~~~
Day’s Verse:
My lover spoke and said to me,
“Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, and come with me.
See! The winter is past; the rains are over and gone.
Flowers appear on the earth; the season of singing has come, the cooing of doves is heard in our land.
The fig tree forms its early fruit; the blossoming vines spread their fragrance.
Arise, come, my darling; my beautiful one, come with me.”
Song of Solomon 2:10-13
~~~
She took the proffered paper, scanned down it. Doug could almost see her thinking: An appreciable raise, but she expected that, and anyway, in her situation any raise would rate as appreciable. Summer needed the money, and turning down Doug’s more than generous offer was probably the decision of a fool or an idealist. Yet the combination of her top secret career-making story brewing, her extremely muddled feelings for Hunter and Chastity, and her increasing desire to escape The Herald, suggested to Doug that Summer might feel compelled to turn the job down. He imagined her thinking, “It wouldn’t be smart to say so right away, not when Doug clearly had so much riding on me, but I shouldn’t wait too long either.”