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Laney hadn’t been to the house in weeks, and it smelled stale. Musty. She opened the basement door that led to the garage, warm light flooding inside.

“I’m leaving the door open for some air, okay Shane?” she called.

“Yeah,” he said absently, appearing from behind a pile of garden tools holding a heavy wooden shovel with a foot-wide metal head. She frowned. “It’s going to take you forever to do the driveway with that,” she whined.

“I’m heavily motivated to make this quick,” he said, his eyes twinkling.

“You’d better be,” she grumbled. “I’m all wet.”

His eyes lingered on her damp jeans before he blinked and headed towards the driveway, blowing her a kiss.

She walked into her room and flopped onto the bed. It was just after 11:00pm, but she figured it was Christmas Eve and Dusty and Jerry would probably still be up watching Die Hard. She picked up the cordless, blowing dust off the receiver, and paused as she heard a thump. It sounded like the front door, but she shook her head and dialed her brother, wanting to wish him a Merry Christmas.