Holly locked the baby’s room on Valentine’s; she didn’t bother repainting. Walter visited a few weeks later to fix the loose banister railing and the faucet in the kitchen. Roof shingles were still rotten and slid off from day to day. The gutters stank of mildew, like a kind of cabbage boiled too long. Holly hosed them clean with the help of Walter’s borrowed ladder; she averted her eyes from certain second story windows. 

The house rattled when swollen clouds preceded the storms…