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and sighed. “You can’t seriously expect me to work with that woman all afternoon—and I use the word
work
loosely. She won’t do anything except take up space and get in the way.”
    â€œYou don’t know that,” I said. “She might actually be helpful.”
    Edie lowered her hand so she could shoot me a death ray. “She’s wearing a pair of shorts that will expose everything she has if she moves an inch. Those boobs of hers will come tumbling out if she bends over. And I’m pretty sure she’s high on something.”
    That surprised me. I glanced at the door again. “What makes you say that?”
    Edie shot me an evil grin. “Why don’t you come and see for yourself?”
    Putting the petunias on hold for the time being, I followed Edie back into the front of the house. It was empty. No sign of breasts or other jiggling body parts anywhere and only a faint whiff of Destiny’s perfume. I almost sighed with relief but then I heard a noise coming from my office and Edie’s evil grin morphed into a furious scowl.
    She pushed past me and hurried through the door. “Destiny! What do you think you’re doing?”
    I could hear Destiny’s voice, but I couldn’t make out her reply.
    â€œI told you to wait out here,” Edie snapped. “This is Rita’s private office. You have no business being in here.” She turned back to me and muttered, “Some people. Can’t trust them to do anything. I hope you’re happy.”
    â€œDon’t worry about her,” I said quickly. “I’ll have her work with me. You won’t even know she’s here.”
    Edie laughed through her nose. “Unbe
liev
able.” She glanced at Destiny again and went back to her desk mumbling, “Have fun with that.”
    After a few seconds, Destiny strolled out of my office and into the reception area, blinking in the sudden glare of sunlight. Her hair was even more tousled than usual and her eyes were heavy. She made a sluggish effort to look excited, a far cry from how she’d looked only a few hours earlier. “Rita! I was just looking for you,” she said in a voice so slurred and thick it sounded like she had marbles in her mouth. She dragged the strap of her purse onto her shoulder, but it slipped down again and she didn’t seem to notice.
    For the first time all morning, I got to ask the question of the day. “Are you all right?”
    She laughed and took a couple of uneven steps toward Edie’s desk. “I’m fine. Better than fine. I’m so glad you’re letting me do this. I wanna make Moose proud of me.”
    â€œI’m sure he’s proud already,” I assured her, although I was almost positive that if I’d put “worn out by crazy wife” and “proud of wife’s accomplishments” on a scale, the weary Moose would have won easily. “It’s a little early,” I said. “I wasn’t expecting you until one o’clock. We’re not quite ready for volunteers yet.”
    Destiny put a hand over her mouth and giggled. “Oops! Am I in trouble?”
    Edie snorted again and turned away.
    Which just made me want to show her how wrong she was. “Trouble?” I said with a friendly smile for Destiny. “No. It’s just that I have some work to do before we can get started.”
    Destiny pulled the hand away from her mouth and flapped it around. “Oh, that’s okay,” she slurred. “I can wait right here. Edie and I can catch up.”
    â€œOver her dead body,” Edie muttered.
    I’m not sure Destiny heard her, but I got the message loud and clear. “Edie’s really busy,” I said. “Why don’t you help me with some of the plans for this afternoon?”
    I took Destiny by the arm and started walking her slowly toward the employee break room. She staggered a little and nearly ran into the