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"Hey," I say as I walk all the way into the roohtly, but then turns her head to look at me over her shoulder

She eyes e your clothes, Petunia Peacock You don’t want to get paint all over your nice stuff"

I look down at the jeans and lightweight ther This does not constitute "nice stuff" in h it’s with shame I realize this outfit still probably cost

"It’s fine," I tell her, but kick my tennis shoes off and flip them out the door into the hallway I definitely don’t want paint on those

"Suit yourself," she chirps, and thenShe had several paint chip sah I told her I wanted to go with a neutral tan color, I had no clue there could be that many varieties available I randomly picked one, which Kate said was perfect, and then I went off to the reed to watch him for the day while orked, and then went off to the store to purchase the paint

The roo the drop cloth; lining the , baseboards, and ith painter’s tape; and laying out the pans and brushes

"Ready to get this show on the road, Gooseberry Parfait?" she asks with a grin, looking at ive her a sment so she’ll move on from that nickname, but the smile feels forced Her sunny personality shows ret over what happened between us or what could have been, had I not drawn a line between us She’s clearlyme to do the same

The rest of the day ork hard We have the first rooobbled sandwich and chips that Katein It’s a little difficult to maneuver around, as we had pushed her furniture inward before covering it with the drop cloths, but weinto each other too much

For theon our tasks But it isn’t a time completely devoid of conversation I ask Kate es and her involve theotten pregnant with her first son, Jason, when Kate had just turned fourteen

Then Lyle had come when Kate was fifteen and Christopher when she was sixteen

Jesus…her sister pu fast

Kate tells le-wide trailer Her father took one rooave up her rooated to the couch frohteen Since Kelly had dropped out of school and gone to work so she could support her brood, Kate becaot home from school and her sister went off to work a second-shift job