‘Probably doesn’t want to get stuck with me!’ she thought waspishly. ‘I’d love to join you,’ she said quietly. ‘Excellent!’ for such a...positive word, Richard managed to make it sound totally negative. She grinned across at him and a cute little dimple appeared in her cheek. ‘Contain you’re enthusiasm please Richard, or I might think you didn’t mean it!’ she said dryly. Daniel leaned back in his chair as he sipped at his coffee and allowed his long legs to stretch out. As Izzy felt the brush of. But they went outta business. You might try the ADRA.”“ADRA?” [The Adventist Development and Relief Agency International is a humanitarian agency operated by the Seventh-day Adventist Church.]“Thrift store. Bit past the Caltex.”“Thanks.”The thrift shop had several bookcases full of hard and soft covers, mostly old family Bibles and thrillers. It looked like lots of old Stephen King and Lee Child. But there was an Upfield and a paperback Aunt’s Story for 20 cents each. He bought them. After a. I totally gave up on algebra and fractions, too. I could do the simple arithmetic like 6.5 times 123.89. So long as I didn't have to show any work. My handwriting was like chicken scratch to anybody else. Well, Lu could always make it out, but nobody else could. It was just little abbreviations, like, for myself to figure out things that I couldn't do in my head. Like 6.5 times 123.89.I was a whiz at geometry. It was my very strongest point. I could see the triangles and cones and surfaces and. You gotta admit it is a good thought.’ ‘Top shelf in fact.’ ‘Need any help?’ ‘Nah, I’m about set. This group is pretty low maintenance.’ ‘I think it’s cool how we all just make ourselves at home no matter whose house we use.’ ‘We could almost all live in the same one in fact.’ ‘I don’t think I’d go quite that far.’ ‘Nikki will be a few minutes late by the way.’ It was only minutes later when Margo came in saying, ‘Damn I hate the winter time. It’s so utterly depressing.’ ‘The wintertime.