Chapter Sixteen
To Do:
Party with the girls
Don’t go crazy on the slots
Sabrina was off to the beach right after breakfast to start work on her castle with Caroline, but Celeste decreed that there would be no castle visiting until her sister had been turned into a living work of art.
“You’re getting awfully bossy in your old age,” Jenna teased her. “Who’s the older sister here?”
Celeste grinned. “It’s my turn to be bossy. You bossed me around enough when we were kids.” She sobered. “You also watched out for me. I used to have nightmares,” she explained to Vanita. “She always let me sleep in her bed when that happened.”
“That was no big deal,” Jenna said, shrugging off the cloak of nobility. Noble was taking the fall when your sister shot someone.
“She was always helping me,” Celeste continued. “Taking on mean girls who picked on me, helping me with my homework.”
“Yelling at you when you read my journal,” Jenna added.
“Okay, so it wasn’t all perfect. But close enough. Now, quit stalling and let’s get those brows waxed.”
The eyebrows were waxed, the nails got painted and the hair color updated. Then out came the eggs and lemon juice for Vanita’s egg facial.
“My face is set in cement,” Jenna complained, trying to move her mouth.
“She can still talk. Put on more,” teased Celeste.
At last Jenna was prettied up, painted up and had slipped into shorts, a nice top and sandals. “Oh, yeah. There’s the sister I know and love,” Celeste said, giving an approving nod.
The Sand and Surf Festival was a big deal with what seemed like every foot of beach occupied by a team of builders erecting some sort of sand creation, and people from all over the county present to enjoy the spectacle. In addition to all manner of traditional castles, there were other creations, too—Neptune’s Court, complete with mermaids and starfish; a farm sporting a pig, a horse and a farmer and his wife and sand cornstalks; a sand submarine; trolls; and sand sea monsters galore. Jenna’s favorite was a sandscape labeled Reverse Safari that had jungle animals in a jeep checking out the humans’ campsite.
The revelers strolled among the various creations, enjoying everything from cotton candy to shaved ice. At the water’s edge, children and dogs raced back and forth, playing tag with the tide. Several people had set up campsites and were enjoying picnic lunches or a beach fire.
“This is too cool,” Vanita said, looking around. “I want to move to the beach. Maybe I’ll open up a little shop down here.”
“Or write that novel you keep talking about writing,” said Celeste.
“Next summer I’ll come down and spend my whole vacation,” Vanita vowed. “I’ll stay at the Driftwood Inn and write. Fresh air, walks on the beach. No office drama. This is the life,” she said to Jenna.
“Oh, yeah. No drama here,” Jenna said, thinking of everything she still had to pull together if she and her daughter and Aunt Edie were going to survive.
They’d all gotten corn dogs and were watching Sabrina and Caroline try to keep their castle walls from collapsing when Brody found them. He was wearing shorts, a T-shirt and sandals and Ray-Bans. Oh, he did fill out a T-shirt nicely.
“Who’s that?” Vanita asked as he waved to Jenna and started walking toward them.
“I bet that’s the Realtor,” Celeste said, checking him out over the top of her sunglasses. “You sure are getting a nice man collection, big sister.”
“I’m not collecting,” Jenna replied. No, sir. Not her.
Introductions were made and plans shared. “The casino, huh? I didn’t know you were a high roller,” Brody said to Jenna.
“I’m not. I’m not even a low roller. This is my sister’s crazy idea. She’s sure I’ll win big and live happily-ever-after.”
“You could land in that lucky five percent,” Brody said. “But I wouldn’t hold my breath.”
“Oh, well. It will be fun, anyway,” Celeste said.
“They’ve got a good restaurant there. How about I take you ladies to dinner?” Brody offered.
“Great idea,” Celeste said before Jenna could answer. “That way you’ll have more money to invest in the slot machines, sis.”
Invest, right. “I’m only taking ten dollars,” Jenna said.
“In that case we may as well have dinner late, because you won’t be staying long afterward,” Brody said.
“Fine with me.” Okay, that made her sound like a party pooper. “But it’ll be fun to go out to dinner.”
“Are you sure you want to pay for all of us?” she asked Brody later as Celeste and Vanita helped the girls with their sand castle.
“Absolutely. I’m looking forward to hanging out with three beautiful women. Anyway, it’s been a while since I’ve been to the casino. Should be fun.”
It probably would. With Sabrina spending the night at Nora’s house, Jenna was free of responsibility. And Aunt Edie was currently engrossed in a gory murder mystery, so she didn’t have to feel guilty for leaving her alone.
Well, not too guilty, anyway. She suspected that her aunt would have loved to tag along and get some cheap thrills watching her lose her ten dollars, but Brody was already paying for dinner for three women. She didn’t want to add another meal to the tab.
The Sea Winds Resort and Casino was a mile outside of town, set back from the highway and perched on the shore. Much of the area had once been marsh. Now it was all landscaped, with smooth, paved road.
“Check out the speed limit,” Brody said.
“Twenty-one miles an hour? That’s weird,” said Celeste.
“Twenty-one. Oh, I get it,” said Vanita. “Like the card game. Pretty clever.”
And just plain pretty, Jenna thought as they drove over a pond thick with lily pads.
The resort hotel was big and impressive, and the restaurant provided a million-dollar view. Being at the beach, it also offered plenty of seafood, including salmon, crab cakes, crab legs and shrimp scampi. The women all ordered crab legs. Brody opted for steak.
“I so need to move to the beach,” Vanita said after she’d popped the last bit of crab in her mouth.
“I can make that happen,” Brody told her.
“Maybe you’ll win big tonight and come up with a down payment,” Celeste said. “Speaking of winning, let’s hurry up and finish so we can get to the casino.”
And say goodbye to our money, thought Jenna. But, oh, well. What was ten dollars when she needed thousands?
They finished the meal with chocolate lava cake and coffee, then made their way to the other end of the resort.
The casino area of the resort was one gigantic playland of brightly lit machines and people happily pushing buttons on them. Zips and whirs greeted Jenna as she and her posse and their escort walked in. This was the goofiest idea her little sister had come up with since the time she begged Jenna to go into Seattle and audition for America’s Got Talent. Jenna had refused to wear a giant yellow duck costume and sing “Rubber Ducky,” and Celeste had pouted for a week.
At least Celeste wasn’t asking her to make a fool of herself publicly. And all those big, grown-up toys did look fun.
“It has kind of a carnival air, doesn’t it?” she said to Brody.
“Yeah. It does. And it can be exciting. But you can lose on carny games, so I never spend beyond what I’ve set as my limit for the night.”
“Well, mine’s ten dollars,” Jenna told him.
“Twenty,” Celeste corrected her, handing over a ten. “It’s the least I can do to help Aunt Edie. If you win big, I’d better get a free room for life.”
“I’m not sure how big you’re going to win on twenty bucks,” Brody cautioned. He dug out his wallet and took out a twenty. “So I’ll contribute something to the cause.”
“Me, too,” said Vanita, pulling out another ten.
“Guys, I don’t want to take your money,” Jenna protested.
“Never turn down free money,” Celeste told her.
“We’ll all split it if I win,” Jenna promised. As if she would. Everything she knew about gambling wouldn’t even fill a shot glass.
“Nah. You keep it all. You need it,” Brody said.
“Can I get that in writing?” she teased.
“Hey, I’m a man of my word.”
“Now, come on, let’s see if you get lucky,” Celeste said, moving her toward the back of the room where the dollar machines were.
They passed a machine with a pretty picture of perfume on it. “Parfume Adore,” she read, and started for it.
“No, that’s only a penny slot,” Celeste said, pulling her away. “We want a bigger jackpot.”
“Oh, look, there’s Willy Wonka.”
“Keep moving, high roller,” said Brody. “We want the dollar slots.”
At last they were to the big-money machines. “If you’re going to win anything you’re probably going to win it on the mega slot,” he said.
“I had no idea you were such a big gambler,” she said to him.
He shrugged. “I come in once in a while and drop a few dollars here or at the card table.”
The slot machine he and Celeste positioned her in front of wasn’t as cute as the one with the perfume bottle on it, but once she started playing it was certainly as much fun as the other machine had looked.
“Hit the max button,” Brody instructed her. “It’s going to cost you more but the payout is better.”
Gambling 101. “Okay,” Jenna said, ready to try.
The numbers on the right-hand side of the machine began to climb.
“Whoa, you’re already up to a hundred and seventy bucks!” cried Vanita.
Small potatoes. She needed more than that. Jenna kept playing.
“Two-hundred and eighty,” Vanita reported. Then, “Oh, no. It went down.”
Jenna pulled away her hand. “I should stop.”
“Keep playing,” Celeste commaded. “Go big or go home.”
The numbers began to climb again, the machine partying with every match of the bars, serenading them with synthetic drums and violins. Jenna’s rooting section began to go crazy and that brought some observers.
“You know, I won nineteen thousand dollars just last week,” a woman reported.
The numbers continued to go up, right along with Jenna’s heart rate. This was insane. She should quit before she lost everything she’d won. She could envision a little Tyrella sitting on her shoulder, saying, “No good can come of this. Gambling is dangerous.”
Well, all of life was a gamble.
“Oh my gosh, look what she’s up to!” Vanita squealed.
The pressure! Jenna was going to pass out any minute. Or have a heart attack. Or both.
“Quit while you’re ahead,” advised one woman.
“No,” said the nineteen-thousand-dollar winner. “You’re on a roll.”
“Winner, winner, chicken dinner,” Celeste said. “And a new roof.”
Jenna hit the max button again.
Finally, to her astonishment, she did hit it big. Eighty thousand dollars. The machine lit up like the Fourth of July and locked. Jenna gasped.
“You just won eighty thousand dollars!” Celeste shrieked, and grabbed her and hugged her as their crowd of onlookers hooted and applauded.
“I can’t believe it,” Jenna said. “Somebody pinch me.”
“Don’t tempt me,” Brody said with a grin.
“Thank you!” Jenna said to Celeste and Vanita. She was laughing and crying. Then she was jumping up and down.
“We did it!” Celeste cried, and she and Vanita hugged Jenna and they all jumped up and down together.
Then Jenna turned to Brody. “Thank you!” she cried, and kissed him. It was a quick kiss but it packed a wallop. Whether that was because she was high from having won a bundle or because she’d just kissed a handsome man was hard to tell. Either way it was quite a kiss.
“No, thank you,” he said, still grinning.
“What happens now?” she asked him.
“Security’s been verifying your win. You’ll probably see them any minute.”
Sure enough. Two security guards appeared bearing a bucket of ice with a bottle of champagne in it. “Congratulations,” one of them said to Jenna.
“I won,” Jenna said to her. As if she couldn’t see for herself. Well, Jenna was seeing for herself and she still couldn’t believe it.”
“What happens next?” Vanita asked the guard.
“I get a new roof,” Jenna crowed. “A roof, a roof. I get a roof!”
“We have a form for you to fill out,” said the guard. “We’ll need your social security number and your address.”
“Millionaire Acres,” Celeste cracked, and she and Jenna hugged each other again.
Not only were there papers to be filled out, there were pictures to be taken. And Facebook announcements to be posted. Winner, winner, chicken dinner, Celeste typed under the selfie of all of them that she posted on Jenna’s page. Guess who’s buying margaritas for everyone?
Margaritas, nachos, more dessert, they had it all. The food was on the house, thanks to the casino host, who was Jenna’s new best friend. Jenna opted to pick up a check the next morning rather than leave the casino with that much loot in cash, even though a security guard would have escorted them to their car.
“Anyway, that way when I come back tomorrow I’ll know I didn’t just dream this all,” she said when they finally walked back to Brody’s car. “Are you guys sure you don’t want some? You all contributed to the cause.”
“I don’t need any,” Brody said.
“It’s yours,” Celeste said to her. “That’s why we came down. Remember?”
“I know, but I feel guilty.”
“You shouldn’t,” Vanita said. “It’s not like you’re spending it on yourself.”
“Well, in a way I am.”
“Investing in your business,” Vanita reminded her. “You’re not going to buy a car or a boat.”
“Although a boat would be nice,” said Celeste.
“And it seems like a lot,” Brody said, “but the tax man is taking a big chunk.”
Oh, yeah. Him.
Still, she’d have enough money left to save the Driftwood Inn, and that was all she cared about.
Brody dropped them off, Celeste and Vanita singing the Velvet Revolver version of “Money,” complete with bass riff, Jenna giggling and turning in circles.
“We’d better be quiet,” Jenna said as they made their way up the front steps. “We don’t want to wake Aunt Edie.”
Aunt Edie was asleep, but she hadn’t gone to bed. They spotted her in the living room, in Uncle Ralph’s recliner, an afghan over her lap, the TV playing some ancient movie.
“Should we tell her now?” Celeste whispered to Jenna.
“Maybe we’d better wait until morning,” Jenna whispered back. “The excitement might be too much for her. She’ll never get to sleep.”
As it turned out the excitement was too much for Jenna. No beach fires that night, so she had to content herself with lying in bed, planning the grand reopening of the Driftwood Inn.
The first rays of sunlight were drifting into the room when she finally fell asleep and it was nearly nine in the morning before the smell of coffee woke her. “I smell breakfast,” she mumbled.
“Good,” Celeste mumbled back from her side of the bed. “Go have some for me.”
“You don’t want to be there when I give Aunt Edie the good news?”
“Okay. Give me a minute to pry my eyes open.”
They showered and dressed and left Vanita still dead to the world, hurrying downstairs as if it were Christmas morning. In a way, it was.
Pete was lounging at the kitchen table, inhaling a cinnamon roll and Sabrina was at the stove, stirring a batch of Aunt Edie’s made-from-scratch hot chocolate, and Roger was supervising from his perch and begging for whiskey.
“My, you girls had a late night,” Aunt Edie greeted them. “Did you have fun?”
“You’re not going to believe what happened,” Celeste said.
“Aunt Edie, I think you’d better sit down,” Jenna said, and led her aunt to the kitchen table.
Aunt Edie looked suddenly worried. “Jenna, you didn’t lose a lot of money, did you?”
“Just the opposite. I won.”
Aunt Edie was beginning to connect the dots. Sit down...won. “How much did you win?” she asked, her voice tremulous.
“Eighty thousand dollars,” Jenna said, and the excitement of the night before came bubbling up again.
“Holy crap,” Pete said, setting down his coffee mug to gape at her. “Who wins that much at the casino?”
“Me,” Jenna said. She’d have to tell Tyrella all her praying had worked.
“We’re rich!” Sabrina exclaimed. “Can I have a cell phone?”
“We’ll see,” Jenna said.
“I am fourteen. And we can afford it now.”
“Yes, we can.” Which didn’t mean her daughter would be getting one. Not until she was driving and really needed one.
“I can’t believe it,” Aunt Edie said, shaking her head. “It seems too good to be true.” And then she began to cry.
Jenna rushed to kneel in front of her. “Don’t cry, Auntie. It’s all working out.”
“I know. Oh, Jenna, there are so many things you could do with that money.”
“I want to help you,” Jenna said. “I want to bring the Driftwood Inn back to life.”
“You dear girl,” Aunt Edie said, and hugged her.
“Now we can go home and visit Daddy,” Sabrina said, joining them at the kitchen table with her mug of hot chocolate.
Oh, boy. This again. How long was she going to have to cover for Damien?
“As soon as we get the motel up and running,” Jenna promised. Surely after a few more weeks Damien would be missing his daughter enough to grant a visit.
Sabrina frowned. “I only want to go home for a weekend.”
“We’ll talk about it later,” Jenna said.
“I could go back with Aunt Celeste,” Sabrina said, looking brightly at Celeste, who wisely kept her mouth shut.
“We’ll see,” said Jenna.
Sabrina scowled. “I know what that means. It means no.”
“It means we’ll see,” Jenna said, her patience leaking.
“Fine,” Sabrina snapped. She set her mug on the table with a thump and stamped out of the room.
“Pretty is as pretty does,” Jenna called after her, quoting one of her mother’s favorite sayings.
“You’re so mean,” her daughter’s voice echoed back at her.
“You can take a weekend off and go home,” Aunt Edie said to Jenna.
“This is my home now,” Jenna told her. “And we’ll go back to visit her lame-o father when we have things squared away here and not before.”
So there. Winner, winner, chicken dinner.