"Well, you don't have to get smart with me young man, go finish yourhomework!" yelled Mrs. Monet."Yes, mother dearest." Carl said sheepishly.Carl was ...now flustered and it was hard to concentrate on his homeworkafter being scolded by his stepmother, but he still loved looking at herdangling high heel. After awhile, her dangling shoe fell off again, butshe ignores it and continued reading her magazine.Carl quietly asked, "Do you want me to put your shoe back on your toes?"Mrs. Monet looked. "What? About US? I LOVE it." You absolutely sure, Dan Granger? A year ago you weren't signed on to this trip. Now you're looking at quitting a job..." For ANOTHER job, with people who are as capable as I am, just in different ways." You're putting a kid through college..." I am giving my wife a shot at her dream." And now I have this crazy bunch..." Like I didn't marry YOU into a crazy bunch."She laced her fingers behind my head, tugging me down. "Are SURE, baby?" I've been sure since we. Especially out here in the woods, inside this small cemetery. I sit in the cab of my old truck, listen to the rain tell the story, and wait for Melinda.In these parts, we never seem to have nice winter weather. It's always cold, cloudy, and raining. All it's good for is hunting, mostly deer. Only I don't hunt-not anymore.But this became my favorite time of year because of Melinda. I was driving home after wasting most of a Saturday down in the bottoms trying to get that big buck just about. . For there to be any kind of coherent motion, yet another sacred cow of physics roasted on the bonfire of thaumaturgy!We lay on the blanket, our bodies slick with sweat. I curled against Nallen’s side, one leg draped over his.“So, Nallen? What is this place?” I asked in lazy curiosity.“t’Laptrour summer get-away,” he mumbled in reply.That had been Fiveday, it was now Unday the following week. I had a great time alone with Nallen — Aneeka told me the same about her time the night before — but.