African Violet Club Mystery Collection by Elise M Stone

Author:Elise M Stone [Stone, Elise M]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Civano Press
Published: 2018-10-06T22:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

LILLIANA paused outside the door to the poker room to compose herself. Once her heart had slowed to a normal rate, she found Mary browsing in the gift shop, and the two of them made their way back to where she had last seen Nancy.

Nancy was still seated in front of the same machine, hypnotized by the lights and the sounds and the spinning pictures. Lilliana tapped her on the shoulder. Nancy jumped, but didn’t take her eyes off the screen or her finger off the button.

“Nancy.” Still no reaction. Lilliana decided the situation called for more intensive measures. She grasped Nancy’s shoulders and shook her. “Nancy.” Louder this time.

The spell broken, Nancy turned away from the machine, and her face gradually lost its flaccid look as she focused on her friend. “Lilliana.”

“It’s almost one o’clock,” Lilliana said. “Why don’t we have some lunch?”

“Now that you mention it, I am hungry.” Nancy got up from the stool, smoothed her clothes, and looked around the casino floor.

“I believe the café is that way.” Lilliana pointed across the casino.

“I think we should eat at the food court,” Mary said. “It costs about half as much as the café.”

Lilliana weighed her options. She imagined congealed pizza and greasy burgers and fries at the food court. Maybe soggy containers of limp vegetables if they had one of those fast food Chinese places. On the other hand, she didn’t want to spend a great deal of money on food. She’d be perfectly willing to skip eating entirely and wait for dinner in the dining room at the retirement home. “Why don’t we take a look at what the food court has to offer, and then if it doesn’t look appetizing, we can go to the café.”

“Oh, I’m sure you’ll like it,” Nancy said as she led the way.

Much to her surprise, Lilliana did like the selection at the food court. In fact, she was able to get a turkey burger and a milk shake for five dollars. Mary got the same, while Nancy opted for a tortilla casserole. Lilliana perused the tables. No Harlan, which didn’t surprise her; Bernadine was sitting at a table by herself, half of her sandwich still on her plate. “Do you want to sit with Bernadine?”

“I don’t really like her,” Nancy said.

Lilliana was surprised. She thought Nancy liked everyone. “Why not?”

“Well, just like Ruby, may she rest in peace, Bernadine kept trying to get between me and Lenny. And Bernadine’s still alive.”

Lilliana almost choked. Nancy said the last phrase so casually. What did she mean by “still”? It was almost as if she intended Bernadine to be dead, too, in the not-too-distant future. It made her shiver just thinking about it. How jealous was Nancy?

And now there was a dilemma. Bernadine had spotted them and was waving in their direction. Lilliana smiled back. “Let’s sit with Bernadine. Maybe you’ll find out you like her better than you think you do.” And maybe Lilliana could see how serious Nancy was about her animosity toward the other woman.

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