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"Oh Boy Uht candles, even if it’s just you, that’s perfectly okay," Clark said, nodding at ht now? You need to--"

"I ood coht?"

"Totally Can I just--"

"I eat ht about lighting candles Not sure a guy doing it would be seen as being quite as eirl, rather sad actually But shoot, I’ll try anything once I suppose So good for you, Vivian Light a candle why don’t you, you deserve it Even if it is just chicken or--"

"Duck"

"Or duck, exactly, even if it’s--"

"Fucking duck, Clark!" I yelled, lunging in withat the bat

Clark hit the deck and I knocked the bat off the back of the lacrosse stick "Bucket! Bucket!" I yelled, and he slid it across the floor Sla a war cry "Wahoooooo!" I lifted the rake high over ht in the chandelier and da fro back and forth, I sat on a bucket in theroom, with a bat underand thunder

Cue crashing rain

There was nothing I could do but laugh

There were no leaks, though--so there was that

Chapter nine

Clark could rally, I gotta give him that Twenty minutes later the bat was set free, the ere all closed against the torrent of rain that was lashing at the house, and I was perched at my kitchen table with one Mr Clark Barrow at the stove Wearing an apron he’d found hanging in the pantry, he was scra toast like it was his job

"Well, what else were you going to do?" he’d asked when he’d first suggested helpingelse for dinner

"Order a pizza?"

"You’ve got eggs and bread; how about I ive the rain a chance to slow up before I head ho for us both

I’d warned hi of it "My Nana used to have a stove just like this one, I’hting it just so