“Maybe he’s not so different after all,” commented Lucy. “Thanks for the tea and the information, but I’ve got to go. The kids will be coming home from school.”

“It’s just as well you’re leaving, Lucy. At four o’clock, we switch to sherry,” said Miss Tilley.

“You can’t imagine how decadent we can be,” Mrs. Miller twinkled from her chair. “Fortunately, I don’t drive anymore. Tom will pick me up and take me home.”

“In a wheelbarrow,” snorted Miss Tilley. “Lucy,” she advised, “be careful. Curiosity is a fine and wonderful thing, but it can also be dangerous. Remember Madame Curie.”

“I promise,” swore Lucy, smiling, “from now on I will avoid radioactive materials. ’Bye.”

Lucy caught up with the big yellow school bus on Red Top Road and followed it the rest of the way home. She put out a plate of cookies and glasses of milk for Toby and Elizabeth and sat with them at the big oak table.

Elizabeth was somewhat disgruntled; her best friend had played with someone else at recess. She consoled herself with a huge number of chocolate-chip cookies and then went off to play in peace by herself before Sara came home.

Toby only nibbled at his cookies, and Lucy instinctively asked him what was the matter.

“The Pinewood Derby is Sunday, Mom, and I haven’t even started on my car.”

“Well, you better get started.”

“I don’t know how.”

“Let’s look at it together.”

Toby brought the little box to the table and took out the block of wood that he had to turn into a car. Lucy turned it over in her hands.

“What style car do you want to make? Have you got any ideas?”

“I want it to look like a Corvette.”

Lucy smiled. “That’s pretty ambitious. How about making some sketches. Then Daddy can help you cut it out tonight.”

She ruffled his hair as he bent over the table, the pencil gripped tightly in his chubby hand. She smiled to see him concentrate so hard on his drawing, then went upstairs to change her clothes. It was time to get ready for work.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

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Lucy stared at the blank computer screen in front of her and hit the return key. The command bar on the top of the screen lit up, and she read, “Good evening, Lucy. Your rep number is 400L. Your total sales for tonight: $14.99.”

“I hate it when it’s slow,” she announced to no one in particular.

“Me too,” agreed Ruthie. “It’s always slow after Christmas, but I’ve never seen it this slow.”

“It’s depressing with everyone gone, but I can see why they made the layoffs,” admitted Lucy.