‘‘Up! Out!’’

‘‘You bet. Gotta pee?’’

‘‘Gotta pee,’’ Aubrey agreed and giggled when Grace lifted her out of the crib.

The toilet training was coming along, Grace decided, checking Aubrey’s overnight diaper as they headed into the bathroom. It had its hits and its misses.

Aubrey hit it this time, and Grace launched into the lavish praise over bodily functions that only a parent with a toddler could understand. Teeth and hair were brushed in the closet-size bathroom Grace had brightened up with mint-green walls and awning-striped curtains.

Then the breakfast routine began. Aubrey wanted cold cereal with bananas but no milk. She plopped her hand over the bowl when Grace started to pour it on, shaking her head vigorously. ‘‘No, Mama, no. Cup. Please.’’

‘‘Okay, milk in a cup.’’ Grace filled one, set it on the high-chair tray beside the bowl. ‘‘Eat up, now. We’ve got lots to do today.’’

‘‘Do what?’’

‘‘Let’s see.’’ Grace made herself a piece of toast while she went through the projected day. ‘‘We have to finish the laundry, then we promised Mrs. West we’d wash her windows today.’’

A three-hour job, Grace estimated.

‘‘Then we have to go to the market.’’

Aubrey gasped in pleasure. ‘‘Miss Lucy.’’

‘‘Yes, you’ll see Miss Lucy.’’ Lucy Wilson was one of Aubrey’s favorite people. The supermarket cashier always had a smile—and a lollipop—for Aubrey. ‘‘After we put the groceries away, we’re going to the Quinns’.’’

‘‘Seth!’’ Milk dribbled out of her grin.

‘‘Well, honey, I don’t know for certain that he’ll be there today. He may be out on the boat with Ethan, or over at his friends’ house.’’

‘‘Seth,’’ Aubrey said again, very definitely, and her mouth puckered up into a stubborn pout.

‘‘We’ll see.’’ Grace mopped up the spills.

‘‘Ethan.’’

‘‘Maybe.’’

‘‘Doggies.’’

‘‘Foolish, for sure.’’ She kissed the top of Aubrey’s head and gave herself the luxury of a second cup of coffee.

AT EIGHT-FIFTEEN GRACE was armed with a stack of newspapers and a spray bottle that contained a mix of vinegar and ammonia. Aubrey was entertaining herself on the grass with her Mattel See ’n Say. Every few seconds a cow mooed or a pig oinked. And Aubrey never failed to echo the sound.

By the time Aubrey had switched her affections to her building blocks, Grace had finished cleaning and polishing the outside of the windows on the front and side of the cottage and was right on schedule. She would have stayed on schedule if Mrs. West hadn’t come out with tall glasses of iced tea and a desire to chat.

‘‘I don’t know how to thank you for seeing to this for me, Grace.’’ Mrs. West, the grandmother of many, had brought Aubrey her drink in a bright plastic cup with ducks on the side.

‘‘I’m happy to do it, Mrs. West.’’