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bragged about Kate's wifely accomplishments, it was clearly a case of a man whose ego was so bloated that it wouldn't allow him to see that it was his wife who now ran the house and him.
    There was a thunderous round of applause and a good deal of laughter as the play came to a close, and Shannon turned to grin at Garth.
    "You've got to admit, Verna gave the play a distinctive touch."
    "She ruined it." Garth took Shannon's arm and guided her out into the damp night. His Porsche stood amid the motley assortment of vehicles in the dusty parking lot.
    "Nonsense. It was a very witty interpretation," Shannon argued. "What do you say we go have some ice cream and discuss the matter like reasonable people?"
    "Ice cream?"
    "There's an ice-cream shop across the street from the grocery store. On play nights it stays open late to catch the after-theater crowd."
    "One would never have guessed you were so cosmopolitan out here in the sticks," Garth remarked dryly as he slid the sleek car out onto the road behind a row of other vehicles. "Okay, ice cream it is. But I'm not sure we'll be able to discuss the play in a reasonable fashion. There was nothing reasonable about that production. Shakespeare is probably turning over in his grave."
    "Verna did a fascinating job of updating the characters! There, you can park in front of the grocery store. I see a space."
    Garth obediently pulled the Porsche into the slot and followed Shannon into the ice-cream parlor, where a number of other people were gathering to eat chocolate sundaes and analyze Verna Montana's unique version of The Taming of the Shrew. It was a good-natured crowd of laid-back people who took great pleasure in their small-town life-style and their artistic endeavors. Several people greeted Shannon as she walked into the room. She responded with a cheerful wave and zeroed in on a small vacant table near the center of the busy parlor.
    "I'll hold the table and chairs. You go get the orders," she told Garth. "I'll have a double scoop of vanilla ice cream, double fudge sauce, nuts and double whipped cream."
    "You have a hearty appetite, woman. I can see you're going to be expensive to feed." He left her to stand in the line of ice-cream purchasers.
    Shannon grinned as she watched him standing there and wondered how long it had been since Garth had waited in line to order ice-cream sundaes. He glanced across the room, saw the laughter in her eyes and grinned back. The slashing expression of amusement had a pirate's ruthlessness behind it, but it was a genuine smile. It was one of the few times that she had seen real laughter in his face. Shannon faced the fact that she loved seeing him smile. Every time she coaxed one out of him she felt as if she had uncovered buried treasure.
    He returned to the table a few minutes later carefully balancing two magnificent fudge sundaes. The room was alive with the spirited voices of people arguing about the play.
    "Now about the abomination we just witnessed," Garth began as he dug into his ice cream. "Your friend Verna has a lot to answer for. I'll admit I haven't seen The Taming of the Shrew in several years, but I do remember Petruchio didn't come off looking like a clown."
    "He does in Verna's production," Shannon declared triumphantly. "And about time, too. The way Kate handles Petruchio in this version, it's clear that she was the one in charge right from the beginning. I don't know why I haven't ever seen that potential in the play."
    "You haven't seen it in the play because Shakespeare never put it in to begin with," Garth argued. "Kate is supposed to be spirited, but she's not supposed to be a conniving manipulator."
    Shannon leaned forward aggressively and aimed her long ice-cream spoon accusingly at Garth. "Verna made several excellent points tonight, not the least of which is that men usually don't even know when they're being manipulated by a woman. Their egos are usually so inflated they assume they're always the one in