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Problem is, it blocks the view of the street. Of course I guess it could be worse. We could have our view blocked by one of those vans that carries aliens around. I was listening to news on the radio, and they said a bunch of aliens were found dead from heatstroke in one of them vans yesterday. Imagine that. Here these poor creatures travel through space to get to us, all those light years and galaxies away, and then they die from heat stroke in a van.'
'What a shame,' Esther said.
I'm just glad it wasn't in front of my house,' Grandma said. I'd feel terrible if I had to find ET dead in a van.'
Stephanie Plum 10 - Ten Big Ones
Seven
Esther Hamish's rental was a lot like my parents' house. Living room, dining room, kitchen on the ground floor. Three small bedrooms and bath on the second floor. Narrow backyard.
Minuscule front yard. A stand-alone, two-car garage to the rear of the property.
The interior was clean but tired. The bathroom and kitchen were serviceable but dated. Again, a lot like my parents' house.
And clearly the house was occupied.
'When will it be available?' Valerie asked.
'Two weeks,' Esther said. `I have a young family in here now, and they just bought a house. They'll be moving in two weeks.'
'Wait a minute,' I said. 'The paper said immediate occupancy.'
'Well, two weeks is almost immediate,' Esther said. 'When you get to be my age, two weeks is nothing.'
Two weeks. I'll be dead in two weeks! Valerie needs to move out of my apartment now.
Valerie turned to my mother. 'What do you think?'
'It's perfect,' my mother said.
Esther looked at Sally. 'Are you the son-in-law?'
'Nope,' Sally said. 'I'm the bus driver and the wedding planner.'
'The son-in-law is a lawyer,' my mother said proudly.
Esther perked up when she heard that.
'You should take it,' Grandma said to Valerie.
'Yeah,' Sally said. 'You should take it.'
'Okay,' Valerie said. 'It's a deal.'
So here we go again, there's good news, and there's bad news.
The good news is I'm getting my apartment back. The bad news is
I'm not getting it back soon enough.
'I need a doughnut,' I said, more to myself than anyone else.
'That's a good idea,' Grandma said. 'I could go for a doughnut.'
'Back to the bus,' Sally said. 'We're all going for doughnuts.'
Five minutes later, Sally was parked in front of Tasty Pastry. The doors whooshed open and everyone tramped out for celebratory doughnuts. Grandma picked out two, my mother picked out two,
