Free Cheating at Solitaire by Ally Carter Page B

He's already made my dignity disappear." Julia climbed onto one of the barstools and picked up a sugar cookie in the shape of a balloon.
    "Okay, crew." Nina slapped her hands together. "This is the brain trust. It's time to formulate a plan. I say we call Candon and set up—"
    "Candon's history," Julia said. "He saw the sales numbers and got greedy. I am officially finished with Candon."
    "Well, then we'll get Harvey—" Caroline started.
    "Harvey had a heart attack."
    "Oh my," Madelyn exclaimed. "Have you sent flowers?" "No, Mom, I've been busy having a fictitious affair." "Well, that's no reason not to send flowers," Madelyn said, amazed.
    No, but the fact that I gave him the heart attack might be, Julia thought.
    "Julia," Caroline said, "what are you going to do?
    "Maybe a houseplant?" Madelyn interjected.
    "I don't know, Caroline," Julia snapped, ignoring her mother and growing irritated with her sister. She didn't have an answer. She didn't have a clue. "I'm going to sleep in my own bed tonight. I'm going to spend time with the kids. I'm going to wrap my mind around this and come up with something."
    "Cut flowers die," Madelyn afforded, as if clicking through the "in case of death or hospitalization" registry in her head. "I don't think that's the right message, you know, under the circumstances," she whispered, as if Harvey could hear her and she didn't want to be caught speaking ill of the almost-dead.
    It was only then that Julia realized how alone she was in this. Anyone in that house would have lain down in front of a train if she'd asked them, but for her future in publishing, their efforts would be just as pointless. There was one thing, however, that they could do.

    "So, Sis, which room did you put Lance in?"
    "No." Caroline shook her head, seeing where her sister was heading.
    "Come on, his stuff is already upstairs!"
    "He's a stranger. He's not sleeping under my roof."
    "Would you rather he sleep under mine?" Julia asked. "You've got Steve. You'll be safe."
    "Oh, yeah," Nina interjected, " 'cause when I think bodyguard, I always think Steve."
    "Hey," Caroline snapped.
    "Nina." Julia turned to her best friend. "Can't he stay with you?"
    Nina seemed to ponder this. "Tempting, but no. I am this close"—she held her thumb and forefinger inches apart from each other—"to having my divorce finalized. If Jason thought Cheating at Solitaire 87
    I was living with another man, who knows what hell he'd raise. Besides, you're the one who brought Lance home; now you're going to have to feed him and water him and take him out when he needs to go."
    "Mom?" Julia tried her last option.
    "No," Madelyn said. "Julia, Nina's right."
    "I am?" Nina said, not really believing it.
    Madelyn finished: "This is your responsibility."

Chapter Ten
    WAY #82: Honor your ancestors.
    Families are rich in history. As you seek to make sense of your own life, go back a few generations and learn about the people who went before you. Sift through the years, and you may find answers in their ashes.

    —from 101 Ways to Cheat at Solitaire
    The little raisin of a woman who summoned Lance fro across the party couldn't have weighed more than hundred pounds, Lance decided, not counting the diamonds. Nina had told him that Ro-Ro's first husband had owned a diamond mine in South Africa, so naturally, she'd started off with a big ring. As Lance studied her tiny hands, he could see how hard it must have been for husbands two through four to keep up. What Lance couldn't surprise whether Ro-Ro was deeply connected to the dead loves of he life and wore their rings to remember them, or if she kept the jewels on her at all times simply because she needed the attention and didn't trust the help.
    "You must be Julia's fella," she said, once he had settled beside her.
    "Actually, ma'am, it's a little more—" "Don't contradict me, young man." "Yes, ma'am."
    She looked him up and down as if she was thinking about buying him at auction. "What is your profession?"