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and said, “The fact is that Dennis left me for what he considered a very good reason. He wanted kids. I didn’t. So he found someone else who did. He and his new wife are expecting their second child in January.”
    “Maddy, you don’t have to—”
    “It’s no big deal, really.”
    “Okay. If you say so.”
    “I say so.”
    Carver hesitated only a moment before pressing his luck. “It’s just that I always remember you saying you wanted to have about ten kids when you got married because the world needed more people like you in it, and—”
    “It’s no big deal,” she repeated, enunciating each word thoroughly, as if he were a child incapable of understanding otherwise.
    “Okay, it’s no big deal,” he relented, still wondering about the source of his sudden, unusually intense, curiosity about Maddy.
    “Fine. Now that we’ve got that all cleared up…” She glanced down at her watch and quickly swallowed the last of her coffee. “We should be going,” she said pointedly, reaching out to collect the bill.
    “I’ve got that.” Carver intercepted, snatching up the scrap of paper before she had a chance to grab it.
    “It’s no trouble,” she assured him. “I’m on an expense account.”
    “But it’s supposedly my kid we’re going to meet.”
    “Carver…”
    It was the first time she’d called him by his given name, and hearing Maddy say it again after so many years, in exactly the same, exasperated way she had in high schoolwhenever he was giving her a hard time about something, made him smile. “I’ve got it,” he said again. “My treat.”
    She smiled, too, and shook her head. “Being around you has never been a treat.”
    His smile broadened. “Oh, come on, Maddy, admit it. You had a huge crush on me back in high school.”
    He thought he saw a soft pink stain creep into her cheeks at his allegation, but he wasn’t sure.
    “That’s ridiculous,” she assured him. “Why would I want to have anything to do with an overbearing, cynical, sarcastic egomaniac like you? Besides, you were always too thin.”
    He patted his belly. “Yeah, I can’t believe I only weighed 150 when I graduated from high school. Age has added about thirty pounds to this carcass.”
    And all of it exquisitely arranged and proportioned, Maddy thought as Carver turned to make his way toward the cashier. Funny, she’d never noticed what a nice tush he had. She felt her face flame and covered her cheeks with her cool hands before he could see her reaction and sense the waywardness of her thoughts.
    Good heavens, what had come over her? Clearly she’d gone too long without any kind of male companionship, she told herself. That could be the only reason for why she was so thoroughly turned on by Carver Venner.
    She hadn’t been with anyone since her husband, but even before Dennis had expressed his desire to be rid of Maddy, their sexual relationship had been on a steady downhill slide. She supposed, looking back, that there had been plenty of warning signs to let her know what was coming. Dennis had been staying at work later and later, and going in earlier and earlier. He’d usually been too tired to make love, and had always had something else to do on the weekends besides spend time with her. And if she was perfectly honest, she had to admit that she hadn’t missed him all that much when he was gone.
    They’d stopped talking about anything of significance, their conversations simply stilted exchanges of daily experiencesand observations. Her own job had become extremely demanding by then, and she hadn’t really had the time to think much about where her personal life was headed.
    Still, when her husband had announced his intention to leave, Maddy had been floored. What had been the real shocker, though, was his reason for wanting out. Before they’d married, they’d talked extensively about the subject of children. Dennis had known exactly what he was getting into with her. Back then, he’d assured her