Writing My Love by Claire McNab

Author:Claire McNab [McNab, Claire]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781594930638
Publisher: Bella Books
Published: 2006-07-15T03:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twelve

Stacie insists we meet at Starbucks on Saturday morning so she can hear every detail of my lunch with Diana. She adds mysteriously that she has something important to tell me.

Chloe and I arrive at the same time as Stacie. The coffee shop is not yet crowded, so we have no trouble getting our usual table outside. I’ve just written Sally—modeled on Stacie—into Drumbeat, so I look at her closely to see if I’ve missed anything in my description. Stacie seems somehow to glow today. Her hazel eyes—changed to amber for Sally—are lustrous, her short, curly, brown hair is glossy and her face seems illuminated from within. Something is going very well in Stacie’s world.

“You’re looking great,” I say. “Is it something to do with what you have to tell me?”

“Later. You go first. I want every detail about Diana.”

“I’ll have to steady myself with a coffee, maybe several, before I can face that.”

Stacie raises one eyebrow. “That bad, eh?”

She volunteers to get our drinks. In my hour of need I’ve decided low-fat milk is not adequate, so Stacie’s going to surprise me, she says, with something delicious.

Chloe is a quick learner and has worked out that Starbucks with Stacie means we’ll be stationary for some time, so she’s tucked herself under my chair and is lightly dozing, ready to go to alert if something attention-grabbing occurs.

I’m musing over the passages I checked over this morning, when a gigantic German shepherd spies Chloe and, ignoring the weedy guy on the other end of his leash, pads up to our table to investigate. “He’s friendly,” the weedy guy assures me as he ineffectually tries to pull his dog away.

I’m not worried, as I’m certain Chloe instinctively knows the correct etiquette for puppies meeting strange adult dogs. She does all the right things—wagging her tail and rolling over to expose her tummy in a classic canine submission pose. The German shepherd loses interest and pads off, taking his owner with him.

Stacie, who’s turned up with our coffees, glares at his departing back. “People shouldn’t have big dogs if they don’t know how to control them,” she declares, highly incensed. “A German shepherd like that needs a master to look up to, not a total wimp the dog can push around and not respect.”

She puts what is surely a mega-calorie drink in front of me. “What’s this?” I ask.

“You don’t want to know. Just sip it slowly, and you’ll be okay.”

Once she’s seated, Stacie indicates Chloe. “Obedience school.”

“She’s just a baby,” I protest.

“Can’t start too soon. Besides, the training’s for you, not Chloe.”

Obedience training is a subject Stacie can talk about for ages, so I head her off with, “What is it you have to tell me? You sounded quite mysterious.”

To my astonishment, Stacie goes rather pink. “You’ll laugh at me,” she says.

“I won’t. Promise.”

She takes a deep breath. “I haven’t mentioned it before, but I’ve been dating someone rather special.”

This revelation is a major letdown. Every woman Stacie dates is, she invariably declares, special.

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