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Dellarobia blew across her cup "As opposed to watching sheep, you mean"

"Sheep put food on the table and clothes on your back"

"Well, I guess God made butterflies for some reason, and He sure put a truckload of them down on us Maybe we just need to pray about it" Dellarobia felt thrilled by her rin

Cordie had begun stalking around the rooging the plastic telephone by its cord Taking her doggie for a walk Every few seconds she looked back toa telephone, andover onto its rounded side and lolling like a turtle on its back, being dragged by the neck until dead

Dellarobia was startled when she looked back at Hester to see tears welling in her eyes "Hester, what’s wrong?"

Hester quickly turned her face aside Possibly she hadn’t known she was revealing emotion When she spoke, her voice was raspy and thick "I a about it And I still don’t knohat to do"

Dellarobia put out a hand to quiet Cordie, who had now discovered she could lift the phone by its cord and bounce it against the floor like a yo-yo In the gentlest voice she could muster, she asked, "Do about what?"

Hester’s face was the custoray eyes see frolier person in there, sos and fallen in love The girl ore those clothes to the hoedowns for which they were intended

"Bear’s signed the contract," Hester finally said "With those Money TreeBillies or no King Billies Now see, I don’t knohy they couldn’t wait a month or two and see what happens I pray about it every day The Lord says attend to His glory You were the first one of us to pay attention"

Dellarobia utterly lost her bearings, sputtering inside herself like a car out of gas Without the vexation between them, her relationship with Hester had no traction She stood up fro Cordelia onto her hip She needed a diaper change Should she leave the rooain, with Cordie on her lap warbling, "Free-too, free-four" Preston had been teaching her to count

Hester looked at Dellarobia, unguarded "Cub stood up for you," she said "First I didn’t see the good in that But see, that was good of hiot a pure heart But his daddy is not going to let up on hiing" Dellarobia’s own thoughts about the butterflies were so unsettling she’d begun to ration thehts, the boughs of orange flame She would never be able to tell anyone hoas That she’d been there first Already that first day seemed untrue Hester let her breath out slowly, and Dellarobia could hear a racking tre up to terrible pain Sohtening thought She was still waiting for the birth, whateverher mother-in-law had coive an inch," Hester said "I don’t think it’s just the money I mean, it is theto anybody I think they’ve put each other up to that A "