As much as Edna wanted the new car and the honeymoon trip, and as much as she may have dreamed of running off with Dennis (or at least being alone with him on a beach or in a mountain cabin for a weekend), what she really wanted was to fix up the house.  Now that she wouldn't be getting a paycheck every week, she wondered if they could afford both a trip and fixing up the house.  Specifically, the living room.  It looked so awful, so drab.  She made slipcovers last spring, but that didn't do the trick.  Then she got some of those iron hook things for the window and draped some patterned sheets over them, and they still didn't look like Laura Ashley, let alone Martha Stewart.

She mentioned it to Tim.

"Don't you think we'd be better off using the money around here instead of going on a trip?"

He looked at her, not knowing whether to be glad he could apply for a loan for a new cornpicker, or whether what she really wanted was for him to encourage her to go on a trip with him.   There was no clue on her face as to which she wanted, so he just nodded.

"Don't you think the living room could use a little fixing up?"

The vision of the cornpicker faded, and once again he just nodded.  He still wasn't sure where she wanted to go with this.

"Do you think the slipcovers make the room look any better?  Or the curtains?"

Again, he nodded.  Twice.

"Please, Tim... say something!," she blurted.

"What do you want me to say?," he asked.

"Anything!," she said, "Just _  _  _' _    _  _  _!"
(4 letters, 3 letters)

Copyright 1998 J.J. Schnebel
All rights reserved

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