Suzy on the phone

Just as I put the vacuum away, the phone rang. I picked it up and found my middle stepdaughter on the phone. It seemed her never-do-well husband had run off (finally) and, in the process, had dumped her two children off at her mother-in-law's. Said mother-in-law, embarrassed by her son's unseemly departure and (unfairly) blaming Suzy for the whole thing, refused to release her grandchildren back to Suzy.

Suzy's first instinct had been to call her older sister, Rachel. Rachel had put her in touch with a lawyer who handled custody disputes. But, since it was a Friday and the children weren't in any type of danger, the lawyer told Suzy there was nothing they could do until Monday. Distraught, Suzy didn't want to be home alone and wanted to know if she could stay with us for the weekend. I quickly agreed. Suzy said she would be over soon.

Almost as soon as I hung up, the phone rang again.