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storage closet where they left her suitcase she was trying to find a way to gracefully decline his offer of a ride. But all that went out of her head when he swung open the door to an empty closet.
    “My bag!” She rushed into the closet as if disbelieving her eyes. “Where’s my bag?” She turned to him and his eyes were as wide as hers.
    “I don’t know. I thought it would be fine here.”
    “Well obviously you were wrong!”
    “Who would steal that little ugly ass thing?” He didn’t seem to be asking a question, more like stating a fact. “Did you have anything valuable in it?”
    “Everything I own is valuable to me!” On some level Amelia realized she was overreacting but on the other hand she felt justified. After the last few days she was beginning to believe someone had put a hex on her.
    “All I can do is replace what I can. How much was your stuff worth?” He reached into his back pocket.
    Amelia’s fury faded to dust when he opened a wallet containing more green bills than she’d seen in a very, very,
very
long time. And so many different variations too. Some fives, and some twenty’s, even a hand full of hundreds.
    And much to her later shame greed took hold. “Well…everything in there was practically irreplaceable.
    His eyes narrowed on her face. “Have you forgotten I saw almost everything you had.”
    Damn!
“You don’t know the history behind those precious items.”
    She felt her feminine center heating as his dark eyes turned sultry and then he uttered his next words. “No doubt.” He snickered. “I can believe at least
one
of those
items
had a
very interesting history.”
    She frowned.
What the hell was he talking about?
    Then it hit her and her fury was back in full blaze. “I want a thousand dollars!” She held out her hand.
    For a couple of camisoles and a vibrator?!”
    She just continued to glare up at him her hand extended palm up between their bodies.
    He stared at the outstretched hand for several seconds before he let out a loud huff. “Fine!”
    And to Amelia’s amazement he counted it out. Five hundred's, fifteen twenty’s, and twenty tens.
Sweet mercy! I can eat again!
    “Where can I drop you?”
    Her eyebrows went up. There was something about the way he said
drop
that made her nervous.
    “No thanks.”
    He frowned. “I can’t just leave you here. Where are you staying?”
    “With family.”
    His eyes widened. “You really are from here?”
    She nodded. “And I really graduated from Denby.”
    He chuckled. “I knew nobody was that good an actor.”
    She smiled in return. “He really is a sweet man. I can understand why you care so much for him.”
    “More than you know.” He took a deep breath. “Do you want me to take you to your family?”
    “No thanks.” She shook her head. “Although there is something…”
    His attention became razor sharp on her face. “Yes?”
    “Where’s the nearest Steak House?”

Chapter Seven
    T here was no car in the drive way but she refused to let that change her mind. She had no idea if her mother even had a car anymore. After almost ten years of little or no contact there was so much she didn’t know. She knocked on the door and waited but after several minutes she was beginning to think no one was home. Then the door cracked slightly and her mother’s head peeked around it.
    Amelia had no idea what her facial expression looked like but she could only imagine it was a reflection of the surprise she saw on her mother’s face. In Amelia’s childhood memories her mother had remained the way she last saw her, girlishly young and vibrant. But the years had taken their toll. Marina’s dark hair was now lined with strains of silver. The deeply grooved wrinkles around her mouth and eyes testified to the fact that this was no longer a young woman in the prime of life. And what Amelia found most shocking was that at some point she had grown several inches taller than her mother. Which shouldn’t have been shocking