The House of Seven Mabels

to herself that she’d taken an instant dislike to the Sandra woman. She tried to analyze why that was. It wasn’t because the woman wasn’t attractive. She had other friends who weren’t beauties but had marvelous personalities.
    It wasn’t even that the woman had never heard of eBay, though she found that peculiar. Jane herself haunted eBay and had found replacements for all the chipped or cracked dishes of her grandmother’s set of good china.
    Was it the feminist angle that got under her skin? Jane would hate to think that was it. She considered herself a feminist. After all, she’d raised three children by herself after being widowed young, and they were turning out wonderfully. She’d done a good job without a husband. Thanks to having had a financial stake in her late husband’s family pharmacy, she’d learned to handle money well. When Mike left for college, she’d had to learn to do a lot of hard work around the house he’d formerly taken care of for her. She’d even gotten a ladder and replaced the stairway light fixture. That was a pretty independent thing to do, even if it scared her to death, perching in midair that way.
    That was what feminism meant to her. Being able to take good care of yourself and your children. So why did she feel that a couple of women renovating a house wasn’t right? She sensed that Shelley was a bit wary, too. That worried her.
    She was no closer to an answer when Katie came home from the movie.
    “Vegging out, I see. Your hair looks great. How are you going to keep it that way?“ Katie asked, sitting down next to the cats, scratching both their outstretched necks and wiping the fur off her hands onto her mother’s bedspread.
    “I probably can’t, but thanks. I went to the day spa you suggested. You should have warned me, however, how much a cut and color cost. Katie, let me tell you what Shelley and I did today and see what you think.“
    Jane outlined the scenario. The old Victorian house in such disrepair, what Bitsy and Sandra had said, the odd restaurant full of women and a few frightened men. The plan that she and Shelley would be in charge of the decorating. . “You?“ Katie laughed. “What do you know about that?“
    “Not a lot, but I could learn by taking this on.“
    “May I go along?“
    Jane was surprised. “Why would you want to?“
    Katie shrugged. “My room’s been exactly the same all my life.“
    “Yes. Messy,“ Jane said.
    “I’d love to look at paint chips and cool molding and a neat bed. One of those sleigh things. You know what they are?“
    “As it happens, I do,“ Jane said, half offended.
    “So what’s the question?“ Katie asked.
    “I’m reluctant and I can’t figure out why,“ Jane admitted.
    “What’s Mrs. Nowack think?“
    “She likes the idea better than I do, but she has some misgivings, too. To be perfectly honest, I don’t think either of us like the people we’d be working for.“
    Katie grinned. “Remember what you told me when I wanted to change classes because I couldn’t stand the way the algebra teacher was always blowing her nose revoltingly?“
    “That was different. She was the best algebra teacher in the whole school system. She’d won all sorts of awards.“
    “Maybe these women you don’t like have done that, too.“
    Jane crawled to the foot of the bed and gave Katie a big hug. “I’m so glad you’re growing up so well. Someday you’ll be telling me what to do—and God help me, I’ll probably listen.“
    “About time,“ Katie said, hugging back. “Just make sure you have an escape clause. Give it a shot, Mom. You might enjoy it.“

Four

    The next morning Jane and Shelley put on jeans and old boots and went to look at the house, as Bitsy had instructed them to do at lunch the day before. Shelley had never worn jeans except in her house or her own backyard and was outraged at having to go out in public in them.
    Jane, who practically lived in an assortment of faded and well-worn dungarees, as her grandmother had called them, said, “Get over it. We’re not going to display you to the public, just a bunch of workers.“
    Shelley insisted they park behind the big house so no one passing on the street would see her. That was impossible. The backyard, which was enormous and hedged in by old pines, was full of construction materials, Dumpsters with chutes going down to them from windows at the back, and boxes of tools.
    They had to back out and park on the street, like