Five

jane dropped Shelley and Ms. Bunting at one of the entrances to the mall, then parked, as she always did, as far away as she could so that nobody was near enough to her car to ding it. In her eagerness to rejoin her friends, Jane trotted back to the entrance, arriving breathless and a bit sweaty.

"We've found something you'll like," Shelley told Ms. Bunting. "Would you like to come up the escalator with us to fetch it, or would you rather take a table and save it for us in our favorite restaurant? The restaurant is much closer. And you could order our drinks while we're gone."

"The second option sounds best to me. I'm absolutely parched," the older woman admitted. "I wasn't expecting all this heat."

They made sure they settled her by a window, and headed upstairs to buy the jewelry container for her flosses. Shelley slapped down a credit card and they rushed back down to the ground floor as soon as the clerk produced the receipt.

Ms. Bunting was already settled in, with a bottle of white wine for herself and Shelley, and the rose-flavored iced tea that Jane had requested.

Shelley reached into the department store bag and brought out the jewelry container, which was almost identical to the ones she and Jane had.

"Oh!" Ms. Bunting exclaimed. "How dear of you pretty girls to get this. You must let me reimburse you."

"No, it's a gift. We're all too hungry to mess around with money right now," Shelley proclaimed. "Besides, Jane and I wanted you to have it as a gift."

"Then I'll pay for our lunch," Ms. Bunting said.

"Let's just be nuisances and ask for separate checks and you and Shelley can split the cost of the wine," Jane suggested.

They all agreed that this was fair. They studied the extensive menu and all chose different salads and entrées to share around.