Sit! Stay! Speak! Read Free Page A

something else. The reason I called. Jerry finally sold his house in Wisconsin.” Her mother paused, exhaling. “He wants to give you some of the money.”
    â€œNo way. I don’t want Jerry giving me any money. That’s his money.”
    â€œI told him that’s what you’d say.”
    â€œI have savings.”
    â€œBut he wants to do this for you,” Addie’s mother replied. “I know you have some savings, but that won’t last forever. It has been years since the last time I saw that house, but Addie, honey, it needed work. Even then.”
    â€œI know,” Addie conceded. “But I think I can fix it up enough to sell.”
    â€œI’m sure you can.”
    â€œAnd I know that there are a few antiques that I can refinish and sell—some old furniture.”
    There was a pause and her mother said, “You sound like Jonah.”
    â€œMom, I’ve got to let you go,” Addie said. “I’ve got a lot to do around the house today.”
    â€œOh, sweetheart,” her mother began. “I didn’t mean to upset you.”
    â€œI’m not upset,” Addie replied. “Just busy. We’ll talk tomorrow.”
    â€œSo you’ll take the money?”
    Addie sighed. “As a loan. I’ll pay Jerry back. With interest.”
    â€œFine, fine.”
    â€œI love you.”
    â€œLove you, too.”
    Addie threw herself down onto the bed. She stared at the ceiling for a long time before sitting up, grabbing her jeans, and pulling them on. She felt bad cutting off the conversation with her mother. But it was just so hard to hear his name. So hard. She shook her head, and the shake resonated throughout the rest of her body. I’ve got too much to get done today, she thought. She rolled off the bed and headed to the hardware store determined to get started on the renovation of her new temporary home.
    There was nothing that Adelaide Andrews hated more than feeling out of place. And once inside Linstrom’s hardware store, that’s exactly what she felt. The inside of the store looked nothing like what she was used to back home in Chicago.
    â€œCan I help you with something?” A man in a red-and-white-striped apron appeared in front of her. “You look a tad lost.”
    â€œI know what I’m looking for,” Addie replied. “But I don’t know where to find it.”
    The man chuckled. “Is there a certain project you’re working on?”
    â€œI’ll be refinishing some furniture soon.” Addie glanced down at her list. “I need to repaint the outside of my house. And I need to replace the showerhead in the bathroom. And I need to plant a garden. Also, how much would it cost to have my floors refinished?”
    The man held up his hands and took a step back. “Whoa, whoa there, one thing at a time. Let me see this list.”
    Addie handed him the list. “I’m in over my head, aren’t I?”
    â€œWell . . . like I said, let’s just take it one thing at a time,” the man responded. “I think you could start with replacing that showerhead. You can find those over in aisle 13.”
    â€œOkay, thanks.” Addie was relieved to have some direction.
    â€œMy name is Tom. Holler at me if you need help finding anything else.”
    Addie waved at him and wandered off in search of aisle 13. As she stood in front of the different showerheads, she closed her eyes, trying to remember what her shower looked like. She wished she’d taken a picture of it with her phone. “Maybe I don’t need to shower,” Addie wondered aloud. “Maybe I can just run through the neighbor’s sprinkler.”
    â€œI’m pretty sure that’s illegal in all fifty states,” said a voice behind her.
    Addie turned around to see Jasper standing in front of her. “You might want to tell that to my eighty-year-old neighbor. That seems to be his