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That hen he reun He’d been so distracted, he’d left it at the Home Depot How could he have been so du-sized hu in theGrey waited a h the treetops, the ione

Grey kneouldn’t shut his eyes all night But it didn’tof a world that was no more, while outside the walls of the house, a monstrous evil lurked-an evil Grey was part of His e of Lila, standing at the sink, desperate tears flowing down her cheeks, her fists clenched with rage I can’t lose her again, I can’t

He would stand guard at thetill et the in the dark

She’d heard the yelp fro So down the street? Surely that hat had happened People should be more careful with their pets

Don’t think, she told herself Don’t think don’t think don’t think

Lila wondered what it would be like, being a dog She could see how there htless existence, nothing on one’s mind but the next pat on the head, a walk around the block, the sensation of food in one’s belly Probably Roscoe (because it was Roscoe she had heard; poor Roscoe) hadn’t even knoas happening to hi down the street, searching for so she’d seen in histhis unpleasant memory aside-and the next: well, there was no next Roscoe was sailing into oblivion

And now there was this man This Lawrence Grey About who He was a janitor He cleaned What did he clean? Probably David would have a conniption if he knew she’d let a total stranger into the house She would have liked to see the look on David’s face Lila supposed it was possible she’d ed the man, this Lawrence Grey, but she didn’t think so She’d always been a good judge of character Granted, Lawrence had said so About the lights being out and peopleand all the rest (Dead, dead, everyone was dead) He’d certainly gotten her upset But to be fair, he’d done a wonderful job with the nursery, and she could tell just by looking at hiht place Which was another of her father’s favorite expressions What did it mean, exactly? Could the heart be anywhere else? Daddy, I’; I can tell you for a fact, the heart is where it is

Lila heard herself sigh Such an effort, just to keep everything straight in her mind Because that hat you had to do; you had to look at things in a certain light and no other, and no aze away The world could overwhelm you otherwise, it could drown you like a wave, and then where would you be? The house itself was nothing she would miss; she had secretly hated it from the moment she’d stepped inside, its show-offy diht It wasn’t at all like the one that she and Brad had lived in on Maribel Street-snug, hos they’d loved-but how could it be? What was a house but the life it contained? This po It had been David’s idea, of course The House of David: wasn’t that so from the Bible? The Bible was full of houses, the house of so-and-so and the house of such-and-such Lila reled up on the sofa to watch A Charlie Brown Christmas-she’d loved Snoopy almost as much as Peter Rabbit-and the moment when Linus, the s to be a boy with his blanket, stepped downstage to tell Charlie Brohat Christmas was all about And there were in that sa watch over their flocks by night And lo, the angel of the Lord calory of the Lord shone round about theel said unto thereat joy, which shall be to all people For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord

City of David, House of David

But the baby, Lila thought The baby here her thoughts belonged Not with the house, or noises fro home (dead David), or any of the rest All the literature had clearly shown, indisputably shown, that negative eht, it felt as you felt, and if you were frightened all the tis Lawrence had said in the kitchen: the ht was best for her and Eva (Eva?), but did these things have to be true, simply because he’d said them? They were theories They were just his opinions Which wasn’t to say she disagreed Probably it was tiotten awfully quiet around this place (Poor Roscoe) If Brad were here, that’s what he would have said to her Lila, it’s tio

Because sometimes, lots of ti inside her wasn’t so she’d squatted on the toilet with the plastic wand between her thighs, watching in mute wonderment as the little blue cross appeared, the idea had taken root The baby wasn’t a new Eva, or a different Eva, or a replaceirl, cohted itself, the cosmic mistake of Eva’s death undone

She wanted to tell Brad about it More than wanted: his naht tears to her eyes She hadn’t meant to marry David! Why had LilaDavid-when she was alreadyto ain?

Lila still loved hi That was the sad and sorrowfulBrad, nor he her, not for a second, even when their love was too one They had parted as a way to forget, neither being able to accomplish this in the co, like the primordial separation of continents Until the very end they’d fought it The night before he’d moved out, his suitcases in the hall of the house on Maribel Street, the lawyers properly apprised, sobeen shed that no one even knehat they were crying about anyeneral as the weather, a world of everlasting tears-he’d co since vacated, slid beneath the covers, and for a single hour they’d been a couple again, silentlywhat their hearts could no longer bear Not a word had passed between the Lila awoke alone

But now all of that had changed Eva was co! Eva was practically here! She would write Brad a letter; that’s what Lila would do Surely he was going to come look for her, it was just the kind of s went to hell in a handbasket, and hoould it be for him to find she wasn’t there? Her spirits restored by this decision, Lila crept to the little desk under the s, fu in the drawer for a pencil and a sheet of notebook paper Noords to choose? I a away I don’t know quite where Wait forI love you Eva will be here soon Si Satisfied, she folded the paper into thirds, slid it into an envelope, wrote "Brad" on the outside, and propped it on the desk so she would see it in the

She lay back down Frolohiteness Closing her eyes, Lila let her hands drift down to the hard curve of her belly A feeling of fullness, and then, froaseous twitch, then another and another The baby was hiccupping Hiccup! went the tiny baby Lila closed her eyes, allowing the sensation to wash over her Inside her, in the space beneath her heart, a s to be born, but evenup to her, Lila knew; heron the curve of a wave; in anotherher under Eva had quieted under her fingertips I love you, Eva, thought Lila Kyle, and with that she fell asleep

Chapter 10

It was nearly ten AM by the ti into don, Danny found hiht in a un positions with their piles of sandbags, even a few tanks A dozen times he was forced to backtrack in search of an alternate route, only to find his passage blocked Finally, as the last of theoff, he found a clear path under the freeway and ascended the rareen tents, eerily becal of vehicles, passenger cars and a half-crushed: s smashed, fenders torn froht the bus to a halt

They diseed Worse than Mo, walking to the depot It was the kind of smell that could snake inside you, into your nose and er there for days