Cross Roads. Fern Michaels

you how happy I am to see you! Oh, Annie, I missed you so,” she said, crushing the older woman to her chest in an agonizing bear hug. She held her so tight, Annie had to gasp to draw in any oxygen.

      “I don’t think I’ve ever had a greeting like that in my whole life. I’m happy to see you, too,” Annie said, struggling to find the breath to get the words out.

      Maggie released her grip and stood back, alarm bells sounding in her brain. “What’s wrong? Did something happen? Why are you here? Tell me everything. Do you want to go in the office or go somewhere and get something to eat? A drink? Everyone is okay, aren’t they? Oh, God, Annie, I missed you so much. I miss everyone. Nothing is the same anymore. I…I just hate the way it is now.”

      Her breathing back to normal, Annie wrapped her arm around the younger woman’s shoulder, and said, “Tell me about it. Everything is fine, no problems. Let’s walk over to the Squires’ Pub and tie one on. By the way, I decided to try my hand at running the paper. That’s one of the reasons I’m here.”

      “Do you know anything about running a newspaper, Annie?”

      “No, but I can learn. I didn’t know anything about running a casino, either, but I learned as I went along. The best thing you can say about that is, they can’t fire the owner. I’ll stay here just long enough to screw things up, then I’ll find something else to do. I promise not to get in your way.”

      They were outside by then, the heat like a furnace after the air-conditioning inside the building.

      “I forgot how hot it is here. It’s hot in Vegas, but it’s a dry heat. You can keep this humidity,” Annie grumbled. “I like your nails.”

      Maggie wiggled her fingers. “I hate the maintenance. You have to go every two weeks to get them filled in. They show off the ring.” A second later, Maggie burst into tears.

      “That bad, huh?”

      “Yeah, it’s that bad. I can’t get a handle on anything anymore. Every day is like the day before, and nothing is going on. I feel as if I’m just marking time. Before…well, before I just thrived. Life was a constant challenge. I never knew from one minute to the next what was going to happen. Now I can tell you what’s going to happen seventy-two hours in advance. Nothing.” She sniffled. “Absolutely nothing.”

      “I know exactly how you feel. Yesterday I gave away one point eight million dollars to some seniors from a group home. I let them win it. That’s why I’m here—figured it was time to get the hell out of Dodge. Fish was on the horn the minute the slot paid off. I really don’t like him much anymore.”

      “You didn’t! Wow! Do you have someone else on the string?”

      “I did. I’m not sorry, either. No, on someone else on the string. That’s what I meant about screwing up. It should give you some idea of what I can do to the paper.”

      “I’ll keep my eye on you,” Maggie said, dabbing at her eyes. “Okay, we’re here. Are we drinking or eating? We can drink all night, and my driver will pick us up and carry us to the car and take us home. It’s like win-win. I have never been really, really drunk. Have you, Annie?” Maggie asked fretfully.

      “A time or two,” Annie drawled. “Let’s play it by ear, dear.”

      They gave their order to a snappy little waitress dressed in shorts and a bolero top.

      “The food isn’t even here and I can hear my arteries snapping shut,” Annie said peevishly, referring to the everything-loaded hot dogs, french fries, and onion rings. And the margaritas.

      “We’ll eat pomegranates tomorrow, and the seeds from them will flush out our arteries,” Maggie said.

      “Is that true?” Annie asked.

      “I read it in the Post. We printed it in our health section, so it has to be true.” Maggie laughed.

      Four margaritas later, Maggie started to cry. “I miss Ted and Espinosa, Annie. I miss the girls. Myra doesn’t leave the farm; she said all her old friends thumb their noses at her. That made me so mad, I did a piece on climbing socialites and friendships that brought in so much mail I had to hire people to read it. Then I did another piece on all the boards and foundations Myra used to sit on, all the monies she pledged, and how, after she was treated like a pariah by these same climbing socialites, she withdrew all the pledges. The amount of money was staggering, and it brought another avalanche of mail. It was all I could do, Annie.”

      “I know, dear. If I’m not too hungover, I’m going out to the farm tomorrow to surprise Myra and Charles,” Annie said, holding up her glass for a refill.

      “Life is not fun anymore,” Maggie boo-hooed. “I don’t mean life should be fun, but fun has its place. I am bored out of my mind.”

      Her eyes crossing, Annie had a hard time bringing her glass to her lips. She leaned forward and whispered, “It was the danger, dear. We all thrived on the danger, and we liked pitting our wits against all those crazy alphabet-soup groups that run this damn town. I heard the FBI has had so many screwups since Bert left that they had to ask Elias to come in and help them out. He, of course, pleaded ill health and told them they were on their own. I had a good laugh over that when I heard about it. Supposedly, they are revamping the entire Bureau.”

      “Do you care, Annie?”

      “No-I-do-not!” Annie said emphatically.

      “I think we should go home, Annie. I have to feed the cats. Good thing my driver is number three on my speed dial because I can’t see the numbers to dial.”

      “Well, don’t look at me, dear. Just do your best. This has been a very interesting evening, don’t you think?”

      “I hope we remember it tomorrow, Annie.”

      “You have a point, dear.”

      Chapter 2

      Myra blinked, then blinked again when she saw the fur on the back of Little Lady’s neck stand on end. She shivered at the low growl deep in the golden’s throat. Someone was approaching the house! She ran to the security monitor in the kitchen, Little Lady on her heels. A car was approaching the electronic gates, an arm outstretched to press in the security code. Friend? Foe? So few people had the code, it almost had to mean a friend. “Shhh, let’s wait and see who it is. I’m sure Charles can see the monitor in the war room.” Little Lady made a sound deep in her throat again, but she remained still at Myra’s side.

      Myra marveled that, in less than twenty-four hours, Little Lady had appointed herself Myra’s protector. She smiled. It was the mother in the golden, ready to protect and do battle. She leaned down and hugged the beautiful dog.

      Myra heard the high-pitched whine of a powerful foreign car as it raced through the gates and skidded to a stop. The door swung open to reveal a pair of legs whose feet were encased in rhinestone cowgirl boots. Annie did love those boots. Myra burst out laughing as she thrust open the door and raced out to the compound to greet her lifelong friend, Little Lady right behind her. “My God, Annie, what took you so long?” she said, crushing her friend to her so tightly that Annie gasped for air.

      “That bad, eh?” Annie finally managed to say.

      “Worse,” Myra said, refusing to let Annie out of her embrace. She finally let go when Little Lady barked, a signal she wanted to be introduced. Myra obliged. “This is Little Lady. She is the new mother of four adorable pups, who are sleeping at the moment. It’s a long story, Annie. I am so glad to see you. There are no words to tell you how glad. A telephone call once a month isn’t what we agreed to, Annie. I know you couldn’t wait to get out into the world, so you could set it on fire, but I thought…I wanted…expected…Oh, hell, Annie, I just plain old missed you. Come on, let’s go inside and get out of this heat.”

      Little Lady stepped back and barked, then stepped forward and held out a paw, which Annie dutifully shook. She ruffled the fur on the back of the big dog’s neck.