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Runyon
decided that Kate didn’t need any body enhancements.
    Not that he cared about her body he hastened
to remind himself. After all, she was only. He stopped and thought.
How old was Kate? Eighteen? Seventeen? Even younger? At twenty two
years old, he was an adult and she was off limits. Still, it didn’t
hurt to admire her lovely body in private.
    True, she was kind of bossy. But she had a
kind heart. And she was smart. She had known exactly how to
manipulate that used car salesman. Runyon was uncomfortably aware
that Kate seemed to be able to manipulate him, too.
    After a bit, he got up from his new bed and
went upstairs. The boys were in their room playing a video game as
usual, and Kate was vacuuming the living room. The noise made it
impossible to talk to Kate.
    Runyon decided to take a drive around
Livingston. He quickly found that he could not go far. Livingston
was not that large an area. He could go north as far as McConnell
State Park. To the east, Sultana Drive was his limit. He took Main
Street south. Absently, he noted Livingston High School. That must
be where Kate would attend school when school resumed. He was not
allowed to continue south past Westside Boulevard so he turned
west, and then he drove slowly along that road until he came to his
limit at Washington Boulevard. Runyon made his way back to the
Garcia home.
    During the following week, Runyon did not do
much of anything. Occasionally the boys allowed him to play video
games with them, but he could tell that they were not really
enthused about it. Carlos and Matt were usually at work most of the
day. Neither had really warmed to Runyon. And Kate was always busy
working.
    Carlos and Matt came home one night carrying
a birthday cake. Runyon found out that Kate was now seventeen. He
was strangely annoyed that Kate had not told him that her birthday
was approaching. The next day he called a plumber, and he paid her
to install a new garbage disposal. That surprised Kate. She clucked
about the expense until he reminded her that they still had much of
the rebate money from his car.
    Runyon would have liked to spend some time
with Kate. The longer he spent in her presence, the more
interesting she seemed. But she was always busy. There was laundry
to do, dishes to be washed, floors to be mopped and a host of other
jobs. Once, when he came looking for breakfast, he saw her though
the kitchen window using a string trimmer on the grass at the base
of the wrought iron fence that encased the front yard. He wondered
why Pete or Juan did not have that chore.
    Gradually, it dawned on Runyon that Kate was
acting as the mother of the house. Any domestic work that had to be
done seemed to be hers to do. And he realized that the male members
of the house were perfectly content to let her do the work.
    One very hot Saturday afternoon, just over a
week since Kate and Runyon had returned from the MHRC, Kate was
running a little late coming home from the store. She had needed to
get milk, bread and a few other items. Matt had come home early and
the other boys were grousing about dinner being late. Runyon had
just finished taking a cool shower, and he was sitting at the
kitchen table.
    When Kate came in the door, she was set upon
by three grumbling males. Runyon watched as she wiped sweat off her
brow. He could tell that she was tired. Still she began to
apologize, as she carried the heavy bags of groceries to the
counter. A sudden impulse came over Runyon.
    “Sorry, guys, but Kate can’t make your dinner
tonight,” he announced. “I’m taking Kate out to dinner.”
    If he had announced that he was secretly a
spy for the Ragoon, he could not have brought a more sudden halt to
the sibling’s conversation. Four pairs of startled eyes turned his
way.
    “What?” and “Huh?” was the reaction from the
younger boys. Matt scowled at him. Kate just looked puzzled.
    Runyon answered the boys. “You heard me. I’m
taking Kate out to dinner. You’ll just have to make