“She just wants to show off her house, I guess. And yes, we have to go. We can't leave the others unprotected," Cecily explained.

“I tried to wriggle out," Shelley put in. "Missy nearly slapped me. She said if she had to go, we all had to."

“Besides, I'm curious to see how she lives," Cecily said. "It'll probably give me stories to dine out on for weeks."

“But why would anyone go? You should have all refused," Jim insisted. He was a lifelong bachelor, and the ways of women never stopped surprising him.

“If we'd had any warning, I imagine we would have," Cecily said. "But, Jim, I've been to dinners where I was expected to eat eels—and act as though I like them. If I can survive that, dinner with Mrs. Pryce ought to be a piece of cake. Now, Katie, let's go sit in the living room and plan our shopping tomorrow. I want to take some notes on your closet.”

Shelley told everyone good night and took off. Jane opened the refrigerator door, wondering if she had the necessary ingredients for quiche. She was hard-pressed to remember what went into a quiche. It was just a custard without the sugar, wasn't it? As she was standing and staring stupidly into the white box, Uncle Jim came over and put his arm around her. "Janey, what's wrong? You aren't acting like yourself.”

She shut the refrigerator door and hugged him hard. "I'm fine, Uncle Jim. Really fine. And the garage door works beautifully. Thanks for fixing it. I kept hoping something truly terrible would happen to it and I could persuade the insurance company to pay for fixing it."

“I don't think you should be taking this class. It's making you unhappy," he said to the top of her head.

“No, it's really not. I'm not unhappy. I've just got something on my mind."

“Anything I can help with?"

“No, it's nothing bad. In fact, it's kind of exciting and nice. Let's take a couple beers out on the patio."