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MY GUESTBOOK
I let him ramble until I parked the car and then, after cutting the engine, I looked over at my best friend and said, �Josh, I know everything you�re telling me. California isn�t Mars. I read the papers, I watch the shows, and other than not having to do spin after someone in the media rails against the President, my life hasn�t changed all that much since I was working in the White House. I certainly haven�t changed that much. So relax, trust me, and remember that there are only two reasons I will accept a call from you.�
�What are the reasons?� Josh asked wearily.
�One is if you or Donna is hurt in some way. I don�t mean a stubbed toe or a paper cut. I�m saying if Donna manages to talk you into going anywhere near the water and you trip over the sand in a way that only you could and you end up with a broken ankle, I want a call. But it better be a legitimate injury or I�m hanging up on you and the moment you get back to DC I�m on a flight to California.�
Josh nodded slowly. �Legitimate injury. Got it. Though I protest to the implication that I would break my ankle on sand.�
�Apparently you don�t remember that time when you broke your wrist opening the fridge,� I frowned.
�That doesn�t count. The damn fridge tipped over and practically crushed me. The doctor said I was lucky stuff didn�t shatter in there,� Josh said, cradling his left wrist against his chest as we both got out of the car. It was fourteen years ago and yet his expression is exactly the same as it was before the painkillers kicked in.
�What�s the other reason?� Josh asked as he hauled his suitcase out of the trunk.
I knew it might be jumping the gun and there was every chance that my comment would freak Josh out completely, but I was banking on Josh being as aware of his love for Donna as everyone else had been for years. �If you start shopping for a ring, I want to know,� I said.
Josh slammed the trunk shit before lining me up with a serious stare. �I�ve had the ring since Gaza,� he said before reaching into a pocket in his backpack�one that I figured was too small to fit any work into so I hadn�t bothered to check�and pulling out a small velvet case. He tossed it to me and I caught it instinctively.
This stunned me. Josh had never been the plan-ahead type. The only thing that he had ever planned on was working in the White House one day. But Josh had always had a different set of rules when it came to Donnatella Moss.