Getting Old Is Très Dangereux: A Mystery by Rita Lakin Read Free Book Online Page A

there and sip my chardonnay. Well, that was fun. I address Jack’s empty chair. “And how did you enjoy your dinner, dear? Yes, delicious, wasn’t it? Read any good books lately?” No, that’s not a good topic at this time. So now I know what it might be like to be married thirty years. Boring life. Boring wife. Hubby off to some adventure somewhere else. Hopefully, just an adventure, not anaffair. What is he thinking? I’d really love to know. Is it the excitement of seeing someone he once cared for? Maybe it’s more like unfinished business. Hopefully it’s not testosterone. Now I interrogate myself.
And how do you feel, Gladdy Gold, about being dismissed?
I lift up my uneaten plate of vegetable stir-fry, which is starting to congeal by now. Like this sodden mess, that’s how.
    The doorbell rings. For a second I think Jack’s changed his mind and come back. But, no, he’d use his key. It’s got to be Evvie.
    I know my sister. She walks right into the dining area and heads for the bottle of wine on the table and helps herself to a glass. “I saw Jack leave.”
    “Spying out your window, were you?”
    “Better than watching Joe maul our dinner. Now where’s he going?” She plops herself down at the table and pulls off a chunk of rye bread.
    “Book signing. Of course he asked me to go with him, but I said no. And he was relieved.”
    “That was the right thing to do. Don’t want him to feel trapped.” She butters the bread.
    “Didn’t you eat?” I move dishes around to make room for her.
    “Sort of. It’s Joe’s turn to cook. He makes the worst liver and onions ever. Have you ever tasted gray cardboard and unidentifiable shrunken charcoal? Yuk.”
    “So why do you let him cook?”
    “Because I don’t want him to get into his old habit of taking me for granted. My poor stomach. Got any Tums?”
    She gets up and goes into my kitchen. “Never mind, I know where you keep them. Maybe on his cooking nights we should go out to eat. No, let him work. So, I’ll suffer.”
    I start clearing the table. Evvie helps me. “What do you think? Should I be jealous?”
    Evvie considers this. “Not yet. It’s just the newness of the situation. Do you trust him, Glad?”
    “I think so. Rather, I thought so. Never in my wildest imagination would I have expected this. Competition? Ridiculous! At our age?”
    “No ring on her finger, huh?”
    “Nope. Lots of expensive jewelry. No wedding ring.”
    “Try not to worry. It’ll work out.” But I see her cross her fingers like we did when we were kids and were lying.
    At the sink, I scrape the hardly eaten food from the plates. “She’s much younger. She’s gorgeous. She’s obviously rich. Probably very talented and travels in high literary circles. And they were once in love with one another. Now he’s running around like a chicken without its head. Should I worry?”
    Evvie stands near the stove nibbling at the stir-fry out of my wok.
    “You’re taking too long to answer me,” I admonish her from where I’m stacking the dishes in the dishwasher.
    Evvie laughs. “Remember that famous hysterically funny line from an old Jack Benny radio show? When this robber holds him up with a gun and says, ‘Your money or your life.’ And cheap Jack Benny says … ”
    I join in the punch line with her:
    “‘I’m thinking. I’m thinking.’”
    Evvie and I hug each other. What would I do without my sister?
    Jack listens to Colette explain that it’s almost closing time in the book room. “During the day,” she tells him, “this room is packed. Booksellers from all over Florida and adjoining states are selling books by the attending writers. There are only a few people making last-minute buys right now, so you can imagine what this room is like when these booths are jammed with readers.”
    He straightens his tie as he watches Michelle and Colette retrieve copies of
Bonbon, Non Non!
from a tall bookshelf. Michelle stands on the ladder and hands books down to