Peaches and the Gambler
Page 26
“Monay—I--,” he began, his former smile replaced with the sickening look of one caught with his hand in the cookie jar.
“Screw you!” she screeched. Grabbing a drink from the table across from them, she tossed its contents at Vernon.
Unfortunately for Peaches, Monay had very bad aim.
She ended up soaked, her face splashed with what tasted like Long Island Iced Tea. A collective gasp rose from the other diners, followed by excited chatter.
Standing up with as much dignity as she could muster with an alcoholic beverage all over her face, she turned to leave saying, “It’s over,” quite unnecessarily.
Halfway to the door, she pivoted on her heel and stomped back, grabbing the ring off the table.
“I figure I earned this, don’t you?”
Somewhat satisfied, she marched to the door, got in her car and sped off, blessedly leaving the feverish gossip of The Blues Café diners behind.
**
Two days later, she was sitting on the couch, deep into a dirty romance novel involving a sailor and a barmaid, when there was a knock at the door.
It was the mailman. He had airmail she needed to sign for. It had no return address, so she was more than a little curious.
Opening the envelope, a traveler’s check folded within a single sheet of white paper was enclosed.
“Hopefully this makes us even. With Love, Viviana”
The amount made her blink.
This would keep her and the girl’s comfy for a bit longer. Maybe now she could hold out on taking another crappy temp assignment.
Though she would have liked a simple thank you and a little consideration, for Viviana, this was as good as it was gonna get.
**
Less than thirty minutes later another knock sounded at the door. It was yet another letter she had to sign for.
Really, Viviana had already provided more than enough cash incentive, she didn’t need to provide any more. Not that she would turn it down. She was unemployed, after all.
Ripping it open as she closed the door, her heart nearly stopped as she read the typed words.
“You lost me a lot of money and caused me a lot of trouble, Peaches Donnelly. You can run but you can’t hide. One day when you least expect it: Boom! Everything you love the most will be lost.”
###
Coming Soon!
Peaches and the Baby Mama
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About the Author
A.T. Hicks lives in Chapel Hill, North Carolina with her patient husband, rotating children, a menagerie of pets and an overactive imagination.
Though she wrote her first novel more than twelve years ago while living in Aix-en-Provence, France, she wouldn't publish until many years later.
Thank God for that!
With many more years of experience under her belt, her writing skills improved to such a degree as to be nearly unrecognizable to her earlier attempts. After having read many a novel, she realized mystery was the genre she was most interested in. Diving in headfirst, she tackled her second novel with zeal and several months later she completed the first installment of a series of Peaches Donnelly Mysteries called Peaches and the Gambler.
She can most often be found in front of her laptop computer. But reading a novel, or just observing the kookiness of daily life are also very enjoyable pastimes.
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