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a shower before I’m going to be very good company at all.”
    â€œThen come to dinner. Lainie and Ray will be home, and I know they’d like to see you again. Lainie was telling me this morning how much she liked visiting with you last weekend and how much she’d love to get to know you better.”
    Dinner? Jess didn’t know quite how to respond. Who invites a sweaty stranger to dinner? Who, in fact, invites anyone to dinner these days? But Miss Elizabeth, smiling at her with expectation, clearly meant what she said.
    â€œI do thank you, Miss Elizabeth.” Jess could only imagine what Lainie might say coming home after being on her feet all day to find out a dinner party was in the offing. “But my movers will be here soon, and I’ll be busy with that all day. I’d love to stop by for that cup of coffee some day soon, though.”
    â€œIf you’re moving in today, that’s all the more reason to come for dinner. You probably won’t have a thing in the house to eat,and the Dip ’n’ Dine closes early, you know. Shall we say about 7:00? You come too, Andy.”
    Something in Miss Elizabeth’s tone, warm as it was, said she wasn’t used to being told no. Jess looked to Andy for support, but he just gave the cat one last scratch behind the ears and stood up.
    â€œSounds great. I wouldn’t miss it.”
    Jess felt a wave of frustration. Leave it to Andy not to get that someone was going to have to fix that dinner, and it probably wasn’t going to be the elderly lady leaning on the cane. But it appeared now that the dinner was going to take place whether Jess came or not. She tried to will her annoyance from both her expression and her voice.
    â€œWell, then, thank you, Miss Elizabeth, and 7:00 it is. What can I bring?”
    â€œJust your own sweet self. Oh, and just call me Elizabeth, honey. Most folks do. You too, Andy. You’re all grown up now. It’s okay.”
    â€œAll right then, Elizabeth.” Andy stopped and considered, as if he were tasting his words. “Nope. Doesn’t sound right. Sorry, Miss Elizabeth.”
    â€œI’ll see you at 7:00 then. And thanks again.” Jess glanced at her watch. The movers weren’t due till about 10:00, but still, she had a lot she needed to get done before she met them.
    â€œI can’t tell you how much I’ll be looking forward to it.” Elizabeth smiled and turned to go back inside. “Are you coming, Sam?”
    As if he understood her, the cat stopped rolling on the sidewalk, jumped to his feet, and led the way. Jess watched Elizabeth ignore the ramp leading to her front door and carefully make her way up her front steps. Jess gave her one last wave and headed down the road, Andy beside her.
    â€œWhat were you thinking, saying you’d love to come to dinner with almost no notice at all?” She gave Andy’s shoulder a little shove.
    â€œWhat? You said you’d come too.”
    â€œOnly after you did. Did you give any thought to the fact either Lainie or Ray is going to have to come home and fix dinner for us?”
    â€œRay or Lainie? Why?”
    â€œWell, who else? Elizabeth can hardly walk. You don’t think she’s going to cook, do you?”
    Andy grinned as he broke into a slow jog. “Here’s your first bit of really useful Last Chance advice: never make the mistake of underestimating Elizabeth Cooley.”

    Jess basked in a sense of accomplishment as she brought her car to a stop outside Elizabeth Cooley’s gate just before 7:00. Not only was all her furniture in place and her bedroom nearly unpacked, but she had found her way back to Elizabeth’s without having to ask directions. Okay, considering the size of Last Chance, maybe that wasn’t all that much of an achievement, but she felt good about it nevertheless. And fresh from a shower and wearing clean clothes, she was feeling pretty darn good and