Just This Once by K.G. MacGregor Page A

about…four more trips here.” It was hard to talk and crunch at the same time, but Paula couldn’t be still. And besides, she didn’t want to think about what would happen when Wynne’s work in Orlando was through.
    “And then what happens?”
    “Don’t know…we’ll have to…cross that bridge…when we come to it.”
    “Slow down! You’re making me sore,” Val barked. “Are we going to run?”
    “Ready when you are.” Paula slid off the cruncher and grabbed her bottle of water.
    “The way you are today, you’ll probably run off and leave me in the dust.”
    “Only one way to find out,” Paula yelled over her shoulder as she took off out the door in the direction of the jogging trail that ran between the condo property and the neighboring golf course. If they cut out to the sidewalk by the main roadway, they could loop around to the other side of the course, a two-mile circuit which they would run twice.
    “By the way, I really like your hair that way,” Val huffed as they settled into their pace.
    “Thanks.” And because all conversations had to eventually come back to the woman from Baltimore, Paula added, “Wynne likes it this way too.”
    ———
    “So you write down all of the outstanding checks here and add them up,” Wynne explained. “Then subtract that from what the statement says, along with the service charges, and add any deposits you’ve made that aren’t on here…and this number should match the checkbook.”
    Wynne and her mother compared the two numbers.
    “Great, and what do we do if they’re different?” Kitty asked.
    The brunette sighed in exasperation. “Well, that means that you probably either forgot to write down a check, or that your math is wrong.”
    Together they pored over the account until the mistake was found, finally bringing the checkbook into balance. Despite her frustration, Wynne was pleased that her mom was working so hard to learn this.
    “Mom, you have to do this as soon as the statement comes in. If you don’t, you’ll lose track of what you spend and before you know it, you’re overdrawn.” Again .
    “Okay, I’ll do my best.” Kitty hated being so dependent on her daughter, but her husband had always taken care of these things. “What are we going to do about the car?”
    The tall woman sighed. Her mother had been reluctant to get rid of the Park Avenue, as it was the last vehicle her husband had purchased. But she had never thought to put oil in it, and it finally threw a rod and bit the dust. She called Wynne from a payphone, and her daughter picked her up and arranged to have the car towed.
    “It’s a goner. You’re going to need a new car.”
    “What am I going to do? I don’t know the first thing about buying a car.”
    “I’ll go with you on Saturday. We’ll find something nice, something Dad would have liked.” Wynne threw in that last bit for encouragement.
    “Thank you, honey. I honestly don’t know how I’d manage without all the things you do.”
    Neither do I, Mom .
    ———
    “Did you see this letter from Starquest?” Rusty tossed the paper onto Paula’s desk.
    “They’re thanking us for handling their meeting, and they mention you by name.”
    The blonde woman chortled. “That’s because I happened to be walking down the hallway when their chairman was locked out of his room in his underwear.”
    “Boxers or briefs?”
    “Boxers, and they had ‘Wednesday’ stamped on the leg. But it was Friday.”
    “People would never believe the things we see in hotels,” Rusty shook his head in amazement. “Remember that other guy who got locked out in his underwear?”
    “You mean her underwear,” Paula laughed. “Or the woman who…”
    The phone on her desk interrupted their reminiscence, its caller ID flashing Front Desk.
    “This is Paula…yeah….” She twirled around in her seat and grabbed the remote for the video camera display. “Okay, I see them…we’ll be right down.” Hanging up the phone,