“At least you don't have to have her around all the time, do you?"

“No, she's staying with Mel, of course. He'll bring her to the cookie party because I invited her. And Christmas Eve and Day because I've invited both of them. Other than that, I don't imagine I'll see much of her," Jane said. "Of course, I won't see much of him, either, but since I've gotten myself stuck with all this entertaining, I guess that would have been inevitable anyway."

“Jane, I think you're making too much of all this. All you have to do is make the extra cookies and clean up your house—"

“Both of which are significant hurdles, in case you hadn't noticed.”

Shelley glanced around. "The house does have a hint of nuclear holocaust about it. Butyou can manage. And I'll help with the buffet. Paul might even help us get a good deal with caterers.”

Shelley's husband Paul owned a chain of Greek fast-food restaurants. They were enormously successful and neither Jane nor Shelley had ever been able to figure out why. They were in agreement that the food served in the restaurants was inedible. Paul even admitted it but said his policy was "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

“Not Greek," Shelley assured Jane. "But he's subcontracted for a lot of caterers."

“Would you trust a caterer who subcontracted for his food?" Jane asked.

Shelley thought for a minute. "You've got a point. All right, then. We'll do a couple presliced hams, a bunch of scalloped potatoes from a boxed mix with some decent cheese and some green and red peppers added, and we'll tell everyone to bring either a salad or a dessert.”

Jane sighed again. "Shelley, you're a good woman. Now tell me what gifts to get my kids."

“You haven't done your shopping yet?" Shelley almost yelled.

“I know. I know. You had yours finished in August.”

Shelley didn't deny it. "It's too late to even count on catalogs. Sorry, Jane, but you're on your own there. Gift certificates are nice," she added wryly.