It had to be You

I’ll supply you with gloves to protect your hands from shriveling up. And it requires two complete mop-ups to keep my painted area from getting slippery.“
    “I’ll keep that in mind,“ Lily said. “How often do the floors get cleaned?“
    “I like them to be done twice a day. But beggars can’t be choosers. Once is really sufficient unless something gets spilled. Usually Betty does one round first thing in the morning and Mattie does it late in the afternoon. Mattie’s the one who is home sick. You can take over in the afternoon for her.”
    Lily was thinking that she’d go through with it for the money. But mopping and dusting were a bit foreign to her. Cleaning was Mimi’s obsession. Miss Twibell would be better off with Mimi. But then Grace and Favor would suffer. And what if Mimi found the scope of cleaning at the nursing home gave her more pleasure and left Grace and Favor? How could they ever replace her?
    Lily put this thought aside and said, “If you’ll tell me where the smaller baskets are and where the dirty linens are, I’ll start right now.”
    Miss Twibell sighed happily and gave her directions. Then she said, “If you can’t find them, ask Betty. I really need to stay off my feet for a little longer.”

    Lily thought of “small“ baskets as handbaskets. Miss Twibell’s view of “small“ baskets was more generous. They were the size of suitcases without tops. The large baskets in the storeroom were almost the size of traveling trunks. Lily was exhausted by the end of the day. From now on, Robert could haul them up and down to the basement. The mopping was easier, though the smell of the soap was very strong. Still, as she contemplated walking home, she was proud of having done two-thirds of a day’s fairly hard work. The exercise would be good for her, she told herself.
    As she started out the front door, she realized that the house itself had been so warm that it seemed terribly cold outside. She wished even more that she’d worn her old sable coat. She went back inside and asked Miss Twibell’s permission to call Robert to pick her up. He was there in moments, having recovered from his trip, and jabbering a mile a minute the whole way home. He’d been glued to the radio all afternoon. “Lily, Roosevelt sure moves fast. Today he closed all the banks in the country. His first day in office and he’s already making changes.“
    “Robert, pull over for a minute and let me get one of those car blankets out of the backseat.”
    When she was bundled up and they were on their way again, she asked, “Is that a good idea? Closing banks?“
    “Of course it is. They’ve been going down like ninepins. Stronger banking regulations need to be drawn up.“
    “Can’t anyone get their money out? What if you needed to pay bills and you couldn’t?“ Lily asked.
    “The banks are allowed to make change, make loans for human and animal food, let safe-deposit boxes be opened, and accept payments due them. They can’t give out money. Everybody’s supposed to turn in any gold coins they have. They can get money that way.“
    “How many people do you know who have a pocket or handbag full of gold coins?“ Lily asked.
    “Not many ordinary people. But the rich have them.“
    “Right,“ Lily replied cynically. “Robert, drive a little bit faster. I’m freezing.“ She could hardly believe she’d said that. She was usually begging him to drive slower.
    Lily went to take a nice hot bath to get the smell of soap off her skin and out of her hair, then cornered Robert. “We need to talk about this job over breakfast.“
    “Okay,“ he said, preoccupied with fiddling with the radio in the library. He looked up suddenly. “They do have a radio there I can listen to, don’t they? That’s really all I need.“
    “There was one in the living room area,“ Lily said. “But nobody was listening. Maybe it doesn’t work.“
    “If it doesn’t and I can’t fix it, I’ll have to buy a small one to leave there.“
    “Mrs. Prinney has one, I think. Maybe she’d lend it to you,“ Lily said. “If not, you could hunt around in the basement. You’ve found lots of things down there.”
    Mimi came into the library to say that she was ready to put dinner on the table.

Chapter 4
    Monday, March 6

    As Lily and Robert were eating breakfast before going to the nursing home, Robert asked, “How many people does this Miss Twibell have as patients?“
    “Only four. She has an extra room for an