Maria Geraci

by Bunco Babes Gone Wild (v5)

  “Of course,” she said. She didn’t have access to a fax machine, but she’d get it. “Let me drive into Destin and see where I can find a machine and I’ll call you with the number.”

  “That’d be great.” She was about to disconnect when he added, “I’m really looking forward to this weekend, babycakes.”

  Her mind suddenly flashed back to the kiss with Dave. She mentally put on her Manolos and stomped out the memory. Dave was a tempting distraction. Nothing more. Her life with Spencer—that’s what was real.

  She tossed her purse in the car and took off down the road. It was almost four and she had a lot of work to do. First, she’d find a copier store that had fax machine access and get those contracts from Spencer. Then she’d embark on a quest for a killer dress.

  Black Tie Bunco was the perfect backdrop to the most important night of her life. The night Spencer would finally propose to her.

  17

  It was Thursday, and the first day since Georgia had been in Whispering Bay that Dave hadn’t stopped by the Bistro. She’d been right about him not coming back. It was a relief not to have to face him after that kiss. In just two days she’d be reunited with Spencer and she’d never have to think about that kiss again. Not that she’d thought about it much. Not really. Except maybe once or twice. But that was normal. After all, she was only human.

  She finished wiping down the last of the tables, then stretched out her lower back and yawned. Yesterday had been busy. After receiving the contracts from Spencer, she’d hit nearly every outlet store and designer shop in Destin until she’d found the right outfit for Black Tie Bunco—a Herve Leger sequin-overlay cocktail dress. It was the most beautiful thing Georgia had ever laid eyes on. The form-fitting rayon-nylon-spandex mixture hugged every curve in her body and gave her some extra ones she didn’t even know she had. The official color was blue haze, but it looked more silver than blue. Spencer wouldn’t be able to take his eyes off her. It was the first time in her life she’d paid full price for anything, but it was worth every cent of the two thousand dollars she’d spent.

  After her shopping spree she’d stayed up all night looking over the contracts Spencer had faxed. She made adjustments and added some notes about the figures. It was a complex contract, one that required a huge commitment from both companies. Georgia hoped that John Ambrose would approve her changes.

  “It’s my turn to host Bunco tonight,” Frida said. “So after we get the place cleaned up, we’ll go ahead and set up.” She dumped a pile of hot pink tablecloths in Georgia’s hands. “Wait till you see the prizes.”

  “Has it been a week already?”

  “I have a really cool theme planned—Cheeseburger in Paradise. Ed’s going to grill burgers. We’ll drink beer and listen to Jimmy Buffett’s greatest hits CD. Everyone is wearing a Hawaiian shirt. I’ve got one for you too.”

  “For me?”

  “Sure. You’re going to play.” Frida began moving tables to the side, setting up three of the smaller tables in the middle. “You can put the tablecloths on these.”

  “But I thought you only played with twelve. Besides, I planned to go into Destin again this afternoon. I need a mani and a pedi and shoes to go with my new dress.”

  “With that dress of yours you don’t need shoes. No one is going to be looking at your feet.”

  Georgia grinned. “It is a great dress, isn’t it?”

  Frida stopped what she was doing. “I hope Spencer’s worth it.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “I just want you to be happy, that’s all.”

  “I am happy. At least I will be once Spencer proposes and I can get my life started.” Georgia glanced at her watch. It was already two p.m. She’d also planned to go by the bank, but of course, she couldn’t tell that to Frida. She’d left Bruce Bailey a message on his phone, but he hadn’t called back. It had been four days since she’d presented the loan restructure. It didn’t take four days to make a decision. On the other hand, no news was good news. Still, it couldn’t hurt to nudge Bruce a little.

  “You can do your errands tomorrow. Ed is going to be busy this afternoon dropping off paintings at the Harbor House so I’m really counting on you to help me decorate and set up for Bunco.”

  “I’ll help you get ready, but do I have to stay and play? I mean, don’t your friends have some sort of rules about your subs?”

  “All our subs now belong to Bettina’s group, remember? Besides, all the Babes loved you. You and I can play as one. And I get a kick out of showing off my smart, beautiful sister.”

  The Babes loved her? They barely knew her.

  “You did have fun last week, didn’t you?” Frida asked, sensing Georgia’s hesitation.

  Besides getting so drunk she dialed Spencer and told him to fuck off, quit her job, and flashed her boobs? Not to mention kissing a stranger, then nearly puking on him. None of that qualified as Georgia’s idea of fun. But she’d admit, up until then, it hadn’t been as bad as she’d thought. “Sure, I had fun, I mean if you forget all the drama with Spencer.”

  “Last week was a fluke,” said Frida. “I promise, normally we never get that wild.” Then she added with a giggle, “Well, almost never.”

  “I guess I can get my nails done tomorrow afternoon. But you have to let me treat you to a mani and a pedi. We’ll have some girl time. It’ll be fun.”

  Frida’s face twisted. “I really should go down to the bank tomorrow to face Bruce Bailey and try to figure out this loan thing. I don’t think I can put it off any longer.”

  Georgia tried not to look alarmed. “You can go to the bank next week when they open again on Tuesday. It’s not going to make a lot of difference in the outcome, is it?”

  “I guess not,” Frida conceded. She smiled and gave her a hug. “I wish you’d come down more often. It’s been so nice this past week. It’s helped take my mind off this foreclosure thing. And I’ve really appreciated all the work you’ve done around the place.”

  “So does that mean we’ll do the girl thing tomorrow afternoon? It’ll be our last chance. And we want to look our best for Black Tie Bunco.”

  “Sure,” said Frida.

  Georgia smiled, satisfied she’d talked her sister out of making a trip to the bank. Now she’d just have to make sure that sometime after tonight’s Bunco and before her sister bonding session tomorrow afternoon, she squeezed in time to put some pressure on Bruce Bailey.

  Georgia’s Hawaiian shirt was bright blue with big yellow and red flowers. Frida had even gotten everyone leis.

  “I thought the theme was Jimmy Buffet, not a Hawaiian luau,” said Brenda, adjusting the lei around her neck. “Are these plastic? I’m sensitive to plastic next to my skin.” Geor gia remembered Brenda as being slightly negative. Until she’d gotten plastered with the secret frozen margaritas. Then she loosened up faster than a rusty hinge covered in WD-40.

  “Technically, yes, the leis are Hawaiian,” said Frida. “But it’s the spirit that counts. And I’m not sure what material they’re made of.”

  “Hawaiian shirts are tropical and so is the Jimmy Buffet theme,” said Kitty in a tone meant to bring the discussion to an end. “I think the two of you did a great job.”

  The two of them meaning Georgia and Frida. Georgia glanced around the Bistro. She had to admit, the place did look good. Multicolored twinkling lights lit up the ceiling and the edges of the counters. A table with a pineapple cen terpiece held condiments for the burgers Ed was grilling outside on the patio while Jimmy Buffett’s “Volcano” played in the background.

  “This is even better than sushi night,” Pilar said. “Not that I didn’t like your Japanese theme,” she added quickly.

  Shea took a drag of her beer. “Is everyone here?” She did a quick head count and frowned. “We’re missing someone.”

  “Tina’s MIA,” said Mimi. She wore a white gardenia tucked behind an ear. It complimented her dark hair and the pale pink tropical shirt she wore. “She called
me to say she was running late.”

  “Problems with Brett?” Liz asked.

  Mimi pursed her lips and nodded. “Brett’s had a relapse. Tina found out this afternoon he spent last weekend in one of the casinos in Biloxi, instead of camping like he’d told her.”

  The group moaned.

  Georgia remembered now. Brett was Tina’s husband and a gambler.

  “Poor Tina,” said Brenda. “How much longer is she going to have to put up with this?”

  Pilar sighed. “Unfortunately Brett suffers from a really bad case of Y-chromo-loma.”

  Georgia frowned. “What?”

  “That’s Pilar’s word for anything that a man does wrong,” supplied Kitty.

  “Women can be compulsive gamblers too,” said Shea.

  Pilar put her hand in the air, signaling she didn’t want to hear it.

  The front door opened. Tina walked in, wearing her Hawaiian shirt and a brave smile. The Babes swooped around her, hugging her and murmuring encouraging words.

  Mimi put an arm around Tina. “Is there anything we can do?”

  “You’re doing it already,” said Tina. “Just knowing I have you guys to lean on.” She glanced around the room. “And knowing that I can come here and be myself and not have to pretend that everything is okay, when it isn’t. It means a lot.”

  Georgia watched the scene with a mixture of sympathy and mild disgust. She felt for Tina, she really did. But there was no way she’d put up with a gambling husband. If Geor gia were in Tina’s shoes, she’d have given this Brett character his walking papers a long time ago.

  “I didn’t come here to bring everyone down,” Tina announced. “I want the night to go as planned. Whatever else happens, Bunco must go on.”

  “Thatta girl!” said Lorraine.

  Murmurs of encouragement echoed through the room.

  Ed brought in a platter of burgers and the Babes dug in. All twelve Babes were present tonight, but Frida still insisted Georgia play. They would trade off games, Frida said.

  Georgia had just taken a bite out of her cheeseburger when her cell phone went off. Earlier, she’d slid her phone inside the pocket to her shorts. Just in case Spencer called. She hadn’t talked to him all day. With a sigh of relief she saw his number light up her screen.

  “Hey, I’ve been hoping you’d call tonight.”

  “Georgia? Is that you? I can barely hear you. Are you at a bar?”

  “We’re hosting Bunco at Frida’s. Hold on a sec.” She slipped outside, to the back patio where it was quiet. Quiet except for the sound of croaking frogs and the ocean waves lapping against the shore. “Can you hear me now?”

  “Much better,” Spencer said. Then a pause. “I have some bad news.”

  A tingle of dread ran up Georgia’s spine. “Are the kids okay?”

  “Who? Oh, you mean Spencer Jr. and Little Leslie? Yes, they’re both fine.” Another long pause. “It’s about this weekend. There’s just no easy way to say this, babycakes, but I can’t come down. Valley Tech is giving me the runaround on this new contract. I’ve tried to put them off until next week, but they’re like stink on a skunk.”

  “Is . . . is it the changes I made?”

  “Your changes were fine. It’s just some petty details I need to go over with John Ambrose and his crew. You know how he is.”

  “The Valley Tech people are still there?” According to Crystal they’d left yesterday. Had she heard Crystal wrong?

  Spencer coughed into the phone. “Bastards. They’re determined to ruin my weekend.” He laughed in a way meant for Georgia to laugh along with him.

  Only Georgia wasn’t laughing.

  “You know how much this new contract could mean to the company,” he continued. “I really have no choice.”

  “I’ll . . . I’ll come up and help. Between the two of us we can—”

  “No need, sugar. Just because my weekend’s shot doesn’t mean yours has to be too. You go to this Black Tie Bunco shindig and have fun. Make sure to make a big contribution from the company. Okay?”

  Georgia couldn’t talk.

  “Babycakes, did you hear me?”

  “Sure,” she said weakly.

  “You are coming back to work next week. Right? Thanks for being so sweet. I promise I’ll make it up to you.” He hung up before she could say anything else.

  The back door opened. It was Frida. “We’re waiting for you,” she said shuffling Georgia back inside the building and into a chair. “We’re rolling for ones. You remember how to play, right?”

  “Sure.”

  She’d been reduced to a one-word vocabulary.

  “You’re my partner this round,” Kitty said. She studied Georgia a second then frowned. “Are you all right?”

  Did she look as numb as she felt? She started to say it. The dreaded sure. Instead, she just nodded. She didn’t say anything else the rest of the game. Not when Kitty rolled a Bunco that added mega points to their score. Not even when they won and went on to the next table and Georgia found herself partnered with Shea, who was babbling on and on about Black Tie Bunco and the hot pink cocktail dress she was planning to wear and how hard it had been to find a tux to fit Moose.

  Crystal said the Valley Tech people were gone. And Spencer said they were still in Birmingham. One of them was lying. Crystal had no reason to lie. And Spencer never missed a Bama football game. It didn’t take an IQ of 140 to figure it out. Spencer never had any intention of coming down for Black Tie Bunco. Just like he had no intention of ever asking her to marry him.

  She didn’t say anything when she lost, or when someone slipped another beer in her hand even though she’d never finished her first one. She half listened as Mimi spoke of the house she and Zeke were buying, and how great it was that the house was so close to Shea’s, and what a bummer it would be to have Bettina Bailey for a neighbor.

  All she wanted was to go upstairs and cry. To call her best friend and tell her what a lying-piece-of-shit scumbag Spencer was. Only she realized she didn’t have a best friend. She didn’t have any friends, really. She worked sixty hours a week for a man who would rather watch a football game than sacrifice one weekend to make her happy. Her only friend in Birmingham was Denise, and that was because she worked for Georgia. They went out to lunch sometimes, and every once in a while, they’d catch a movie, but the majority of Georgia’s time was spent at work. Or with the lying-piece-of-shit scumbag she thought loved her enough to marry her.

  Georgia stood and placed her hands on the card table. “I just caught Spencer in a big lie,” she announced.

  Playing stopped.

  Why had she blurted that out? Last week she’d had the excuse of being drunk. But she’d barely had half a beer tonight.

  “Isn’t that the guy you told to fuck off?” asked Brenda, looking confused.

  “Yeah, but they sort of got back together the next day,” Pilar said.

  The Babes all began to talk at once.

  “What happened?” Frida asked softly.

  “He told me he couldn’t come down this weekend because he needs to wine and dine a client. Only I know from his secretary that the client left the plant yesterday.” She didn’t know why she was telling them this. She didn’t want anyone feeling sorry for her or murmuring consoling plati tudes. She’d scream if they started that.

  “What did he say when you called him out on it?” Pilar asked.

  “I didn’t call him out on it.”

  “Why not?” Frida demanded.

  “I froze up. And I guess because . . . because this time, no matter what excuse he comes up, I’m done with him.”

  Shea stood and wrapped an arm around her. “Sweetie, I’m so sorry.”

  The rest of the Babes came up one by one to hug her and offer condolences.

  “You’ll find someone better than him,” said Mimi.

  “He’ll get his. What goes around comes around,” said Kitty.

  Even Tina, who God knew had enough problems of her own look
ed genuinely sympathetic when she said, “He’s dog shit. No, he’s not even that good. He’s bird dung.”

  “Bird dung isn’t as bad as him,” quipped Lorraine, “he’s lovebug gung. You know, the kind that sticks to your car?”

  This last part made Georgia laugh. It didn’t feel so bad. Being the object of their pity.

  As a matter of fact, she kind of liked it.

  “This sucks,” Brenda muttered.

  “What are you going to do?” asked Pilar.

  “I don’t know. I don’t think I can go back to work for him after this.”

  “Of course you can’t!” agreed Shea.

  “I know what you’re going to do,” said Frida. “Saturday night, you’re going to get all dolled up in that hot silver blue dress you bought and you’re going to go to Black Tie Bunco and have the time of your life. And you’re going to forget all about that creep.”

  Georgia shook her head. “I can’t go to Black Tie Bunco. Not now.”

  “But you have to!” Kitty protested. “You worked so hard knocking down that wall. And besides, what are you going to do? Sit here all alone and mope?”

  Georgia looked at their faces. They’d had the same expression earlier in the evening when they were talking about Tina and her gambling husband. “I’m really touched by your concern. Truly I am. But this Black Tie Bunco thing doesn’t mean the same to me as it does to all of you. Under the circumstances, I’d rather just stay here. Besides, I would feel weird going without a date.”

  “There’ll be lots of people going without dates,” said Kitty. “Steve’s friend Dave is going and he doesn’t have a date. It wouldn’t be weird at all.”

  That was the final nail on the coffin. No way could Geor gia face Dave now. Not when she’d made such a big deal of her and Spencer getting back together. It would be too humiliating.

  “Honestly, I’ll be okay. Please, I didn’t mean to ruin the evening. You all keep playing. I’m just going to slip out and—”

  “Sorry, but you don’t get off that easily. If you don’t play, then no one plays,” said Pilar.

  The Babes all nodded in agreement.