"Hope, Jeff is my husband," she said, pulling her hand back for a moment to display the wedding band she now wore, then grabbed Hope's hand again. "I,...like Nat, Nicki and Whitney would rather be in his arms than any place on Earth. And like them," she said, nodding to the girls, "seeing you flinch from my man hurts more every time I see it." You're married to him? I ... I didn't mean ... You can't ... I..." There was a pause, then after a deep breath, "I can't help it," Hope whined, the tears. ” At Rodney`s suggestion He asked H to tell them every tiny detail, as he said he “couldn’t imagine giving himself up to be marked for life with such a scar, and it was sheer bravery!” So, a wistful looking H continued with her tale. The deed she said was set to happen on a Saturday night, by then she had confided in Wilf her fears, and he had as she had said promised to “get her something to create a euphoric state of mind, so you would hardly feel frightened!” H referred to him as a, “lying. She was almost always still in bed when I got home from work. So I tried to make as little noise as possible as I showered and ate something. That first week passed. The next week was a repeat of the first. Payday weekend came and Don flashed his check around to us. His net pay was almost twice what mine was. His shifts in the woods were all daylight hours, of course, but he said they worked ten hour days instead of the eight we got in the mill. So his check was helped by ten hours of overtime. "I pack boxes for McChord's" Ah," she said. It was like wind blowing through trees.We sat in silence for a moment. She inched closer to me."Tom, do you think we could go out for coffee sometime?"I looked at her, and her eyes bore into me. She creeped me out a little, but I was not one to pass up a date, especially with an attractive woman."Yeah, sure, can I have your number?"She handed me a card after quickly jotting down her number. I smiled at her.Suddenly, she leaned in close."Tom," she.