Free Supergirl by Norma Fox Mazer

came when he was called. Who drinks the drink . . . Lov-er-ly. She sashayed into the hall and opened the door. Surprise! Ethan, the gorgeous gardener, muscular in his T-shirt, adorable in his aviator sunglasses, nonchalant with his chewing gum. Lov, lov, lov-er-ly. "Yeeeesss?" Selena said, giving him one of her favorite best smiles.
    Ethan slouched gracefully."Mother Earth here"
    Selena nearly wept. Oh, no! Just when she thought she had a live one.
    "—Weed and Insect Control," he finished, "and I'm looking for a—Ms. Selena?"
    " 'Tis moi ," Selena said sophisticatedly. The bracelets crowding her arm clashed as she motioned Ethan in.
    Inside, Ethan looked all around. Something, maybe, a little, uh, weird about this place. No windows. Funny furniture. "Unusual decor," he said, his voice a little weak. "So . . .what's the emergency? I'm here to serve. On call twenty-four hours a day," he added.
    "Splendid," Selena purred. "But let's not hurry"
    "I charge by the hour."
    " 'Tis beaucoup fine with me"
    Bianca appeared, arms extended, balancing herself on a huge circus ball. Seeing Ethan, her eyes grew large and glittery. Seeing Bianca, his eyes grew small and dazed. Hoo, boy! Not his usual kind of house call. Some house. Some household. Some housemothers. Good-looking women. Actually, GREAT -looking women. He combed his hair. He liked the way the two of them were eyeing him . . . not that he wasn't used to it. Still, all the times it happened, he never minded being given the old eye by a beautiful woman.
    "How ya doing?" he said to Bianca.
    "Having a ball." She rolled around Ethan, giving him the old eye.
    Selena gave Bianca the old eye, too, the old evil eye. Get—out—Bianca. He's—mine . Bianca kept rolling around. Fix you later. Tend to business now . She turned to Ethan. "Like a beer before we get down to business?" she sang out.
    "Well, if you lovely ladies join me—''
    So polite! So much more pizazz than that fusty Nigel! Selena glowed. Singing, humming, content as a little spider in its web who's just spotted a tasty morsel, Selena took two beers from the refrigerator (none for you, Bianca, now do you get the message?) and spiked one with a few drops of the love potion.
    "Shalom." She handed Ethan his beer.
    "Cheers." Like the real men on TV, he took a couple of hearty swigs, almost emptying the can.
    "What I was thinking of in the line of work for you . . ." Selena began, then paused, searching for the right words. "Hmm . . . I'd like to cheer this place up." She was cheered already by the mere sight of Ethan. "Maybe some hanging plants and some ferns in the corners," she said, feeling quite the little housewife.
    "Grgggg," Ethan said. Powerful beer. His tongue felt thick. House plants? In this gloom? Em-emerer-emer-gency. Got it. His brain also felt a trifle thick. Ms. Selena was gorgeous. That hair . . . those eyes . . . If she wanted house plants, Ethan would give her house plants. How many house plants would a house planter plant, he wondered fuzzily, if a house planter could plant plants? He took another swig of beer to clear his head. The gloom was getting gloomier. He wanted to tell the beautiful lady with the long red nails to turn on the lights. He wanted to ask the beautiful lady with the frizzy hair in her eyes why she kept rolling round and round and round . . . and round . . . and . . . "How many house plants . . . ?" he mumbled. He swayed, trying to get the thought straight. Something about plants . . . dark here . . . beer . . . ? That was his last thought before he went down like a felled tree.
    Bianca threw herself across Ethan's prostrate form. "What'd you do to him? Like, maybe you killed him?"
    The doorbell rang. "Answer that, and I don't want to see anybody," Selena said, hauling Bianca to her feet. She bent over Ethan and stroked his cheek. "Sleep well," she crooned. "Soon you'll wake and be all, all, all mine."
    But even as she said it, her lovely mood was spoiled because she remembered the