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North of Happenstance: Chapter Seven
“Ohmigod, can I just say that I feel great?” Kate shouted at Penny. Biting her lip, Penny tried not to laugh at the sight before her. It was barely five o’clock, and already Kate was, to put it politely, tanked. It was entirely Penny’s fault. She’d demanded Kate get in the car—she’d demanded an evening of relaxation. She’d demanded this little girl’s night in. Kate hadn’t been keen, not at first. “That’s really not necessary,” she’d stressed when Penny informed her of the plan. “Well, I insist. Now where did you park?” Penny had thrown back, craning her neck to the left, the better to see behind her. “Why?” Kate…
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North of Happenstance: Chapter Sixteen
“Kate, can I see you in my office for a moment?” The words, as unexpected as they were forceful, caused Kate to still, her hand suspended over a stack of outdated periodicals placed on a wire holder near the check-out counter of LitLiber. Luckily her back was turned when the command was issued, so the speaker wasn’t able to witness the sudden tightening of her facial muscles, her knee-jerk hesitation. Because the voice which delivered that question belonged to none other than Jake. It had been weeks since the Halloween party; if M.T. could see Kate now, she’d be so disappointed. She and Penny had worked hard that ill-fated…
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North of Happenstance: Chapter Eighteen
“Bless me father for I have sinned,” Kate’s voice came out soft, questioning… The metal lattice separating her from the priest on the other side of the confessional was foreign looking, something she’d prior only witnessed in movies—the structure divided into two separate compartments. She tried to get comfortable but the wooden abode was small, stuffy, her knees jutted up against the door in her seated position. The padding on the chair was thin, no doubt to keep the sinner’s declaration to a minimum. She wasn’t sure how to begin a confession. Was there a certain prayer or a recitation required in the introductory statement of such a sacrament—a manual…
