Meredith planned to talk to her landlord. — She hadn't planned on his taking her by surprise like this. Just when her life seemed to be regaining its equilibrium, Mr. High-and-Mighty Tom Whitney, successful divorce lawyer, had to bounce into town and turn it upside down. — How dared he evict the elderly tenants—her family? Well, she would show him that Meredith Blake was a fighter. She could see the front page of the local newspaper, "Absentee Landlord Whitney Evicts Elderly Tenants." Why didn't she feel more satisfied by that fantasy?