”Mel stopped, “Me, you’re talking about falling in love with me?”“Yes, I am. I wasn’t kidding when I said it before.”“Oh Dan, thank yo..., thank you so much! I know it’s been only hours but it seems so much longer. I’ve seen you around Claudia and the kids and how loving you are! I’m not going to try and make up with my ex-husband. I’m telling Tom, go fuck yourself and to keep his slut!”“You won’t see me stopping you! Mel, you are an incredibly beautiful, sensual, and intelligent woman that I. “Hello, Tim. Hello, Benny.”“Hello, Detective Banks.”“Hi, Sir.”“You guys did a great job on that truck.”“Thanks.”“My dad had one of those. I have real good memories of riding around in it as a kid.”“We’ve had a couple of people say that to us.”“Remember, this is truck country. Lots of folks had trucks just like this. Of course they and their children will have good memories of them.”“That’s a good point.”“By the way, I was talking to one of the guys on the first aid squad. He was telling me a. I was like, ‘Damn! Why does this happen to me?’ So I stayed there, consoled her and left. This was then the end of my lust story. And now begins the love story.After I left, we slowly started chatting again. We would talk about all the nonsense topics under the sun. Slowly we moved to calls which turned into late-night calls. I started accompanying her for shopping and we would meet for coffee. But still, there was no sex.One night, while we were talking, I slowly shifted to the topic of sex. Then I came over and the place was locked. Are you all right?" Yes, Penelope. I'm sorry you've been worried. It's a long story." Tell me."Isobel did.There was a long pause at the end. "Oh Isobel, you poor little thing. You must have been in an even worse state than I thought. I ought never to have let you go home but you were adamant. Why didn't Gerry come over to you when you stopped just down the road?" He knew it would make me even unhappier and he'd no idea what I was really thinking.".