Crazy for You |
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Author:
| Crusie, Jennifer Crusie, Crusie |
ISBN: | 978-0-312-19849-7 |
Publication Date: | Feb 1999 |
Publisher: | St. Martin's Press
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Book Format: | Hardback |
List Price: | USD $24.95 |
Book Description:
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ON A gloomy March afternoon, sitting in the same high school classroom she''d been sitting in for thirteen years, gritting her teeth as she told her significant other for the seventy-second time since they''d met that she''d be home at six because it was Wednesday and she was always home at six on Wednesdays, Quinn McKenzie lifted her eyes from the watercolor assignments on the desk in front of her and met her destiny.Her destiny was a small black dog with desperate eyes, so she missed...
More DescriptionON A gloomy March afternoon, sitting in the same high school classroom she''d been sitting in for thirteen years, gritting her teeth as she told her significant other for the seventy-second time since they''d met that she''d be home at six because it was Wednesday and she was always home at six on Wednesdays, Quinn McKenzie lifted her eyes from the watercolor assignments on the desk in front of her and met her destiny.Her destiny was a small black dog with desperate eyes, so she missed the significance at first.She didn''t miss anything else. The dog that her favorite art student held out to her was the canine equivalent of an exposed nerve: wiry black body, skinny white legs, narrow black head, all of it held together with so much tension that the poor baby shuddered with it. It looked cold and scared and hungry and anxious as it struggled in Thea''s arms, and Quinn''s heart broke. No animal should ever look like that."Oh." Quinn rose on the word and went toward Thea while Bill groaned and said, "Not another one.""I found it in the parking lot." Thea put the dog down on the floor in front of Quinn. "I knew you''d know what to do.""Come on, baby." Quinn crouched in front of it, not too near, not too far, and patted the floor. "Come here, sweetie. Don''t be scared. It''s all right now. I''ll take care of you."The dog trembled even harder, jerking its head from side to side. Then it made a dash for the nearest door, which, unfortunately for it, was the storeroom."Well, that''ll make it easier to trap and catch," Bill said, his tone as cheerful and sure as always. It was always a beautiful day in the neighborhood for Bill, a man who''d taken the Tibbett High football team to five consecutive championships and the baseball team to four--fifth one coming right up--almost solely, Quinn believed, by never considering the possibility of defeat. "Know where you want to be and go there," he''d tell the boys, and they would.Quinn decided she wanted to be someplace else, with a pizza, but she had to comfort this dog and get rid of Bill before she could go there. She crawled on her hands and knees to the door, trying to look nonthreatening. "Now look, dogs like me," she said in her best come-to-mama voice as the dog cowered against a carton of oaktag at the back of the narrow storeroom. "You''re missing a good deal here. Really, I''m famous for this. Come on." She moved a little closer, still on her hands and knees, and the dog peeled its eyes back."I suppose you had to do this," Bill said to Thea goodnaturedly, and Quinn felt equally annoyed with him and guilty about misleading him. "No more dogs," he''d said the last time she''d rescued a stray. "You don''t have to save them all." And she''d nodded at him to acknowledge that she''d heard him, and he''d taken it as agreement, and she''d let him take it that way because it was easier, no point in creating a problem she''d just have to turn around and fix.And now here she was, cheating on him with a mixed breed.She looked into the dog''s eyes again. It''s going to be all right. Ignore what the big blond guy says. The dog relaxed away from the box a little and looked at her with caution instead of terror in its worried little eyes. Progress. If she had another ten hours and a ham sandwich, it might even come to her on its own."You''re not bringing it home with you, right?" Bill loomed behind her, cutting off the afternoon light that came dimly through the wall of windows and casting a shadow over her so that the dog shrank back again, anxious at the darkness. It wasn''t Bill''s fault that he was huge, but he could at least notice that he cast considerable shade wherever he went."Because we''re not allowed to have dogs in our apartment." Bill''s voice was patient as he went on, a teacher''s voice, telling her what she already knew, guiding her to form the correct conclusion.My conclusion is that you''re patronizing me. "Somebody has to rescue strays and find them homes," Quinn said without looking behind her."Exactly," Bil