anyway,â Stanley said.
âI know.â Jane gave him a kiss as he opened the door to leave.
âHello,â Jane heard him say outside, and a moment later he was showing in Rhoda Kagan and her boyfriend, Adam Forrest. âLater,â Stanley told Jane, and left.
Rhoda looked smashing, as always, in black slacks and a brilliant indigo sweater. Huge black Bakelite earrings set off her sleekly cut dark brown hair.
âHello, darling,â she said, exchanging cheek kisses with Jane. âYou remember Adam.â
âOf course.â Jane had last seen Adam at a local party about a month earlier. âHow are you, Adam? Youâre looking well.â
Adam, independently wealthy, always looked wellâtrim and tan and neat. Today he wore tan Dockers and an expensive-looking brown sweater. âThanks, Jane.â He seemed nervous, awkward somehow.
âSo whatâs doing, guys?â Jane asked them. âYou Christmas shopping?â
Rhoda shot Adam a look.
âJane,â he said, âRhoda and I . . . well, I need to ask you a favor. . . .â
Chapter Two
F lorenceâs gaze was fixed on Winky, whose pregnant tortoiseshell belly swung from side to side as she padded across the family room and out into the foyer. âSo what do you think, missus? Are you going to do it?â
Jane sipped her tea. She had just told Florence what Adam had asked her to do.
Adam had recently bought Mt. Munsee Lodge, located at the top of Mt. Munsee at the northernmost end of Shady Hills. The lodge was a popular spot for hikers and campers, except in the winter, when the lodgeâs previous owner had shut it down. But Adam had come up with an idea to make money in the off-season. He had been sponsoring five-day âtheme retreatsâ on topics ranging from yoga to investing.
Adam had scheduled a retreat for would-be antiques dealers for the following weekâthe week between Christmas and New Yearâsâbut had learned that morning that its leader would be unable to appear because his wife was quite ill.
It was Rhoda who had come up with the idea of organizing a fiction writersâ retreat to take the place of the antiques one.
Florence said, âWhy doesnât he forget about it and enjoy the holidays?â A smile brightened her pretty coffee-colored face. âHe doesnât need the money.â
âApparently he does,â Jane said. âOr, to put it another way, it would help.â
âI see . . .â Florence said thoughtfully. âBut how can such a thing possibly be arranged on such short notice?â
âThe lodge is small, so we wouldnât need many people. And Adam says he always has one-on-one instruction at these retreatsâwhich is another reason why there canât be too many attendees. He said that if I can round up six instructors besides myself, heâll sign up six attendees from a writersâ group here in town.â
âWhat writersâ group?â
âThe Midnight Writers. I had no idea they even existed.â
âCould you âround upâ six instructors?â Florence asked.
âIâm not sure. Probably, if I set my mind to it. Iâd call editors, authors, other agentsânah, just editors and authorsâand could probably come up with six.â
âDonât you want to take the week between Christmas and New Yearâs off? You do that every year.â
âTrueâwhich is why Iâm available. Iâve been looking forward to spending the time with Nick, but I really do feel I should help Rhoda and Adam out with this. Besides, Iâve just had my vacationâIâm not in dire need of a rest.â Less than a month earlier, Jane had spent two glorious weeks in Antigua. âAnd Iâll make it up to Nick.â
âYou may miss the blessed event,â Florence said, referring to Winkyâs imminent delivery. She rose from the sofa and took Janeâs