That this girl didn’t know she was beautiful staggered me. She could have been a Vogue model any day. I said a cautious, if surprised, hello. She nodded her head and said “ciao” back. “I’m surprised to find you here, Aurora,” I said, because she made no attempt to start the conversation or to tell me why she was here. “I thought I’d tell you I’m asking my father to give me this house,” she said in that fast voice she used sometimes. I thought it meant she was nervous, but there was also something manic about her at times like this. “I’ll tell him I want it so when I get married I’ll have my children here. Of course you know he’ll give it to me, Lamour. He can’t refuse me anything.” Anger flared. I’d had it with Aurora and her father. “Great,” I snapped. “Then you can also have the new washer and dryer. They’re lying at the bottom of the stairs, or didn’t you notice? And you can have the damned chickens as well.” “What chickens?” she asked so sweetly she stopped me in my angry tracks.
