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"I did my part," Muriel said "By now Buff has exploded in his kennel and although Luce is an angel, it’s possible she had a few accidents and ate s are inbred"

"Preacher left keys What do you say we lock up and give up"

"Let’s," she said "I’m wrecked"

"I bet you’re tired"

"Wrecked," she repeated "That goes beyond tired"

Walt put a hand to the s the door behind the at the sky "I don’t kno to thank you for co like you did"

"It’s uys, too, now Not just yours"

He laughed "True If you feed ’em, they’re yours" He dropped his chin "You know, I’ve been in some real hot spots over the years I came here for peace and quiet, but today wasn’t either one"

"I grew up in these ets dicey sometimes It’s not an easy life all the time Beautiful, but there are issues In the end, it’s usually worth it But, Walt, you shouldn’t get the idea it’s si beautiful isn’t always easy?" he asked her

She grinned "I’uess so"

"I’ll be sure to remember that"

"See that you do," she said "I’ve been away a while I had alh country Fire’s the worst, I think We live in the middle of a lot of wood"

"Did you wonder, just for a second, whether it orth it?"

"Hmm?"

"When Jack came back, all scraped up, scorched, and picked up his little wife like he did, al, it reminded me about what I love about this--that these people face this stuff like it’s just part of the package They just ets it done It reroup of people, I want to belong to people like these They’re tough and resilient They don’t quit early They can count on each other They hang in That’s why I loved the Ar a hand on his chest "We’re just mountain people We take what comes The fact that it doesn’t coive up We fight There’s a lot to fight for here"

He looked down into histo sleep tonight Then toroceries to your place and fix you a decent dinner"

She set celery sticks and hummus for food if you just coood dinner, alone And I ht let you I’ll do the wine Will you tell your daughter where you’ll be?"

"I don’t know I’ about us"

She lifted an eyebrow "What is there to say about us?"

He leaned down and kissed her brow "Let’s revisit that question after dinner toave her fanny a pat "Rest up," he said "Because now that I think about it, I’ to stay late"