Sweet Ginger Poison by Robert Burton Robinson Read Free Book Online Page A

slightly
to check the alarm clock on her nightstand. Less than an hour had passed since
they had come home.
    He admired her milky-smooth skin, the way her lips
curled up slightly at the edges, and her long eye lashes. And her hair. How he
loved to bury his head in her long, thick, dark brown hair.
    Danny knew how lucky he was to have Lacey. The only
problem had been getting her to forget about Navy. When Danny first started
dating her, it was always ‘Navy did this and Navy said that.’ And just when he
would think she was finally over him, Danny would see him there in her eyes
again.
    In some ways, Danny had been a little envious of Navy.
The guy was one reckless, womanizing, cool son of a millionaire. And if you
were his girlfriend, you got everything your little heart desired—until he went
broke. But even then, he was somehow still cool.
    Danny knew he could never compete with the legend in
Lacey’s mind. He needed to somehow remove Navy from her mind. That had
proved to be much harder than he expected.
    But now it was different. Now that Navy was dead,
Lacey could finally begin to forget about him. The tiny ember of hope that she
would someday get back together with him had gone cold.
    I’m not such a bad guy, thought Danny. I’ll learn to
control my temper. And I’ll be a wonderful husband and father.
    Danny continued to adore Lacey’s sleeping face.
    He smiled. Too bad Navy died. Too bad.
     

9
- The Domino Girls
    The Domino Girls Club met every Tuesday and Saturday
night, around the oak table in Ginger’s breakfast nook. Their potluck dinners
were made up of whatever each woman had cooked that day, plus a pan of hot,
buttery rolls and a never-ending supply of iced tea. Usually Ginger provided
dessert.
    The meal would be followed by a seven-round game of
Chickenfoot dominos, which could get pretty rowdy, especially with Jane
mouthing off and Barb wise cracking.
    “Oh, Ethel, I love this casserole,” said Ginger.
“Could I get your recipe?”
    Barb grabbed Ethel’s arm. “Don’t do it, Ethel. Not
unless she’ll swap it for one of her secret coffee cake recipes.”
    Ethel Eggly and Barb Omatta, 67 and 66, respectively,
had been best friends for many years. And they had grown closer than ever since
their husbands, Earl and Henry, were killed in a horrific speedboat accident
three years ago.
    “ I’ll tell you what’s in it,” said Jane.
    “No, you won’t,” said Barb. “This ain’t some Betty
Crocker concoction, Jane. It’s Ethel’s own recipe.”
    “I know that,” said Jane. “But I can tell you the
ingredients just by tasting it.” She took a bite and chewed slowly and
thoughtfully. She closed her eyes as though she were meditating.
    “What’s the verdict, Jane?” said Ginger.
    “You really think she can do it?” said Ethel.
    Ginger smiled and shrugged.
    “Well?” said Barb. “Wait—let me guess. You have
determined that Ethel’s tuna casserole contains…tuna!”
    Ginger and Ethel snickered.
    Almost everything that came out of Barb’s mouth had a
sarcastic ring to it. Sometimes she grated on Ginger’s nerves. But other times
she was laugh-out-loud funny.
    “Well, that’s a given,” said Jane. “Of course it has
tuna.”
    Ethel and Barb looked at each other and started
laughing. Ginger tried not to laugh, but couldn’t help herself.
    “What so funny?” said Jane. “I’m just getting started.
Be patient. I’ll tell you what the rest of the ingredients are.”
    “You’ve already blown it, Honey, and you don’t even
know it,” said Barb.
    “Huh?” said Jane.
    “It’s not tuna,” said Ginger. “It’s chicken.”
    Jane didn’t have an acute sense of taste like Ginger.
Thankfully, it wasn’t a problem in her line of work. Jane’s Diner offered plain
old country cooking. It was delicious food—but it wasn’t fancy.
    For example, breakfast at Jane’s consisted of bacon,
ham, sausage, eggs, grits, pancakes, biscuits and gravy. Once in a while an
out-of-towner