Poker Posse 1: Looking at Rose

by Qwillia Rain

  From the way her blue eyes grew icy and she sat straighter in her chair, Mabel didn’t take the reminder well. “I have said we will not discuss that unfortunate incident.”

  Rae of course couldn’t let it be. She just had to pick. “He must not have been that gay, Viola, considering he knocked Mirabeth up. After their divorce was finalized.”

  Viola shrank in her seat as words erupted around her. Considering the tension she’d felt from Rose earlier and her own frustrations hovering so close to the surface, she should have known something was in the air. If Viola didn’t know for a fact that she and her friends had already gone through the change, she’d swear they were all PMSing. Rae and Mabel exchanged biting remarks while Lucy contributed a few of her own. It was times like these when Viola truly missed the school library and the profound appreciation for solitude and silence it had given her. After several seconds of pandemonium, Betty Jo’s shrill whistle split the air, silencing the fray and turning all eyes toward her. The king of spades and six of hearts lay abandoned on the table in front of her.

  “That’s enough! Apparently we all have issues with our girls.”

  Viola nodded along with the other three ladies. Much as she loved her Rose, a part of her wished her little girl had more to snuggle up to of a night than a recipe book.

  Betty Jo continued, “So what are we going to do about it?”

  Rae blinked, her expression as confused as the other ladies’. “What do you mean, ‘What are we going to do about it?’ What can we do about it?”

  An uneasy silence filled Mabel’s basement game room. Finally Viola raised her hand. If no one else would state the obvious, she would.

  Betty Jo gave her an indulgent smile. “Yes, Viola?”

  “We could find them beaus.” After her earlier talk with Rose, she knew just the man for her daughter, but she wasn’t quite sure how to approach him. If the other ladies had ideas for that, she was willing to listen.

  Mabel huffed. “I’ve tried that. Mirabeth finds fault with all the eligible gentlemen the judge and I have introduced her to.”

  Rae snorted. “Probably because they’re all fancy-boy lawyers like her ex-husband.”

  Determined to keep the fireworks from reigniting, Viola hurriedly offered, “Rose is too wrapped up in her candy shop to think about a man.”

  Lucy added her own complaint. “Between work and her classes, Ellie doesn’t have time to date.”

  Rae grumbled, “Arabella wouldn’t know what to do with a man if I left him handcuffed to her bed.”

  With a shake of her head, Betty Jo admitted, “Norah simply ignores the boys I’ve tried to pair her off with.”

  A knowing grin lifted Lucy’s lips. “Bet she wouldn’t turn down Jake Boudreaux.”

  Now that was a name sure to get Betty Jo’s dander up. Viola had never understood why everyone was so dead set against the boy. He’d always taken very good care of Rose when she would tag along with him and his friends, was careful with his library books, and he’d been happy to assist her in shelving books when he was in school. And Norah adored the boy. Always had.

  From the way Betty Jo stiffened up, Viola was pretty sure she’d reject Lucy’s suggestion out of hand, but she surprised everyone at the table when she asked, “You’ve seen the Boudreaux boy?”

  The way Rae purred, Viola knew if the man had been a rabbit the woman would have pounced on him like the hungry cougar she was. “Oh my, boy is not the word for him. Why the way Jake fills out his jeans would make a nun wet in the middle of Sunday Communion.”

  “You’ve seen him?” Viola asked, not wanting to think of the things Rae’s comment brought to mind.

  Lucy answered. “I saw him ride into town this afternoon when I was getting the chips and dip at the Piggly Wiggly.”

  “Ridin’ a big black beast like an outlaw astride a stallion.” Rae fanned herself with her abandoned playing cards.

  The look on Betty Jo’s face hinted at a plan forming, but she dismissed Jake as the topic and turned it back to the problem at hand. “Enough about Jake Boudreaux. We need to get serious now.”

  Her thoughts on the plan that had sprung to mind on how to get Rose a man, Viola sipped her tea, then asked, “Why? Get serious about what?”

  Mabel seemed more in tune with Betty Jo. “About finding men for our girls.”

  Lucy chimed in. “They aren’t getting any younger.”

  “And I don’t know about you girls, and Mabel, you’re about to be blessed with one, but I’d like a grandbaby or two to spoil before I pass on,” Rae admitted.

  Viola must have shared the same disbelieving looks as her other three friends, because Rae huffed, “Well, I would.”

  Betty Jo announced, “All right then, I say we bring the first meetin’ of the Poker Posse to order.”

  “Poker Posse?” Viola’s voice joined the other three as they stared at the group’s unofficial leader.

  “Yes, ladies.” Betty Jo motioned to the table and the unfinished game of Texas Hold ’Em. “Our job is to hunt down the right men for our girls just like a posse used to hunt down criminals in the Old West.” Her keen blue eyes measured each of them before she set her hand over the deck of cards. “Are you in?”

  Mabel was the first to agree. She set her hand over Betty Jo’s. “I’m in.”

  Viola set her hand on Mabel’s. “Me too.”

  Lucy’s hand rested over hers. “And me.”

  Raelene had a wicked grin on her face when she placed her hand on top. “Definitely. I’m in.”

  The room was silent for a moment before Lucy spoke. “So, just where are we going to find these men?”

  Mabel’s smile held a promise that made even Raelene shiver. “The Omen, of course.”

  Viola wasn’t the only one to gasp, but she doubted anyone else suppressed the urge to clap their hands in excitement like she did.

  * * * *

  “Darla Ann is getting married.”

  Mirabeth Hampton-Greene dropped the conversational bomb into the silence. Those five words had all the women in the room turning to look at her.

  From the corner of the sofa where she was curled up, Norah Lipton stopped twirling a strand of her strawberry-blonde hair and asked, “Again?”

  Rose rolled up from her prone position. “Oh Lord, so that was her I saw going into your shop this afternoon. What husband is this? Three or four?”

  Mirabeth grinned and tucked a loose tendril of platinum-blonde hair behind her ear. “Three. And she’s looking at white gowns. If you’re lucky, Ari, she’ll beat your mama’s record.” As the proprietress of the only bridal shop in town, Mirabeth had the inside track on all the nuptials planned in and around Magnolia.

  Helena Krikkel blinked at the news as she returned from her mother’s kitchen with a fresh pitcher of sweet tea. “White? With two other marriages and who knows how many boyfriends, Darla Ann is the last woman who should be wearing white on her wedding day.” Ellie set the tea on the coffee table and settled onto the sofa.

  Rose crossed her legs and tugged the floor cushion she’d been lying on into her lap. “Please tell me she said she’s using a bakery in Savannah for her cake.” The thought of suffering through another tasting with Darla Ann and her calorie-counting, diet-conscious, snippy remarks had Rose’s stomach pitching like a ship on the open ocean during a Cat 5 hurricane. Lifting her head, she grabbed her soda off the coffee table and wished it were liberally laced with rum or vodka. “I don’t know if I can take another of Darla Ann’s weddings.”

  The blonde shook her head and smoothed her hand over the barely noticeable bump of her belly. Despite being seven months pregnant, Mirabeth looked regal even in jeans and a T-shirt. “No such luck, hon. I heard her tell her mama that she’d be visiting you tomorrow.”

  A shudder ran down Rose’s spine. There was no doubt Darla Ann would have lots to say; she always did. “I should have taken Nick’s advice and put a rattlesnake in her desk in fifth grade,” Rose muttered. “Then she’d be
sure to avoid me at all costs.”

  Arabella Smythe laughed. “That’s why she’s always picked on you, Rose, don’t you know that?”

  “What? Because I didn’t put a snake in her desk?” Rose stared at the redhead perched on the edge of the kitchen chair.

  Norah, Nick Lipton’s younger sister, laughed and shook her head. “No, silly. Darla Ann was jealous of all the attention Nick and Harlen and Jake paid you. Most of the girls in school were.”

  Rose shook her head. “That makes no sense. The guys let me tag along so they could have access to Daddy’s garage on Sundays, or to have me help them work on their cars.”

  Ellie refilled her glass with tea and grinned indulgently at Rose. “But you had their attention, Rose, when all the girls in school couldn’t get the time of day out of them. Especially Darla Ann.”

  Mirabeth stretched out her bare foot and nudged Rose in the leg. “Until I went to college, I have to admit I was a bit jealous. Harlen was yummy.”

  “Fat lotta good it did me. The guys left as I started high school.”

  “But you had us.” Norah smiled at her.

  “Yeah, I had y’all.” Rose dropped her gaze to her hands, recalling the discussion she and her mother had had earlier. Much as she loved her friends, it still hadn’t made her life easy.

  “I’m surprised Darla Ann could find another fool willing to marry her.” Norah grimaced.

  Mirabeth snickered. “Darla Ann was bragging about her fiancé’s family being from Palm Beach.”

  Ari nodded, “Makes sense. There certainly aren’t any men left in Magnolia. Decent or otherwise.”

  “I have got to get out of this town.”

  Ellie’s exclamation brought Rose’s head up and her attention away from the morose thoughts plaguing her. “Just because Darla Ann is getting married again?” she asked.

  Color filled Ellie’s cheeks. “No, not because of Darla Ann.” She hesitated as if deciding whether to share her thoughts, then added, “They were doing it.”

  Norah quit twirling her strawberry-blonde hair around her finger. “Darla Ann and her fiancé were doing what?”

  “Not Darla Ann. My parents. They were doing it.”

  “It?” Mirabeth’s brow wrinkled, then smoothed out. Rose could see she fought the urge to laugh as she nodded and sagely replied, “Oh you mean it.”

  Ari leaned forward and asked, “On the computer again?”

  Ellie shivered at the mention of the other incident. “No. He was here. In her room. In bed.”

  Rose stifled the urge to giggle. Ellie was a prude. Much more than everyone assumed Ari was. “I think you can call it sex, Ellie,” Rose teased and pushed her loose black hair back over her shoulder. “It’s not like they haven’t done it before. Heck, you and Harlen are proof they’ve done it at least twice.”

  Ellie bounced off the sofa and began pacing her mama’s living room. “Don’t remind me. It’s embarrassing enough that my parents flouted convention and never married, but that they’re still doing that at their ages?”

  The other women laughed. Mirabeth offered with quiet amusement, “I’m sure it was traumatic for you. I shiver to think how I’d feel if I’d ever caught Mama and Daddy canoodlin’ or doin’ more than kissin’. Think of it as proof that there is sex after fifty.”

  Ellie groaned, settled onto the arm of the sofa, and her shoulders slumped. “If I don’t get out of Magnolia, I won’t be having sex until I’m fifty. I don’t want to wait that long.”

  Norah harrumphed, her gray eyes narrowed in irritation. “With the selection of eligible men in this town, you’re probably right.” She unfolded her legs and bent forward to set her empty tea glass on the coffee table. “None of us are likely to indulge in some afternoon delights until we’re older than our mothers.”

  Rose had to agree. “Especially if we’re still living with them.”

  The other three women nodded.

  “I’m stuck for at least another year until business picks up,” Rose confessed. She loved her mama, but the idea of having a man hold her through the night was tempting. Too bad there weren’t many men willing to date much less sleep with a woman Rose’s size.

  Norah spoke up. “Mom is still having some problems with her arthritis, and she seems to be getting over Daddy’s death, but the medical bills are still so high.”

  Ari rubbed at the denim covering her knees. “Mom’s hip still bothers her, but I’m not making enough to cover living expenses and my student loans. At least not until after Ruth Ann retires and Dr. Lang can increase my hours.”

  Mirrie set her glass down and rubbed the tiny mound where her baby rested. “The shop is doing all right, at least people are still getting married and brides need their dresses. Sample gowns are getting expensive though, but I should have enough saved by baby’s first birthday for a down payment on a house just for us. Then I can say bye-bye to living in my parents’ guest house.”

  Ellie slid onto the sofa with a grunt. “Unless Parker decides to transfer to the office in Savannah, I’m stuck. And with my night courses, there’s no way I’ll be able to afford a place of my own for at least three more years.”

  “I can talk to him—”

  Ellie cut Mirabeth off before she could finish. “No, Mirrie, it’s okay. I don’t think a visit from his pregnant ex-wife is going to help Parker right now.” Ellie changed the subject before any of them could delve deeper into the issues at Greene and Reed, where she worked as a paralegal. “So, if we’re all stuck at home for a while longer, what do we do about men? Because I, for one, do not intend to die a virgin. Even if it means huntin’ up a Mr. Right Now instead of a Mr. Right.”

  Rose’s muttered, “Amen,” mingled with Arabella’s similar agreement. Not that she really worried too much about a man. She had her shop and a daily opportunity to ogle Ibraham. Hmm, now if he was a Mr. Right Now…

  Norah’s comment drew her away from her imagining. “I don’t want just any man. I don’t think any of us want to settle. If we did, we could have said yes to any number of men either here or when we were in college. But I have to admit, after reading some of Ari’s stories, there are a few things I’d love to try.”

  There was no doubt in Rose’s mind who Norah wanted. Everyone knew Norah adored Jake Boudreaux. Before she could say something, Mirabeth was responding to Norah’s remarks.

  “If you go with a Mr. Right Now, he should be someone special.” A light filled her lavender eyes and a blissful expression softened her features. “Someone worth being with. Worth remembering. Even if it is for only a night or two.”

  Ellie got that determined look on her face, which warned Rose that a plan was forming in her head. “So what are y’all looking for?”

  Rose tossed the question back at her. “What are you looking for?”

  Never one to be caught off guard, Ellie had a response ready. “I want a man to set me on fire. Maybe a little hot, sweaty sex will make it easier to handle when my parents start cooing and sighin’ over each other.”

  Rose thought a bit before she spoke up. If it were possible to find someone temporary, she might as well know what to look for. “I want someone tall and who wants to play. And he isn’t embarrassed or afraid of PDAs.”

  Mirabeth laughed. “Ah, public displays of affection, the bane of a ‘real’ man’s existence.” The others laughed as well, but once they were quiet, she added, “I want a man who will hold me. Protect me. Wrap me up and make me feel safe.”

  With one failed marriage behind her and a baby on the way with no father around to claim it, Rose and the others understood why safety was so important to Mirrie. It wouldn’t have been so bad if Mirrie were just another resident of Magnolia. As the daughter of the former mayor and a sitting district judge, unwed motherhood was more of a stigma than usual.

  Norah spoke up next. “I want a man to fill me with electricity and stake his claim so no one has any doubt who I belong to.”

  Arabella was quiet, carefully watching each of t
hem as they voiced their must-have lists. Rose wondered if Ari would sugarcoat her list of wants when it came to a man. What she said though, had Rose and the other three gawping at the petite redhead.

  “I want a man who’ll tie me up and flog me until I’m begging to climax.” She nibbled her bottom lip, then filled the stunned silence by adding, “Purely for research purposes, of course.”

  Ellie blinked. “You and your books, Ari. If your mama knew what you write, she’d have a coronary.”

  Rose knew the tiny redhead might be angelic looking on the outside, but wicked, sexy thoughts filled her mind. It only took reading one of the steamy erotic romance novels she wrote to know. And Rose and her friends had practically memorized every one of Ari’s books.

  Ari rolled her bright green eyes and sighed. “No. Mama would send up prayers of thanks that I at least know what and where all the body parts are supposed to go.”

  Mirabeth grinned. “Well, considering the slim pickins we have in Magnolia, I don’t think any of us are going to luck out and find our perfect mate here.”

  “No, not here,” Ari agreed, and then she smiled, a truly devilish grin that proved the woman had inherited more from her mama, Raelene, than a wicked imagination and curly red hair.

  Rose could have sworn she saw a look pass between Norah and Ellie and another between Ellie and Ari.

  Mirabeth moved forward on her chair, and asked, “You have a plan, Ari?”

  Ari nodded. “I know exactly the spot to go to in order to find men to fit the bill for each of us.”

  That really drew Rose’s attention. Practically wiggling with anticipation at the thought of an adventure, she blurted, “Spill, Arabella. Don’t keep us waitin’.”

  “It’s the perfect place. Not too close but not too far. And we can start tomorrow night.”

  Ellie and Norah shook their heads. Ellie asked, “You’re not suggestin’?”

  Mirabeth looked as flummoxed as Rose felt. They spoke at the same time, their frustration evident. “Where?”