“I assume you got the kids off yesterday. How do you think they'll like Disney World?" Jane asked when Shelley sat down.

“They'll like it fine. It's the principal who's hating it. He tried to tell me the only excused absences were for family trips, and I told him they were with family, my sister's family. Silly man started carrying on about the sanctity of the school day—"

“He didn't!"

“Well, not in those terms, exactly, but it was pretty haughty stuff, so I made him look up their grades and he settled down a little.”

Brilliant students, Shelley's kids brought home report cards that made Jane's mouth water.

“So when do they come back?"

“Not till Sunday night, but I've got to go to the airport today. To think, when we bought this house I knew how far it was from O'Hare, and I didn't think that would matter! What a fool."

“If the children aren't coming home, why are you going clear out there?"

“My mother's going to Hawaii, and she beat some poor, downtrodden travel agent into scheduling flights so she'd have two hours stopover for lunch with me and another two hours for dinner with my brother Fred in Los Angeles. Here, eat this instead of the cookies," she ordered, taking a bowl of tapioca out of the refrigerator.

“Yuck!"

“I've got to get the middle shelf cleared so everybody can put their food for the potluck in while I'm gone. I'm really irritated about the Happy Helper people sending this woman. I hate leaving someone I don't know a thing about in the house when I can't be here."

“You don't know Edith either. You've only had her clean for you once before, haven't you?"

“Yes, but I know of her from the other people around here she's been with for ages. Actually, I'd be glad to try someone else if I didn't have to leave the house. I wasn't all that impressed with the wonderful Edith. I know everybody raves about her, but I didn't think she was so great. She smudged up more windows and mirrors than she cleaned, and I know for a fact she didn't even touch the kids' bathroom."