The House of Seven Mabels

nearly crushed their hands when she did so.
    “Henry is an excellent carpenter, but drives a hard bargain. Her contract states that I, and any future owners, shall never paint over the woodwork. Jack is fanatic about nail placement and concealment. We’re really lucky to have them.“
    Jack, who was short with curly blond hair and lovely blue eyes, extended a small hand and said, “Jacqueline Hunt.“
    Bitsy said, “These are our decorators, we hope. Shelley Nowack and Jane Jeffry. I know they’re going to come to appreciate your fine work as much as Sandy and I do.“
    “If you don’t mind our being in the way, we need to take some measurements,“ Shelley said with a blinding smile.
    “Go right ahead. We’re going to take our morning break. You can have this area to yourselves for a while,“ Henry boomed. She hoisted a thermal cooler, set it on her shoulder, and strode away with Jack following.
    “I’ll let you get on with it,“ Bitsy said. “I’ll get the contracts and have them downstairs for you when you’re finished.“
    It took a full hour on their hands and knees and climbing ladders to measure down to an eighth of an inch to complete their data on the big open area and a little less than two hours to measure the other side of the house.
    Shelley put a thumbtack in the center of each doorway on the other side of the house to take into account the flimsy walls of the tiny rooms that would be coming down eventually. Then they went downstairs and spent another quarter hour measuring the ground-floor rooms. Jane acted as holder of the far end of the metal tape and the recorder of the information in a notebook Shelley had brought along. Shelley herself determined the measurement.
    “We’re both filthy,“ Jane said when they were done. “Let’s go home and get showers, tidy up, and look over the contracts over lunch.“
    “I think it’s going to take a long soak in the tub,“ Shelley said, brushing sawdust off the knees of her stylish jeans. “And don’t let me forget to get the architectural drawings.“

Six

    It was nearly two-thirty in the afternoon before the two women were cleaned up enough to go to lunch. Jane had staved off her hunger with a handful of Cheez-Its and brushed her teeth afterward to hide the evidence that she hadn’t been able to tough it out.
    Most of their favorite restaurants were open for lunch and dinner but closed for the afternoon. So they tried a buffet they knew perfectly well they wouldn’t like.
    “Buffets are all grease and starch but no salt. Inhabited solely by the elderly,“ Shelley said.
    “You can ask for salt,“ Jane said. “It’s a safe place to go with almost no danger of running into young to middle-aged feminists who might overhear our conversation.“
    Shelley rushed through the line, getting only soup and a roll. Jane dawdled over everything and finally ended up with macaroni and cheese with a side salad and overcooked green beans. It took her a while to find Shelley, who had the con-
    tract from Bitsy in front of her face. Meanwhile, she wandered all over the place, nearly losing her grip on the tray several times as she tripped over walkers, crutches, and oxygen containers on little trolleys some of the older customers had left in the aisles.
    Shelley made a semi-ladylike snort as Jane sat down.
    “You ate before we came, didn’t you?“ Jane asked.
    “Just a soda and a few crackers,“ Shelley responded. “Oh, no.“
    “What’s the ‘oh, no’ about?“
    “Wait till you read through this. Didn’t you bring your own copy along?“
    “I forgot,“ Jane admitted as she pushed a suspicious-looking bean to the side of her plate. It looked as if it might have already been chewed. “Is the contract awful?“
    “It’s probably fixable, and if it isn’t...“
    Shelley put the papers down and gazed at Jane for the rest of the sentence.
    “... we don’t really care if we take the job or not. Right?“
    “Right.“
    “So tell me the worst,“ Jane went on.
    “The payment, of course. She’s offering us three percent over our cost. That’s ridiculous.“
    “It might not be in this particular business.“
    “Jane, you’ve told me before that writers pay agents ten to fifteen percent. And after we took that botany class I looked up a bunch of stuff on the Internet. Do you know that plant breeders who want someone to promote and sell their flowers and vegetables often pay as much as forty percent the first year? So three