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“Sounds good” Julia sed a lump of emotion

“Ron” Ben pointed to Ron and everyone laughed

“Grandpa is for old lasses caught the sunlight and winked,him seem particularly merry “Besides, Ron is easier to say”

He looked young, trih with a little silver He appeared younger than his wife and Julia wondered if Mitch would have looked that way Respectable Dependable

She doubted it

“Ron, it is” Julia nodded definitively as if she were checking that off a list What to call Grandfather—check

“Ron,” Ben mimicked Julia’s nod and tone

“He’s such a sweet baby,” Agnes said

“The sweetest,” Julia said, sh her son’s hair to try and work out a knot of maple syrup near his ear

“Look at us, forgetting our nes stood, suddenly a flurry of activity

“Would you like so to eat, Julia?” Ron patted the chair next to him at the small kitchen table “Some coffee?”

“Coffee would be a dream” Julia sat and an uncomfortable silence blanketed the roohts How they s and the hurt they had caused each other in the past pulled up chairs and sat at the table

Julia curled her bare toes into the braid rug under the table and folded her hands into her lap, trying to look the opposite of a gold-digging whore She felt shabby in Mitch’s old army T-shirt and pajama bottoms

I should have worn soht, when unease and doubt slipped under her guard I don’t have anything nicer

“How did you sleep?” Ron asked