“I thought about how I must look, wet, red-fingered from cold, cutting a hole in a perfectly good barn for no reason. “I don’t want to tell you what to do,” Shep began. This, I’d found, was a very common statement in the North Country. You’re not considered rude if you don’t return phone calls, or if you get drunk while working, or fail to show up as promised, but telling someone how to do something is bad form and requires a disclaimer.”
