“Where did this come from?” I shoved my hands in his pockets, inspecting the mess.
“Cosette.”
“Why?”
She shrugged, holding up some tasseled curtain cords. “Do you think this would be too much for the living room?”
I stepped forward, touching the velvet and smoothing it between my palm and thumb. “A little.”
“You don’t seem amused.”
“Have you been sorting through this all day?”
“Most of it.”
I poked through a bin, pulling out some metal contraption between bottles of arsenic pesticide. It looked like some sort of pump with a sharp spike at the end, then a needle and tube coming out the side. “Do you even know what this thing is?”
“For gardening. Aerating, I suppose.”
“We don’t have a garden. Or a yard.”
“Well, what if we do get one?”
“Unless you mean flower boxes in the windowsills, I’m not sure how that’s possible.”
She snagged the items from me.
“We don’t have room to keep it all.” I followed her aimlessly.
“I know, but I like nice things.” She crossed her arms. “It can’t hurt to sort through.”
“Would your friend take it?”
Petronille’s eyes widened, a flash of disgust settling before she waved her hand as if dismissing a thought. “No. She wouldn’t.”
“Did I strike a nerve?”
“We aren’t friends any longer.”
“Oh,” I mumbled. “Did something happen?”
Petronille pushed past me as if I hadn’t asked her a question.
“You seem a bit wound up.” I stepped behind her, placing my hands on her shoulders, pressing down gently. Her body leaned back when I did so, resting against my chest as her head sloped tiredly to the side. “Are you sure there isn’t anything I can do to help?” I peered down at her.
“It would be like grounding a lightning bolt. I feel like I’m made of lead. If you threw me into the Hudson, I would sink.” She sighed.
“I think most things would sink if you threw them into the Hudson,” I teased, but she shot me a brief glare over her shoulder. “What are you stressing over now?”
She leaned back into my chest, and I could feel her breath hitch. Her shoulders slumped. “There are too many messes to clean.”
“Maybe if I tied you up and forced you to be still for once, you wouldn’t be so stressed.”
“At least I would have an excuse as to why I cannot fix everything.”
“Allow me, then.” I pulled away from her suddenly.
She nearly tipped backward, turning to watch me leave. “Allow you?”
