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  Ugh. Leo with grandchildren. Kimmer didn’t even want to go there. She stood aside and watched him escort Scott from the woods, and then stepped into the circle of uneven light.

  “Hey,” Rio said quietly, straightening to remove his hand from Carolyne’s head but leaving his leg snugged against her side; she leaned on him.

  “Hey,” Kimmer said quietly, as though Carolyne weren’t there at all.

  He nodded at her torn jacket. “Doesn’t look good.”

  She frowned, unzipped the coat and pulled her shirt free of her jeans to expose the tender flesh of her belly to the cold air, showing him. “That’s what I thought,” she said. “Just sort of skipped under the surface. It’ll hurt like hell tomorrow, I bet.”

  “Hmm.” Rio scrutinized the spot a moment longer. “Nice abs, though.”

  “You think?” Kimmer pulled the shirt up a bit farther to check out the definition there. “I suppose.”

  “You go ahead and suppose all you want. I know.” He took a deep breath, finally relaxed again now that Carolyne was safe. Finally allowed himself to show the pain—and Kimmer knew what it meant when he gave that subtle stretch of his back. She wasn’t so sure what it meant when he tipped his head in a minimalist “Come on over here” request—but when he did it again, she went to him—and when he held out his arm, useless hand and all, she moved into the opening, easing up against him while he settled the arm around her shoulders and pulled her in close. “There,” he said. “That’s better. Let’s just do this for a while.”

  She had no idea it could feel so good. The embrace itself, the unspoken words behind the embrace. We did good. We did it together. It can be this way for us. She absorbed the moment, intensely aware of his breathing, of the comforting weight of his arm, of her burning side, of Carolyne’s slowing sniffles and the moment she lifted her head to look out toward the parking lot. Rio knew it, too, and took a deep, careful breath, giving Kimmer’s shoulders a tiny extra squeeze. “You ready?”

  Ready? To accept all she’d learned these past days, all she’d been given, all she’d been offered? Everything that this moment embodied…the connection, the family, the trust…a new way to live.

  And Kimmer surprised herself, looking up so there could be no mistake between them.

  “Yes,” she said, “I am.”

  ISBN: 978-1-4268-5125-4

  EXCEPTION TO THE RULE

  Copyright © 2004 by Doranna Durgin

  All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the editorial office, Silhouette Books, 233 Broadway, New York, NY 10279 U.S.A.

  All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.

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