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Take this kitchen, for instance Huge, especially considering the age of the home Usually kitchens in older homes were small and efficient This one was filled to the brie, sunnyon the back wall you could see the barn and the garage, the flowers out back, and the ocean The bottom half of the walls were covered in what Caroline said ainscoting, battered and chipped a bit in places, but it was in pretty good shape The old butcher-block countertops were covered in cuts and nicks, but I could i and chopping and laughing and chatting as they prepared another Thanksgiving dinner There were three, count them three, blenders on those same counters, none of which worked But at one point, did they whip uphere and there? Was I one of those kiddos?

The floor was scraped and dented linoleum, but I’ve no doubt that at one point soleam The walls were a faded yellow, but covered with cheery vintage posters hawking Gold Medal flour, 20 Mule Team Borax, and Gorton’s Frozen Fish Dinners

It was a hoainst my very neat and orderly place in Philadelphia, my apartment was never a home, I realized It was just a place I slept

Pretty heavy thoughts over oath I dipped up another spoonful

Aunt Maude ht was clearly pushing it, but perhaps not everything had to be tucked out of sight Hh introspection I finishedCaroline would have soh a wall or so frustration over that dreah introspection

"So what exactly do you wantto h the house again Siirls off and then headed off to go windsurfing It killedI’d alanted to try Instead I was inside the house on a glorious day like this, talking about floral prints and a settee But I appreciated the help

"You’re my backup insofar as you’re the one who can tell Clark when he’s being too much of a pencil pusher When he needs to just shut up and letes?" she asked

I took a deep breath Then frowned Then took another deep breath Still with the frowning

Caroline looked amused; I looked like a fish stuck on land and no clue how to breathe

"I don’t know exactly," I admitted "But it just made me so damn !" I thought back to the first day he ca with me about the baluwhatzit "The truth is, I love this house I love everything about this house But it hasn’t been updated in years, and if I’ht into theapart--the roof is like Swiss cheese I’ve been lucky it hasn’t rained since that first night, but the next tiain And the front porch is rotten-- I put ht I arrived, and you can feel it when you walk on it"

She nodded "Yes, I felt it give when I cah He can’t expect you to go through the porch floor every time you come home"

"Humpf We’ll see Hey, where’s your friend Mimi?"

"Hmm, she’s been awfully quiet since she went upstairs," Carolineover to the botto," was the answer

"Miain, followed by a thuotten herself into I left her alone once in my bathroom, and my lipsticks were alphabetized and color coded within minutes"

As Caroline headed upstairs, I shook ood idea, the two lipsticks I oere already color coded Barely There Pink and Knockout Red Pink for first dates Red for, well, you know

Grabbing a broo up the dust that seeht after I went to bed These floors were so old they literallyup yet another pile when I heard a sound behind e, briefcase, hand raised as though he’d been about to knock And directly behind me, so he had a wonderful view of et today Nightti to tie a bell around your neck, so you quit sneaking up ontoward the screen door

"I’ve got scones Do you like scones?" he said, lifting the bag so I could see he did indeed have scones

I laughed in spite of rin that spread over his face literally took my breath away For a er on it, and it’s a good thing too, because at that very ers, and hands for thaton re that mantel-piece I see that chunk of marble just thrown haphazardly on the floor Need I reinal, even down to the tile in the--"