Page 31 of Catch and Release

“Dang it, don’t have that one,” Barb said.

“Me either,” Ida responded, grinding her teeth.

“Grams, he’s your grandson,” Willa said, placing a chip on her card.

“A win is a win, missy. And I wouldn’t mind a little extra time with my grandson.”

Willa bit her lip as the announcer read out five more letter and number combos, all of which Willa had on her card.

“Watch out, folks, the newbie might win this one,” Shirley said teasingly.

“We’ve still got a long way to go,” Willa responded.

But the moderator kept calling out spaces she had on her card.

N-6.

G-57.

G-2.

I-33.

B-1.

O-12.

On and on it went, and Shawn grinned at her as she filled in the second to last piece on her board.

Suddenly, Willa was nervous. The stakes weren’t high. Logically, she knew that. She didn’t care much about a chartered fishing trip with Shawn. She had her own boat. Never mind that it’d be romantic as hell to watch his steady arms steer the boat. Maybe he’d help her reel in fish, coming in behind her and holding the rod for her while she reeled. Maybe she’d bring along a six pack of beer and some sandwiches for a picnic.

She shook her head. What was she thinking? She didn’t care about winning.

“B-34.”

Willa released a sigh as she realized that wasn’t the one she needed. Frantically, she looked around the cafeteria to see if that had been the winning call for someone else. When silence followed for a few moments, she breathed easily for a second. Shawn looked at her with a lifted brow, as if he was saying, You can pretend all you want, but I know you’re dying to win.

She bit her lip.

“O-7.”

Willa sighed in relief as she put her final chip down.

“We have a winner over here, Amos!” Ida shouted at the moderator, fluttering her eyes in his direction.

Did Grams have a crush? Willa’s eyes darted to Shawn, who was watching Ida ogle Amos with bemusement. Willa bit back a grin as Amos made his way to their table and reviewed her card to confirm she won.

“Let’s all give a round of applause to this evening’s big winner!” Amos said.

The cafeteria began clapping, and even Barb and Ida looked pleased that she’d won, even though she was sure they’d be sore losers. Amos put an envelope on the table in front of her. She assumed it was her certificate for the boat ride with Shawn. She dared a glance over to him, and he was grinning at her, clapping along with the rest of them.

10

The waves gently crashed onto the shore and Willa breathed in the salty air.

It was going to be a good day. She could feel it.

After she got home from Bingo last night, she shoved the certificate she won into her bedside table and spent some quality time with her vibrator, trying not to think about how she felt when Shawn winked at her or whispered in her ear.

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