mother. âMom?â
Christine looked at Meg, who clasped her hands in an attitude of intense supplication. âAll right,â she sighed. âIâll call the league commissioner tomorrow and find out when we can get the field.â She aimed a forefinger at Jane. âYou call the kids. You call the kids every time they have to be called. All season. Deal?â
âDeal!â said Jane. She and Meg slapped hands across the table.
âWell, you all work out the details,â said Dan, pushing back his chair. âIâve got to get the rest of the floor down in the Bensonsâ addition. Iâll be back late.â
âAgain?â asked Christine, looking stricken. âBut, honey ⦠again?â
âI know. Sorry. There just isnât anything I can do except do it.â He smiled at Meg. âItâs been a pleasure meeting you. I hope weâll see you often.â
After dinner, Christine and Meg sat in the living room with coffee while Jane and Teddy washed the dishes. A small black cat jumped onto the couch and pushed his head against Megâs hand.
âThatâs Charlie,â said Christine. âJust give him a shove if heâs annoying.â
The cat rumbled contentedly as Meg scratched him. âYou lean toward burly pets, donât you?â she asked. âWarren G. is a major hunk of dog and this fellow looks like heâs on kitty steroids.â
âAinât none of us dainty,â replied Christine. âBut maybe Mrs. Ehrlich had him lifting weights; I donât know. We kind of inherited him when she died.â
âThe lady with the great garden?â
âUh-huh. She had one of the most detailed wills in the history of the county. âAnd to Christine Ruschman, my neighbor to the east, I leave all of my kitchen and table linens, both those in the top drawer in the pantry and those in the large oak trunk with the flat top in the attic,â but it made no mention of Charlie.â
âSo thatâs where you came by your tablecloth. I wondered. Those old flowered ones from the thirties are getting hard to find.â
Christine nodded. âTell me about it. I am now, however, happily awash in them.â
Meg regarded the cat, who had been overtaken by the need to remove some invisible impurity from his haunch. He sat splay-legged, bracing himself while twisting around to clean it off. âHeâs really a chunk.â
âHe was still a tom when he came meowing to Hannahâs back door, so thatâs probably why heâs such a muscle-bound guy.â
âWell, she ruined his night life,â said Meg, âIâm glad to see.â
âIt was probably a relief to him,â replied Christine, an odd look passing briefly over her face. âHey, girl, just where do you get off roping me into co-managing a baseball team? I canât believe your nerve. Iâve got nothing else to do?â
âAw, donât be a poot,â said Meg. âYouâve got all that experience as the dreaded Mrs. Ruschman just going to waste. Iâll need somebody to scare the kids and keep order, so I can concentrate on being the one they like. Besides, Jane needs to play. Itâs one of the most important things she can do. Whatâs she going to say ten years from now? âMy mother never had time for me, so I couldnât do any of the things I really liked. But I didnât care, because our house was so clean!â ?â
Christine laughed. âI said Iâd do it. But I intend to hold it against you.â
âIâll bear up,â said Meg. âShe wants to play. And I want to coach. So if you donât like it, tough. Anybody married to the man youâre married to needs to feel some pain. Itâs only fair. Does he have any idea how good-looking he is?â
Christine smiled. âI donât know. I wonder sometimes. He is cute, isnât he?â
âOh,
Lightnin' Hopkins: His Life, Blues