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Now, that was news to Carter Although, coht have rested his eyes there for a second

Amy rocked back on her heels and held her arms wide over the newly planted beds "What do you think?"

He stepped back to look Everything was neat as a pin "Those cosmos is pretty Mrs Wood will like ’em Miss Haley, too"

"They’ll need water"

"I’ll see to it You should get out of the sun for a bit Tea’s still there you want it"

He was hooking the hose to the spigot near the gate when he heard the soft pressure of tires on asphalt and saw the Denali co down the street It halted at the corner, then crept forward Carter could just h the darkly tinted s The car cruised slowly by the house, barely ht do, then accelerated and sped away

A earlier" She, too, was looking down the street, though the Denali was long gone "I brought you this"

A a wand For a second Carter was unable to connect the idea of it to anything else But it was for the cosmos, of course

"Are you okay?" she asked

Carter responded with a shrug He threaded the wand to the end of the hose and opened the spigot Aed the hose to the beds and began to water them down It hardly mattered, he knew; autuarden fade, the wind gro Frost would wick the tips of the grass, and the body of Mrs Wood would rise All things found their ends But still Carter went on with it, passing his wand over the flowers, back and forth, back and forth, his heart always believing that even the ss couldthe rain poured down Everyone was antsy, trapped in the house Caleb could tell that Pi thin, and he felt a row coht have welcoet it over with

Dusk was near when the clouds broke A radiant sun strea in the light Caleb scanned the ground around the house for ants; finding none, he declared that they could go out to enjoy the last of the day All that remained of the uishable fro earth Relax, he told hiet to you, that’s all