Mac bounded downstairs to the housekeeping department. The smell of laundry detergent and the whir of washing machines and dryers greeted him as he made his way to Ethel’s office at the end of the long hallway.

She was just as he remembered her—wiry build, wrinkled face, a row of studs lining one ear and dyed red hair that looked like it had been shocked into standing straight up. Mac and his brothers used to speculate endlessly about her sexuality. Grant was convinced she was a lesbian, but Adam swore he once saw her making out with a guy on the town beach. That comment had brought about much moaning, groaning and eye scrubbing.

Ethel lumbered to her feet to greet him with a fierce hug. As always, she reeked of cigarette smoke and cheap perfume. “Aren’t you a sight for sore eyes?” she asked in that raspy smoker’s voice that Evan imitated so well.

“How are ya, Ethel?”

“Oh, you know, arthritic and constipated. Nothing new.”

Mac winced at the information overload. Grant would howl when he heard that one.

“What brings you down to the bowels?”

Interesting choice of words, he thought, suppressing an inappropriate chuckle. “I’m filling in for Maddie Chester today.” Over Ethel’s shoulder, he spied the time clock. “I need to punch in on her card.”

Ethel stared at him as if he’d lost his mind. “You can’t be serious.”

“Sure am. I knocked her off her bike by accident yesterday. She’s banged up pretty bad and can’t work. All she’s worried about is losing her job, so I told her I’d cover for her until she can get back to it.”

“But, you. . . You can’t! Your people own this place. What will folks say?”

“What do I care?”

“Your mother will care.”

“That’s her problem.” Mac stepped around Ethel, found Maddie’s timecard and punched in. “Now, where am I supposed to be?”

They engaged in a visual standoff, but Mac refused to blink.

Finally, Ethel said, “I’ll need to shift some things around.”

“Whatever Maddie normally does is fine. No special treatment.”

Mac couldn’t believe that Ethel actually looked guilty and wondered what that was all about. He joined the other housekeepers, who were filling gigantic baskets in a crowded stockroom. He met Betty, Sylvia, Patty, Sarah, Maude and Daisy, all of whom were wearing yellow dresses and white aprons. Maddie would look some kind of sexy in that getup, he thought before pushing the image aside and focusing on the filling of the baskets. Mac wondered how some of them managed to carry the heavy load up three flights of stairs. He wondered how Maddie did it.

Ethel handed out room assignment sheets to the women and Mac. As he scanned the long list, it suddenly occurred to him that this was not going to be as easy as he’d thought.

“This is Mac,” Ethel said begrudgingly. He noted she didn’t mention his last name, which was just as well. “He’s filling in for Maddie, who’ll be out a couple days.”