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With a great deal of pleasure, Cilla hung her first kitchen cabinet "Looking good" Thumbs hooked in his front pockets, Matt nodded approval "The natural cherry’s going to ith the walnut tris of beauty So worth the wait Guy’s an artist"

She laid her level on the top, adjusted

"It’s beautiful work, and a lot of it" He scanned the space "But we’ll get the before the appliances are back?"

"Three weeks, oes"

"The old-tireat in here" He winked at her as she stepped down off the ladder "Don’t let Buddy tell you different"

"It’ll give hi to complain about instead of ly, over the next cabinet "Let’s get her up"

"One second," Matt said as his phone rang He glanced at the display "Hey, baby What? When?"

The tone, theover

"Yeah Yeah Okay I’his phone off "I gotta go" He lifted Cilla off her feet, a happy boost into the air

"So this is what goes on around here all day," Angie said as she carinned like an idiot "Josie’s having the baby"

"Oh! Oh! What’re you doing here?"

"Leaving" He dropped Cilla back on her feet "Call Ford, okay? He’ll pass the word I’estured toward the cabinets

"Don’t worry about it" Cilla gave him a two-handed shove "Go! Go have a baby"

"We’re having a girl I’ie on the way out, dipped her, kissed her, then swung her back up as he ran out of the rooie tapped her lips "He gives good kiss Wow, big, huge day I need to call Suzanna, Josie’s younger sister We’re friends And another , look at all this!"

"Co Look around if you want I need to call Ford"

While Cilla ie poked around the kitchen, in the utility roo her phone back on her belt "He said, ’Cool Got it See ya’"

"A man of feords"

"Not usually"

"Well, I’ll use soie spread her ar And how the hell do you knohere to put all these cabinets?"

"Diagrara out if I can move my bed from one place to the other in o if I did"

"I had a hard ti one the way you’re going to do We all knoe know"

"I guess we do Well" Angie gave a snappy salute "Private McGowan reporting for duty"

"Sorry?"

"I’m here to paint I could try to help you put these up now that Matt’s otherwise occupied But I think you’ll be a lot happier withones How do you hang them, anyway?" she wondered "I mean, what holds theie, you don’t have to-"

"I want to Dad said they’ve finished scraping the old paint on the front and one of the sides, and they’ll be working on the back today And if there was et some of the primer on what’s been done It’sof her baggy white painter’s pants "Look I have the outfit"

"As fetching as it is, I don’t want you to feel obligated"

Angie’s face turned fro to think of , Cilla picked up her level "Of course I do I mean we are sisters"

"If that’s true, then let me say: Shut up, and show me the paint" Her s low remained "You’re a lot like hiood qualities You, on the other hand-"

"The paint’s out in the barn We can go out this way" Cilla opened the back door "Maybe I don’t like having a sister who’s younger than I am and has a cute little cheerleader body"

"Maybe I don’t like having a sister who has a yard of leg and ot a better ass"

"You do not My ass is fah of it in Terror at Deep Lake"

"I did no ass work in that picture I wore a bikini" Holding back laughter, she stopped to pull out her keys, glanced over at the house "Oh, daht of her father, three stories up, standing on scaffolding, scraping away

"Dad! Get down from there!" They shouted it in unison Gavin looked around, and down, then sent theo up there No scaffolding, no extension ladders"

"He doesn’t listen, not when he’s decided to do so to do anyway Is it safe?" Angie asked, gripping Cilla’s ar to fall over or collapse, is it?"

"No But"

"Then we’re not going to look We’re going to get the paint I’ inside Where we can’t see hi to tell my mother"

"Okay" Cilla deliberately turned away, then stuck the key in the padlock on the barn

OLIVIA ROSE BREWSTER ca," Ford told Cilla as they drove to the hospital "Passing out bubble-guars with this dopey sot all this black hair Ethan was bald as ot a headful"

"Uncle Ford seems pretty pleased, too"

"It’s a kick It’s a pretty big kick Josie looked pretty whipped when I saw her, right after"

"There’s a surprise She should have looked caht pounds, five ounces out of her-"

"Okay, okay No need for details" He hunted up a parking space in the hospital’s lot "I talked with Matt while you were cleaning up He said they’re both doing great"

"It’s nice to coaze up to the Intensive Care floor

"Have you talked to Shanna since she got back?"

"No, I haven’t"

"She had a great time" Ford took Cilla’s hand as they crossed the lot "She said Steve’s looking good Put soot what she called a Ro the cane when he gets tired"

Ford pulled open the heavy glass door

"I’ve been e- him pictures of the house I need to take some of the kitchen cabinets Gift shop Presents for Mommy and baby"

"I took her flowers already," Ford objected, "and a big pink teddy bear"

"Eight pounds, five ounces out of her-"

"Gift shop"

Loaded doith flowers, Mylar balloons, a plushbrother, they walked into the birthing suite

Josie sat up in bed, in her arht pink cap over her dark hair Josie’s younger sister stood nearby, cooing over a tiny, frothy white dress, while Brian unwrapped a bubble-guhter

"More visitors!" Josie beamed "Cilla, you just missed your dad and Patty"

"I came to see someone else" She leaned over the bed "Hello, Olivia She’s beautiful, Josie You do wonderful work"

"Hey, she’s gotht you’d never ask Trade" She put the lamb on the bed, took the baby "Look at you Look how pretty you are How are you feeling, Josie?"

"Good Really good Only seven and a half hours of blood, sweat and tears with this one Ethan took twice that"

"Got so books on the foot of the bed

"Oh, that’s so sweet! My parents just took hi, so sturdy I can hardly Oh, hored when her eyes filled

"It’s a full house!" Cathy announced as she and Tom came in with a bouquet of pink roses and baby’s breath "Let ly

"Oh, look at all that hair To"

"Pretty as a picture" Toarden of others, then poked Brian in the shoulder "When are you going to get busy ot two up on you now You, too, Ford"

"Slackers," Josie agreed, and held out her arh standards," Brian said "I can’t settle for any woman who isn’t as perfect as Mom"

"That’s a clever way out of it," Cathy commented, but she beamed with pleasure as she stepped over to kiss Brian’s cheek She turned and kissed Matt "Congratulations"

"Thanks We figured we had another week When Josie called thisher ho h

"It was peanut brittle for me Acres of peanut brittle I’m lucky I have a tooth left in ain after Brian was born," To while before I can look at coconut" Josie stroked Olivia’s cheek "Thank God I didn’t go another week"

"And now you’ll be able to show off the baby at Cilla’s party We’re all looking forward to that," Cathy added "I guess you could say the house is your baby"

"Without the pink teddy bear and pretty white dresses," Cilla agreed

Matt passed out ars "I had to bail out today We’d just started installing the kitchen cabinets How’s it going?"

"We just have to set the island, put on the doors, the hardware We’ll be ready for the counters, on schedule"

"I’ to have a poith Patty and Ford’s ht make his special ribs"

Cilla smiled "What makes them special?"

"It’s all in the rub," Toive h the bloodline Many have tried to unlock the secret None have succeeded We’ve got to be on our way, Cathy"

"Meeting friends for dinner You get some rest, Josie I’ll pop in to see you and that precious baby tomorrohen I’, especially when other people came in By the tiar in her pocket

"It’s nice that your parents-yours, Brian’s, Matt’s-take such an interest in all of you It’s alrew up practically joined at the hip, along with Shanna Her parents split about ten years ago They both remarried andwith it Well above national average They looked so happy Matt and Josie Little bea have they been uess But they’ve had a thing a lot longer Listen, if you want to stop and have dinner, that’s okay" His fingers tapped on the steering wheel "But I’d kind of like to get ho’s wrong" Except a rampant case of nerves, he realized And the sudden and inescapable understanding that he needed to take the next step, ht Here it coht the Spock with her foot and studying the house across the road

"The coat of primer on the front of the first story, on the veranda, doesn’t add style But it’s clean And it shows care and intent It was the oddest thing, Ford, the oddest thing To be working with one of Matt’s crew on the cabinets, knowing ie was out front pri for new Then Patty shows up at lunchtime with a bunch of subs and sides Before they were fully devoured, she has a paintbrush in her hand