Summary

"Dottie's Bed and Breakfast" is narrated in the third person, past tense. It focuses on the owner of the bed and breakfast that Charlie Macauley visited in "The Hit-Thumb Theory" and her interactions with a couple who stayed at her bed and breakfast. Dottie is the sister of Abel Blaine, who is a second cousin to the Barton's. In "Sister," Lucy told Pete that Abel had come to one of her Chicago signings.

The chapter opens with, "They were from the East, and their name was Small" (181). This opening line introduces Dr. and Mrs. Small, who are visitors to Dottie's bed and breakfast. Dr. Small was an ironically large man, who had made his reservation over the telephone. This was odd, because most people reserved online. Dottie herself, though older, had taken to the Internet easily. She remarked to herself that...