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dime.”
    â€œNot fair,” Renie pointed out, “but what is? Did Herself mention if Billy has a job?”
    â€œThe only job he ever had was playing baseball,” Judith said, going to the front door, where a taxi had just pulled up. “He wasn’t very good at it and never made it past the minors, where he played for the Nowata Flycatchers, a team Potsy owned in Oklahoma. Billy’s fielding wasn’t very good, which is how he got the nickname ‘Blunder’ Buss. Hey, I’ve got guests arriving. Talk to you later.”
    Judith went out to the porch to greet a young couple fromBritish Columbia. By six-thirty, Hillside Manor’s guest rooms were all occupied. The social hour was in full swing, with appetizers of fresh vegetables, three kinds of dip, mini-bagels with lox, cream cheese, red onion, and capers, as well as the usual choices of sherry, lemonade, and sodas.
    The day ended on a quiet note. After Joe’s initial shock at the news that Vivian had returned, he wavered back and forth about whether he should go see his ex-wife.
    â€œDamned if you do,” Judith said, as she and Joe got ready for bed, “and damned if you don’t. For all I know, she passed out after she finally got home.”
    Joe agreed. “She’s not going anywhere for a while.” His tone was rueful. “Unfortunately.”
    â€œShe hasn’t changed except that she must be really rich,” Judith mused. “You’d think she’d want to move to a bigger house. That bungalow is hardly the style of a wealthy widow.”
    â€œYou’re just hoping she feels that way,” Joe said, putting an arm around Judith’s waist after they’d gotten under the covers. “Like it or not, I should go over there tomorrow and make a courtesy call.”
    â€œThat,” Judith pointed out, snuggling closer to her husband, “doesn’t sound like you.”
    â€œWhat I really mean,” Joe said, pausing to yawn, “is that I’d like to kick her butt from here to Florida for being a lousy mother. I can’t believe she didn’t know that Caitlin got married. That’s a new low, even for Herself.”
    â€œAfter all these years living abroad, Caitlin must be used to being neglected,” Judith said. “She’s carved out a very nice life, given the poor example set by her mother. I’ve always insisted she takes after you, not Herself.” She paused. “Do you ever wish you could see her more often?”
    â€œCaitlin?” Joe yawned again. “Oh, sure, but given the crappy state of the marriage she grew up in, I figure she wanted to putall that behind her, maybe even me. It was no picnic for Caitlin. Most of the time Vivian’s daughter Terri lived with her dad, husband number one. But the two half-brothers Vivian had by her other husbands were a real piece of work. I’m surprised they didn’t end up in jail.”
    â€œHow do you know they didn’t?”
    â€œI don’t,” Joe replied. “And I don’t want to. They never liked me, and the feeling was mutual. The word discipline wasn’t part of their vocabulary.”
    â€œDo you suppose they know that Herself is stinking rich?”
    â€œI don’t even know if they’re still alive,” Joe said in a drowsy voice. “They were headed for trouble from the day they were born.”
    A sudden, unsettling thought came to Judith, but she didn’t give it voice. Instead, she silently hoped that Vivian’s sons weren’t headed for Hillside Manor.

3
    I n the weeks that followed, Judith mercifully saw little of Vivian Flynn Buss. Her nemesis had called on Gertrude at least twice, but never stopped to see Judith—or Joe. The summer was flying by, with Judith caught up in the busy tourist season and Joe working on a couple of private investigations for corporate clients seeking deep background checks on prospective