" Why .. why of course, if you'd like. I thought that you didn't carefor that sort of thing." That was last year, when the other wives were giving me ...the coldshoulder." They came around, though, didn't they? You see? They only had to getused to the idea."~Yes, what a comforting thought.~ They'd come around, all right, and itburned me that Leonard could speak so casually of using the drug onthem."What are you coming as?" I asked."This year I would like to be a naval officer from around the turn. "As quickly as he could" meant a very long drive. There was no airport in Victoria Rock, and no train had arrived in its picturesque station for over fifty years. So, Jeremy was stuck motoring his way back home. Even breaking the speed limit as recklessly as he was, there was no way he'd get there today, which meant either a gamble on driving without sleep, or delaying his arrival by several more hours.Find a motel, a very sensible voice told him from the back of his head. Had he been paying. .. we have aircraft to move." Meatloaf tonight, Junior. Will you be staying?" Mashed Potatoes with a hole in the middle full of melted butter?" Yes, dear." Corn dodgers?" 'Mom makes the best corn dodgers ... really thick cornmeal mush with chunked chopped onions and creamed corn fried in real lard. Not what one would expect from a yankee ... but sooo good.' "Hot?" Yes, dear ... and buttered green peas and corn on the cob."'Yes ... I can always time it.' "I'm not homesick anymore, mom." Junior. It was a well-meaning but foolish question. I continued to groan and squirm but recovered enough muscle control to pull my torso up against a wall. ?What did you do to her?? Greg asked.?Nothing,? I gasped, finally able to verbalize a word.?Nothing?? I shook my head. ?She just kneed me.?I saw two women exchange a skeptical glance, and Greg said, ?He’ll be alright.?They joined the rest of the crowd in getting the party underway, and left me alone to cope as best I could. Most women aren’t.