| OCR Text |
Show other reason than that he has a deadline here with the paint, a clear objective and an obtainable goal, and he does not intend to fail. Morgan puts the last brushful of white Dutch Boy to the front of the house and Anne finishes with the railing in back. They are not yet done. She cleans the brushes and picks up the yard; he opens a can of gray deck paint and attacks the floor of the front porch. What else can I do? she asks. Just hold on, he says. Just watch. Anne holds on, watches from the yard where she smokes cigarettes and sits in the hot sun like a posed photograph of herself. Morgan is feverish, sweating profusely, a man whose body has taken control of his mind. But he has one last thought. Comes up with the perfect idea for the final touch, the crowning glory. He is surprised he didn't think of it before, and now, with Anne's help, there is just enough time to do it. He pours some of the gray enamel into a plastic dish and points to the sun which shines in white wooden relief above the porch. We'll make it really stand out, he says. In the triangular gable it is a fat semicircle, whether rising or setting it is impossible to know, and the thick white rays are teardrops in reverse; Anne will paint the flat surfaces in between. The timing is perfect. They finish together in the grass, loudly work up a final sweat, and have again dressed by the time Dave arrives back from the airport with Carol. Hey, she says to Morgan, you're looking good. They kiss carefully. And the house, she says, |
