\u201cThey\u2019re seventeen and nineteen now. They don\u2019t let me kiss them anymore.\u201d Janet smiled, but something sad lived in the corners of her expression. \u201cMartin\u2019s still in the back office. If you need anything, holler. Don\u2019t stay too late.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNever do.\u201d<\/p>\n
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The main door opened and closed, letting in a blast of December cold that made the plastic tree shudder. I listened to Janet\u2019s footsteps fade down the hallway, then to the building\u2019s heating system clank and wheeze as it struggled against the Vermont winter pressing against the windows. Outside, snow fell in thick, determined sheets, the kind that would turn roads into ice rinks by morning.<\/p>\n
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