She couldn't count the number of times her former mother-in-law had called over the last two months. Sometimes it was two or three times a day.The phone lit up again."Answer it." Elisabeth bumped Dixie.Her thumb slid across the screen, flashing green.She stared in horror as the call connected and the seconds began