Victoria nibbled on her thumbnail as she listened to her mother scrape together an excuse for a party. It was nice to be needed by her parents, but she knew that Katherine would be hell on wheels during a large event. Her mother loved her, but when it came to planning parties, her critical nature stole the limelight. She would inevitably find something wrong with the way Victoria held a fork, stood without an invisible stack of books on her head, or how much skin she showed. “Is this black tie?”

Katherine laughed. “Of course it is, silly. Mark your calendar for October 25th, 18:00, at the Drake Hotel.”

Victoria rolled her eyes as she wrote the word gala on her desk calendar. “And what comes after the reception? Will there be another thing?”

“We’re having brunch the next day, dear.”

Of course there was brunch. Uncle Jeffrey wouldn’t get off that easily. He and his wife would sit with her family to trot out memories of the old days while Victoria kept her elbows off the table. “So, we’re talking one night?”

“One night wouldn’t kill you, Victoria. Honestly, you act like teaching is the end-all, be-all of your existence. Just don’t assign the children homework over the weekend and you’ll be fine.”

After all these years, she had the idea that Victoria was a grade school marm. “I don’t just teach, ma’am,” she said. “I wish it was just teaching.”

Katherine breezed past her point. “Well, you can put it on hold for a little while.”

“I’m glad you think so.”

“And while you’re here, I’m going to introduce you to Linda’s boy,” her mother said in an excited voice.

“Who’s Linda?”

“You’ve met Linda; she’s another officer’s wife. Her son, Matthew, is a lawyer at some firm or another, here in the city.”

Victoria frowned. “Are you trying to set me up on a date?”

“If we’re lucky!” Katherine said. “His divorce just cleared.”

“I’m not interested,” she said, dropping her head to the desk’s surface.

“Don’t say what you’re not interested in until you’ve got all the answers, Victoria,” Katherine scolded. “If you want to talk about not having time, you’d better start with your ovaries, little lady. Thirty-four and single is the epitome of running out of time.”

She was going to get all of the greatest hits on this phone call. Katherine’s favorite being unwed and childless. “Mother...”

“Your gradebook isn’t going to keep you warm at night.”

“I will come to Chicago on one huge condition: Please do not pawn me off on a divorced lawyer.”

“Well it’s not as if you’ve got someone to bring. I don’t want you to be the lonesome single woman, all pitiful and bookish.”

“I’m sure it would reflect poorly on you,” Victoria said.