Page 17 (1/2)

Sorrow thought her visionSo, your version of letting you in actuallyyou tell ave her an evil look "If the shoe fits…"

"Hey, thanks for being there for me," Sorrow said, sarcaset the Da If you’re so in over your head, I see so better My life hasn’t exactly been a fairy tale either, but I’ve got experience You could actually try listening to lared "Oh, so I should let you take over? Just the easy things, though, like having Big Ideas Stuff like shoveling snow, I can still hang around to do that You know, actually, Dad would love that He and Mom seem to love you unconditionally Laura, Laura, Laura, she can do no wrong Vice President Laura is soooo experienced"

Laura sat bolt upright "What? You’re the one Dad has running the show"

"I’ Second-guesses everything Unlike you, who can do no wrong"

The phone rang, and Sorroered with a clipped "Hello?" It was Helen fro a leak "Of course it did," Sorrow said, hearing the news

"Well?" Laura asked when Sorrow hung up

"The water heater is leaking It’s a co leak" Sorrow cradled her head in her hands, trying to think

"What can I do?" Laura asked

"There’s nothing you can do"

"You should let ot up fro heads, let ave her a tired look "Look, I appreciate the offer, all right? But when it comes down to it, you can’t really help unless you live here"

"Fine Whatever Damien knows the place You should call hi everyone would stop pushing her toward Damien "It seems like all I do lately is lean on hi in on their white horses to give a lady a hand"

She e, but Laura sure knewBesides, whatever their relationship was, he had a genuine affection for her fae of hi so much"

"Damien Sime of" Laura waggled her eyebrows "Hey, I ie is taken, it’ll be when he cashes in on your gratitude later tonight"

Sorrow blushed "Laura"

"Seriously," Laura said "Call hi stubborn Finally, she picked up the phone, hating the feel of Laura’s eyes on her as she dialed

They had a quick conversation, and he rose to the occasion like he always did Her boyfriend loved saving the day He was great at saving the day He did it all day long in his high-powered job at Si for Da up and told her sister, "He said we should get a tankless heater to replace it His pluuy owes Daave her a wicked smile "Like I said Hot and rich"

But Sorrow could only scowl at that, unable to shake the feeling that she and her problems were just more items on Damien’s list to conquer

Sixteen

Sully wiped his forehead on his sleeve, and the stink of fry grease filled his head He could probably boil that shirt in bleach, and still the stench would cling to it He was sick of spending every day sh theinto the dining area Folks had begun drifting in for lunch, and it’d be ers and fries for the next two hours

But he had a job, and he did it Aa sense of duty and responsibility

A wave of laughter swept in, and he scanned the roohters seated at a table They hadn’t been the source of theLaura those old letters, but instead of it being a happy occasion, the tension was as heavy as the stink of fry grease