” Christi said.“Cool, I’m in!” Megan said giggling.“So, tell me again how you got permission to even be here?” Britney asked as the two gi...rls walked up the steps to the old KUM house in their costumes. Britney in her blue dress and white apron, she had a blonde wig on with a black hairband and thigh high white stockings all the way down to black slippers.“My mom has the keys, she’s trying to refurbish and sell the place.” Natalie said. She had her cowgirl hat on; the checkered shirt was tied in. We were tighter than drumheads, uncommunicative about a lot of topics including especially sex and our marriage, and ... I guess pretty dumb about life in general. She gave us challenge after challenge to get us to a new place, and to stress our mettle and resilience. There were a few times, if we’d been living in our old paradigm, that our marriage would have fractured and we’d have separated.”Aaron looked curious, “Can you share one?”“After we thought we were fairly well into the new paradigm. Harper. I didn't see her in the kitchen or main floor living room, so I head upstairs to where the bedrooms were. I quickly drop my bag off at the doorway of the guest room and then shout, "Hello," in an attempt to find Mrs. Harper. "Can you give me a quick hand?" I hear her faintly calling from somewhere in the master bedroom. The door cracked open, so I peak my head inside. Not seeing her, I call out again, "Mrs. Harper, are you in here?" I here her respond from the master bathroom, "Can you. Molly said, “What’s his name, honey?”“Smokey Lonesome.”“Of course it is.”“And Smokey already told me he’s looking forward to California.”When we were still in Little River, back when Rebecca had first started managing the sporting ladies for Mrs. Chambers, she gradually got to know them. Became fond of them, friends even, and pretty close with a couple of them.Rosie followed suit and the process was now repeating itself in Helena.One morning when all of us were at breakfast in the Lenoir, the.