“I know. I realize that all you need is hair from a hairbrush, or saliva on something, but I really don’t want to do something like that behind Jennifer’s back. It’s just not . . . honest.”

Hannah thought about the problem for a moment and then she sighed deeply. “You’re really in a jam, Loretta. I don’t see any way out of it. You can’t please both Carly and Jennifer.”

“I know that. And I also know that I can’t let this go on for too long without a resolution. It’s a bad situation, Hannah, and it’s getting worse with each passing day. The tension is growing and I don’t know how long I can stand it. When Carly told me about it last night, I didn’t sleep a wink. I love both of my daughters, and I just don’t know what to do.”

Loretta looked so depressed that Hannah’s heart went out to her. “Let me think about it for a day or two,” she said, even though she didn’t think it would do any good. “Maybe I can come up with something.”

After that, they sat and talked for a few minutes, and then Loretta got up to go back to work. And at that exact instant, Hannah had an idea. She believed everything Carly had told her. And she believed what Loretta had confided today. When you believed two people with conflicting views about a third person, perhaps you should meet that third person to sound her out for yourself. When you did that, you could make up your own mind about what you thought was the real truth of the situation.

“How late do you work today?” Hannah asked her.

“Until six. Then Trudi comes in to sell supplies for the seven o’clock embroidery class.”

“How about Carly? Is she working today?”

“Carly works Monday through Friday. Why do you want to know?”

“Because I’d like to talk to Jennifer and I’d prefer to talk to her when neither one of you are there. Would you call her and tell her I’d like to drop by this afternoon to meet her?”

Loretta looked nonplussed for a moment and then she nodded. “Of course. I’m sure she’d like to meet you, too.”

“I’ll take her some cookies as a welcome home present. Does she like chocolate?”

“She likes it, but it doesn’t like her. She’s the same with peanut butter. I baked peanut butter and chocolate chip cookies when she was a toddler. Jennifer ate one and the poor darling broke out in hives all over.”

“Oh, dear! Did you stop baking cookies for her?”

“No. I just tried my mother’s oatmeal-raisin cookie recipe and Jennifer adored those. I made a batch the night before she came home and they were gone in less than a day.”