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Show Woodworth/2 her, the girl begins to sputter. "Jimmy, quit making me laugh!" she says, and Marty turns and smiles at them. "You're bothering that lady," the girl squeals. "Lady," ^arty thinks, flinching. "It's ok ^ she tells them. "Are you two looking for a book to read?" "We're looking for one that our mother can read to us," the girl says. "That's how come we're allowed to be in the adult section." "But we both know how to read," Jimmy says. He is blonde and freckled, with brown eyes. Not at all like Jake, with his dark hair. Not even in the brown eyes. But there is something about the way he is standing that reminds her of Jake. Or has she forgotten that much? "If you want, I can recommend a good book for you," Marty says. "Yes, please," the girls says. She stands with her hands behind her back. Marty, remembering herself at that age, watches to see if the fingers are going towards the brother. She looks at the shelves and sees only adult books, intense psychological studies of sex and disaster. Q-R-S...what authors begin with those letters? She sees Steinbeck, Grapes of Wrath, and takes it off the shelf. An old favorite. But not yet, for these two. Better to wait until they are old enough to read it on their own. What were the books that her mother had read to her and Jake and Megan, with all of them fighting over who got to sit right next to her, and turn the pages? And even their father would listen, sitting on the other sofa and eating his dinner |