Page 35 of The Wedding Favor

It went something like this:

“Favorite book?” I asked.

“The House Plant Expert.” From one of the bookshelves in the sunroom, he pulled out a hardback and held it up. “First edition and signed.”

“You are such a plant daddy.”

He scowled. “Your favorite book?”

“The Perks of Being a Wallflower, obviously.”

“Liar.”

“How do you always know?”

He smirked. “I just do.”

“Fine. It’s Pride and Prejudice, okay? I like pumpkin spice lattes, too. I’m a basic white girl. It’s my secret shame.”

After the first two days, I was feeling pretty good about this whole babysitting venture. If this was what I could expect, it would be a piece of cake.

On Thursday evening, I drove over to Shady Cove to hang out with Gloria for a bit. Kathy caught me in the hallway.

“I’m so glad I saw you.” She smiled but she looked out of sorts. Her hair, which started the day as a ponytail, was sprouting in all directions around her face. Not one or two, but three pairs of eyeglasses were tucked into the front collar of her shirt. She was wearing a fourth pair. “I had a teensy little question.”

“What’s up?”

“You know since Marla left, I’ve been juggling her job and mine.” Marla had been the activity director who’d moved on to more exciting pastures. Kathy had been picking up the slack until someone was hired. But not a lot of people wanted to relocate to a small town for a part-time job.

“Yes?” I said, curious where she was going with this.

“Well, the next BINGO night happens to be my granddaughter’s birthday and I was really hoping that I could put you in charge? You’d set up, be the caller, that sort of thing.”

“The caller?”

“The person who pulls the numbers and calls them out. Starts at seven and it’s over by eight-thirty.”

“Sure.” Chances were I would be here anyway. I’d been to a BINGO night or two, but Gloria avoided them. Something about it being too boring for her tastes.

Kathy smiled widely. “Excellent. It’s really a breeze except for the fighting and⁠—”

“Fighting?” My voice was an octave higher than normal.

She patted my arm. “It rarely happens. Maybe once or twice a month.”

“A month?”

“Oh, you’ll be fine. The residents all love you. You have a way with them, you know.” Kathy shuffled back a few steps. “Just don’t let Mr. Terrance and Mrs. Glass sit anywhere near each other.”

“Why?”

Kathy waved, ignoring my question. “Gotta run. Thanks again.”

“Right here?” I asked as I set the vase of flowers on the table in front of the window.

Gloria eyed the placement critically from her throne-like chair. Today, she had on a flowy peach pantsuit that looked straight out of an episode of The Golden Girls. “Hmm. Try it back over at the kitchen table.”

“Oh, you mean the place they started out thirty minutes ago?” I set the vase down with a thump. Gloria had fresh flowers delivered every week and every week, we went through this same routine only for the flowers to end up on this table.