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“I would have used a disguising spell, obviously” I lifted Philip into his booster seat and delivered the beets and beef to him He tucked into his dinner with enthusiasm Becca wanted only blood and water, so I let her have it in a sippy cup on the floor She sat next to Ardwinna to drink it, watching the dog chew her bone

“Obviously” Chris grinned

“I’ll have you know Apollo ood boy in the dog park, e’ve taken him with Ardwinna”

Chris choked on his beer, then quickly recovered

“I iht like a game of Frisbee” As usual, Chris took the idiosyncracies of our family in stride “I’d be happy to play with him, if you’re too busy”

Matthew took a platter of steaks out of the fridge He kissed me as he passed by, this tirill these How do you like your steak, Chris?”

“Just walk it through a warm room, my friend,” Chris replied

“Good man,” Matthew said “My sentiments exactly”

“Walk a bit h that warm room with mine,” I reminded him

“Savage” Matthew grinned

“So Phoebe and Marcusday,” Chris said

“Their official reunion was three days ago,” I said “Though of course they had already seen each other”

“Sounds like things got a bit complicated for a while, ith her father’s illness,” Chris commented

“We were all sure it would work out,” I replied

“You two see with his beer in Matthew’s direction

“On balance, it was a lovely su back over all that had happened “No work got done, of course”

“No, it never does,” Chris said with a laugh

“But otherwise, it was perfect” To my surprise, I meant it

“And you’re happy,” Chris observed “Which makes me happy”

“Yeah,” I said, looking around me at the chaos of unpacked boxes and pureed beets, children and ani all summer, books and laptops, toys that squeaked and toys that didn’t “I really am”

That evening, after Chris left and the children were put to bed, Matthew and I sat out on the wide porch that wrapped around the corner of the house and overlooked the fenced garden The sky was filled with stars, and the night air held a welcome note of coolness to balance out the heat of the day

“It feels so protected here,” I said, glancing over the yard “Our own private paradise, hidden away fro bad can happen”

The slantinghis hair and adding lines and shadows to his face For a ined hi hands on a late su when our children slept safely inside and love filled every corner of our lives

“I know it can’t stay this way,” I said, thinking back over the events of the past suarden forever”

“No And the only true fence against the world and all its dangers is a thorough knowledge of it,” Matthew said as we rocked in silence, together

38

One Hundred

20 AUGUST

Marcus drove through the center of Hadley, along the village green that preserved the town’s colonial layout Stately houses with carved doorways clustered around the leafy space with an attitude of determined persistence

He swung the car onto a road that led west Marcus slowed slightly as they passed a graveyard, then pulled up in front of a small, wooden house It was far more modest than those in the center of toith no extensions or additions to alter the original footprint: two rooed around a central chimney made of brick The house’s façade sparkled with caseround and first floor, and Phoebe adjusted her glasses to lessen their glare There was a single stone step leading up to the door Outside, a sarden in the front was filled with sunflowers that stood out against the white painted clapboards like polka dots Like the house, the white picket fence had been freshly painted, and the as in surprisingly good condition An old-fashioned, sprawling rosebush filled the space under the s on one side of the door, and a tall shrub with dark green, heart-shaped leaves was on the other Fields surrounded the house in every direction, and two ramshackle barns added a romantic note

“It’s beautiful” Phoebe turned to Marcus “Is it how you remember?”

“The fence wasn’t that sturdy e lived here, that’s for sure” Marcus put the car in park and turned off the ignition He looked uncertain and vulnerable “Matthew’s been busy”

Phoebe reached over and took her mate’s hand

“Do you want to get out?” Phoebe asked quietly “If not, we can always keep driving, and stay somewhere else”

It wouldn’t be surprising if Marcus wanted to wait a bit longer Returning to the home of his childhood was a major step

“It’s time” Marcus opened his door and came around to open hers Phoebe fished around in her purse and found her mobile She took a picture of the house and sent it to Diana, as she had promised

Phoebe held tight to Marcus’s hand as they walked through the garden gate Marcus closed it securely behind them Phoebe frowned

“Habit,” Marcus explained with a sarden”

Phoebe caught him in her arms when he returned She kissed hi Marcus took a deep breath

“Show ain

Marcus led her down the short, gravel path to the stone threshold It was rough-hewn and uneven, a massive piece of rock that eatherworn and had a dip in the center from the tread of hundreds of feet The door had a split in the top panel, and its dark red paint was peeling Phoebe scratched at it, and the paint underneath was the same color, as was the paint beneath that

“It’s as though ti is just as I left it,” Marcus coain”

When they turned the modern brass key in the substantial mechanism and pushed the door open, the air that met them smelled old and stale There was a touch of daht scent of mold

Phoebe searched for a light switch To her surprise, she couldn’t find one

“I don’t think there’s any electric,” Marcus said “Matthew refused to wire Pickering Place until about twenty years ago”

Phoebe’s eyes adjusted to the dih the ancient casement s Slowly, the house’s interior came into focus

There was dust everywhere—on the wide pine floorboards, on the chamfered summer beam that spanned the width of the house, on the shallow sills that held the diamond panes on the casement s, on the round newel post that punctuated the end of the banister

“Christ” Marcus sounded shaky “I half expecther hands on her apron, to see if I was hungry”

They walked together through the four rooms of Marcus’s childhood First the kitchen, with thickly boarded walls that ran horizontally around the room They were painted with a mustardy yellow paint that had turned black around the fireplace where Catherine Chauncey had cookedhook was all that remained of the iron equipment that once would have filled the brick enclosure—the trivets and griddles and deep pots The beams that held up the roo to the corners There were a few pegs driven into the walls, and a rickety chair sat in the corner A brighter yellow patch on the wall indicated where there had once stood a cupboard

They crossed the entrance hall and into the parlor, where another fireplace shared the sarander, with rough plastered walls that had been ashed Bits of plaster had fallen off here and there, and the dust was visible in the air thanks to the slanting rays of the afternoon sun A long table sat in the center of the room, its dark wooden surface cracked and split Pulled up to it was a small chair with holes in the back slat o;I would have used a disguising spell, obviously” I lifted Philip into his booster seat and delivered the beets and beef to him He tucked into his dinner with enthusiasm Becca wanted only blood and water, so I let her have it in a sippy cup on the floor She sat next to Ardwinna to drink it, watching the dog chew her bone