Kitty came nearer. “I just wanted to ask Miss Penny about that. We’ve a big fish baking and I wondered if you would be ready to eat in half an hour.”
“Hooray, food!” shouted Marjorie. “We’re always ready to eat, Kitty. Are we going to have a conference tonight to assign various duties, Penny?”
“Yes, we are,” Penny answered. “Kitty, did you ever help in a summer hotel, or anything like that?”
“Yes, ma’am! And Mal helped the chef at one of the lake resorts right near here. That is what made Ann Mary think about sending for us.”
Philip had turned to look at Kathleen while she talked. “That is very fortunate for us, Mrs. Donahue,” he said. “We’re going to have a family confab tonight to decide what each of us should do and we’d like all of you to come and help us make decisions.”
“Yes, sir,” Kitty said. “We’ll not need much more help, only some people from around the village to wait on table if there is a very large crowd over weekends, or for some special occasions.” With that bit of advice, Kitty went back into the house.
Jimmy came out on the porch then and said to Marjorie: “I told the operator to sign your name to the telegram. I thought Judy would get a kick out of that.”
“Thanks,” Marjorie said, smiling. “Sometimes you can be nice, Jimmy.”
He ignored her and started gathering up his mail. “By the way,” he said to Penny and Phil, “my old schoolmate, Brook, is coming that weekend, too, if it’s all right with you.”
“Fine,” Penny and Phil said together.