Picture This by Jacqueline Sheehan Page B

you could use for a very limited amount of time until we get this figured out. If you get a job, you should pay me something for rent.” She did not want the girl to walk away, to live with a drunk guy she found on Craigslist.
    Natalie was in line with the sun, and Rocky had to shade her eyes to keep looking at the girl. “Until we figure this out, you’re welcome to stay there. It’s summer. There might be a little work in Portland or Peaks.”
    â€œI didn’t come here asking for a place to live. I don’t need someone taking care of me,” said Natalie.
    â€œI can hardly take care of myself,” Rocky responded. “But this is important. Bob’s name is on that birth certificate, and I want to know why. Or some Robert Tilbe is on it. I guess you’re desperate to find out or you wouldn’t be here. It’s like a business offer,” said Rocky, trying to sound official so she wouldn’t scare the girl off. She leaned back on the bench, feeling exhausted but suddenly less alone.
    â€œMaybe,” said Natalie, “Maybe for a few days. But I can leave anytime that I want to. And I’m not a kid. I’m eighteen.”
    â€œDeal. You can leave anytime you want to. Me too.”

Chapter 15
    N atalie had been at Rocky’s for three days, taking the ferry to Portland each day to look for a job, returning each day on the six o’clock to say that she had put in job applications, looking discouraged. What would have been different for Natalie if Bob had been able to read her stories at night, slather peanut butter on crackers for her, and watch proudly as she kicked a soccer ball with the other kids? Rocky played the scenario a hundred times in her head. Would Natalie be a first-year college student by now? Would her biggest worry in life be who to sit with at the dining commons? And would Rocky have been the complicated stepmother—never enough, never right?
    Rocky wanted to refuel Natalie, go back to the beginning and drain off the foster care of fourteen years. If Bob were here, his big mountain-sized steadiness might brace her up, even at this late date.
    What did Rocky have to offer a kid who wasn’t a client at the local college? Was she anything at all like a parent? Should she inquire about the job search as she might with a friend or a roommate? Should she bolster the girl up with the bottomless well of support that a parent can provide? Or should she just help Natalie figure out the truth of her background?
    Natalie walked into the house and held out her hand to Cooper. The dog dropped his tail and smelled her pant legs and her feet, as if he were vacuuming her.
    Natalie backed up with the core of her body, arching away from the dog.
    â€œYou’re bringing Cooper all the good smells of Portland. He’s just curious,” said Rocky. The girl looked unaccustomed to dogs.
    â€œGood dog,” said Natalie, sliding her hand into her pants pocket, moving away from him.
    Rocky knelt by Cooper, ruffling the fur around his neck to demonstrate his koala bear nature. “He’s a big hunk of burning love. Everybody loves this guy, but take your time with him if you’re not used to dogs.”
    The next day Rocky had been up since sunrise, and she and Cooper had already walked the beaches and trails for an hour. She’d had coffee, fed the dog, and looked over her sketches for the house remodel yet again. Natalie began to rustle in the bedroom.
    The corroded hinges of the bedroom door announced the girl. Natalie wore a tank top covered by a faux Western shirt. Rocky admired the aim at personal distinction: the shirt came complete with snaps at the cuffs and two pointed triangle tips over each breast.
    â€œHelp yourself to cereal. I’ve got the boring kind, but I see you bought cereal also. Let me know if you need anything,” said Rocky, looking up from her drawings on newsprint.
    â€œSo it’s okay if I open the