Round Robin Read Online Free PDF Page A

worry about him cheating on her. But then the very thought was laughable. Cheat on Nancy and she’d make Lizzie Borden look like Miss Congeniality.
    “Let’s skip the whole thing then. I never called, okay?”
    “That I can manage.”
    “Can you recommend somebody else I can call?”
    “Rob, a cold snap like this, it’s God’s way of having heating contractors work around the clock. Everybody’s gonna be booked.”
    “Damnit, Charlie,” Robin said, “I can’t let my park die.”
    “Rob, all I can tell you is you got a little breathing space. The forecast I heard on my way to work this morning said it’s going to warm up again this afternoon and stay seasonable for a few days — before the next cold snap.”
    “So you think I’ll be all right?”
    “As long as you find somebody to fix your furnace in the next few days,” Charlie said.
     
    Robin got into work late, after the breakfast crowd had come and gone.
    Mimi said to her, “In my office.”
    Robin apologized. “I’m sorry. My heat went out last night and—”
    Mimi crooked her finger at Robin, not wanting to hear the details. When her door was closed, Mimi sat behind her desk and looked at Robin.
    “I spoke to your father last night,” she said.
    “What?”
    Robin suddenly felt as if she was back in grade school and had been summoned to the principal’s office. Her face turned red.
    “Don’t get upset. I knew him a long time before I ever met you. I wanted to get his opinion of an idea I had last night.”
    “What idea?” Robin asked uneasily.
    “This idea.”
    Mimi tossed a copy of that day’s classified section from the Trib on her desk. One ad was circled in red. Robin gave Mimi a look, then picked up the paper and read the ad aloud.
    “Wanted. Handyperson. Must be able to repair and maintain all mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems in fashionable Near North two-flat.” Robin gave Mimi a look before continuing. “In exchange will receive charming garden apartment rent free.”
    The ad listed Robin’s name and phone number, but not her address.
    “I got it inserted special, after deadline, because I got a friend over at the paper,” Mimi said. “It’ll run the next three days.”
    Robin’s face was a mask, an unsmiling mask.
    “You had no right to do this. Call your friend and pull the ad.”
    “You’re sure?” Mimi asked quietly.
    “Yes.”
    “Okay. Then I’ll have to give you this.”
    For one dizzying moment, Robin thought Mimi had handed her a severance check, but then she saw the amount was far too large for that. It was several thousand dollars. The amount clicked jarringly into place for Robin a second later.
    “This is all the money I’ve given you so far for the buyout,” Robin said.
    Mimi nodded.
    “Deal’s off,” she said.
    “Just because I was late one day?” Robin couldn’t comprehend it. “This is a joke, right?”
    Mimi shook her head.
    “Robin, sweetheart, if I could afford it, I’d give you this place when I go. But I can’t afford it. I’ve got to have a buyer. If you need to fix up your house, and you won’t take help from your father, you won’t take help from your sister, you won’t take help from me, then you need that money.”
    Mimi inclined her pink-haired head toward the check in Robin’s hands.
    “What else are you going to do? I’d still like you to work here, of course. But if you can’t, I’ll have to understand.”
    Mimi looked like she might cry.
    Robin didn’t know whether to cry or rage.
    “You cooked this up with my dad,” she hissed.
    “We talked, honey. I told him what I had in mind. He said he didn’t think it would work, that you’d already turned down help from him and Nancy, but I should take my shot.”
    “I won’t have a man in my house,” Robin said flatly.
    “It could be a woman. Someone good with her hands. The ad says handy person.”
    Robin glowered.
    “It might do you some good to have company for a change.”
    “I don’t want