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Page 96
They chatted about one another's health for a few minutes; then Lowell asked, "How are you really, Mike?"
"Not badthough I'm calling from a Barstow Arlen's Kitchen, and I wasn't pleased about a few things." He described the skimping on food and elimination of the johnnycakes.
There was a pause, and Lowell, his voice a little too bright, said, "Ruth just walked in. Why don't I put her on to explain?"
Mike heard muffled conversation; then Ruth Morgan, his other trusted assistant, said enthusiastically, "Mike! How wonderful to hear from you. Are you okay? When are you coming back?" She paused for an instant. "We miss you."
"Thanks," Mike said with a brief smile. He pictured the petite whirlwind he had hired six years earlier straight out of business school. With Ruth's brains and Lowell's devotedness, he'd no problem leaving Arlen's Kitchens for his desert sabbatical.
Of course, he had also thought he would not mind if they ran it into the groundbut now that he'd seen the changes they'd made, he wasn't so sure.
He exchanged pleasantries with Ruth, then asked about business. Her voice hardly changed, but he heard her hesitation. He mentioned the reduced portions and lack of johnnycakes. "Everything's fine, Mike," she said. "You just feel better and come home soon, okay?"
The anger and frustration he'd felt since arriving at the Arlen's Kitchen boiled over. "Every-

 
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