“You’re still coming to Kallie’s party, right?” I asked Helena, a little bit worried. I realized that I’d just assumed she’d come, since everyone else was, but for some reason I hadn’t even thought to call her up and ask her.

She smiled at me across the table. “Alice called me and said that if I’m not there she’ll set fire to my house.”

“She did?” I asked incredulously. “That’s horrible!”

“I’m fairly certain she was joking,” Helena said when she’d stopped laughing.

“Oh yeah,” I said after a second. “Well, she just really wants you to come. I do too. And so does Kallie, she loves her Aunt Helena.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll be there. I have nothing planned that day anyhow, so it’s no trouble.”

She looked like she was about to say more when Shane walked in. Helena waved her over to the table, and motioned for the waiter. By the time our food arrived half an hour later, we’d discussed everything from the couple’s therapy Alice and I were doing, Helena’s plans now that she had her fortune, and Shane’s idea about fostering.

I was happy to hear that Helena still planned to be involved with the Center. Alice had told me that she was planning to stay with them, but I thought she might have changed her mind given that she didn’t really need to do it fulltime. But she said she’d always loved the job and saw no reason to quit.

She was also planning to start an after-school program for underprivileged children, affiliated with the Center itself. She was already looking at properties in the greater LA area that could be converted to a youth center of sorts. She had also been reinstated as head of the Foundation, too, so she was going to be pretty busy. But she did tell Shane that if she was serious about fostering, she would handle her case personally. That seemed to make Shane feel a little bit better, although she said that she was still considering.

“Well, whenever you feel ready you can come in and talk with me,” Helena told her. “There are a great many options and modes of fostering, and you can choose the one you think would work best.”