The door opened and Lara regretted giving her mother a key when the large Oorang Airedales, Oddjob and Moneypenny, came bounding into the living room, circling the sander and barking as though it were a menacing beast. The dogs were oddly old, yet they seemed like puppies. Lara could swear they’d been alive when she was a child, but Audrey insisted they were just different dogs with the same names. She guessed people did that kind of thing. Quickly, Lara turned off the machine and removed her goggles and respirator to find her mother standing in the hallway holding a painting under one arm and garment bag under the other.

“What’s that?” Lara folded her arms. As she moved, her jeans, T-shirt, and Chuck Taylors let loose a fine sprinkle of sawdust.

Audrey held both out. “Your dress for the gala and Cecile’s painting.” She looked around the room and couldn’t hide her horror. “You should really hire someone to do this.”

Lara wasn’t going to admit she’d had the same thought. Shooing her mother away with a glove, Lara turned to pet the dogs. “I’m learning a lot from doing it myself.”

“Learning? At least get Caren to help you learn.” Her voice trailed down the hall and back again.

“She’s got her own sawdust pile at the coffeehouse.”

“Oh yes, I heard she’s jumped into small-business ownership, too.” Audrey had been against Lara purchasing both this house and the radio station, instead wanting her to move home permanently. Audrey turned the frame around to reveal the painting of Cecile Cabot, standing atop a white steed that circled the Parisian circus. “I thought it would look perfect in your dining room.”

“But you love that painting.” Lara’s eye went immediately to the choker around Cecile’s neck. While it was a very generous gift from her mother, she actually didn’t care for the painting, fearing it would always remind her of that day.

“I do love it,” said Audrey, holding it up to the light.

Lara stepped carefully to avoid the sawdust and leaned on the doorway to the dining room, ushering the dogs away from the dust.

Audrey handed Lara the garment bag and began walking around the room with the painting, placing it on each wall, looking for the desired effect.

Lara sighed. “You’re bestowing a pity painting on me.”