Tonight she would cook for him. Oh, he wasn't subtracting anything off of the rent for her kitchen labors, but he'd once said he loved meatballs and gravy, and Swedish meatballs was her dish – and it would be good having a man praise her cooking again. It had been so long… so darned long since she'd had anything to look forward to.

Margaret had cleared the gravy-smeared plates and run warm water from the dripping faucet to rinse them off before the cock-roaches decided it was time for a meal and came lurking out of the woodwork in silent armies. In the living room off the kitchen, she could hear the television set's scratchy roar; it sounded like a baseball game. Suddenly she remembered the world series season was upon fans everywhere; Sandor had always watched it, too, sitting in his favorite overstuffed chair, nursing a can of cold beer. The remembrance brought a smile to her lipsticked lips. Running a dishpan full of hot water, she set the dirty dishes in to soak and walked into the screen-lit room to sit beside Roger.

Roger smiled down at the blonde woman beside him and slipped his arm around her, never taking his eyes off the television set. Somehow it all seemed comfortable, and Margaret felt no guilt at this man showing a gesture of absent-minded affection toward her. She basked contentedly, sitting back on the aging springs of the sofa, and pulled a hand crocheted afghan over her knees that had been folded and thrown over the back. Her full stomach and after dinner glass of wine suddenly made her feel drowsy and she took the silent liberty of resting her head on Roger's shoulder.