Sal is upset when she suspects that her father may have formed a romantic attachment to Mrs. Margaret Cadaver. The text tells us that Sal is "particularly ornery" during her first meeting with Mrs. Cadaver. Although Mrs. Cadaver sends some compliments her way, Sal refuses to acknowledge them. However, we get the idea that everything is not as it seems when Mrs. Cadaver poses a question to John, Sal's father. Essentially, Mrs. Cadaver asks John if he has ever told Sal how they met. Sal's father answers in the negative, proclaiming that Sal doesn't want to know.

Her father's discomfort at the question is clear. For her part, Sal isn't interested in knowing how her father and Mrs. Cadaver met. The idea of her father being romantically involved with another woman on the heels of her mother's death is distasteful to Sal.

During their first week at Euclid, Sal and her father eat dinner at Mrs. Cadaver's home three times. This experience doesn't sit well with Sal, who later asks to be excused from sharing future dinners with Mrs. Cadaver. However, after being granted permission not to attend, Sal is still unhappy. The idea of her father being alone with Mrs. Cadaver (and enjoying it) is troubling to Sal. Phoebe, of course, makes things worse when she reveals to Sal that her father goes over to Mrs. Cadaver's "all the time."