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The front of Bella’s rand as I’d expected it to be It had a lilass s I walked up five steps to a paneled oak door that had been buffed to a high sheen There was a little button beside the door and a s the bell"

So I did

A few seconds later the door was opened by a coed Hispanic lady "You , ma’am"

She smiled and took a step backwards "Miss Cranky is upstairs in her room I will show you up"

"Thank you" I held up the bottle of juice "I brought her solass?"

Now she bea entryway, and then through a white-paneled sitting room In the back was the most beautiful kitchen I’d ever seen in a New York City home "Aquí están los vasos," the housekeeper said She opened a cabinet and brought out two juice glasses

"Gracias" I opened the bottle on the pristine stone countertop "Grab another one, though, because this is really good juice You should have sohts"

For a second the housekeeper just stared at me Then her face broke open into an enormous smile "Call et another glass, and I heard herlike: at least one of lasses Then I lifted one toward Maria, the housekeeper "Salud"

She touched another glass to , I picked up Bella’s glass "I’ll take this upstairs if you don’t mind"

She pointed at a narrow doorway off the kitchen "The back stairs are closest -- just one flight up, and to your right But I warn you, she is cranky My Bella -- always a happy child, except when she is sick When she was a little thing, you see a gru for the children’s Tylenol That’s Bella Not her sister -- that child was unhappy for any number of reasons But it takes a lot to make Bella miserable"

"I’ll keep that in mind" Recently, I’d seen Bella very miserable, but I wasn’t about to share that Besides, I was pretty sure that the tide had turned

"You look sick, too," she said, patting my arm

"Exams," I explained "Maybe orked too hard" Or

"I will bring you both soup later Now go up to Miss Cranky" She gave lasses of juice up the little stairway At the top, I turned right into a generous bedroom, where I found Bella She sat surrounded by pillows on a queen-sized upholstered bed Her nose was red, and she wore an oversized T-shirt that said: Huck Farvard She was still thethe TV "You did bring lasses down on the nightstand and kicked off eous old s that looked out over a brick patio, and a thick Oriental rug on the floor All the upholstery was rose-colored Coirlier than I expected froed me onto the bed "I missed you" She put her hands on either side of ot a tiny peck on the lips "I probably look disgusting"

"No way" I gave her a bigger kiss "You look great We only feel disgusting"

"You too, huh?"

"Yeah, but I’ll survive" I sat ainst the headboard next to her "Is this okay? Can I sit on your bed without breaking any rules?"

Bella snorted "Oh, honey They gave up on o My parents just went out of town anyway -- to West Palo with her, because she’s going to be bored out of her skull by a bunch of real estate people I played the sick card, and I don’t think she blalass of juice "Drink up, belleza What are atching?"

"Let’s see…" She navigated to the Netflix menu Then she turned to me with a little smile "This is nice" One of her bare feet found its way to "