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thoughtful of you. Please come in.” I closed the door behind her as she stepped into the living room.
    “This color is lovely, Kate.”
    I smiled, feeling proud of my paint job despite the uncomfortable feeling when she used my fake name.
    “This place is really shaping up,” she said, turning to me. Then she turned toward Greta’s barking. “And what do we have here?”
    Greta’s barking began to grow more insistent. I followed Mary into the dining room where Greta was locked in her crate.
    “May I let her out?” Mary asked.
    I nodded and watched as Mary unlatched the crate. Greta bounded out and nearly knocked Mary over.
    “Greta, no!” I scolded, embarrassed by my puppy’s behavior. I was able to grab her collar and keep her from jumping on my guest.
    “It’s all right, Kate. She doesn’t know any better. She’s just a puppy.” Mary leaned down and scratched Greta’s chin.
    “We started obedience school yesterday, but I think it will take a while for her to learn her manners.”
    Mary just laughed. Then she looked at me more closely. “You’re awfully dusty.”
    I noticed a twinkle in her eyes.
    “You didn’t find the secret room, did you?”
    She smiled when she asked, so I didn’t think I had done anything wrong. “As a matter of fact, I did. When I was painting the baby’s room, I found it.”
    “I’ll bet you were surprised.”
    Squatting next to Greta, I looked up at Mary and nodded.
    “I know exactly how you felt. Shortly after we moved in, my husband  found it too. We asked our realtor about it, but all she knew was that the previous owner was a bit eccentric and had it built that way. We had intended to make it into a regular room by putting an entrance in the hallway, but by the time we needed the space, we had bought a larger house and we never got back to the project.”
    “Have your previous tenants asked to have it changed?”
    “There have only been two other tenants before you. One was an older couple and they never mentioned it. I’m not sure they even knew about the room. And the last tenant was a single gentleman. He discovered the room, but didn’t need the space, and didn’t want to be bothered by any renovations. What about you, Kate? Would you like to have it converted into a regular room?”
    “No,” I answered, a bit too quickly. “No, it’s fine. I have enough space without it. And anyway, maybe when my baby gets older he or she could use it as a play area.”
    “All right then.” Mary glanced into the back yard. “By the way, you’re welcome to plant flowers or vegetables in the yard if you’d like.”
    “Well, thank you. I may do that,” I said as I stood. I let go of Greta’s collar, but she stayed in place.
    Mary reached out and placed her hand on my arm. “I just want you to make this your home, Kate.”
    I could see the compassion in her eyes and felt a lump form in my throat. I nodded in response, afraid if I opened my mouth that I would burst into tears.
    “I’ll let you get back to your painting, dear,” she said, pulling her arm away.
    “Thank you for everything,” I managed to say.
    Mary nodded and walked toward the front door. I followed behind her. She opened the door, then said, “If you need anything, you just give me a call.”
    “I will.”
    With that, she left. I locked the door behind her, then took Greta out back to let her run around for a while. I threw the ball for her and when she was panting I led her back inside and to her pet bed and she curled up, but kept her eyes on me as I fixed myself lunch.
    After I cleaned up, I wanted to keep working on the baby’s room. Though I wanted to leave Greta out of her crate, I wasn’t sure what she’d do - I didn’t want her to be underfoot while I worked. I decided to give it a try and let her follow me up the stairs. I set her pet bed in the hallway, just outside the door, and invited her to lay down. Not surprisingly, she declined, instead going around the room, sniffing all