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while?"
    Rose set her coffee cup on one of the folded papers. "Sometimes. The best jobs are fee-paid and employment agencies have better jobs listed than the newspaper. It’s worth it, though, even if you end up paying the fees.”
    "They're usually temp jobs, aren't they?"
    "Yes, but many of them do turn into permanent jobs. A lot of times, companies hire temps to see if they work out and then hire them on permanently if they do."
    "But I need money right now. There’s only a few hundred in the checking account and next-to-nothing in the savings account."
    "But you must have gobs of insurance money coming in."
    Anna’s smile probably looked as weary as she felt. "Not gobs. I've been told we were underinsured. And what we do have coming won’t be here for another month at least. These insurance companies have a fit if you're one day late with your payment and then it takes them three months to 'process' your benefit check. Meanwhile, the kids are taking peanut butter and jelly to school every day and we eat hot dogs and spaghetti. With no meatballs. I’ve cancelled the cable TV, the garbage service, and my weekly hair appointments. I don’t do my volunteer work anymore because I can’t afford the gas."
    Rose leaned across the table, her eyes concerned. "I'd no idea things were that bad. I’d like to lend you some money to hold you over."
    "No, please." Anna set her mouth in a firm line. "I appreciate the offer, but I need to do this alone. All my life people have been trying to make things easier for me. It’s time—more than time—I stood on my own two feet. We might not eat like we used to for a while and I may make mistakes before I get good enough at running my own life, but I have to do it. There’s no one to help me anymore." Her fingers clenched the pencil in her hand. "I’m on my own. And I’m going to make it work. I have to."
    "I’m glad, Anna. But if things get bad enough you have no money at all for food, you call me, pride or no pride. You’re my friend and I’m not going to sit by and watch you starve."
    "All right. I promise you if it’s a question of starving, I’ll call you. Though I hope it won’t get that bad. The kids’ve got a bit in their savings accounts, and I haven’t wanted to ask them for it, but if I have to, I will. And I’m letting all the payments lapse until the insurance check comes in. I only hope it gets here before they shut off my heat. Mr. Lemelin said he’d call the gas company and explain my situation. He said they’d probably wait for their money as long as they receive it sometime."
    Anna drained the last of the lukewarm coffee from her red mug and set it on the table with a clunk. She smoothed out the Sunday classifieds. "Back to work. I think I’ll try to get a job on my own for now, and then after the insurance money comes and I’ve got a little cushion, I’ll sign up with an employment agency to find a better job."
    "I suppose." Rose peered over at the paper Anna was holding. "What sort of ads were you looking at?"
    "First off, I tried going to social services because Mr. Lemelin figured my volunteer work in senior centers might help me get a foot in the door."
    "That was a good idea. What’d they say?"
    "They told me you need a degree for that kind of work. Ha. You don’t need a degree to spend hour after hour helping those people on your own. You need one, however, if you want to get paid for it."
    "You know a lot about helping those people after the time you put in. Doesn’t sound fair to me."
    "No. It isn’t fair. It’s just the way it is."
    "Isn’t there anything else you can think of that you know how to do?"
    "Not really. Everything else is a shot in the dark. Like these." She pointed her pencil to some ads near the bottom. "There are a couple of openings for receptionists. Maybe I could handle something like a receptionist job. I imagine all you’d have to do is sit at a desk in some lobby somewhere and answer the telephone and greet