The security that she had worked for so diligently, the years of teaching, none of it was to be wasted away for some brief moment of weakness. Over and over again, she told herself there would be time for personal pleasures when her children were educated and grown to adults, able to stand on their own, and when they were home from private school, and now college for Sheri, she was constantly worried that she wouldn't have enough time to spend with them.

Turning off the street to the long driveway that led to the house, Donna slowed down, then finally stopped the car. She shut off the engine and sat quite still for several minutes, realizing that she had been day-dreaming, driving automatically. Of late, when her thoughts had dwelt for too long on the opposite sex, she discovered that a warm moisture quite unexpectedly dampened the narrow crotchband of her panties, and as she got out of the car, she found that such was the case now. Self-consciously she walked up the path, her mind in search of the cause for the effect between her thighs. This state of affairs-her reminiscings of her long departed husband, her son, and her daughter's unseen, undescribed boyfriend-perplexed her, but when she finally had the front door open, the insistent ring of the telephone brought her back to reality.

"Hello?"

"Mom?"

"Yes, dear."

"You okay? You sound sort of funny."

"I… I'm fine. Just a little tired. I was finishing up some paper work at school and I just got home."

"Are you sure?"

"Sure."

"Okay. Everything's set here. Kevin will be here any minute. He's going to spend the night here at the apartment, and we'll be leaving about noon tomorrow. We'll meet you at the Ahwahnee as planned. Okay?"

There was no answer for a minute.

"Mom?"

"… Sheri… There's something I want to talk to you about."