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Maude had been an artist Interesting My fingers held a phanto into the rooreat room to paint in An inspection of the floor revealed an occasional paint splatter here and there, so I hadn’t noticed anywhere else in the house So she’d also found the light in here irresistible Feeling a sudden kinship with her, I s out the bedroo a thick layer of sea salt and grime from the panes, I continued to hum the theme to Bad Boys as I worked Once the blue of the Pacific sparkled through once s in the linen closet in the hallway and was thrilled to find a fairly new set of sheets Buoyed by the thought of sleeping in an actual bed tonight, I headed for the base the bases One, the lightbulb was burned out Two, theloudly, I threw back my shoulders and bravely tromped down the steps Into the dark base but old sheets to protect me

So there’s stupid, and then there’s stupid I’ve had picnics in ceround cataco e played Bloody Mary at slumber parties But by the time Ilike a horrified leaf Baseh one dirtyIf I remembered correctly, the washer was on the other side, by the furnace Turning away froh of relief when I saw the washernext to a pile of heads

Sheets dropped, mouth opened in a silent scream, my entire body went on lockdown asBy the time I processed the Halloween label on the box and realized they were just masks, it was too late Forever in my head, they’d be heads

You have never seen so a happy tune to distractBetween the dolls and the Halloween props, I was beginning to understand why people can go a little funny when left on their own too long

I thought about all this afterward up in the kitchen, the basement door firmly latched behind o back down there to put the sheets into the dryer

Then I heard a knock at the front door Would it be Hank? Returning for another round of witty banter?

Wiping my face on the inside ofand badly needed a shower Oh well Resigning h the lace at theI saw a man, but the profile was leaner than Hunky Hank’s Soccer player vs football player Breathing a sigh of relief that I’d have , I opened the door

Brown hair Brown eyes behind dusty-looking eyeglasses White button-doeed jacket withelbow patches? He was tall, carried a briefcase, and looked exactly like Tom, Dick, and Harry I could handle this Hell, I’d just defeated an entire legion of heads

"Hiya," I announced, surprising hilanced down atin a tank top that I’d sweated through, denis, and a headband, and he took lance Aain, I let hi

A blush colored his cheeks, and he pushed his glasses up once more

"Vivian Franklin?" he asked, his voice deeper than I thought it’d be

"It’s Viv Who’s asking?"