When the mothers reached their table, Michelle was the first to jump to her feet. “That was amazing, Mother,” she said, giving Delores a little hug. “I’ve never heard anything like it.”

Hannah stifled a chortle. Michelle had come up with a wonderful way of saying something that sounded like a compliment. And since she’d given Delores a hug, she was obviously trying to get back into their mother’s good graces.

“What did you think, dear?” Delores turned to Hannah.

“We all agreed that you and Carrie were in perfect harmony,” Hannah said, stealing Norman’s line.

“And you were in perfect step, too,” Andrea said, smiling at the mothers. “That must have taken some practice.”

“Five minutes in the ladies’ room,” Carrie admitted, turning to Norman. “What did you think, son?”

“It was quite a show,” Norman said, giving Carrie a kiss on the cheek. “All these years, and I never knew you could sing like that.”

Five minutes later, they were seated at a blue plastic booth in The Yum-Yum coffee shop, sipping mugs of coffee. Since the mothers needed caffeinated fortification for the trip back to Lake Eden and it was far too noisy to talk inside The Moosehead anyway, they’d all met at the small restaurant at the end of the block. Some last-minute arrangements had been made. Michelle would be driving Delores and Carrie home and staying the night with Delores. They’d only had two drinks at The Moosehead, but Michelle had offered and Delores and Carrie had accepted. Hannah was glad. It was a sign that forgiveness was right around the corner for Michelle’s untimely age-related remarks.

“Before I forget,” Delores said, turning to Hannah, “we found out why Ronni quit her job.”

“Except that she didn’t really quit,” Carrie added. “She was fired for skimming.”

Delores nodded. “She totaled her customers’ bar tabs early, took their credit cards, and rang them up. And then, when they wanted another round of drinks, she asked them to pay in cash and she slipped it in her apron with her tips.”

“How did she get caught?” Hannah asked.

“The bartender spotted her, the same bartender who was on tonight. The owner was giving him grief about coming up short. He knew he wasn’t giving away free drinks, so he kept an eye on the cocktail waitresses and caught Ronni in the act.”

“Ronni begged him not to turn her in,” Carrie took over the story. “She told him she needed more money so that she could quit her job at Heavenly Bodies. She said she was being stalked by someone when she was at work.”

“Stalked?” Hannah asked. “Did she get a look at the person stalking her?”

Delores shook her head. “No, but she told the bartender that she’d stopped using the Jacuzzi at night when she was alone. She said she was sure someone was spying on her in there.”