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“Me too,” Roger chimed in.
“I think I know where it’s coming from.” Tom walked across the room and threw open the front door. Mimi, Pilar and the rest of the Bunco Babes stood huddled at the threshold. They looked a mixture of both surprised and
elated at being caught eavesdropping on the séance.
“Oops.” Mimi said. She looked at Allie and shrugged. “Sorry, I tried to talk them out of it but a séance was just too hard to resist.”
The women began filing into the building, talking at once and snapping pictures with their cell phones as if they had every perfect right to be there. Frida Hampton, the owner of The Bistro by the Beach held an empty margarita glass in her hand. “What have we missed?”
Kitty Pappas took the glass from Frida’s hand and smiled apologetically. “Don’t worry, we have designated drivers.”
“This is a mockery!” Madame Gloria cried. “First the aura is desecrated by…by these two,” she pointed to Allie and Tom, “and their sexual shenanigans, and now we have séance crashers. I cannot be expected to work in this kind of environment!”
Allie felt a dozen pairs of eyes on her, including Tom’s ex. What in all that was holy was Lauren Donalan doing here? “I can explain,” she said.
“Oh, no need to explain,” Lauren said. “We all know what sexual shenanigans are.” She didn’t seem upset. On the contrary. She seemed almost giddy. Must be the work of those super-secret margaritas Mimi was always bragging about.
Kitty glanced nervously around the room. “So, how’s it going? Has the ghost showed up yet?”
“Not yet,” Allie muttered.
“Okay, ladies, show’s over,” Tom said, nodding his head toward the still open door.
“You’re kicking us out?” a short redhead asked, slurring her words. Hopefully not one of the designated drivers.
“You got it,” he said with the sort of smile any woman would find hard to resist. Especially a slightly inebriated Bunco Babe.
“Party pooper,” Frida said, playfully sticking her tongue out at Tom.
“C’mon, girls,” Mimi said, “I think we should leave.” She threw Allie a meaningful look on her way out the door. A look that said, we’ll talk later.
Tom waited till the last woman had exited the room, then he firmly closed the door behind them. “All right, let’s start over.”
“Absolutely not,” Madame Gloria said. “The conditions under which I’m expected to work have been ruined.”
Tom crossed his arms over his chest. “The conditions are not ruined. You claim to be a medium, so go ahead. Do your thing. Make me a believer.”
The second the words were out of his mouth, Allie cringed. Madame Gloria’s eyes glittered in triumph. “I knew you didn’t believe. No wonder I haven’t been able to make contact with this ghost.”
“I thought you preferred the term non-living,” Tom said.
Madame Gloria shook her head as if she felt sorry for him. She pulled her bangles up her arms and made a grand departure, slamming the door on her way out.
Gus stood. “Well, I guess that’s it.”
“Do you have any idea how hard it was to get Madame Gloria?” Phoebe screeched at Tom. “And you.” She turned to Allie. “Don’t ever call the Sunshine Ghost Society again. You’re officially on our blackball list.” She turned to run after Madame Gloria. “Wait! Come back! I had nothing to do with this!”
Viola shrugged sympathetically. “I think we should go,” she said to Gus.
“Right,” Gus said, looking disappointed. Then he winked. “At least we can report to Betty that the world isn’t coming to an end.”
“I’ll go make sure Phoebe doesn’t hang herself,” Roger said, trying to follow Viola and Gus out the door.
“Hold on, mister,” Allie said.
Roger froze.
“Why did you lie about being Concerned Citizen?”
