The Royall Send-Off by Kasey Michaels

Author:Kasey Michaels [Michaels, Kasey]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kasey Michaels

21

“You’re back!”

Winnie closed the door to Patty’s condo behind her and replaced her key in her pocket as she advanced into the living room.

“I’m back,” she agreed, waving a hand toward the couch where Barbra, snoring softly, lay in a fetal position, her prayerfully-folded hands tucked under her cheek, a thin cashmere throw covering her, shoulders to toes. “She looks comfortable.”

“She’s fine, poor kid. She’s sleeping.” Rosie abandoned her seat on the facing couch to follow Winnie into the kitchen area, making a quick grab for a pair of wineglasses and two empty wine bottles.

Winnie eyed the bottles. “Sleeping? Or passed out?”

“Maybe a little of both. She was upset about things, about Patty, so I talked her into trying a little wine.”

“A little wine?”

“Okay, maybe more than a little.”

“Good. As my mother used to say, she’s got a lot on her plate right now.”

Rosie grabbed a cigarette from the pack beside the stove. “You don’t know the half of it.”

Winnie had been unloading her pockets onto the island: the partially-eaten chocolate bar, her pen and notebook. “What half don’t I know?”

Rosie slanted a look toward the couches. “Well, er…it’s not that bad, not really. I’ve taken care of it for her. I mean, poor kid.”

“That’s the second time you called her a kid in as many minutes.”

“Isn’t that weird? We compared notes earlier. We’ve both twenty-eight, if you can believe that.”

“But in terms of lives lived, she’s a toddler?”

Rosie sighed. “Pretty much, yeah. But like I said, I’m taking care of it.”

“With it being…?”

Winnie listened as Rosie told her about Barbra’s encounter with Ronald Royall, the “kid’s freak-out,” and how the problem was being solved thanks to a phone call to Rosie’s cousin Jules made from Barbra’s cell phone.

“The weasel won’t fire her. He just wanted to scare her so he could get what he wanted. But tell me about this Jules guy. He moves furniture?”

“Ah, um…he does a lot of things.”

“Are they all legal things?”

“Aw, come on, Winnie. He’s my cousin. My Auntie Bonita’s oldest. He’s a good guy.”

Winnie nodded. “That’s probably all the answer I want to hear. Besides, we’ve got more important things to discuss.” She tipped her head toward the couches once more. “If we wake her, do you think she’ll be up for more bad news?”

“If we can wake her. But no, I don’t think so. Okay, spill it—whatta-ya got?”

“Probably more than I wanted to know, and nothing we can prove.” Winnie flipped through her notebook, trying to decide where to begin. Decision made, she reached back into the pocket of her sweater and pulled out the tri-fold Royall Crest brochure she’d found at the check-out counter at the Royall Quicke Shoppe.

Rosie grabbed it, opened it. “What’s this?”

“I picked it up earlier. I wanted to check on prices because Barbra said she’d seen them somewhere. No prices in that. Mostly pictures, selling the place as the next thing to Nirvana. Ronald’s smiling face is all over it. But look on the back. That’s your boy Jimmy smiling for the camera, right?”

“You already know that.

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