“Well, I don’t know about that, but I’ve been at this for a long time, so I know the ropes and am well known.”

“I tried to talk Nate into buying a house, but he said he’s not ready for that yet. This house is pretty big since he moved out.”

“Are you in your car?”

“Yep, left a bit early tonight. I’m going to work on one of my UFOs. It’s not one I can take to the meeting. I started to build a storage unit in the boathouse last summer, so I’ll see how far I can get.”

“You too? MJ is pushing like crazy to get hers done. I was going to work on mine but the guilts got me and I came up here to work.”

“Well, you know the old saying, all work and no play…”

“I know but these folks are so anxious to get this settled. Well, actually, both seller and buyer are. One is moving out of the area and the other moving in.”

“Good for you. Good talking with you, see you on Friday.”

“Yes, I’m looking forward to it. Thank you.” They clicked off and she stared at her cell phone. “I have a movie date.” She heard Sir Charles bark at the door. “Coming.” She slid open the screen door and Juno entered with tail straight in the air. “Oh, knock it off, your highness, you haven’t been waiting that long. Good boy, Sir Charles, I know, I know, supper time.” She poured water over his kibble and made him sit and wait until she told him it was okay. The cat sniffed her dish, glared at Roxie, and crouched down to eat her wet food. The kibble was always up on the dryer for her.

She should go back upstairs and finish that paperwork. Later. “Don’t you know we are supposed to be celebrating? I sold a house so I can buy your food, be grateful.” She poured herself another glass of iced tea and went out to sit on the deck again, this time with the newspaper to catch up on the news, as always starting with the comics. She used to do the crossword puzzle every day but that was in the morning and now she and MJ walked instead.

When she heard the garage door go up, she folded the paper and went in to set out serving spoons, plates, and napkins. They’d dish up their plates in here and eat out on the deck.

Loren held up the bags so Sir Charles couldn’t sniff them. “Here, please take these. I’ve got more to get out of the car.”

Roxie inhaled the yummy fragrance as she opened the containers and put in serving spoons.

“We put out a sale table today at the library so I picked up some for us. Here’s some of Louise Penny, and a couple of new mystery writers I thought you might like. After all, at twenty-five cents a book, we can’t exactly go wrong.”