”“But they can’t do that!” Vi protested. “It doesn’t make sense. Nobody can just ... just deny a homeowner access to their home, can they?...��“They claim the right, Vi. But they very generously offer a solution. They’ll buy us out for thirty thousand. With two weeks to vacate.”“But that’s far less. Their last offer was ninety thousand with a sixty day move-out option, if I remember right?”“You remember right. They’ve withdrawn that offer. Now it’s thirty thousand and two weeks with no explanation.. Enough so that she knew I wasn't bullshitting her.After I'd finished telling her how Joanie had the baby, I looked up at Grace only to find her smiling and nodding at me. Then without her saying a word, she got up and walked into the kitchen and came back in a minute holding a carrot. She threw her head back, moved her left hand across her crotch, shot me a glance, and walked off to her bedroom.I waited a minute or so as I tried to decide if I should follow or not. Remember, Doc, she was a lot. 'You just want to give your uncle a heart attack.'Nat hugged herself and grinned an acknowledgement of her not-so-subtle idea. 'Uncle Dan's not likely to have a heart attack because of me, ' she said.'He will if you put the idea of your wandering around tomorrow with no knickers on into his head.'I wasn't in a position to argue with her, because I think she might have been right.Meanwhile, Roz had grabbed Nat's arm and dragged her upstairs, probably before Selly could explicitly forbid their. How long she was in this state she didn't know, but, eventually, a loud, "Snap!" brought her mind back to consciousness.Mindy immediately winced as awareness came back to her. She was surprised at how relatively mild the pain on her skin was, and quickly realized that she had been bathed, and that some sort of balm had been applied to her body to help her skin recover from the torment it had endured. The lingering effects would be minimal, she realized, but she was still certain that she would.