Late Edition by Fern Michaels Page A

you.”
    Bernice’s bright blue eyes twinkled with amusement. “Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever. You’ve been saying that for thirty years.”
    â€œYou know, someday I might just do it, too,” Toots said as she dumped the pile of burnt cheese sandwiches into the sink.
    The girls were probably onto something. Maybe it was her forte in life just to be the money person, not the actual baker in this case. Obviously, her talents lay elsewhere, such as in decorating. Now, that was something she knew how to do.
    â€œOkay, I can’t cook. I’m having a bowl of Froot Loops for dinner. Anyone care to join me?”

Chapter 12
    I da careened around the curve, sliding off the shoulder, and yanked the steering wheel sharply to the left, almost hitting a vehicle in the oncoming lane.
    â€œOh, my goodness! Slow down! You’re scaring the life out of me! When was the last time you were behind the wheel of a car?” Mavis asked as she dug holes in the dashboard with her nails.
    â€œWhen I was fifteen. Why? Am I scaring you?” Ida shouted.
    Mavis’s pretty features crumpled into a look of horror. “Fifteen? Are you telling me you don’t have a driver’s license?”
    The sleek Lincoln Town Car lurched around a second curve, only to fly through a four-way stop. They just missed being hit by a dump truck.
    â€œIda, I want you to stop this vehicle right now!”
    â€œHush! Let me do the driving,” Ida stated as she concentrated on keeping the car between the ditches.
    â€œIda, if you don’t pull over, I’m going to . . . tell Toots that you don’t have a license, and you had your thingamajig waxed today.”
    Ida glanced over at Mavis as though she had lost her mind. “How do you know that?”
    â€œI picked you up from the salon, remember? I heard them say that when they tallied up your bill,” Mavis said smartly. “Now pull over, please, before you kill us or someone else!”
    Knowing this was a battle she wasn’t going to win, Ida pulled over onto the side of the road, barely missing a yield sign as she did so. Mavis got out from the passenger side, walked in front of the car, then slid into the driver’s seat as Ida slipped across the smooth leather seat to the passenger’s side, where she should have been all along.
    â€œI can’t believe you would risk our lives like this!” Mavis said as she shifted into drive, carefully easing the Town Car back onto the narrow two-lane road.
    â€œYou didn’t offer to drive after you picked me up. And I like being behind the wheel of her car,” Ida said. “As a matter of fact, this is my new goal. I’m going to get my driver’s license and buy the fanciest car on the market.”
    â€œI’m not so sure that’s a good idea, Ida. Maybe you should consider driving lessons first.”
    Mavis didn’t want to hurt Ida’s feelings, but her being on the road would be like skydiving without a parachute or flying a plane without a pilot’s license. The first opportunity she had, she would explain this to Toots, telling her that not only was Ida risking her own life when she got behind the wheel of a car, but she was also risking other lives. Mavis hated the thought of being a tattletale, especially after all the humiliation Ida had suffered the past several months, but she didn’t have a choice. As Sophie would say, Ida would get over it.
    As Mavis carefully made her way through the winding roads leading to Toots’s home, she admired the giant oak trees dripping with Spanish moss. The camellias were in full bloom along the side of the road, and the sweet smell of magnolias scented the late afternoon breeze flowing in from the crack in the window.
    While Ida had been at the salon getting spiffed up, Mavis had found the local FedEx without any trouble, had shipped nine boxes, then had spoken with the clerk about arranging a daily pickup from