Page 30 of Clara Knows Best

“Okay.”

After she’d cleaned his face again, she had him move to the desk chair and set him up in front of the steamer while she went back to work on his fingernails, this time with the file.

“How long do I have to do this?” he asked doubtfully.

“Until I get all your nails filed and buffed.”

“That doesn’t sound very scientific.”

“Steam’s not going to hurt you.”

“What’s it supposed to be doing?”

“Opening your pores and giving you a dewy glow.”

“Why do you want my pores open?”

“I’m going to extract the blackheads on your nose.”

“Oh. Okay.”

She grinned at the trusting response. “Remember how I said I wanted to run something by you? My mom’s birthday is Friday, right? I was thinking of taking her somewhere for the weekend.”

“Uh, huh.”

“She’s so sick of being stuck in the house. Do you think it’d be all right for her to ride in the car for an hour or so?”

“Sure.”

“You know how the Del Amos have that big hunting cabin near Fort Davis? They go there for Christmas sometimes.”

“Yeah,” he said. “I went there in high school.”

“They’re selling it.”

“So?”

“So we could tell them you’re thinking of buying a vacation place in the area, and you want to spend a weekend there to see how you like it.”

“No.”

“Why not?” she demanded.

“I don’t want a hunting cabin near Fort Davis.”

“It’s not like you’d have to hunt. The Del Amos don’t hunt.”

“I don’t want any kind of cabin near Fort Davis or anywhere else.”

He was sounding a little like the guy inGreen Eggs and Ham. But that guy had caved in the end, and Jesse would, too. “You can’t know that for sure until you’ve spent a weekend there. With us. Over my mom’s birthday.”

“Why don’t you just ask them if you can rent their cabin for the weekend?”

“They don’t rent it out. The only way they’ll do it is for a prospective buyer.”

“It’s kind of dishonest, isn’t it?”

“I think you could end up buying the place,” she said optimistically. “I don’t think it’s dishonest at all.”

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