Warm earth tones ran all across the floors and walls, taking away even the memory of the cool seas that once flowed all through her mind’s eye, wrapped in the gentle rush of the surf, rocking the baby to sleep.
“You don’t like it, Florecita?” PePé sighed.
“Of course not,” Angel huffed. “It’s not what she requested.”
“It’s fine,” Saffron said.
“You’re just saying that so you won’t hurt PePé’s feelings.”
“I mean it. It’s fine.”
“You see?” PePé crowed. “I knew it. This is cheerful, happy, so much nicer for a child to wake up to.”
Saffron looked to the white bureau, now painted a sunny yellow. She had thought to spread the shells across the top and add a boat. The shells still sat outside in their bucket, visible from the door but feeling no closer than the curb or the beach or even the steps of the school. To get them, she would have to cross out into the dooryard, into the space where the strange man had come out of the dusk and draped himself around her, muttering his sinister words of warning. The glimpse of his face on the patio still woke her late at night and shook the breath out of her. Only the baby made her remember to breathe. Just as well there was no need to gather the shells up again. Let them wait.
“I’ll go get breakfast ready,” Saffron said.
“Oh, no,” Angel said. “I can do it.” He dodged around her and plunged down the stairs.
“Does it bring you joy?” PePé asked, waving his hand at the new walls and floor.
“Yes,” Saffron said. She drew her bathrobe in closer around herself and concentrated on the ray of sun that shot down through the skylight. The warmth and the light made her feel safe.
“Would you go get the paper?” Angel shouted.
Saffron cocked her head and considered the length of the path out to the newspaper box.
“Oh, por favor,” PePé said, patting her on the arm. “Allow me.”
Saffron watched him from the window in the nursery. He looked so small and fragile as he scurried across the lawn and down to the street. She turned away from the window and shuffled down the stairs towards the sizzle of the heuvos rancheros and the slurp of the coffee machine. Outside the house, a car screeched to a halt and produced a loud thump. Angel hollered and tore through the house. She sat on the bottom step and clenched her hands together, waiting for the next sound.
