“Well, you’re putting really good stuff in the Goodwill pile!”
Tom laughed at her. “It’sallgood stuff, Cherry. All our stuff is good stuff.”
Cherry felt sad. She feltmoresad. “Yeah... I guess so.”
“That’s because of you,” he said. “Your rule about everything being either useful or beautiful.”
“That’s actually William Morris’s rule...”
“William Morris didn’t say it to me every time we went to SuperTarget.”
Cherry rubbed her face. She felt sad and tired. And older than she’d ever been in her life. “If I’m being honest,” she said quietly, “I don’t know what I want. I don’t want you to take everything, but I also don’t want you to leave it all for me to deal with. And when I think about giving it away...” She shook her head. “No one else will appreciate our stuff like we did.”
They both stared at the coffee table.
Stevie had been napping on the other side of the room, but now she lumbered over to them, shoved past Tom’s legs, and launched herself up onto the couch between them. It wasn’t graceful—if the couch were an inch higher, she wouldn’t be able to make it. She landed halfway onto Cherry’s lap, and her tail hit Tom’s face. He pushed it away. “I thought she wasn’t allowed on the couch.”
“I promoted her from pet to roommate,” Cherry said, helping the dog settle.
Tom squinted out at the living room and the dining room beyond.“We could just box it all up. Everything that you don’t want to look at. We’ll deal with it later.”
“No.” Cherry scratched Stevie’s neck. “I don’t want to ‘Tell-Tale Heart’ it.”
Tom sighed, short and exasperated. “I know you want me to do my part—but I don’t feel like I have the, I don’t know,authority? And I can’t read your mind. Especially ifyoudon’t know what you want.”
“That’s fair,” she whispered.
“If I took everything you told me to take, you’d be living in an empty house. Do you really want that?”
Cherry breathed in deep. And decided to tell Tom the truth: “I don’t think... that... Iamgoing to be living here.”
He whipped his head toward her. “What do you mean?”
“I don’t want to live here. In this house.”
He looked confused. And maybe upset. “But you love this house—you picked it out.”
“Not for myself.”
“Where do you want to live?”
“I don’t know. Not here. Maybe I’ll get an apartment downtown, near work.”
“Anapartment?”
“I don’t know, Tom.I didn’t think you’d have a strong opinion about this.”
He rolled his eyes. “Okay, well—Idon’t. I’m just surprised. I mean...” He looked around. “You put yourwhole heartinto this house. There’s so much you can’t take with you, all the painting, and the flowers—your lilac bushes.”
“I wasn’t putting my heart intothe house,” she hissed.
Tom took the hit. He looked away.
Cherry took another breath. She looked down at her hand, methodically petting Stevie’s fur. “If you get to start over,” she said. “Why don’t I?”
Tom sat still. After a second, he pushed Stevie’s rump off his legsand stood up. He took his bowl and Cherry’s into the kitchen. She heard him walk out into the foyer. He reappeared in the dining room, wearing his sweatshirt. “I think I’ll clean out the garage tomorrow,” he said. “I don’t think there’s anything out there we need to talk about.”
“Okay,” she agreed.
