The House of Seven Mabels

different,“ Shelley said with remarkably good cheer. “Make us that coffee before I need intravenous caffeine.“
    Jane got up and filled the coffeemaker, saying as she did so, “I see your point. Really I do. Our attempts to be wedding planners went up in flames. But we both need something to do now that we’re free of little children. The only thing we’re really good at is shopping. But I don’t think this is it.“
    What Jane really meant was that Shelley loved shopping for anything. Jane wasn’t half as enthusiastic, but had recently sprung for a few luxuries and enjoyed spending a little money on herself for a change.
    “It won’t hurt to let Bitsy pay for a very nice lunch before we decide that,“ Shelley said, drumming a perfectly manicured nail impatiently on the kitchen table.
    “I guess not,“ Jane said. “Decorators? Hmm.“
    “... and this lunch is at Michelle’s Bistro.“
    “Oh?“
    “Did I forget to tell you about it?“ Shelley asked. “A cousin of mine hosted a family party there a month ago, with all our aunts and the other woman cousins, and it’s divine. Tall food.“
    “Tall food?“ Jane said, watching for the instant the coffee could be served so Shelley would stop that irritating tapping on the table with her fingernails.
    “You know, that trendy stuff with an artful blob of sauce, a piece of fish or meat, and stuff piled on top of it in towers.“
    “Yeah, the kind of place you have to put on pantyhose and jewelry for,“ Jane said with a smile. “For a good free meal, I’ll listen nicely to anyone who has anything to say. And come home and think about it while I digest the food.“
    When the coffee was ready and Jane and Shelley had both knocked back a bit of it and sighed with satisfaction, Shelley said, “Now, Jane, there’s something else you need to know about this.“
    “Ah-hah! The Big Drawback! I knew there was one.“
    “I’m not sure it is, but here’s the deal. Bitsy’s fallen in with a somewhat rabid group of feminists. Suddenly she’s single, her kids are grown, she’s wallowing in money, and she starts a new life.“
    “No more cupcakes, huh?“
    Shelley ignored this comment. “So this renovation is sort of part of that.“
    “What does that mean? ‘Sort of?’ “ Jane asked.
    Shelley brushed back an errant bit of her bangs—nervously, Jane thought, because Shelley’s dark cap of hair was always neat and tidy.
    “It’s this way. She’s chosen a female contractor and mostly hiring women workers.“
    Jane looked at Shelley for a long moment, then said, “How’d she find these people? When was the last time you had a girly-girly plumber fix your drains?“
    “Now, Jane, don’t go sexist on me,“ Shelley objected. “What is there to plumbing that a woman couldn’t do if she wanted or needed to?“
    “That’s just it, Shelley. I never had the urge to investigate being a plumber even though I wield a mean plunger when I’m forced to. The difference between needing to become your own plumber at times and the desire to do it as a full-time job isn’t a concept I grasp. Yes, I’ve dealt with stuffed toys going down the drains, but when the sewer backs up in the basement during a flood, I call a man to fix it. Men don’t have much of a sense of smell. And I write the check.“
    “And it’s a substantial check, Jane. Why shouldn’t an able-bodied woman get the money?“
    “I don’t object to that happening,“ Jane said. “I’ve just never heard of a woman plumber.“
    “But Bitsy and her contractor have,“ Shelley said.
    “Okay, okay. For a really good lunch at someone else’s expense, I’ll go and listen to what she has to say. But I’ll have to borrow a pair of pantyhose. I ran my last ones while I was replacing the upstairs bathroom toilet seal ring,“ Jane joked.
    “Sure you did,“ Shelley said with a grin. “The only reason you know that a toilet has a seal ring is because you’re hung up on that do-it-yourself channel. I’ve caught you watching it three times now. I know you’re secretly interested in this.“
    “Secretly, maybe. Reluctantly, for sure.“

Two

    Michelle’s Bistro looked like a classy place to V Jane. Shelley’s highly successful businessman husband, who entertained a lot, probably wouldn’t have been as impressed. It was one of the few stand-alone buildings in a new upscale mall. It looked like something that should have been perched above the Mediterranean Sea in southern France,