Sweet Fortune

last night?”
    Jessie made a face. “Not you too, Aunt Glenna.”
    “That bad, is it? I suppose Lilian and Constance have already grilled you?”
    “I'm afraid so. I'm trying to let everyone down easy.”
    Glenna studied her intently. “Then you're really not interested in Hatch?”
    “Oh, sure, I'm interested . But I could never marry the man, Aunt Glenna. He's too much like Dad. Beating one's head against a stone wall is damn hard work. It's taken me years just to put a few dents in Dad. I'm not about to start all over again with another workaholic.”
    “Is that how you see Sam Hatchard?” Glenna asked seriously. “As a man who is too much like your father?”
    “When it comes to his attitude toward work, yes. But that's not what I wanted to talk to you about.”
    “What did you want to talk about?”
    “I need to know something about the psychology of cults.”
    “Cults? Religious cults?”
    “Any kind of cult, I guess.” Jessie recalled Susan Attwood's long, rambling letter to her mother. It had contained very little hard information, just a lot of grand promises to save the world. “The particular cult I'm interested in appears to be telling its followers that there's an environmental catastrophe on the way and the members are the only ones who have a shot at finding the secret to survival.”
    “The principle behind most cults is a belief that only the chosen few will be saved,” Glenna mused. “The members see themselves as the only ones who are on the one true path. Everyone else will be damned. Jessie, for heaven's sake, tell me you haven't gone off the deep end this time. You're not seriously interested in joining a cult, are you?”
    Jessie grinned. “Gone off the deep end? Is that technical jargon?”
    Glenna sighed ruefully. “Hardly.”
    “Don't fret. I'm not about to join a cult. We all know I don't take orders well.”
    “That's true enough. And the people who tend to join cults are people who like clear-cut rules to follow. Rules make them feel safe. They are not required to think for themselves or to make decisions. You would be surprised at how many people will cheerfully give up those rights in exchange for rules. So what is this all about?”
    “Actually, I see this as a major career move for me.” Jessie hunched forward in her chair and began to tell her aunt about the new case.
    Ten minutes later Glenna Ringstead leaned back, looking resigned. “I suppose it won't do any good to advise you to drop this so-called ‘case’?”
    “I can't, Aunt Glenna. This is my big chance.”
    “That's what you said a year ago when you joined Exotic Catering,” Glenna reminded her.
    Jessie flushed. “How was I to know it was really an escort service? I thought I was actually going to learn how to run a gourmet catering operation. It could have been the opportunity of a lifetime.”
    “Oh, Jessie.” Glenna shook her head.
    “Look, Aunt Glenna, I'm really serious about this job. I like working with Mrs. Valentine. She feels I might have genuine talent or at least a healthy dose of intuition, which she says works just as well. I'd like to prove myself useful to the firm by helping her develop a larger clientele and expand her operations.”
    “Jessie, this is ridiculous. You can't go on hopping from one job to another for the rest of your life. Furthermore, your choice of careers is getting more and more bizarre.”
    “I've found my niche this time, Aunt Glenna. I'm sure of it.”
    “You're much too smart to believe in this psychic nonsense.”
    “I think Mrs. V really does have some psychic ability.”
    “Jessie, really.”
    “Maybe it's just intuition combined with a lot of common sense. Who knows? Whatever it is, she does have a certain talent, I'm sure of it. Aunt Glenna, I love this job. I want to make a go of it. What do you say? Will you give me a few pointers on the cult mentality?”
    “I can't believe I'm letting you drag me into this. This is definitely outside my field of expertise, you know.”
    “Hey. You're the only shrink in the family. I'll take what I can get. Oh, before I forget, how's David doing? Has he heard from any of the grad schools he applied to yet?”
    Glenna picked up a gold fountain pen and examined it closely. “He's been accepted into the Department of Philosophy at Parkington College. He got the word yesterday.”
    “He made it into Parkington? His first choice? Aunt Glenna, that's terrific .”
    “It's certainly what he seems to think