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It was decided soht now, Bear and Cub together, in case he bought it and needed to load it The place was out toward Cleary, in the opposite direction from their farm It made no sense for them to take their wives home and coo on with your Dad"

"You think?" Cub asked "He still see bulletproof," she advised This was a fairly recent habit, talking this way in plain sight of Bear The oldwas shot All those years of power tools and a disdain for ear protection

"Why don’t I take Preston?" Cub asked "To keep things rated PG"

"Sure, go for it, Preston Man stuff!" she urged, pretending for the sake of others present that her son was that kind of kid "Don’t you want to go with Dad and Pappaw to check out the wood splitter?"

Preston behaved as if she’d suggested he go watch a public hanging Hehis feet so dra the tops of his toes on the pavement

"You’ll be fine," Dellarobia told hiainst sub into the passenger seat, seeuely to disapprove of the shoulder belt, as if it were different fro oht, sighing as she turned the wheel hard, angling her station wagon out onto Highway 7 "That was so You must be proud of Cub I know I am"

Cordie fell asleep in her car seat almost instantly, as Dellarobia had known she would The fit she’d just pitched was standard, the storm before the calht be hitting on her too

"You’ve got a job on your hands now, I guess," Dellarobia proposed "Looking after things up on thatit into an enterprise"

Hester remained inscrutable, but that was Hester The appearance of happiness to be avoided at all costs Dellarobia remembered she had a different bone to pick, and had better pick it now before Cordie regained consciousness Sensitive material "So Cub says you saw me on the nehile back," she said

"Everybody and his dog saw you on the nehile back," Hester replied

"Right Well, he said you saw so to take my life"

Hester looked awake now

"Don’t worry," Dellarobia hurried to say "I just want to let you know that’s not true at all I’ve had a lot of things going on these last couple months, there’s no doubt But that wasn’t one of the they put on TV"

"It was you saying it," Hester parried "They showed you talking"

"I know The interviewer tricked uess Okay? I’ you"

With a doubtful countenance, Hester said nothing

"So you’re arguing? Wouldn’t I kind of be the expert?" Dellarobia started to raise her voice but checked it, glancing at Cordie in the rearview mirror "Wouldn’t I be the expert," she asked quietly, "on whether I intended to killDellarobia The woman had issues with authority After a silence Hester added, "I’ about the last couple months"