“Hi, Elsa. I’m Jilly.”
“Can I hug you?”
“I’m a big hugger,” Jilly said as Elsa folded her in a warm embrace.
When Elsa let go, she had tears in her eyes. “I include you in my prayers.”
Jilly’s eyebrows jutted into her forehead. “Me?”
“Because you warned Amanda May about that monster, she found her way to me.”
Jilly looked at Slash. “I’m gonna need a little help here. Who’s Amanda May?”
“I used to be Melody Donaldson. Legally, I’m Amanda Maynard, but Elsa calls me Amanda May. Now, I go by Slash.”
Jilly chuckled. “I’m Jilly. Just Jilly Linder.”
Carrera pulled a bottle of Santini Chianti from his wine collection, popped the cork, and set it on the kitchen island. “Wine, beer, soda, water, coffee, hard liquor? Who wants what?”
“I got fired today,” Jilly said, “so I would love a glass of wine.”
Silence.
“She didnotfire you,” Slash said.
“She sure did, and I recorded her crazy-ass rant on my phone.” She regarded Elsa. “Sorry.”
Elsa nodded. “No worries. I’ve heard much worse from these two, especially when they used to swear at each other.”
Slash poured two glasses of wine. “We’ll be on the porch.”
Once outside, Slash tapped her glass against Jilly’s. “Good riddance to Karen.”
“I’ll definitely drink to that.”
A delicious melody of berries, herbs, and a blend of oak and smoky flavors erupted on her tongue as she sipped the fine wine.
“What happened?” Slash asked.
“I showed up to work the lunch shift, which I hardly ever do. One of the bartenders told me Karen was looking for me, so I pulled out my phone and started recording, but it’s audio only.” Jilly sipped the wine, set down the glass, and got busy on her phone. “I’ll play her rant.”
Jilly pressed Play.
“You need to clear out,” Karen said.
“Clear out what?” Jilly asked.
“Duh, your things,” Karen said. “Your fired.”
“Fired? For what?”
“Because I said so. This is my club. I’m the queen, I make the rules, and I can break the rules I make.”
Karen’s cackle made Slash wince.
Jilly paused the audio. “She’s crazy.”
“Yeah, she is,” Slash replied.