Mulch ado about nothing

drinks.
    “Nor did he seem to feel guilty when he told us. If he were guilty of something, he wouldn’t have blurted out that he sent the flowers.“
    “Unless he’d come up with an innocent explanation in the meantime. Why don’t you ever keep real Coke in here? I don’t like the diet version.“
    “I do keep it and I drink it all. I’m sure there’s at least one can left,“ Jane said.
    Just then the telephone rang. It was Mel, and Jane listened carefully for a long time before saying, “Thanks for letting us know. You didn’t tell him it was Shelley and me that ratted, did you?“
    “What! What?“ Shelley asked when Jane hung up
    “They’ve let Stefan go. He claimed effectively that he’d just written the note saying ‘you’re next’ because she was the most highly qualified teacher scheduled for the next week’s classes. He paid cash for the flowers because it wasn’t something he could claim on his job expenses. Mel said he seemed so sincere that no one could doubt him. But there was another connection he also blabbed about without even being asked. Apparently he had been one of Julie’s ‘escorts’ for her charity do’s last year. He thought at first she was inviting him to them because she liked him, but he claimed he soon realized it wasn’t romance she wanted, just a presentable man.“
    “Isn’t that a suspicious story? Maybe he was heartbroken when he realized.“
    “Mel said he admitted it freely and with no sign of emotional involvement.“
    “Mel must be pretty naive to buy that, or maybe Stefan’s a better actor than we could have guessed,“ Shelley said.
    “Now who’s being cynical and grumpy? You know Mel wouldn’t turn him loose and forget all about him if he wasn’t absolutely sure the guy was telling the truth. Mel’s job is to not believe anything he’s told until it’s confirmed. He said they took him down to the florist shop for the owner to identify him. And Stefan didn’t bat an eye.”
    Shelley shrugged. “Okay, okay. Stefan is very good-looking and I can see him dropping Julie when he realized he was just her boy toy. Other women have probably treated him the same way and he might have even been flattered, but got bored with the hoity-toity charity gang. I’ve been to my share of them with Paul and they’re pretty deadly.”
    Mike came in the house as she was saying this. “What’s deadly?“ he asked.
    “Me,“ Jane said.
    Before she could launch into a few remarks about mowing the grass, Mike said, “What are all those big boxes in your car, Mrs. Nowack?“
    “Your mother’s new gigantic television, a VCR, and a table to put it on.“
    “Morn! You sprung for all this in one day? Have you gotten an inheritance you didn’t tell us about? Some mysterious rich great-uncle you never told us about?“ Mike asked.
    “I just took it out of your inheritance,“ Jane said with a grin. “I deserve this stuff. I want to be a lady of leisure before it’s too late. Call Scott and get him to help you carry it upstairs, would you? And I really need the lawn mowed.“
    “That’s why I came home early. You knew I wouldn’t forget. I’ll even get Willard inside so he doesn’t bark me to death. By the way, I brought home a couple bags of nice little river rocks so we can put them in Willard’s path and make it look like it was a gardening choice.“
    “Mike, you are a wonder!“ his mother said. “So are you going to buy me my own television?“
    “No,“ Jane said succinctly.
    Mike looked as if he was slightly put out. Jane wondered if she’d seriously spoiled her kids by always putting them first and scrimping on her own needs. It must have been a surprise to him to find her spending money on herself for a change.
    But Mike did a terrific job with the yard, and the path almost looked like a good idea. To Jane, at least. Willard checked it out and decided it was a dangerous demarcation he didn’t dare cross. “He’ll cut a new path,“ Jane said dismally. “We’ll end up with concentric rings of paths in the grass.”
    Shelley was sitting down in the yard, examining the rocks. “This looks nice, Mike. Maybe later in the summer you can design a path for me with these rocks. “ She glanced at her watch and said, “I better go fetch the girls. I wonder what horror they learned to cook today.”
    Mel called while Scott, Mike’s best friend, and Mike were struggling to carry the television up the stairs. Jane almost didn’t answer the