“We had stoneware in the home and you’re right. It didn’t last long.”

“My mom bought those unbreakable dishes, but nothing could prevent us kids losing them. The small square bowls made too good a shovel in a pinch.”

“I can just imagine you as a small child.”

“I was a terror.”

“But shy with strangers,” he guessed.

“Yep. Teachers never believed my mom about me until I’d organized my first boycott of the cafeteria’s no-name catsup. That stuff was nasty. Or had a petition going to reinstate outdoor school when budget cuts threatened that right of passage. It didn’t usually happen until my second year in school anyway.” She sounded altogether proud of herself.

“I see, you lulled the authority figures around you into complacency and then you sprang.”

“That’s about it.”

laughed. “I have

my mother. School administrators were not so insightful.” Her eyes twinkled mischeviously.

daughters would be stubborn, her sons protective and

it didn’t seem so to him, but he didn’t ask

stopped in front of a male kouros statue. “Nice to

that could crack an opponent’s back in a wrestling match, ancient or modern. However, the genitals were nothing to write home about. “I hope you are not

do something that would turn that smile into a grin. “I read somewhere that the aspect of a statue’s form

be used as artists’ models had teeny

attention of those around them. While most of it was indulgent, one serious-looking elderly man glared. And a young woman sent daggers Piper’s way, but he didn’t know if that was for

had given him an encouraging once-over when he and Piper had first arrived at the

smiled down at his beautiful companion. “That is not something you

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