"The whole picture is built around that red. The sky's built around it. The snow's built around it. Everything else is the color it is because the roof's that red. You don't get it. You can't just put a different roof on. It's not a hat."
"Okay," she said. She started to put the lid back on.
"Leave it," I said.
She left it.
"I'm still so mad at you," I said. "I want you to know that. I'm not doing this because I'm not mad."
"I know."
"You could've told me. In September. On the bottom step. You could've said, Mare, take it off, please, it's my mail, don't ask me why. And I would have. I would have taken it off. You didn't even give me the chance."
"I know," she said. "I didn't think you'd take it off. I thought you'd ask why. I thought everybody'd ask why." She looked down at the box. "I didn't think anybody would just do something because I asked."