“Exciting news,” she said. Matt looked up from stirring what appeared to be a bucket of white grout. “Wayne Gretzky’s on his way over for high tea!” she exclaimed. He regarded her with skeptical amusement. “Okay,” she said. “So, not really.” “That’s a shame. Wayne and I love high tea.” She grinned. “Well, my actual news is only a little less exciting. Gran and I just finished painting. Every room. The whole house. Done!” “Congratulations.” “Thank you very much.” She grabbed an empty orange plastic Home Depot bucket, turned it over, and took a seat. She watched Matt finish stirring the grout, then apply it to the wall above the bathtub with a triangular metal spatula. Once he’d spread the grout, he used the teeth on the end of the spatula to score it in preparation for the tile.
