Up on Mrs. Fryt’s porch, she looked at the house across the street; she hadn’t seen it since Saturday, when she’d discovered that JJ was gone. She missed the refuge it had been, the escape it had provided from the empty routine of her everyday life.

She sighed, then squared her shoulders, raised her fist, and knocked on Mrs. Fryt’s door.

Dolly didn’t think she was imagining that Mrs. Fryt’s lips were pursed a bit tighter than usual when she came to the door. She didn’t even greet Dolly, just turned and went into the parlor. Dolly followed, conscious of the sweat forming under her arms. She was too nervous to listen to the ladies’ chatter as they got settled around the near-completed Wild Goose Chase quilt.

“Well, Dolly,” Mrs. Fryt said, when everyone had started stitching. “How are things at the Mickelson house? You’ve been there enough lately.”

“Fine! They’re just fine!”

“I brought JJ Mickelson some tomatoes on Friday,” Mrs. Fryt told the ladies.

“How nice,” Corinne said.

“He was out on the front porch. I could hardly believe how pleasant he was—though he didn’t invite me in. I even offered to help Dolly with the housework.”

“Why would you do that, Grandma?” Judy Wasserman snickered.

“Well, it didn’t matter, because he wouldn’t allow it. Still, though, I was almost pleasantly surprised by his politeness. But then, I hesitate to tell you what I saw Friday night!”

Dolly froze. She would have screamed, run out of the room, anything, had terror not stricken her dumb.

“What was it, Cecilia?”

“Well, I was upstairs most of the evening, working up the agenda for the Women’s Club meeting. It must have been about ten when I finished and turned out the light. I just happened to glance out the window, and I saw the most shocking thing!” She lowered her voice. “He had a woman with him. I could see their shadows through the window.”

“A woman!”

“Who could it have been?”

“They were in front of the stained-glass window on the landing, so I couldn’t see who she was. And what they were doing—I couldn’t watch for long. It was indecent.” Mrs. Fryt looked at Dolly. “The strangest thing of all is that now I haven’t seen any lights on for the last couple of nights.”

“It was his girlfriend from college!” Dolly blurted. “She came up on Friday and surprised him! She’s really pretty. About my height. They’d had a fight before, but she came to apologize, I think. I don’t know—I left when she got there. When I went back Saturday, he’d left a note saying he’d gone back with her. He asked me to look after the house.”

Mrs. Fryt was taken aback. “Well, I don’t know what kind of hussy girlfriend goes by herself to see a man, overnight!”