"Janey, darlin', your house smells so good. Did you get the computers I told you to?"

"Would I ask for advice and ignore it? Five o'clock and the food will be on the table."

Jim had Todd's computer ready to go and Jane's new one set up on her desk and running as she set the last part of the meal, the salad, on the dining room table.

"Mom, may I take my plate upstairs?" Todd asked.

Jane looked to Uncle Jim for approval. He nod-

ded and said, "But don't spill anything on the keyboard."

Todd, to Jane's relief, didn't make a face or mention that this warning was obvious.

"So what's this all about, Janey?" he said when Todd was gone.

She explained about Todd's amazing math score and the prime number deal. She didn't get into the teacher's suspicions. No reason to upset him. He'd have been even madder than Shelley had been.

"I'm glad you've done this for him. And for yourself. You've always been too damned stingy with yourself. I guess the Jeffry pharmacies are going well. I saw another new one on my way over."

"They're making money hand over fist. I almost feel guilty about my share of the money. I don't do any of the work."

"But that was the deal when you used that inheritance of yours to bail them out when they were about to go under, wasn't it? And the one good thing your husband did was to insist you'd get his third share forever as part of the deal."

"He didn't exactly mean to die and leave it to me," Jane said. "But I'm glad it was written that way. And it's finally allowed me to get the college funds set up and spend a bit on myself."

"It must break Thelma's heart," Jim said, rubbing his hands together. He'd harbored a strong dislike for Jane's mother-in-law for decades.

"I'm not so sure. Steve's brother Ted's wife, Dixie, still hasn't had the baby they so desperately want, and Thelma's crazy about grandchildren. Not so crazy about me, though. I think if I hadn't had the kids when Steve died, she'd have tried to contest the contract."