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meetings, appearances. Right, Manny?”
    Manny took her cue and whipped the Blackberry from his pocket. She watched his fingers flip over buttons until relief registered across his face. “You’re already late for a lunch date about a film project across town. Then MTV has you later on this afternoon, after which you’ll catch a quick dinner, and then back to Manhattan for the Late Show.”
    “And I know how you are about keeping commitments, and I don’t want to mess you up.” Seeing a quick out, Carrie picked up her purse. “I’ll see you next week, Ty. Good to meet you, Manny.” She wound her scarf around her and slipped out from the booth.
    “Carrie, wait!”
    She squeezed through the crowd, shoving harder and moving faster when curious eyes focused over her shoulder. When she pushed opened the door, horns blared and cars raced by, tossing sprays of slush into the swirling air.
    “Hey , Carrie!”
    This was precisely the kind of scene she wanted to avoid. People would speculate and reopen old wounds. Why did she think it would be any different? The heavy footfalls echoed behind her, urging her strides to a jog. Her shoes skidded on the pavement.
    “Carrie Ann, slow down!”
    The cement dipped at the crosswalk and her heel caught in the groove. She stumbled and braced herself for the fall, but fingers laced around her arm before she hit the ground.
    “D on’t take off on me like this.”
    Her eyes met his, and a jolt of anger zipped through her. She was taking off on him ? Again her feet gave way, and again he caught her, this time slipping his hand around her waist.
    “Stay with me tonight.”
    “What?”
    “Call Lizzie. She still lives up in Middle Valley , right? Tell her to watch the place.”
    “Are you crazy?”
    “Please? ”
    Back then he could talk her into anything. He had. He would. But not anymore. She slipped away from his grip and eyed an idling cab across the street. Her pickup was parked only a block away, but the taxi offered a quicker getaway. She’d drive around the block if she had to. Anything to get off the sidewalk.
    Mercifully, the traffic stalled, and she bolted from the curb to the crosswalk. She knew he still watched when she jumped into the taxi, lea ving him in a cloud of exhaust.
    She leaned against the window, the cool glass stinging her blushed cheeks. Tears welled in her eyes so she pressed them shut, right after she saw the slimy man from the diner snap her picture from the sidewalk.
    ** *
    Gigantic snowflakes zinged out of the darkness like darts bombarding the windshield of Ty’s borrowed Hummer. His back was sore from leaning forward in his seat, and his eyes felt like they’d been dragged in sand from the strain. But he could crash and be torn into a million pieces, and he wouldn’t care. That was the nice thing about self-loathing. Dying didn’t seem that bad, when existen ce was the bleaker alternative.
    That’s what Carrie had done to hi m.
    A quick check of the dashboard clock told him it was close to eight p.m. In a few minutes, he was supposed to talk music videos with the deejays at MTV. Manny nearly cried when Ty announced his change in plans. Blowing off the whole teen demographic for a joy ride upstate was what Manny called “a poor business decision” and in a snowstorm as bad as this, an even worse one. But in truth there was no decision to be made. Ty was a selfish bastard, who couldn’t help wanting to share the space with the one woman he had no business wanting. Hell, after what he’d done, he deserved to be bashed with a shovel and buried in a snow bank. If she was half as smart as he knew her to be, she would do just that, and at that moment, giving her the opportunity to do so seemed a lot more important than yukking it up with pre-teens at MTV.
    Again the back tires fishtailed. He skimmed the roadside ditch before righting himself. His absent mind allowed a heavy foot, which was especially risky between Hanson’s cornfields where black