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There was the faintest whirring as the mechanis a carousel of lords and ladies going up and down on their brightly colored hobbyhorses Several went by, until the twelfth lady passed on herthe wooden bird hi as he called out that familiar refrain: cuckoo, cuckoo, cuckoo

“Jesus fucking Christ,” she heard Jonny swear behind her “Did you really grow up here? It’s like a fucking museum”

Pandy decided she’d better take hiht to the kitchen

Inhaling deeply, as if he were literally absorbing the enorony “How the hell am I supposed to cook”—he paused clownishly—“in here?”

“What do you mean?” Pandy asked nervously She knew the counters were bare and the appliances dated When she and Henry were there, they ate sis and bacon, or heated-up cream of mushroom soup On the other hand, you could roller-skate across the linoleu Pandy and Hellenor had done as children

“Where’s the garlic press? The rinder? The double waffle press?” Jonny de in her expression, he swatted her on the butt “Co”

Pandy gasped out a laugh of relief Of course he was kidding For a moment, all she’d been able to think was that her worst fear was about to co to Wallis House that he’d done to her loft; turn it into Jonny House But of course that was ian

But Jonny hadhis cell phone aloft as he searched for a signal

“Oops,” Pandy said apologetically “There’s no service here Except by the boathouse Soet a bar or two there”

Ugh She hated having this conversation with guests Some people couldn’t tolerate the lack of service and headed back to New York early, while others spent the entire weekend trooping back and forth to the boathouse Pandy hoped that this weekend, possibly one of theone of those weekends

“Co my history,” she said firmly At the very least, she was deterested

She led hih the music room, and into her favorite place in the house: the library

Pandy s out the first editions, adding that the library also included signed books by Walt Whituests at the house

With the flair of a teenage tour guide, she explained that the marble fireplace was made from local stone that had been sent to Italy, where special craftsain how the shrink had encouraged her to tell Jonny about the most important people in her life, she attempted to speak to Jonny about the wo up

But Jonny was no longer with her Jonny was by the bar cart in the opposite corner of the roo bottles