Friends

by David Bart

About the Author: David Bart’s latest stories are with Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine and Mystery Tribune, print edition.

Excerpt

The girls had gathered at Lara’s sprawling faux-adobe home on Arrowhead Lane; ostensibly for bridge, but they rarely got around to playing card games. What they got around to was drinking. And evaluating men.

It was Monica who brought up Jason Hauptman and Bill Irwin, both widowers and therefore fair game for the group, which was made up entirely of divorcées or widows. And both men were in their early sixties, not that old, so all systems were go, particularly factoring in modern pharmaceuticals. Good looking men, if somewhat long in the tooth; but at least they had teeth. Implants were acceptable, but removeable false teeth were frowned on; and ultra-whitening of even real teeth was just wrong.

“I love all that silver hair on Jason,” Monica said, trying for casual, though in the catty view of the other girls she was practically swooning. “Broad shoulders too,” she added, playfully making her fingers into claws, hissing like a cat.

“Yeah, and even broader than your butt,” Elise said, causing the entire bunch of women to erupt in wild whoops and cackles, a couple sloshing wine onto the Berber carpet.

Red wine, for Christ’s sake, thought Lara. And then the giddy idiots started laughing hysterically at that also. She jumped up, stormed toward the kitchen to get some club soda. Maybe toss back a couple of shots of tequila while she was there.

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