Chapter 22

Pepper was up early the next morning. She wanted to go through the guest rooms and make lists of what she needed to jazz them up before the television people showed up. Flowers in vases on all the dressers. Special sachet packets in the drawers. Crystal dishes with those special peppermint candies people loved so much. She'd make sure the bathrooms were all stocked with the full complement of special toiletries. She'd have Cilla work on the downstairs. The woman had a great eye and knew exactly what to do to make a room "pop," as she was fond of saying. She was suspicious that she hadn't heard a word from her parents for a while but she decided not to worry about it for the moment.

She had just fixed a mug with coffee when she heard the front door open. Tony Rosen, the local UPS delivery man, waited for her in the lobby. He was wearing a big smile when he greeted her.

"I got an envelope here for you, Pepper. Says I have to get your signature." He looked at it as if it was a foreign o