Free Peril in Paperback by Kate Carlisle

grabbed her in a hug. “I wish I’d been sitting closer to you guys during dinner.”
    “I wish you had been, too,” she said, then frowned. “Brooklyn, I believe Grace may be trying to set you up with this Nathan fellow.”
    I grinned. “She can try all she wants, but it won’t work. I’m completely nuts about Derek.”
    “Oh, good.” She clutched my arm. “I was worried you might have taken a trip down to the deep end.”
    “You mean,
gone off
the deep end?”
    “That’s what I said.”
    I smiled. “I was upset earlier, but I’m not about to do anything stupid. I’ll talk to Derek in a day or two and we’ll smooth things out.”
    “Thank goodness. I don’t want to see you unhappy.”
    “Neither do I,” I admitted.
    “Hey, what’re you two plotting?” Suzie said as she walked up behind us.
    “I was telling Brooklyn what your family thinks of Grace’s big announcement.”
    Suzie waved her hand in a carefree gesture. “I’m not worried. Madge is a freak. Don’t pay attention to her.”
    Vinnie and Suzie made a quick pact to ignore Madge’s whining, and the three of us walked into the card room, ready to have some fun. Grace and Sybil were already seated at a small table in the corner, so we strolled overjust as Grace finished shuffling a large deck of tarot cards.
    Suzie got bored watching her aunt deal cards to Sybil and announced that she was heading to the game room to watch another
important
football game Nathan and Marko were already engrossed in. Vinnie and I remained to watch Grace read the tarot cards.
    My mom had always been a big believer in tarot, so I’d grown up knowing what each of the cards signified. But it had been years since I’d seen anyone throwing the tarot, so I was looking forward to hearing Grace’s interpretation of the cards.
    Grace turned over the Six of Cups. “That means you radiate joy and affection.”
    Sybil nodded. “That’s true.”
    What?
I so disagreed, but I wasn’t about to contradict Grace.
    Grace threw down the next card and frowned. “Oh, the Page of Swords.”
    “What does it mean?” Sybil asked.
    “It means your goals are in focus,” Grace muttered.
    “Good,” Sybil said with a confident smile.
    Vinnie flinched, then gawked at me. Her stunned expression was loud and clear:
Grace sucks at this!
    I completely agreed.
    All of a sudden, Sybil screamed and jumped from her chair. “Get it away from me! Get it away!”
    Was she hallucinating?
    “For goodness’s sake, Sybil,” Grace said. “It’s just a tarot card.”
    “Not the card, you moron!” She pointed a shaky finger toward the carpet and that’s when I saw the tip of a black furry tail slink under the card table.
    “It’s just a cat.” I frowned at Sybil. Not only was she being ridiculous over a small cat, but I couldn’t believe she’d just called her hostess—and her husband’s business partner—a
moron
.
    “It’s Leroy,” Vinnie said soothingly. “Here, boy.” Shescooped the black cat into her arms. “Aren’t you a pretty thing?”
    Sybil shivered uncontrollably. “Keep that animal away from me. I’m deathly allergic. And I plain don’t like them. They’re vicious and…dirty.”
    Vinnie gave her a hard look and started to walk off, but one of the kitchen staff met her and carried the cat away. Vinnie and I exchanged another look. My friend was a staunch animal lover and owner of two cherished cats. Sybil was not making points with anyone tonight.
    “Okay, the cat’s gone, Sybil,” Grace said, trying to regain some levity. “Let’s continue with the cards.”
    “Fine.” Sybil straightened her jacket and expelled a heavy breath. “Where were we?”
    “I just threw down a card that means your goals are focused on something. I don’t know.” Grace waved her hand in the air. “Something good, like you should, uh, assert yourself. People like you. I think.”
    I shook my head. My mother would be chanting right now, trying to keep from correcting