Blind Shuffle by Austin Williams

Author:Austin Williams [Williams, Austin]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781626815568
Publisher: Diversion Books
Published: 2015-10-19T16:00:00+00:00

• • •

Monday Reed spread out a blanket on a patch of grass in Audobon Park, a favorite spot that almost no one seemed to know about but her. Just a stone’s throw from the placid lagoon, she could hear the quacking of ducks as they splashed about in the sun-dappled water. Farther away, a streetcar faintly rumbled and clattered down St. Charles.

This was her day off, from both of her jobs. Monday worked three shifts a week at Bon Coeur, on a rotating basis determined by the other nurses’ schedules. She served drinks at Temptations five nights a week on average, but it was a causal arrangement and left to her discretion.

The club’s owner, a squat Greek gentleman named Angelo, made it clear upon hiring her last year that she’d have to put out sooner or later. All the girls did. Monday had never allowed him so much as a quick feel, and her unwavering rejection of his crude overtures had the opposite effect of what she’d anticipated. Rather than fire her, Angelo treated her with a kind of quiet reverence, allowing her to work as much or as little as she felt like in a given week.

She enjoyed her free Sundays. As often as the weather allowed, she ended up here in the park. She was more than content to keep to her secluded little section near the lagoon, away from screaming babies and leering drunks, the two categories of humans she encountered most often while working.

Monday removed her button-down shirt, kicked off her sandals and stretched out on the blanket in a bikini top and a pair of denim cutoffs. Fishing a used Harold Robbins paperback from her bag, she scanned the back cover for some motivation to keep reading. She liked raunchy fiction, but preferred a more imaginative touch than Robbins brought to the material.

Tossing the book aside, Monday realized she’d forgotten to bring sunblock. Her fair complexion, the natural result of her parents’ Irish-Swedish union, was not made to endure high exposure to UV rays. She went straight from freckled alabaster to boiled lobster in no time flat, a painful tendency she had no intention of allowing today.

But the sun felt so good pouring over her skin. She didn’t want to abandon it for the safety of the shade just yet.

Five minutes, she told herself. Then she’d place the blanket under the protection of a gnarled oak and see if Mr. Robbins had what it took to hold her attention for another ten pages.

She lay back, head resting on the soft ground. Unprompted, Rusty Diamond appeared in her mind. Was it the thought of sexy reading material that conjured his image? Monday pondered that question with a smile. He hadn’t entirely dissipated from her thoughts since they’d parted ways at Temptations. Monday had taken a mild dislike to Rusty upon first sight at the hospital, based on what Marceline had said about him.

She hadn’t felt any immediate thawing last night, but by the end of their conversation he’d convinced her of two things.

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