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“No, no, I’m peeling potatoes and carrots, and I’ve got to do celery and onions. I need moral support.”
“I’m here for that.”
“Then talk to me. How’s the purging and packing going?”
“Purging’s harder than I thought. Not the big stuff, but all my pretty little things. I don’t want to part with my pretty little things.”
“Then don’t. We’ve got the room.”
“I’m boxing some up to send with Winter next weekend. And I’m having a yard sale—your mom’s lending me her yard—for the big stuff. Son, you look stressed.”
“I’m cooking!” She said it as if she were hacking her way through a jungle full of sound and snakes.
“I have to do all these vegetables, then sort of stir them around in the meat juices. Herbs! I need to do the herbs. I’m supposed to scrape up all the brown stuff. What does that mean? Look at the size of this pot.”
She turned the screen again, then attacked the pot with a wooden spoon. “Oh! There is brown stuff. Look at that!”
“Magic. Listen, everything’s smooth here. Jess is taking over the apartment.”
“Jess and Ryan? Your place is a lot smaller than theirs.”
“They broke up. Bad breakup, and she’s moving on.”
Jess and Ryan, and Boston in general, seemed a world away.
“When did that happen?”
“About three weeks ago, and he’s already seeing someone else. Since she moved in with him, she moved out. And she’s already moved some of her things in here. Trust me, I’m ready to get out. Send vibes for the yard sale. If it works, I can pack up the rest in two, maybe three days. And then I’m heading to Maine. Where’s our puppy?”
Sonya stopped long enough to hold the screen down. Yoda angled his head back and forth as Cleo cooed at him.
“I need to tell you about the room on the third floor. The Gold Room. I need to tell you before you do that yard sale and pack the rest.”
“What about it?”
Sonya started at the beginning as she quartered potatoes, chopped herbs.
“Sonya, why didn’t you call me?”
“Now you sound like Trey.”
“You should have called him. He’s a lot closer than I am. Just… stay away from that room.”
“Trust me. But you have to know there’s something there, Cleo. Not like the rest. I think it’s evil. I hear myself saying that and want to roll my eyes, but I do. I think it’s evil.”
“Then we’ll get rid of it. We’ll find a way. I’m glad Trey was there to, well, experience it. There are more of us, Sonya.”
“He said something like that. That Dobbs is outnumbered. He’s so damn steady. He took me out to dinner after.”
“What?” On-screen, Cleo threw up her hands. “That was days ago, and I’m just hearing about it? You had a date with the sexy lawyer!”
“It wasn’t a date.”
“I’ll be the judge of that. Tell all.”
“Hold on. I have to put everything in this pot and stir it and cook it for a few minutes.”
“Cook and talk.”
