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  Las Vegas

  The Girls Series, Book One

  Sheila Horgan

  Copyright © 2013 by Sheila Horgan.

  Smashwords Edition

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, or distributed without the written permission of the author, with the exception of short quotes for purposes of review.

  This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, businesses, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. No reference to any real person is intended or implied.

  Special thanks to Christie Giraud at www.eBookEditingPro.com

  Proofreading by J. Jeffers www.JJeffersEditing.com

  Interior Design by CyberWitch Press LLC CyberWitchPress.com

  Cover art by David Avila

  CHAPTER ONE

  “CARA, I APPRECIATE the offer, but the girls and I will be fine. The car service will pick us up at our door, bring us to the airport, and will fetch us upon our return.”

  “That seems a little impersonal.”

  “Cara…”

  “Yes, ma’am. I’ve got your itinerary and your phone numbers. I’ve got all the paperwork from the lawyers, and I’ve got the keys. I’ve sent an email to the guys doing the work to clean up the mold at your house, and they’re also going to do some work with a little asbestos they found.”

  “Very good.”

  “I’m having them take down the popcorn ceilings in the basement, the staff quarters, and the back area of the pool house. Once all that’s done, I’m meeting with the architect. I’m waiting until the rehab is done because we want to make sure that we don’t run into any other problems. The specialist said they wouldn’t be positive about the damage until they open the walls up. I also have a meeting with the designer, and we’re going to go through and talk about the changes that you and I talked about. By the time I get all that done, you should be back.”

  “Cara, relax.”

  “I wish I had the confidence in me that you seem to have in me.”

  “What is the worst thing that could happen?”

  “Please don’t challenge God or karmic forces.”

  Adeline laughs so much more easily now that she’s getting healthy again.

  “One more thing you can do for me, Cara. Before I get back, please go to the house and pick out a few things to personalize the space you rent for me. And some clothing, of course. I’d like some family pictures around me, especially of my soldier daughter.”

  “I can do that. Anything else you would like me to grab?”

  “Use your best judgment. If I think of something that I need when I return, we can always have them dig it out of storage.”

  I almost said something completely brilliant. Something like, “me is them.”

  I would be the one poking around in a ton of stuff at a huge warehouse facility that we’d decided to use.

  When we first had the crew come in and they found toxic mold throughout the underpinnings in the darkest recesses of the mansion, it was determined that a major overhaul of multiple rooms in the plant needed to be rehabbed. When you refer to parts of your home as “the plant” it’s a given that it will be a major undertaking.

  I thought that we’d just hire a crew to come in and pack everything and then put the boxes in a bunch of those pod things you see riding around on the back of trucks. I figured, just like everyone else, Adeline’s stuff would go to the pod people’s warehouse.

  I figured it’s less work to pack all of her belongings from each room into a pod — or more likely several pods — and then house the pods in the company’s nice, secure facility. That way, when it’s time to unload everything and unpack all the different things for the different rooms, it would be organized by room and not confuse anybody.

  I’ve never done anything like this. When I move I just call my brothers, and we throw everything in the back of a family truck and drive it across town. They dump it all in the middle of the room, and I sort it all out and put it where I want it.

  That isn’t what you do when you have a mansion.

  For a mansion you need a better plan.

  Adeline talked to one of her financial people about my plan with the pod people. The financial people said it would be to her advantage to put her stuff in a warehouse she already owns.

  Really, who owns an empty warehouse?

  Fortunately I kept my mouth shut. A rare and new talent I’m trying to develop.

  “I’ll see what I can do. Do you want me to send you a list?”

  “No, Cara, I’ll not be giving anything here a thought. Contact me if you have a question that keeps you awake at night. Short of that, we’ll deal with it when I get back.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “And, Cara?”

  “Yes?”

  “Please do not call me ma’am.”

  “I can do that.”

  “Thank you. We’re in this together. You have proven your loyalty, not to mention you have saved my life. I want you to work with me, not for me. Can you do that?”

  “I can do that.” Why argue with a compliment? Another new habit I’m working on.

  “Very good. I’ll call if I think of anything else, but short of that, I will speak to you upon our return. My goodness, it is little more than two weeks that we will be gone. Nothing has changed in my life in more than a decade. I doubt very much will change in the next two weeks.”

  “If you run into any problems at all, please give me a call, and I’ll see what I can do from this end.”

  The thought of three older women traveling alone makes me a little nervous. For their generation things were different. They always had husbands who guided and protected them. Our generation thinks that guidance and protection are silly and unnecessary, but that doesn’t change their life history and what women of that generation are accustomed to.

  It is completely disrespectful to think that everyone lives a life just like yours and has life experiences just like yours. My mom used to tell us all the time. Not only is it disrespectful of the older person, but it is disrespectful of yourself, because how stupid do you have to be to not understand something that simple?

  I’m sure the girls — that’s what they’re calling themselves now — will have a great time sipping drinks on the veranda of their Hawaiian time-share, moseying along through the great shops and museums of Hawaii, and having a nice dinner at some five-star restaurant every evening. I’m sure they’re just looking forward to some rest and relaxation as Adeline recovers from her health problems.

  They have a layover in Las Vegas, which just proves my point. They didn’t want to fly all the way from Florida to Hawaii in one jump.

  They’ll have a nice time in Las Vegas. They can wander the expensive stores at the casinos, put a few quarters in a slot machine, maybe see a show and get some rest.

  They’ll be fine.

  Still, I worry.

  CHAPTER TWO

  ADELINE PUT DOWN the phone and joined Carolyn at her kitchen table. “She is a lovely girl, but Cara thinks I’ve got one foot in the grave.”

  Carolyn smiled. “You were a little the worse for wear when she met you. Your house was poisoning you and had been for some time.”

  “That is true. It ravaged my health so slowly that I thought I was just aging poorly.”

  “It only complicates things that young people these days think only in extremes. Either you’re running a marathon at our age, or you’re waiting for an opening at the retirement home. Since we aren’t running marathons, where does that leave us? All those incontinence commercials
aren’t helping.”

  Adeline laughed. “I guess you’re right. Back when I was young, I thought that life was over at thirty. Now they say that fifty is the new forty and that baby boomers are convinced they’ll live forever.”

  “Who would want to live forever?”

  “Exactly. I find if you mention your age to young ones, they either start spending their inheritance or planning for your long-term care. God forbid they would have to care for us in our waning years.”

  “One can hardly blame them. Who would want to care for an elder when they are just starting out with their own life? It isn’t like it was generations ago when grandparents lived with the family and helped raise the children and then conveniently died and got out of the way when the next generation was old enough to trade places. When we were their age, approaching thirty without children meant there was a problem, not a choice to delay such things.”

  “It is my theory, Carolyn, that aging is a matter of significant change in our society. We have lost sight of the benefits of getting older. Young people today simply do not want to face the fact that sooner or later they are going to have to mature. With very young people acting much older than their chronological age and older people refusing to give up their youth, it is no wonder that everyone on both ends of the curve, as well as those in the middle, are stuck and confused.”

  “There’s a difference between growing up and growing old. Our generation may be the last to embrace that concept.”

  “I see women in direct competition with their children and wonder what will become of them. Both the women and the children.”

  Sadness quickly settled on Carolyn’s face. “I’m certainly no expert. I followed all the rules. I had a very worn copy of Dr. Spock’s book on my bedside table. Benjamin Spock, not the one that flew around in the tight outfit on the spaceship.” She offered a weak smile.

  “I remember Dr. Spock. Most of his message has been lost on this generation. He told us to treat our children as individuals and to respect ourselves enough to allow the possibility that we knew more than we thought we did about parenting.”

  “I remember. Seems like Dr. Spock’s beliefs have been eviscerated over the years. Like we often do in this country, when we found fault with one area of his offerings we quashed everything. I will admit that even way back then my mother thought I was a loon.”

  “Mine too.”

  “My mother said I was too progressive and my children thought I was much too tyrannical.”

  Carolyn shook her head. “My kids didn’t turn out the way I expected.”

  “It was partly the times they grew up in. They simply didn’t learn the way we learned.”

  “You do realize that’s what every generation says about the one preceding or following it?”

  “I do. I’m just old enough to understand that I don’t understand most of life and that I’ve made at least my share of mistakes.”

  Carolyn smiled. “I will say that my grandchildren, whom I had a hand in raising, have turned out quite well. They are young people that I can be proud of.”

  Adeline sighed. “I have the one daughter that brings me joy. She is again stationed in Afghanistan. She is my only child that turned out well. The others, like their father, are money-grubbing little swine that do not deserve the privilege they were blessed to be born to.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “I know I sound quite harsh, but when my children thought that I might be ill, terminally ill and suffering, they chose two very different approaches. My deployed daughter tried to arrange care for me from all the way on the other side of the world. My other children found out I was ill and started spending their inheritance. Literally. They hired legal staff to see if they could expedite the process. Perhaps they would be fortunate enough to have me declared unfit, and they could begin spending my money before I even perished. If Cara hadn’t stepped in and cared for me — and found the cause of my illness — they might have gotten their wish.”

  “I can’t imagine it.”

  Adeline raised her head just a bit. “I’ll take responsibility for my part in lives ruined, but I insist that it was mainly their father. From the time they crowned, their father spoiled them. He never held them accountable for a single error in judgment. He showered them with every extravagance imaginable.”

  “Your deployed daughter, what is her name?”

  “Genevieve.”

  “Beautiful.”

  “It is a family name. When she was younger, she hated it. She insisted on being called Jennie. She has grown into it.”

  “From what little I know of her, she sounds like a lovely woman.”

  “Different father than my other children. I will refrain from speaking of swine.” Adeline’s rolled her left hand, palm up, and raised her nose as if she could smell the swine in the room with her. The effect was both elegant and common. It made Carolyn laugh out loud.

  “Genevieve has her issues as well. She carries a very heavy load. What young woman, born to privilege, decides to join the military? Obviously she felt — feels? — she has something to prove.”

  “Your own little Private Benjamin?”

  “Funny you should say that. We actually watched that movie, back when it first came to theaters. I think it was in the early eighties. At the time, Genevieve found it humorous. She was so young then. Younger than her years. I wonder if she was thinking about recreating the theme when she was old enough even back then.”

  “Each of us chooses her own path.”

  “True enough. Do you happen to know when Anna is intending to be here today?”

  “She said that she wants to talk with Morgan’s parents one more time, see if she can get them to see things reasonably. I must admit that I don’t understand that whole situation. Who would disown a child for having been victimized?”

  “You know as well as I, family relations are most often a mystery not solved.”

  Carolyn smiled. “True. I expect Anna to join us within the hour. She has all of our arrangements made. The rooms at the time-share have been booked. We can take a shuttle or a taxi from the airport to the time-share. Apparently, from our rooms we walk out the door, halfway down the hall, down the elevator, across the parking lot, and we are on the beach. There appears to be a little lawn we can picnic on should we decide to keep the sand from infiltrating our food.”

  “That sounds perfect.”

  “The facility runs a shuttle service to some of the local business. My assumption is that the businesses subsidize the cost of the shuttle service, so I assume that they offer limited options. I am aware of a grocery store and several restaurants that the shuttle frequents. The list is available at the lobby desk.”

  Adeline rubbed her arm. “I was reading about the memorial.”

  “Pearl Harbor?”

  “Yes. I’m so pleased that we will be stopping on the island to see that.”

  “The hotel we’re at isn’t far from the site. Anna suggested we just take a taxi.”

  “I was flipping through late-night cable TV last night. It is amazing and disturbing what we allow into our homes. I did happen across a travel show. Their focus was economical travel, and our destination was mentioned. I thought it might be fun to take the bus. Get a little of the local flavor.”

  Carolyn tried to mask her surprise. The fact that Adeline was more accustomed to travel in limousines than taxis had weighed on her a bit when thinking about the finances of their trip. She was comfortable financially, but she couldn’t match checkbooks with Adeline. She kept her tone neutral. “That sounds great; we’ll see what Anna says. Do we know any more about Las Vegas?”

  “I need to talk to the two of you about that.”

  Right on cue, the doorbell rang.

  Anna came into the room, arms full of paper.

  Carolyn was surprised by the number of documents Anna carried. They had agreed Anna’s only responsibility would be research for the time-share that she had arranged through a dear friend.
“More information on the resort?”

  “Actually, no. This is information on resort wear, waxing — remind me to tell you what the girl said when I went in to pick up the brochure — and some things we can do in both Hawaii and Las Vegas.”

  “Adeline was just saying that she needed to talk to the two of us about Las Vegas.”

  Adeline leaned in and sounded a bit conspiratorial. “Here’s the thing. If you have an abundance of cash sitting in an account at a casino, they will comp just about everything. They assume you’re going to lose a great deal of money in their establishment, and they are willing to give you tickets to all the best shows. If your deposit is large enough, they allow you to stay in your room for free. How do you feel about that?”

  It did not escape Carolyn’s notice that perhaps Adeline was trying to subsidize the trip without stepping on toes. She couldn’t decide if she should be touched or annoyed, so she chose to give Adeline the benefit of the doubt and said nothing.

  Anna spoke first. “I have no intention of throwing good money after bad in a casino.”

  “I agree, but that isn’t the course of action I speak of.”

  “Then I need details.” Anna did a butt-wiggle and made a face, lightening the mood.

  “If I were to put a substantial amount of money in an account associated with my name, or in accounts associated with each of our names, the hotel casino would see to our every whim. We do not have to use the money in the casino. We simply enjoy our stay, go on to Hawaii, and my representative will retrieve the funds once we have moved to our next destination. In that way we enjoy our stay, and it costs us nothing.”

  Carolyn asked, “Do they really do that?”

  “They do.”

  Anna wasn’t convinced. “But if they want you to blow your money on gambling, and you don’t spend any of it, aren’t they going to come after us with a bill or something?”

  “Well, the idea is that most people cannot refrain from gambling in sin city, and even if we do, having people they see as glamorous in their establishment only adds to the mystery.”

  Anna laughed, “Glamorous? I was just over at my nephew’s place, cleaning his bathrooms. We got into yet another argument about his daughter Morgan. I swear to you that man is a jackass. Morgan is a lovely young woman, and yet he and his wife just can’t see their way clear to admit that they made a mistake all those years ago and ask for the child’s forgiveness. You would think my stupid nephew’s recent stay in the hospital would have brought that into clearer focus.”