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child support to pay or something?”
    “ He told me he’s never been married and doesn’t have any kids.”
    “ Well, what’s his problem?”
    “ I told you: He’s cheap. Cheap, cheap, cheap.” If there was anything Vivian found more irritating than seeing houses still lit up with Christmas lights in mid-January, it was a skinflint. “I guess I should have gotten my first clue when I saw that broken-down car he drives. Did you notice he has the glove compartment held together with string?”
    “ I didn’t notice.”
    “ It’s a ‘Seventy-Eight, and he bragged about having the engine rebuilt twice. I know that everybody isn’t into that ‘you are what you drive’ attitude. I’m sure not; my Mazda is seven years old, and as soon as I get back from the safari I’ll probably start looking around for a new one. I was thinking maybe he had a really nice apartment or a summer house or a boat or something, and maybe he does, but he also doesn’t want to open his wallet unless absolutely necessary.”
    “ He ought to be ashamed of himself, the miser.”
    “ Live and learn, I guess. Even Thomas, bless his germ-loving heart, sprung for dinner at an upscale restaurant, the type of place where I could wear a cocktail dress and not look overdone. So it’s on to the next conquest, I guess. Whoever he is.”
    “ Vivian, go down to Hudson Hospital. Look up Dr. Warner. Invite him to lunch.”
    “ I am not going to chase after that man, Glenda!” She didn’t mean to sound harsh, but she was still smarting from last night’s disappointment. She had felt foolish and overdressed in her skirt and boots, going to a movie before dark and then to a noisy, bright restaurant. And when it was over Gary had the nerve to ask if he could stay the night with her. She declined his offer sweetly, controlling the urge to hit him over his leonine head with a two-by-four. It was true that she would love to see the handsome Dr. Warner again, but it was a lost opportunity. But what could she have done? He knew she was there with Gary. That would have looked really bad, flirting with another man while her so-called date lay bleeding just a few yards away. Okay, she wasn’t his date, she was just being a Good Samaritan, but she didn’t want Zack to think she was a hussy. Sometimes it was better to simply make a graceful exit.
    “ Well, it could be worse,” Glenda said.
    “ Yeah, how?”
    “ Your mother might know you missed the opportunity to be fixed up with one doctor, rebuffed another, and blew the chance to get to know a third.”
    Vivian pictured her mother standing with the Macaulay Culkin expression of distress, palms flanking her jaws, her mouth wide open, and her eyes wide with panic. It wasn ’t pretty. “Amen to that,” she muttered.

 
    Chapter 4
    Break a Leg
    “L ooks like a nice crowd,” Glenda commented.
    “ Wow, they’ve got three buses. I’m feeling optimistic.” Vivian hoped she would meet someone special on the ski trip, which was being sponsored by a group called NBP, which stood for Nothing But a Pastime. “Why didn’t we know about these people before?”
    “ Just be glad we found out about them now.”
    Vivian had to agree. It was February already. Glenda and Bobby were doing fine, but it didn ’t look like she would be having a valentine.
    Gary had called her several times. At first she gave tactful excuses, saying she was swamped with the work brought by the company ’s upcoming plans, but when he didn’t seem to get the message, she had to come right out and say the same thing she told Thomas Joseph, that she felt they lacked chemistry, and continuing to see each other wouldn’t really be fair to either of them. It was an out-and-out lie—there had been chemistry between them from the beginning, but his frugality was too much of a turnoff for her. She was glad to step aside and let some other unlucky woman be the recipient of his Saturday-night-for-twenty-five-bucks-or-less plan.
    The buses