Betty wished she could tell Jack to find someone new for Nurse, someone who was kind and cheerful, someone who cared about her and wanted her to get better. But every time she tried to tell Jack about Nurse, she couldn’t find the words. They were there in her mind and she thought she was pronouncing them correctly, but no one seemed to understand what she said. Names and words. They always eluded her. But she was proud that she still remembered how to use the remote control to switch through the forbidden channels.

It was growing dark outside and soon it would be time for her secret friend to come through the door. Betty was sure she’d known his name once upon a time, but she couldn’t remember it now.

Betty turned her attention to the screen once again. The movie she was watching was very familiar and she put a blank disk in the machine to record it. She smiled as she saw the red light on the console start to glow. She could record a movie. That was almost as good as remembering names and words, wasn’t it?

This movie took place by the water. It was a big swimming place and she almost remembered where it was. They’d covered it after the cowgirl had found something that frightened her. Betty smiled as she watched. She loved scary movies as long as everything ended happily ever after. And this movie had her favorite actors.

There were footsteps in the hall and Betty quickly switched the channel to something safe. No one could know she was watching the forbidden channels, no one except the man called Jack. He had warned her about it so many times, it was almost like remembering.

“Do you need anything?” Nurse opened the door and stuck her head in. She was a black-haired woman who looked like the bird who said “Nevermore,” with a sharp beak and beady eyes and black shiny feathers.

Betty tried to force out the word Nurse wanted to hear, but it was no use. She’d lost it.

“Water? A little snack?”

This time Betty remembered and she shook her head. That meant no.

“I’ll let you watch television for another hour, but then you have to sleep.” Nurse came into her room to draw the drapes. She even moved like the Nevermore bird, with quick little steps. Her head turned from side to side and her glittering eyes watched Betty as she pulled the drapes to shut out the night. Betty shivered as she remembered that the Nevermore bird ate dead things called carrion.

How could she remember a word like that and then forget her friends’ names? This disease was very curious. Things she hadn’t thought of in years would come back in startling detail. She would know them for a brief instant and then she’d forget them again. Alzheimer’s, that was the name of her disease. And it was progressive. She couldn’t quite remember what that meant, but suddenly sadness overcame her.

“Buzz if you need me.” Nurse closed the door behind her. Immediately, Betty felt better. She knew she’d done everything just right. Nurse was gone and she hadn’t given her the needle. Now she could watch the forbidden channels again.

Betty smiled as she used the remote control to switch to another movie. This one was even better. Two people were getting off a machine on skis in a big garage. The man turned toward the camera and Betty clapped her hands. He was a very important foreign actor and she was glad he’d come back to star in her secret movies. The cowgirl who shared her in-between name was in love with him.

“Here comes the elevator.” Vanessa watched the doors expectantly. “I bet it’s my fitness instructor. Does anybody want to give me odds?”

Jayne shook her head. Even if she was a gambler, she wouldn’t bet on anything concerning Vanessa.

Hal grinned. “What do you want to bet, Vanessa? Ten thousand? Twenty thousand? More?”

“You know something, Hal?” Vanessa looked suspicious. “You never bet money unless you’re sure. Did you see who was on that snowmobile?”

Hal shook his head. “I didn’t see a thing, Vanessa. But I know it’s not your fitness instructor.”

“How do you know that?”

“Because I called yesterday and told him you no longer required his services.”

“What does that mean?”

“That means I fired him. I canceled your sessions, Vanessa. Since I’m paying the bills, I decided he was an unnecessary expense.”

“How could you do that to me?” Vanessa looked at her husband in shock. “I need my workouts!”

“Then you’ll just have to use the spa like the rest of us. Let’s just say I didn’t approve of all the exercises he had you doing, especially that last little session you had in your room.”

Vanessa looked embarrassed for a brief moment. Then her expression changed to anger. “My workouts are private, Hal. You had no business spying on me! Besides, everything he does is part of my total body therapy.”

“That particular part of your body doesn’t need any more exercise.”

“But, Hal . . .” Vanessa began to pout. “He’s a trained expert. And I don’t know how to do my workouts without him.”

“You can always borrow my Jane Fonda tapes,” Laureen said smugly. “She shows you how to do everything.”

Vanessa glared at Laureen. “Jane Fonda’s only good for women over forty.”

The indicator light over the elevator blinked and Grace got out. Alone.

“Sh . . . shucks!” Moira gave a delighted laugh. “Grace! On a snowmobile?”

Grace nodded. “You never thought anything would drag me out in the cold. Right, Moira?”

“Right.” Moira rushed to embrace her, then poured her a cup of coffee. “I’m really glad to see you. But whatever possessed you to drive all the way up here?” Grace just smiled and Moira’s face turned slightly pink. “Well! It’s just incredible, that’s all. You’re the last person I expected to see. But Jayne said there were two people on the snowmobile. Who’s with you?”

“That’s a surprise. Clayton took him out to check on the building. They’ll be up here in a couple of minutes.”

Jayne’s heart began to pound in excitement. Who knew enough about the building to check on it? A structural engineer, of course. Or a builder. Or an architect. And he had to be someone they knew. If Grace had come up here with a stranger, she wouldn’t have said it was a surprise.

The indicator light on the elevator blinked again and Clayton got out, followed by a man holding a red and yellow ski mask.

“Paul!” Jayne jumped from her chair and ran across the floor to meet him, barely managing to keep from throwing her arms around him. “My God! What happened to your suit?”

“It is in the mothballs. Are you well, Jayne?”

“Oh, I’m fine, but the avalanche almost killed us all and poor Jack’s leg is broken something awful and just now I found a . . . a hand in our pool. And at first I thought it was yours!”

Paul looked down at her in total confusion. “You thought my hand was in the pool?”

“Yes, they have such a high suicide rate in Scandinavia. But that was only at first, before we found out that it was at least four years old. And I wrote you a song, but they’d never give it airtime on a classical station and I just couldn’t call you on the phone. Something about talking into those little holes is so dang impersonal and I like to see a person’s face when I . . . oh, I’m so glad you’re here!”

“I think you had better sit down, Jayne.” Paul led her over to a chair and sat down beside her. “You are beginning to sound like Grace.”

Marc came over with a mug of coffee and set it down in front of Paul. “Here, Paul. Drink this. I put some brandy in it.”

“Thank you.” Paul wrapped one hand around the mug, but he kept his other arm firmly around Jayne’s shoulders. It was an uncharacteristic display of affection in public, but he didn’t want to let her go. “Will you join us, Marc? And I would be very pleased if one of you will tell me about the hand from the pool.”