Line Dancing Can Be Murder (4 page)

Her eyes lit up. “I wouldn’t want you to go to any trouble.”

“It’s no trouble. If I’m really lucky, I might even be able to round up a cake. With your figure, you don’t have to worry about the calories.” When he winked, she actually blushed like a schoolgirl. He grabbed his towel from off the lounger where he’d tossed it and toweled his face. “Have a great evening, ladies, and get a good night’s sleep. Tomorrow we hit the road! I look forward to seeing you all in the morning. We’re going to have a great time together.”

His gaze swept down the row of us and then he saluted. Like vultures eyeing prey, we all craned our heads around and gawked as he strutted away.

Like a bolt out of the blue, it suddenly occurred to me that I’ve always been mistrustful of extremely good-looking men. Guys like Keith Creswell get away with bad behavior because of their looks, and because there are silly women who can’t believe a guy so delicious could really be extremely rotten.

CHAPTER FIVE

Annette

“Why didn’t one of you stop me from ordering that fried ham and cheese sandwich
and
onion rings?” My intestines cramped on cue, and I groaned. “I should have known better. Grease has become my archenemy as I’ve gotten older.”

Kim patted my hand. “Sorry, Teresa. We all have our crosses to bear as we age. Mine is lactose intolerance.”

“I suffer from acid reflux,” Donna chimed in.

Crystal added to the discussion. “My gout flares up if I eat food high in purines.”

“Too bad you all don’t have an iron stomach like mine.” Jackie patted her flat tummy, and I stuck my tongue out at her. She could eat like a horse, and anything she wanted, and still never gain an ounce or suffer from a humiliating disorder such as irritable bowel syndrome. The aging process and natural effects of gravity hadn’t affected her waistline or boobs any either. Her body was as trim and perky as a teenager, and the only one of us to order dessert. She finished off her hot fudge and whipped topping sundae and then let out a little burp. “Oops. Excuse me. That was good.”

Sometimes I really hated Jackie.

We ate dinner at the Paradise Café, along with the majority of the other National Parks Wonders Tour travelers. I knew, because they all wore their nametags. There were forty of us total, not counting Keith and Wayne. As I glanced around, I noticed Chuck and Bill, AKA Romeo and Casanova, were sitting in a nearby booth enjoying the company of three white-haired ladies. Other groups sat together getting acquainted.

“What do we do now?” Donna asked when we finished our meals. “It’s too early to hit the sack but too late to get tickets to a show.”

“Everything’s so expensive, anyway,” Crystal said.

“We could take taxis to the strip and see the buildings lit up at night,” Kim suggested.

Jackie stood up and slung her purse over her shoulder. “I’m going to gamble in the hotel casino. Who wants to join me?”

“Not me,” Crystal said. “You know my therapist says I have an addictive personality. I could get sucked in and lose all my money.”

“Come on,” Jackie urged. “You’re not going to lose all your money on slots. It’ll be fun. I’ll put the brakes on if I see you turning into a one-armed bandit junkie.”

“I don’t know…”

“I’ll give you the money to start with.”

Crystal jumped up. “In that case, what are we waiting for?”

“Are you guys coming?” Kim asked Annette and me as she and Donna rose from the table.

“I’ll meet you there in a little while.” My stomach gripped like a lasso had been roped around my middle and was squeezed tight.

“I’ll wait with Teresa,” Annette said, probably noticing my face contort.

“Okay. Feel better.” Kim and Donna blew kisses and left.

Annette pulled a bottle from her purse and handed me what looked suspiciously like a brown horse pill.

“What’s this?” I asked.

“It’s an enzyme capsule. All natural. Take it with water. It should help your problem.”

“Thanks.” I was willing to try anything, so I downed the pill with the remainder of my iced tea. Literally, within a matter of minutes, my cramps had dissipated. “You’re either a miracle worker or a witch, Annette.”

She chuckled. “More like a walking pharmacy.” She opened her bag to show me three more pill bottles inside.

“What’s all that?”

She lifted each bottle from her purse. “This one’s for high cholesterol. This is for anxiety. And this one’s to help me sleep at night.”

I knew about her high cholesterol, which still surprised me because she was thin, but I hadn’t realized the stress of her home life had driven her to the other pharmaceuticals. She shoved the bottles deep into her purse and changed the subject.

“Wasn’t that nice of Keith to offer to buy a cake for my birthday on Sunday?”

“It certainly was. I have a feeling he does whatever it takes to make his travelers happy.”

“Can you believe he thought I look ten years younger than I am?” Annette chuckled and rolled her eyes, but I could see Keith’s comment had made an impact.

I wondered how long it had been since a man had paid her a compliment. From what she’d shared with me, Bruce left early each morning and worked late every night. When he was home, he rarely paid attention to her. They hadn’t had sex in months. To add to her woes, Dustin, their twenty-six-year-old son, was unemployed and on the brink of divorce and had moved back into the house. From the tears I’d seen her cry lately, he was too angry and self-absorbed to speak politely to his mother, let alone say something nice.

Although she was educated and held a professional job as a paralegal, I’d watched Annette’s confidence slip in the past year. Now that I knew she might be dependent upon pills to help her cope, I was worried.

“Has Dustin got any job prospects?” I asked, feeling things might be better if her loser of a son wasn’t in the house adding to her stress.

She shook her head. “No, but I don’t want to talk about Dustin on this trip, if that’s okay with you. Or Bruce, either.”

I nodded. “No problem. But you know I’m always here if you ever need to get things off your chest.”

She smiled. “Thanks, Teresa. You’ve always been a good friend, not only to me, but to all of us. You’re the only one who has her act together. We’re all turning fifty this year, and each one of us is struggling with some issue, except you. How do you do it?”

“Do what?”

“Manage to be happy and content with your life.”

I shrugged. “I’ve always accepted the hand I’ve been dealt. Less drama that way.”

“Even in high school I admired you,” Annette continued. “You never worried about what other people thought of you. I wanted to be more like that, but I’d been instilled with a different set of values. My whole world revolved around being pretty, popular, and making sure I had a date every Saturday night.”

What I remembered was how Annette’s mother had pushed her into beauty contests and local modeling gigs as a little girl. By the time she was in high school, it was clear that Annette felt any love and praise she received at home depended on her making the cheerleading squad, Homecoming court, and being voted the Most Popular or Best Looking in the class.

“Remember when Bruce and I broke up right before the prom of our senior year?” she ruminated. “I thought my world had ended. Mom was so disappointed that I couldn’t hang onto my popular boyfriend.”

That had been a terrible time for Annette. Bruce had dumped her, briefly, for the football coach’s daughter. “You and I were each other’s date,” I recalled, chuckling and trying to make light of a situation that had occurred decades ago. “We even had our picture taken together under the archway of flowers.”

She laughed. “I was so afraid everyone thought we’d become gay. How stupid was I, anyway?”

“You weren’t stupid. Too concerned about perfection maybe, but your mom drilled that into you. Annette, you were always an intelligent person and still are.” Except for marrying Bruce the month after high school graduation, I thought. Even at eighteen and standing as a bridesmaid in their wedding, I foresaw the train wreck their marriage was to become.

“As a young mother, you went to school and became a paralegal,” I continued. “Not many women have the determination, brains, guts, and energy to take on such a big challenge. You career is still going strong, and you didn’t achieve that success because of the way you look.” Shapely with long dark hair, blue eyes, and flawless skin, Annette was still a beautiful woman.

“Thanks, Teresa. You should have been a cheerleader in high school. You know exactly what to say to pep people up when they’re down.”

“It’s a gift,” I said, smiling.

Our conversation halted while we said hello to some of our fellow travelers as they strolled past our table.

“Aren’t you with our tour?” one of the elderly ladies asked. From her nametag, I saw her name was Winnie.

“Yes, we are.”

“A group of us are going to soak in the hot tub out by the pool and enjoy some frozen cocktails. Would you care to join us?”

I looked at Annette. “I’m feeling better. What do you think?”

“Take a walk on the wild side,” another lady named Doris said. “We’re old, but you’ll find we’re a lot of fun.”

A grin filled Annette’s face. “Thanks for the invitation. Sounds like a great way to start this vacation. We’ll go upstairs and change into our swimsuits and be right out.”

The ladies said they’d order us each a strawberry daiquiri from the pool bar.

Before Annette and I slipped into our separate rooms to change, her eyes sparkled, and she said, “I feel like this is the first day of the rest of my life.”

I gave her a hug and hoped she wouldn’t need one of those sleeping pills that night.

CHAPTER SIX

Crystal

I’d never been in a hot tub before, but the tingly feeling that ran through my arms and legs almost reminded me of a pot high. It had been years since I’d smoked, but you never forget those magical sensations. I quite liked how soaking in bubbling hot water for an hour reduced my mind to a mushy mass of warm oatmeal.

“Are you guys drunk?” Crystal’s loud voice jarred me out of my happy, semi-lucid state. A pair of flip-flops smacked across the concrete to stop dangerously close to my head. The moment I twisted my neck and looked up, the jets located behind my back surged and sent a pleasant jolt through my body. When I squealed, Annette and the five ladies we shared the hot tub with roared with laughter.

Crystal nudged my shoulder blade with her foot and repeated, “Are you drunk?”

“We’re all drunk, honey!” Doris exclaimed. Again, we laughed.

“Looks like you’re having a better time than we did,” Jackie droned.

I craned my head around to the other side and saw Jackie, Donna and Kim standing next to Crystal. They looked like four little ducks in a row. “You didn’t hit the jackpot?” I asked.

“No,” Donna answered. “It’s a good thing we’re leaving Vegas tomorrow. We practically had to pull Crystal off the slot machine kicking and screaming.”

“I told you I can get addicted quickly,” she replied sourly. “Nothing good ever happens to me. I thought my luck might change if I kept playing. I was so close to winning!”

“The only thing you were close to was getting thrown out of the joint for carrying on like a lunatic.” Jackie turned on her heel. “I’m going to bed. Are you coming, roomie?”

Kim nodded. “Keith said he’d see us bright-eyed and bushy-tailed in the morning. That means getting our beauty rest.”

“We don’t want to disappoint him,” Donna added with a smile.

Annette’s swimsuit made a swooshing sound when she rose from the hot tub and reached for her towel. “I’ll go with you guys. Getting up early to travel, and being in the hot sun all day has caught up with me. Soaking in the Jacuzzi has made me even more sleepy.”

“Party poopers,” one of the older ladies teased.

“Are you coming?” Donna asked me, as she wrapped the towel around her shivering shoulders.

“I have my key. I’ll be there soon. My bones want to enjoy just a few more minutes of heaven.”

“You guys go on. I’ll stay here with Teresa,” Crystal said, waving goodbye to our friends. Once they’d left, she slipped off her flip-flops and sat on the edge of the hot tub. When she dangled her feet into the steamy water, she let out a small moan. “Wow, that feels wonderful. I should have joined you all instead of letting Jackie talk me into gambling.”

I introduced her to Winnie, Doris, Joyce, Barb, and Norma, more retired teachers, all from Florida.

“What do you do?” Joyce asked Crystal. “We already got the low-down on Teresa and Annette.”

“I drive a school bus.”

“You don’t say?” The ladies nodded to each other, impressed. “We know how awful kids can be since we were teachers. How do you keep those monkeys in line?”

“I threaten to sit on them if they don’t behave.”

The ladies, all roughly the same size as Crystal, laughed. Even though she joked about her weight, it was all a façade. Crystal had married later in life, having met her ex-husband at a church singles club. Then Greg lost religion and left her six years ago for another woman. His excuse was Crystal had gotten fat. His cruelty had hurt her deeply, and her self-esteem still hadn’t recovered.

“Are you married?” Barb asked.

That was a subject Crystal tried her best to avoid at all costs. On cue, her hand fluttered to her chest. “Hot flash!” she cried.

Once again, the ladies all nodded. “We’ve been there,” Barb said. She scooped ice cubes from her Tom Collins drink and offered them to Crystal. “Rub these over your face and chest. They’ll cool you down.”

“Best decision I ever made was to get a hysterectomy,” Norma said, “but I had no idea I’d go into early menopause immediately after the surgery.”

“Night sweats were the worst,” Winnie declared.

“My sex life went down the tubes when I started menopause,” Doris added.

Joyce smacked her arm playfully. “Mine improved! When my husband learned he no longer had to worry about getting me pregnant, he couldn’t get enough.”

Barb chimed in again. “I remember my doctor telling me I should try to have sex more often because it increases blood flow to the hoo-ha and helps keep the tissues healthy.”