After a long weekend of her mind conjuring up the confrontation in the woods at the worst moments, and trying to dodge any and all probing questions during her girl’s night with Jolene, she’d been exhausted. And yet it had taken her so long to fall asleep that when she had finally managed to doze off, it had been into a deep, dreamless state. So deep, in fact, that she’d shut her alarm clock off without being aware of it and as a result had managed to oversleep. She was feeling just childish enough to blame it all on Hale Warrick. UPS would be here in less than ten minutes and she had to be ready to send off what she had and collect what he would bring. True, she could have done all of that in a bathrobe and slippers, but she took her business seriously, and that meant dressing every day by a certain time so she could start work. Pulling her hair back, she twisted a band around the brown mass then absently wiggled the ponytail up higher on her head. She slipped on her white canvas shoes, a compromise between house slippers and sneakers, and headed for the door.
