He smiled. “Yelena,” he said and she nodded briefly. “Da.” She founded it both harder and easier now he had a name. Harder to hate, easier to...nurse. Her patient was a person and, as the days passed and he grew stronger, they would sit together, puzzling out their languages until they could communicate after a fashion. They grew easy in each other’s company. She helped learn to walk again without the balance of his toes and gave him a pair of Fyodr’s old boots, stuffed with straw to help them. ? Follow me in your car to myhouse and you can sleep in the spare bedroom.??But I don?t have a change of clothes.?Lela looked her over from head to toe, guessing that hersvelte frame would probably fit nicely into her own clothes.? In fact, she let her eyes linger over variousparts of the beautiful blondes body.? ?Idon?t think that will be a problem, I have plenty of clothes you can use andhave when you are done.? I?m a packratand could use more space.? The only thingis that you have bigger. She assumed Jason and I were a couple when I told you that we were herefor you. My lie covered the comment and the mystery of the guy who washere on moving day." Anna quickly and quietly argued."But you heard her, referring to me as a 'single woman', I swear she'sgoing to try and hook me up." Jordan feared."So that's when you tell her no. Or come up with some other excuse."Anna replied."You should have just corrected her and said that Jason and I were goingout, that way I would be safe from any. After each competition, one candidate was eliminated. Gareth had survived each elimination round and now—with fourteen candidates still in the running—the mayor passed around a hat with seven black stones and seven white stones in it to determine the finalists. Each candidate drew a stone. Then from another hat with an equal number of stones, the festival princess drew a stone. Its color would determine which group of candidates would proceed to the final round. The stone was white and Gareth.