'Are you the one who almost filled that meter up?' 'I am.'
'That was generous. I've gotten two parking tickets here. It's a regular stop I have to make once a week. I'll do the same favor for someone else,' he said with a smile.
'Sort of like borrowing a cigarette from a stranger, knowing you'll do the same thing for some other stranger someday. It evens out,' Jane said.
'Exactly. Thanks again,' he said, departing on his errand. Jane drove off smiling.
Shelley said, 'That was a nice man. And you are a nice woman. In spite of driving at a turtle's pace.'
While Jane was driving them home, in her own sedate way to protect her Jeep, she said, 'If you want to wear black, why not try on that black skirt and jacket I bought. We're about the same size, and you don't have to buy something new.'
'I'd love buying something new,' Shelley said, 'but if it fits me, I'll take you up on the offer. Saves me a trip to the mall and trying on lots of clothes I'm not crazy about.'
The long black skirt and short, fitted jacket looked just as good, if not better, on Shelley than it had on Jane.
'We'll share it,'Jane said. 'What sort of blouse are you going to wear?'
'A gardenia-colored silk chemise,' Shelley said. As she was taking the outfit off, the phone rang.
It was Ted Jeffry. 'Jane, Mother has just been moved
to the nursing home. I know you wanted to send flowers
to the staff. Here is the address.'
'Wait a sec. I won't remember it if I don't write it down in my address book.'
He gave her the address and added, 'It's Suite 315. I know you said you wanted to send flowers to the staff that's forced to take care of her.'
'I just found a wonderful florist. He's making my bridal flowers. I'll call him right now. He gave me his card. And I'll keep sending arrangements every two weeks until — well, until she is gone.' Jane didn't want to say 'dead.' Not that she thought it would have deeply offended him.
'I'll visit again tomorrow late in the day and report on the flowers,' Ted said.
While Shelley was putting her clothes back on, she asked once again if Jane had remembered to ask Mel if they could see a copy of the notes Miss Welbourne had made for the last meeting they'd expected to attend.
Jane slapped her head. 'I think I asked him. And he probably forgot.' She paused for a moment. 'On the other hand, maybe I forgot to ask. I'll call him right after I call the florist.'
The florist they'd visited had given Jane his-business card, so she rang him up to place the order.
'My mother-in-law has had a stroke and been moved from the hospital to a nursing home and I want to send flowers to the nursing home.'
'What sort of flowers do you want?'
'I was thinking of fragrant lilies just coming into bud, and the same with roses. A bit of ferns, perhaps, to fill in.''I can do that today. What is the address and her name?'
Jane gave him the address and the suite number of the nursing home, added that she wanted the delivery to be to the staff taking care of her.
'That's a bit odd, Ms. Jeffry.'
'Not really. She's a nasty woman, and a full-fledged bigot. The people who will have to take care of her won't enjoy doing so.'
'I understand. My late mother-in-law was the same sort of woman. I'll have the flowers delivered today.'
'Let's make it an every two weeks renewal until she's no longer alive. Are you ready to take down my credit card number?'
Her next call was to Mel. 'Did I remember to ask you if you could share Miss Welbourne's notes about the next meeting with Shelley and me?'
'You did ask, and I forgot. Want me to fax them to you right now?'
Jane and Shelley read through the notes and found them fascinating. The theme was American Flying Tips. She said first, don't buy a black suitcase. Ninety percent of bags coming off a plane were black. Buy a brown or red or bright blue bag and make a pompom.
You could buy a pompom kit at a craft store with instructions. If you can't find one, find something the size of a paperback book.
Leave several long strings of yarn along the top of
the book, then wrap very lightly about forty times. Then pull the ends of yarn tight, and cut through the whole back half of wound yarn. Pull the yarns more tightly and double knot around the wad of yarn. Secure the pompom's long strings to the handle. Use bright colors of yarn; mix colors if you want to.
The next travel hints weren't about safety, but practical suggestions. Take ordinary wire, or better, plastic hangers, in a side pocket of the suitcase. Most hotels have hangers too small to hang over the shower rod, preventing you from hanging something wrinkled over the rod and running hot water to shake out the wrinkles.
If you have clothing along prone to wrinkling, wrap it lightly in plastic covers from the dry cleaners.
Then she went on to describe locking the suitcase. Get a couple locks with all the keys in the package the same. Every good hardware store has these. But don't lock the bag if you're checking it through. It's likely that if the airline wants to search your bag that they'll break the lock. Carry extra locks and keys inside the bag or in your carry-on or purse. That way if you leave your bag in a hotel room, you can lock the bag every time you leave the room. Cleaning staff aren't all honest people.
Before you go through the security gates, take off your shoes and use Purell on your feet and inside your shoes. Many people are going barefoot and some of them have athlete's foot. It's highly infectious. If you're checking through your luggage, put the bottle back inside it. You can't carry on gels. If you're not checking baggage, buya very small bottle of Purell and throw it away and buy another little bottle for your return trip.
Put your ID and boarding pass in your front pocket, so they are easy to show at check-in (if you are checking any luggage) and later when you go through the security gates. The rest of the trip, keep your schedule in your locked suitcase at the hotel.
If you feel you absolutely must take along a laptop computer, save all your e-mail and your tax information on discs. Homeland Security might seize the laptop to examine whom you've been e-mailing, how much money you make, business relationships. This should be illegal, but don't take the risk if you don't have to.
Also find a small local phone company instead of the big ones who are sharing information about whom you've called and who has called you. Almost every large city has a small local telephone exchange. Make sure your phone produces digital signals. And be aware that anybody can listen to what you're saying on a cell phone.
'I wish Miss Welbourne had lived to tell us this. It's all useful, practical information,' Shelley said.
'I had no idea that people could listen to you talk on a cell phone,'Jane remarked.
'I think I've heard that before. All you need is a certain kind of listening device. I can't think off the top of my head what it's called.'
'I'll be sure that my phones are all digital, whatever that means. And I'll be careful what I say on my cell phone from now on.'
