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"Business okay?"

"Doing great" Crow’s other concern was a small arts and crafts store on Main Street, where he sold art supplies, fancy paper for scrapbookers, even knitting yarn, but which turned into Halloween central this ti the local far economic slump, Halloas still the nu bacon, Crow assessed Henry Guthrie Val’s dad was getting up there now, and high-​tech far or not the fields took their toll He looked every one of his sixty-​four years, and perhaps a bit more His bushy black eyebrows had become wilder and shot with silver, and since Val’s one coray Even so, his blueberry-​blue eyes sparkled with youth andVal to New Hope next weekend Just to get away for a day or so Can you spare her?"

"Well," Guthrie said, considering, "without her the farm will collapse, I’ll be financially ruined and will have to live in a cardboard box under the overpass, but other than that I don’t see why you two shouldn’t have some time"

"Cool"

"Oh, I ran into your buddy--His Honor, I mean"

"Terry? Where’d you trip over hi rooement and Terry for who knehat?--but shifted into a different lane when he realized he didn’t know if Cro that Terry Wolfe was in therapy at all He said, "In town I had a few errands to run"

Crow grunted, eating ood these days," Guthrie said

"Yeah He says he’s been having trouble sleeping Night at Guthrie while he spoke He was having sohtmares as well, and didn’t want Val’s very sharp and perceptive dad to see anything in his eyes

"Well, I hope he takes care of hi saloon doors that separated the kitchen fro rooh He was a few years younger than Val but was beefy and out of shape, and unlike his father Mark was starting to lose his hair He wore a gray wool business suit and was reading the headlines of the Black Marsh Sentinel

"Morning, Dad,at hie

"It’s all on the table," Guthrie said "Sit down and let ently shifted the conversation to local business, discussing the financial crisis in toithout actually ht" So far it hadn’t hit the Guthrie farhbors had been devastated by it Mark, as a nice but rather pedantic guy, offered his views on how to solve everyone’s financial woes by the right investreed, which he didn’t, and Crow ate his way through a lot of the food Val’s brother ran the student aid departe and therefore held hi with finances

Crow let hi whenever there was a pause, and when there was an opening, he jumped in and said, "Well, fellas,to anyway Mark, see you around Henry, I’ll probably see you later Val said she’s going to ht"

Both of the Guthrie men stared at hi to pop out of his ears

"Val?" Guthrie said

"Cook?" Mark said

And they burst out laughing

"If she hears you she will so kick both your asses," said Crow, but they were right In all the years Crow and Val had known each other she’d only cooked for him a few ti as Crow jogged upstairs, gently pushed aside the hair dryer, kissed Val in a way that ain Now Henry and Mark were exchanging horror stories about so Mark was as red as a beet and slapping his pal with a pu to hiravel driveway to where his old Chevy squatted under a beech tree The song he histling was "Black Ghost Blues," though he wasn’t consciously aware of it

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