Dusty stopped, gaped, looked around at the totally unfamiliar room. “My gosh, is this the same house?”
“Sort of,” Mari said, laughing. “Want to look at the rest?” She didn’t even come close to begging, but something in her eyes pleaded, her pride shining out, plain to see.
“Sure. Lead the way.”
Everything was clean and neat. There was no junk anywhere, nothing out of place. The walls glowed with fresh paint. The floors shined with scrubbing and wax. The little stove in the living room bore a fresh coat of black. The couch leg had been replaced, the cement block banished, while a bright spread covered the tattered upholstery. Some posters brightened the walls, and the scent of cleanness pervaded every room.
Mari had taken the master bedroom for hers, again, doing much with little. Clean
