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won’t.” She led them out. When they reached the breakfast table, they discovered Mrs. Feinberg was gone. Teddy hesitated.
    “Shouldn’t we talk to her and let her know of our intention to buy her home?” he asked.
    “Mrs. Feinberg hasn’t been feeling well these days, with the way her life has been jolted, her being pregnant and all. I’m sure you can appreciate the emotional strain,” she said to Kristin, who nodded. “Anyway,” Michele added, “Mrs. Feinberg has every expectation
    that you will buy the house.” She followed with a thin laugh. “Can you blame her?”
    “I can’t help having mixed feelings,” Kristin said gazing around again. “It’s too good to be true and yet . . . that poor, poor woman.”
    “Occasionally, Kristin, home buyers do come upon a bargain. You’re just lucky you
    arrived first,” Michele said.
    “I suppose,” Kristin said.
    Teddy took her hand while Jennifer clung to his other. Then they followed Michele out.
    At the real estate office, they signed all the necessary documents and Teddy wrote out the deposit check. Michele took down all the information she felt was pertinent for the directors of Emerald Lakes.
    “The committee will review all this before the interview,” Michele said.
    “Interview?” Kristin asked. She looked at Teddy who shrugged.
    “Oh. Didn’t I mention that? The board’s new residents committee interviews prospective buyers. They used to rely on a private detective, but found this more palatable. Can I schedule you for this coming Tuesday about ten o’clock? I’d like to move everything along as quickly as possible,” she added.
    Teddy looked at Kristin.
    “I guess that’s fine,” he said. “Where?”
    “Right here in our conference room,” she said. “I’ll go ahead and set it up.”
    Kristin and Teddy had plenty of time for the trip back to Long Island and they were able to stop at a nice restaurant for a relaxing dinner. Neither of them could stop talking about their house and the development. Only Jennifer held on to her reluctance. It made Teddy think.
    “We really didn’t look around enough,” he remarked. “We didn’t even see the entire
    complex, the whole lake . . . the dock. I took longer to buy a dehumidifier last year. But we would have been crazy to pass it up.”
    “I know. Life’s funny. Someone’s misfortune becomes someone else’s good luck.”
    “What’s mis . . . mis?”
    “Bad luck, honey,” Kristin explained.
    “The old yin-yang,” Teddy said. He reached across the table to take Kristin’s hand. “But if you feel that bad about it . . .”
    “I can’t help this ambivalence about the house, Teddy. But I’m sure I’ll get over it,” she said quickly.
    “Why do you have to get over it, Mommy?” Jennifer asked.
    They laughed.
    “Don’t forget,” Teddy warned. “We still have to pass inspection.”

    * * *
When they returned on the following Tuesday, they couldn’t help being nervous.
    “It’s like we’re auditioning,” Kristin commented. She had deliberately chosen one of her more conservative dresses. Teddy wore a tie and jacket, and they had bought Jennifer a new outfit. “Don’t we look like Mr. and Mrs. Middle-Class America?” she quipped.
    “That’s who we are, honey,” Teddy said smiling. “And I’m not ashamed of it.”
    Michele greeted them at the office and led them into the conference room where Philip Slater, Nikki Stanley, and Sid Levine waited.
    “Morning,” Philip Slater said, standing and extending his hand. “I’m Philip Slater and this is Nikki Stanley and Sid Levine, two members of our homeowners board of trustees.”
    Teddy shook his hand.
    “Teddy Morris. My wife, Kristin, and daughter, Jennifer.”
    Kristin shook Philip Slater’s hand. He looked younger than she had envisioned, although he was a man with a strong, hard look that reminded her of chiseled granite. He gazed at her with piercing dark eyes that under different circumstances might very