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there are no takesies-backsies. It s forever.
 That sounds beautiful, Tonya. So beautiful, Scout didn t have the heart to point out that Ivar
didn t love her.
Tonya seemed to read her mind, because she gave her shoulders another encouraging squeeze.
 Just remember that the world doesn t necessarily end if you screw up, and in my opinion, you didn t.
He s the one who pulled some stupid S-word, and you getting mad at him is the totally justified
consequence. He should be man enough to take that, and take it gracefully. Ultimately it should be up
to him to make it right, and if he tries to do that, be thrilled about it.
 Thrilled? Strong word.
 No, it s not, because it ll mean he s fighting for you and will do anything to keep you. And if
he doesn t try to make it right&  She shook her head, her caramel-colored curls bouncing so that
little Sabrina squeaked happily and reached for them.  That means you re better off without him,
sweetie.
Scout was still letting those words sink in when she heard her name. Looking up, she saw a
face she hadn t seen in at least a year.
 Rude. Remembering why she d forced herself to come to the barbecue in the first place, she
gave Tonya one last hug before she headed for the deck, populated by Rude, Papa Bolo and Rude s
two older brothers, Anthony and Gino, along with several of Bolo s grandkids.
Rudolfo Panuzzi, the youngest of the Panuzzi children and named after Rudolph Valentino,
was Coco and Bolo s wild child. By the time Scout entered the Panuzzi home, all their children but
Rude had left the nest, and Coco and Bolo were filling the void with fosters. At the time, sixteen-
year-old Rude had been resentful of the newbies and hadn t bothered to hide it. He d made it plain to
everyone who wasn t stone cold deaf that he should be enough to keep his parents occupied. The
tantrum he d thrown when his parents had come home with not one, but two new foster sisters Sass
and Scout was still etched into her brain.
Not exactly the best first impression anyone had ever made, but by that point in her life, Scout
had been used to being unwanted. Rude s animosity had made her friendship with Sass solidify that
much quicker, and she tried her best to play peacemaker between her new foster sister and Rude. For
some reason known only to him, he d taken the bulk of his frustration over getting two new sisters at
once out on Sass, despite Scout insisting that she was the one who d been the unexpected addition.
That was when he d earned his nickname. Until that time he d been Rudy or Rudolfo, but now only
his parents called him that.
To everyone else, he was Rude.
 I m so friggin sorry I wasn t able to get home in time for the anniversary party, he said by
way of greeting, stepping forward with arms open wide. That in itself was a shock, but when he
caught her up in a gruff bear hug, the stunning what-the-fuckery of the moment froze her solid. Rude
didn t do apologies, and he sure as hell didn t do bear hugs.  There was a huge sandstorm in Kuwait
and everything with an engine got fucked up. I saw everything you posted online though, and the
videos were epic, especially Mom and Dad s last dance. I watched that one about a dozen times.
Just when she thought her heart couldn t hurt any more than it did, it proved her wrong as she
imagined Rude watching his parents dance half a world away while he sat helpless, unable to get to
them.  You were missed. Not by her or any of the strays, of course. But she was fairly sure Papa
Bolo and Mama Coco had missed their youngest son.
 You really outdid yourself this year. Everyone said it was the best party yet. At last he
backed away and smiled down at her.  Gotta tell you straight-up, I m seriously grateful for everything
you do for the family, Scout. I mean it.
She bit her tongue hard to stop from asking who he was and what had he done with the real
Rude. Then she remembered Tonya s claim that Rude had been downright cordial to her and Adam.
Maybe the military had been experimenting on personality transplants, and Rude was one of their
success stories. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]