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Jaenuine, even if it wasn’t all that broad His face looked like it rin He clasped my hand in both of his own and said, "I’m pleased you could join us for the holiday, Katie" He had a clipped Yankee accent with perfect enunciation

"Thank you so ht my own accent So far, this man didn’t see that looked hu odd

Ja," he said "My eyes aren’t what they used to be"

"Not at all," Owen replied "Let s loaded" Jas in the back of the car While he did that, Jaot inside Owen opened the front passenger door for me, then once I was inside, he went around to the driver’s side, where he had to adjust the seat before starting the car

The road froet out and help push the car up it It was a good thing there was no ice or there would have been no way to get up that hill The buildings that lined the road were stair-stepped into the hill, which gave the out of a storybook, co down the sideith shopping bags over her arothic town hall, looking very much like those in that store e’d seen the day before

"You’ve got quite the ical population here," I remarked "Or is it this way in all the towns in this part of the world?"

"This particular village was settled by ical or soawk as we drove through the village center, turned onto a o up yet another steep hill Most of the hoe, on spacious, well-groomed lots dotted with mature trees Owen turned onto a side street, then into a drivehose wrought-iron gates swung open at our approach

The Eatons’ hoerbread houses hotel pastry chefs do for display during the holidays It was an ornate Victorian built froreen-painted ork The icing of snow on the roof added to the gingerbread effect All it was es "Oh, what a wonderful house," I said in awe

"Yes, it is quite the Victorian pile of bricks," Jainal owners" I turned just in time to catch the twinkle in his eye, and I couldn’t help but smile back I decided that I liked hie that looked like it once anized rather than being the repository for junk that garages tend to be That wasinto Jaood huarage neat enough that you could have a party in there was someone to be reckoned with

My next hint that this wasn’t going to be anything like my visits home came ent around to the front door to enter the house Back hoh the kitchen Our front dooropened The entry foyer of this house ide and floored with dark, polished wood overlaid with an antique Oriental rug An equally polished staircase with an intricately carved banister twisted its way from the back of the foyer up to the next floor Ja shock of white hair, then took my coat and hat from me as Owen took care of his own coat in a closet under the stairs

There was a snuffling sound, and soon a black Lab cah it was running full speed, butfeebly The white around itsyears it was about as old as Ja made a painfully slow beeline to Oho moved to meet it halfway, then knelt and scratched its head fondly "So you do remember me, Arawn," he said

James sniffed "Of course he remembers you When you leave he’ll stare out the frontfor a couple of days like he’s hoping you’ll come back You spoiled him when he was a puppy" It was the first hint of the disapproval Owen had mentioned when he told me about his strained relationship with his foster parents, but I thought Ja by what I knew about how long dogs like that lived--I’d had one veryup--this one must have been a puppy around the time Oas in his late teens, e