Sunsets by Robin Jones Gunn Page B

because I don’t think shoes should be worn in the house. The guys next door have to take off their muddy clodhoppers before they come in here.”
    “That’s fine with me,” Alissa said, glancing at her heels and checking the rugs covering the hardwood floor to see if she had tracked in any dirt. “From now on, I’ll take off my shoes at the door.”
    “Great,” Shelly said, her wide smile lighting up her face. “This is going to be so fun! By the way, how did you find out about it? From Genevieve?”
    Alissa thought about the slip of paper she had discovered on her desk. Neither Renée nor Cheri knew anything about it. “I honestly don’t know.”
    Alissa drove back to her condo, trying to solve the mystery of the note. No conclusions came to her. It reminded her of the mysterious letter that had brought Chet and Rosie together. She had been wondering about it since last Friday. They hadn’t come in to confirm their travel plans, so first thing tomorrow she would call them to make sure everything was set. She puzzled over how she could ask about the letter without intruding.
    As she entered the freeway traffic, she glanced up at the evening sky. The only nice thing about smog was it produced soft amber and peach hues as the sun set. At this moment the sky looked soothing. She loved sunsets. They reminded her of heaven. And tonight, heaven seemed closer than it had in a long time.
    Alissa wondered if perhaps she really did have a guardian angel. Maybe God was trying to do something to draw herback to himself after all the years she had felt so abandoned.
    Instead of turning south toward her condo, she pulled into a strip mall and parked in front of a paint store. Fresh beginnings called for freshly painted walls—and not off-white. A soft yellow, perhaps, like the sunset.

Chapter Six

    I like it,” Shelly said the next day as she held up the paint sample card in Genevieve’s kitchen. “It looks like moonlight.”
    “It’s called Golden Sunset. You don’t think it’ll be too yellow?” Alissa asked, offering another swatch of a lighter tone.
    “I don’t,” Genevieve said, smearing some peanut butter on a slice of bread and handing it to Mallory, who sat on a stool next to Alissa. “That’s a wonderful, neutral shade. I think it will give the room a nice, soft, sunny tone. But it’s completely up to you. Let me know which one you decide on, and I’ll call it in to the painter today.”
    “Mommy, can I have some juice?” Mallory asked.
    Genevieve reached in the fridge for the juice and pulled out the iced tea pitcher as well. “More tea for either of you?”
    “I’d like some, please,” Alissa said. “I love the mint in this.”
    Genevieve poured the tea and gave Mallory a boxed drink. “You see if you can get the straw in this time,” she said with a loving look at her littlest one.
    Mallory tried, but the straw bent. She tried again and got it in. “I did it, Mommy!”
    “I knew you could. That’s my girl!”
    “I’ll go with this one,” Alissa said, laying the “Golden Sunset” sample down on the counter like a playing card. “Did I need to sign some papers?”
    “I have them here,” Genevieve said, stepping over to the table and reaching for a file that bore Alissa’s name on the tab. “This is the lease form, and this is the cleaning deposit addendum.”
    Alissa looked over the papers and signed them, feeling no regret for making a year’s commitment.
    “Are you wearing contacts?” Genevieve asked.
    Alissa looked up surprised. “Yes, I am.”
    “I just noticed because when you were here before you had on glasses, and you look quite a bit different without them. When I have my glasses on, people barely recognize me.”
    Alissa was aware that people were noticing she was taking a little more care of herself lately. This morning she had climbed on the scale and was shocked to see she had lost two pounds. She had no idea how that had happened, except during the last week she