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okay? form in his mind but he knew the answer. She was scooped out. And there was no name for how he felt. |
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He made her some toast and poured her a second cup of coffee. She did not touch the toast but sipped the coffee. Then in a soft voice she said that she'd better get packed for her sister's. Alice, who had returned the day before, was expecting her. |
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Calvin said he wished she could stay but he understood. Terry could not bear another day in the house. Besides, the moving men would be in and out all day. |
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In a zombielike trance she put a few things in the suitcase, then around nine-thirty, Calvin put her on the plane to Portland. |
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At eleven, on schedule, Calvin walked into the office of Beverly Otis to give her the papers on his house. |
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The only others present were Beverly and an attorney, Daniel McDermott, representing Claire Manning. |
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McDermott offered his condolences for the death of Calvin's son. Calvin thanked him. The papers were signed in Claire Manning's name, as was the bank check for over $450,000 made out to Calvin and Terry Hazzardless Beverly's commission. |
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The whole transaction took less than twenty minutes. When it was over, Calvin shook McDermott's hand. Beverly said goodbye and gave him a hug. There were tears in her eyes. She wished them luck in their move to New York State and the new job. Calvin thanked her. |
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He walked across Center Street to the Carleton Savings Bank at the corner of Standish. A week ago the check would have made him levitate with joy. Today it was a piece of paper with numbers. With it they would purchase a house in Argyle-on-the-Hudson. What was left over would be put in a bank. They had no plans beyond the moment. The move was no longer the start of a new life but a strategy for surviving the old. |
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When he got home, the moving men were stacking boxes into the long Mayflower van in the driveway. Most of the downstairs rooms had been emptied. The furniture would be driven to a warehouse in Roseville, New York, about ten miles from Argyle, to be stored until they found a house. |
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