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his zipper, and his hand closed over hers. He moved her hand away from his crotch.
    “Quenby—”
    “We should get ourselves together. Macon’s gonna be back up here soon,” she said. She looked at him, unable to believe he was leaving in just a few hours. It was for the best, though. She had to believe that.
    She yanked up her jeans, got off the bed, and headed for her dresser. Raking her hands through her hair, she pulled it back and grabbed an elastic hair band from the dresser. Then she headed for the bathroom. She needed to splash some ice-cold water over her face.
    When they went out to the living room, Macon was sitting on the sofa. She must’ve come up with Indigo, who was sitting next to her and who knew Quenby’s building code. Quenby didn’t know how long they’d been sitting there, and she didn’t ask.
    “So how was your conversation with Adia?” Quenby asked, locking her hands behind her back so she wouldn’t tap them against her thighs. That was a dead giveaway sign she was hiding something. And both her friends knew it.
    “The same one we’ve been having for months,” Macon said.
    “Yeah.” Quenby wasn’t about to butt into her business and give Macon a good reason to bring up the fact that both she and Caleb had just come out of Quenby’s bedroom.
    Caleb sat in an armchair across from the couch and Quenby sat on the sofa next between Macon and Indigo, glad that she didn’t have to look at Caleb at the moment. She was still trying to figure out how to feel about what’d happened.
    “I know what you’re thinking, but we were just—” Quenby started.
    “Quenby, please.” Macon cut her off. “We’re all adults here. No need to explain. Just do me a favor and stop talking before I get images burned into my brain.”
    “No, no, really.” Quenby shook her head. “Nothing happened. We were just watching…TV”
    “Then why isn’t the TV on?”
    “We turned it off. I wanted to show Caleb something in the bedroom.”
    “I bet you did.”
    “Um.” Wow. She’d walked right into that one.
    “Quenby, can I talk to you for a minute?” Indigo asked. “Out on the balcony?”
    “Sure,” Quenby said slowly. She got up and followed her friend outside.
    #
    Caleb shifted uncomfortably in his chair. “I don’t want you to think I’m taking advantage of her.”
    “I think she’s a grown woman who can make her own decisions,” Macon said, flipping on the television and staring at the screen. “I wish some people thought the same of me.”
    “Aw, Macon. You know I’m only trying to look out for you.”
    “Yeah, yeah.”
    Caleb glanced toward the balcony doors. Indigo was making wild gestures with her hands. Quenby kept shaking her head. “You think they’re talking about me out there?”
    “Probably.”
    “I really do like her.”
    “Your butt is going back to Georgia at four-forty five P.M.,” was all Macon said in response.
    “So you do have a problem with this.”
    “With what? There’s nothing to have a problem with—you live in Georgia, she’s just trying to deal with what happened yesterday, and—and—there’s just nothing to have a problem with.” Macon crossed her arms over her chest.
    “If there were, in theory of course, something for you to have a problem with, would you have a problem with it?”
    “You know, you have such a huge problem with Adia, but what about what happened last spring?”
    “Ouch.”
    “That poor girl thought she was going to marry you.”
    “I thought the same thing. I’m sorry I hurt her, and you know I am. I never meant to lead her on or anything,” he said. “And don’t forget Mama’s part in that one. You know how she is. She practically put the ring on that woman’s finger herself.”
    “I know. I’m sorry to lash out at you like that. But you’ve been asking for it all weekend. And until you get over what happened with Liz…no. I can’t be excited about the idea of you being with one of my best friends. I think