Chapter Three #2
Kara was grinning and waving a hand in front of her face. “And this, Brady, is why I’m here. My mom used to belong to this group.” Her smile faded slightly.
Gloria placed her hand over hers. “I miss Linda every day too, hon.”
A moment of quiet remembrance shifted the mood of the group, but then it was gone and smiles returned. Mrs. Donnelly broke the silence. “Brady, did you bring coins?”
I set my rolls of quarters on the table. “Twenty dollars in quarters.”
“Oh, he’s a high roller,” another woman said. She was quieter than the rest, her gray hair braided, and her dark brown eyes steady but kind. “I’m Sandra.”
“Hi, Sandra,” I said with a smile.
“Before we start,” Mrs. Donnelly cut in, lowering her voice just enough to make it obvious she wanted everyone to hear, “quick reminder. If staff walks in—”
“We’re not playing for money,” Jennifer finished.
“And you cover your coins,” Gloria added, slapping a hand over hers.
“Don’t stuff them in your bra,” Kara said quickly. “Tilly tried that once. We think it set off her pacemaker.”
“I’m not wearing a bra,” I said, deadpan. “So no problem.”
David laughed.
“It was never a problem.” Jennifer continued, “And it didn’t set off her pacemaker. She was having issues before that.”
“She’d lost all her coins and had overshared about her thing for the mailman, so her erratic heart rate was likely unrelated to where she stashed the coins,” Mrs. Donnelly said.
Jennifer chimed in. “They were my coins.”
“He was my mailman,” Iris added.
“Hopefully not the same way he was Tilly’s,” Sandra said dryly.
Gloria’s laugh was full-bellied.
“Well, they’re both dead now, so let’s get back to the game,” Sandra said and everyone quieted and looked at her. She threw her hands up, “All I’m saying is Brady should be able to hide his coins wherever he wants to.”
I blinked, then laughed. “Thank you?”
“Just make sure they’re your coins,” Jennifer grumbled.
Cards were dealt before I could ask anything else.
“You’re trying to get thirty-one,” Mrs. Donnelly said.
“In one suit,” Jennifer added.
Kara smacked my arm. “The goal is to not have the lowest hand after someone knocks.”
“Knocks?” I asked.
“Yes,” Mrs. Donnelly said. “If you think that you have enough in your hand to not be the lowest you can knock on the table. Then everyone else gets one more chance to choose a card that raises the points in their hand. Then we show our cards and the person or persons with the lowest points in their hand throws their quarter into the basket.”
“We play until there is a winner. The winner gets all the quarters,” Sandra explained.
I picked up my cards and looked at them. “So, face cards are good.”
“And an ace is eleven points,” Kara added.
“And when people lose all of their quarters, they’re done?” I asked.
“Yes,” Gloria said. “Or—” She paused, eyes lighting up. “You confess something and get to stay in for another round.”
“Confess?” Like the mailman story. I love this game!
Jennifer motioned to the people sitting around the table. “Something no one here knows about you.”
“And it has to be good,” Kara added.
Nodding, Sandra said, “Most of us have known each other for decades, so that’s more challenging than it sounds.”
“Most of us just sit out,” David muttered.
“Cowards,” Kara joked.
I smiled and played the round.
I lost twice. Kept my quarter a few times. Learned when and when not to knock.
By the time my coins started running low, I was already laughing more than I had all week. Sadly, Mrs. Donnelly had a lucky run that wiped me out.
“No more quarters?” Gloria asked.
I looked at the empty space before me. “Nope.”
“Confess something or you’re done,” Kara said.
I leaned back in my chair, considering it.
“Come on,” Jennifer pushed. “We’ve all shared something.”
Not with me. But I shrugged. “All right.”
“What’ve you got?” Mrs. Donnelly asked.
I hesitated just long enough to feel it, then chose something I hadn’t yet said aloud. “My brother’s getting married.”
“That’s not a secret,” Mrs. Donnelly said.
“Wait,” Kara said. “Let him finish.”
I glanced down at my cards, then back up. “Before he and his fiancée got engaged, we were friends.”
The table went quiet for half a second. “Go on,” Gloria urged.
“She was very kind to me.”
They all leaned in.
“And I had a bit of a crush on her,” I admitted.
“Oh, that’s deliciously complicated,” Jennifer announced.
Gloria nodded toward me. “I like him more now.”
Mrs. Donnelly looked on with concern. “That must be hard for you.”
“It passed,” I said, shuffling the cards. “Once I got to know her, it wasn’t like that. She’s a good person, but there’s no spark so there’s no issue.”
“Well,” Mrs. Donnelly said, like she’d been waiting for her turn, “when one door closes, another one opens.”
“Oh, here we go,” Jennifer muttered. “Have you considered that the poor boy may want to remain single?”
“You didn’t see how he looked at Elise,” Mrs. Donnelly continued.
“Elise?” Sandra repeated.
Mrs. Donnelly waved a hand. “You know that quiet, brunette woman who shows up at bingo nights at the church sometimes but doesn’t actually play.”
“She’s a little weird,” Kara said, then after looking me over, shrugged. “But you might like that.”
“Weird how?” I asked, fascinated.
Mrs. Donnelly tilted her head. “She’s not weird, there’s just more going on in that head of hers than ever makes it out of her mouth.”
I could relate to that. The next round started and I asked, “What else do you know about her?”
“Not much,” Kara said.
Gloria picked a card, made a face, then discarded it. “I’ve never found her to be that friendly. My bet is she’s in a witness protection program.”
My eyebrows rose. “Why do you say that?” Although the card I pulled was awful, I was enjoying this line of discourse too much to be concerned.
Gloria added, “I don’t trust anyone who never relaxes.”
Sandra knocked and everyone groaned. “She’s always been nice to me. There’s nothing wrong with a woman being careful around people she doesn’t know well.”
“You have to speak to people to get to know them and I haven’t personally heard her say more than her coffee order to anyone.” Jennifer kept the card she picked up and dropped a low point card.
The image of Elise being the outsider tugged at my heart. “Is she new to the area?”
Mrs. Donnelly shook her head. “She grew up somewhere around here. Not in town. None of the kids knew her, but I remember seeing her now and then. If I remember right, she has a brother. He doesn’t spend much time in town either.”
“So they’re from another town?”
David interjected, “You know, if you want the true story and not the gossip, you could just ask her.”
I smiled. I mean, he wasn’t wrong. “I will.”
Sandra peered at me over her cards. “You do sound interested.”
I shrugged, because I was. “If I run across her again, would you mind if I invite her to one of your Wednesday games?” I asked as I picked up an ace that brought the points in my hand to thirty-one so I laid it down with a grin.
“Seventeen,” Mrs. Donnelly said with a shake of her head, but added, “I can’t speak for everyone here, but as far as I’m concerned, she’s welcome.”
“Twenty-five,” David said. “If I’m out, I have no secret I’d like to divulge, but I vote yes to Brady bringing a date next Wednesday.”
“Hey, hey,” I said with a laugh. “First, let’s not rush and call it a date. Second, she might want nothing to do with me.”
“Twelve,” Jennifer interjected. “Smart boy, don’t date her before we approve.”
David laughed as he realized he didn’t have the losing hand. “Thanks, Jennifer. You always come through for me.”
“Bite me, David,” she tossed back.
Gloria slapped her cards down. “Ten. I couldn’t get a damn match. Not one. And, Brady, you date whoever the hell you please, but yeah, bring her here. I’d love to see if she can speak.”
David and Jennifer gave each other a congratulatory hand air smack.
Kara laughed. “Fourteen. I thought for sure I’d lose this round but luckily looks like Gloria helped us all out.”
Sandra spread her three cards out. “Twenty. Good enough to keep my quarter. Cough up yours, Gloria.”
Gloria rolled her eyes and tossed her quarter in.
“Have any of you heard the name Thomas Steele?” I asked, keeping my tone casual.
There was a pause.
Then Jennifer said, “That might be the man who bought the old place with the silo. People whispered about who they thought was out there, but I don’t recall if that was the name being tossed around. It was a long time ago.”
“Out past the ridge?” Sandra asked.
“Yeah,” I said.
David added, “People say there’s something underground out there. Twenty or so years ago it was busy with construction vehicles. Nothing in a long time, though.”
“Government, maybe,” Gloria said, “Maybe aliens.”
Jennifer gathered the cards together. “Or some prepper nonsense.”
“Either way, no one goes near it,” Mrs. Donnelly added. “You try, you get turned around really quick. Police don’t like people poking around there.”
I leaned back, letting that settle. So the police know what’s out there.
Finally.
A lead.
By the time I left, my sides were sore from laughing and I was out of quarters, but definitely considered the evening a success.
Regardless of how little I’d learned about Elise, I was excited about the possibility of seeing her again.
It didn’t hurt that I’d also discovered enough information to make me think I might have the right Steele this time.
The night air hit cool against my skin as I stepped outside.
I thought about the silo.
About the land no one went near.
And then, without meaning to, I thought about Elise.
I smiled into the darkness as I remembered how she’d dropped her purse then waited to see if I’d fetch it for her. Outdated. Corny as hell. One hundred fifty percent adorable.
Focus.
One thing at a time.
First, Thomas Steele.