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.She had also become a lot more vocal about her opinions.Rick Gladstone was getting the full force of Sandra the Real Estate Agent’s opinions, and he was clearly not enjoying the process.“You want me to sell this house, don’t you? I mean, that is why you hired Whitlock Estates, right? You said Martha Tepper told you to ‘spruce it up’ and sell it, and that’s what you told us to do.So let us do our job.”“But the expense,” Rick said.His silky voice was gone for the moment, and he just sounded whiny.“This is going to cost us a fortune in labor and storage fees.And now you tell me you don’t want the furniture moved back in when the renovations are complete?”Sandra shook her head firmly.“Damn straight.”I slid back into the hallway, out of sight of the kitchen, and bit my lip.I couldn’t remember ever hearing my mother curse, not once.But this was Sandra the Real Estate Agent, not my mother.I peeked back around the corner.In her ever-present stilettos, my mother was nearly as tall as Gladstone, and her stiff posture made her appear taller.The two of them stood only a few feet apart, though Mom had clearly established a no-man’s-land between them.Rick Gladstone, however, wasn’t backing down.“Ms.Neverall.” He leaned toward her and controlled the whine, dropping his voice to the silky tone I had heard before.“Sandy—”For a split second, I really thought Mom might actually deck him.She looked that angry.“Don’t call me that,” she said.Her voice was low and cold.“No one calls me that, even my late husband.God rest his soul.”“But I thought, that is.” Rick Gladstone tried to cover his confusion with an engaging grin, but it didn’t melt Sandra Neverall.I could have told him that.“Isn’t that what Greg calls you?”“What Mr.Whitlock calls me and what you call me are two very different things, Mr.Gladstone.Gregory”—she stressed the name, clearly implying that no one called him Greg any more than they called her Sandy—“is an old and dear friend, and I tolerate it from him.Anything more is none of your business.”Rick Gladstone finally caught a clue, and backed away a step.“I meant no offense, Ms.Neverall.Please accept my apology.I just thought, since we’re working together, we might be friends.”He offered the grin again and Sandra thawed about two degrees, from Ice Queen to chilly.It wasn’t a vast improvement.“But seriously,” he pressed on.“We could put the furniture back in the house.Make it look like someone actually lives here.More homey.”“We most certainly cannot.I know you want to save the cost of the storage, but frankly, I can’t get top dollar for this place with the outdated furniture crowded into these rooms.The place is small to begin with, and with oversized old furniture stuffed into every room.” She shook her head.“It would never sell.”She glanced toward the dining room.“It must be family heirlooms.I can’t imagine why she didn’t take any of it with her.”Rick hesitated, and I thought for a minute he wasn’t going to respond.Finally he said, “She’s staying in temporary quarters.No sense in moving everything twice.”He stopped as though he realized he’d almost opened the door on the argument again.“Well.” He shrugged.“I suppose we can store it for a while.”“Trust me, Mr.Gladstone.This is my job.It’s what I do, and I’m good at it.I can get top dollar for this place, but only if you let me do things my way.”Gladstone’s expression was glum, but he managed to control his disappointment and forced a tight smile.“Of course, Ms.Neverall.You are the expert, after all.”Sandra nodded and smiled at him, the kind of indulgent smile that one might give recalcitrant children when they admit the error of their ways.It was an expression I had seen often.“Thank you, Mr.Gladstone,” she said sweetly.“Now, if you’ll excuse me? I’m sure you want to get back to supervising the packing, anyway.”She turned away, then turned back.“By the way, do you have that forwarding address for Miss Tepper? I would love to send her some flowers to brighten up her ‘tempo rary quarters.’ ”Gladstone patted the pockets of his jacket, and peered in the breast pocket of his shirt.He held up his hands and shrugged his shoulders.“It’s here somewhere.I’ll call you with it when I get back to the office.”I ducked back and sped down the hall to the bathroom.I didn’t want my mother to know I had heard her exchange with Gladstone.Besides, I wasn’t sure what the disagreement really meant, and I wanted time to think about it before I talked to her.She found me, of course, her heels tapping through the house.The sound was muffled by the low hum of conversation among the movers, but I heard her approaching and quickly ducked under the bathroom sink.I didn’t have anything to actually do under the sink, but it was the safest place to hide.I could always pretend I was working, and she wouldn’t know any better.“Georgiana?” Her voice carried down the hall.“Where are you, dear? I saw your car outside.”The tapping stopped, and I could see her latest acquisition at the door to the bathroom.Not Jimmy Choos, thank heavens, but close.A three-figure price tag instead of four.Even Sandra had her limits.“Hi, Mom,” I called from under the sink.I rattled a wrench and faked a little grunt of effort.“What’s up?”I wasn’t sure what else to say, so I opted for nothing.It seemed the safest thing to do.“Just checking on the progress here,” she answered.“I had expected the house to be empty before now.” She sighed.“But at least it’s getting done.Now maybe we can get this place ready to sell.”“Well, that’s good.” I hesitated, but there was something I needed to ask her.“By the way, when you stopped by the other night, what was it you wanted?”There was an awkward pause, and I wondered if she was going to answer my question.I saw her heels shuffle slightly, as though she was nervous.“I just.” She coughed lightly.“Must be the smoke,” she said.“Never could tolerate smoke
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