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Each room had large windows framing the view of the sky above and the valley below. |
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He showed her the vast kitchen and his woodworking room behind the house. Both were filled with contraptions she could not begin to comprehend. |
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Eventually he took her to an upstairs bedroom. "You'll stay here," he said. Although the spacious room followed the heavy Spanish theme, Abby was delighted with the wooden bed's filmy lace canopy and coverlet that matched the curtains. She looked out a window almost as tall as she onto the greenery of a large courtyard surrounded by the house and its wings. |
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If her room, as a guest, was so opulent, Abby wondered how plush might be the chamber in which Mike slept. And where was it? In one of the wings, perhaps, for her tour had not taken her there. |
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A loud gong startled her. Mike scowled. "That's the doorbell." |
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Abby stood on the balcony above the entry as he opened the door. A short, plump woman in a bright orange dress and odd, tiny white hat threw herself into his arms. "Welcome home, dear, dear Mike," she effused, giving him a great, smacking kiss on the cheek. |
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Abby swallowed. Who was this? And surely Abby had no right to feel so jealous of someone who so obviously shared Mike's life. She descended the stairs. |
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The woman regarded Abby intently. Her face was round, her cheeks full, her mouth wide and |
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