A Turn in the Road (Blossom Street #8)(36)

Except that her dad hadn’t been nearly as amused. When he learned Bethanne had ridden into town with Max, he’d been upset. Justifiably so. She could see his point and, again, wished she’d squelched the urge to call.

Another mistake she’d made was giving her mother the phone. That hadn’t gone nearly as well as she’d hoped. Before long, her parents were snapping at each other, and it was all Annie could do not to grab the phone out of her mother’s hand.

More than anything, Annie wanted her parents back together. They belonged with each other; at least her father could see that now. Lots of men made mistakes. Women, too. Annie knew that from watching her friends’ parents.

Men, in particular, supposedly went through this middle-age form of adolescence, where they behaved badly. According to what she’d heard, sooner or later they came to their senses. Some were smart enough to do whatever it took to get their families back. The lucky ones did. They reconciled with their wives and kids and started fresh, with a new appreciation of what they’d lost.

Annie wanted her father to be one of the lucky ones. He had to be impressed by everything her mother had accomplished since the divorce. Annie would admit that even she was surprised by the success of the party business. She wasn’t the only one, either.

Annie suspected that the attention her mother received had become an issue between Tiffany and her father. Grant didn’t openly acknowledge that but Annie could read between the lines. The lovely Tiffany’s career wasn’t exactly going gangbusters these days, not that Annie was sorry to hear it. Frankly, she’d be just as glad never to hear the other woman’s name again. Fortunately, the lovely Tiffany was out of the picture.

She’d given her own motivations some serious thought when Andrew had challenged her. He’d accused her of wanting to revert to a perfect past that hadn’t been as perfect as she’d chosen to believe. Not true. This was more about instinct and love than any childhood fantasy.

Her parents needed each other, and Annie considered it her duty as their daughter to encourage their reconciliation. Now all she had to do was pave the way for her mother and father to meet in the middle and resolve this.

Come to think of it, she might offer her father a suggestion or two. Flowers for when they arrived in Vegas might help her mother forget their little argument that evening.

Hmm… She set her cell phone to wake her early so she could call her dad. Roses, she told herself sleepily. Red ones…

Bethanne’s next conscious thought was that Annie was awake and moving about the hotel room. Although she was obviously making an effort to be quiet, she didn’t succeed. She dropped her cosmetics case with a clatter.

“Annie,” Bethanne groaned. “What time is it?”

“Six. The way I figure it, we could get to Vegas this afternoon if we leave early.”

“Is your grandmother awake?” Bethanne asked, her eyes still closed.

“I am now,” Ruth muttered.

Bethanne opened her eyes and noticed Ruth sitting up in bed, stretching her arms as she arched her back. “Get me coffee and I’ll do my morning exercises, then we can hit the road.”

“Vegas, here we come!” Annie cried. She was already dressed, with her suitcase packed and waiting by the door.

“I’ll jump in the shower,” Bethanne said, and tossed aside the covers as she climbed out of bed. Retrieving her clothes, she stepped into the bathroom. By the time she finished, Annie had prepared coffee and Ruth had done her stretching exercises and was dressed.

“Ready, Mom?” Annie asked as Bethanne repacked her suitcase and slipped her book into her purse.

“I’m ready. But the question should be…is Vegas ready for us?”

Annie laughed. “I sure hope so.”

They were on the road by seven-fifteen, and rolled into Vegas seven and a half hours later. Annie had booked them into the Hard Rock Casino just off the Strip. It wouldn’t have been either Ruth’s or Bethanne’s first choice, but one casino was probably as good as another.

While Annie and Ruth checked in, Bethanne found the rental car location and swapped cars, more for peace of mind than anything else. Marvin back in Wells had done an excellent job, but they still had a long way to travel. Bethanne didn’t dare risk another breakdown.

When she returned to the casino, both Annie and Ruth were playing the slot machines. The sights and sounds of the casino were everywhere. Instead of being annoyed by the din, Bethanne discovered that it added to the excitement.

“Sit down and play with us,” Annie urged, intent on a game named after the television show Wheel of Fortune.

“Okay.” Bethanne wasn’t keen on giving her hard-earned forty dollars to a slot, but it did look like fun. The thought of turning that fun into winnings was too tempting to ignore.

She found a machine with a cartoon Texas oilman called Texas Tea, pulled out a stool and plopped herself down. Twenty dollars went quickly, although it was a nickel machine. At $2.25 with every push of the button, her twenty bucks vanished almost before she knew it. She wondered whether to feed it her last twenty, but hesitated, then decided she’d reached her limit for that day.

“Have you been up to the room yet?” Ruth asked when Bethanne sat next to her mother-in-law.

“Not yet.” Annie had taken up Bethanne’s suitcase and given her the room key earlier.