“It’s from some Wilma in the OGs group.”
“My grandma and her friends,” she explained, eyes on the TV.
“How old are they?” Ash asked.
“Old, why?”
“We’re going out to get pregnant,” Ash read.
She snorted. “I thought they had bingo today. Give me the phone.”
Adrian saw her typing No bingo today?
God, as if that was the primary issue.
First getting pregnant, then bingo was the answer.
Rachel shook her head and composed another message Mike, you reading this? Are you bringing the condoms or should I?
“Sheriff, what’s going on?” Ash asked, looking curious.
“Nothing you should know.” Or Adrian, for that matter. But Ash moved to Rachel’s other side to be able to read. Monti too.
Condoms, what condoms? came from Wilma. Then she probably read her messages.
***PRINGLES, we’ll get PRINGLES. Oh, Tod.
***GOD
While Rachel laughed, there came a reply from Mike. If they get pregnant, I’m taking them on Oprah. We’ll never have to work again.
“What’s wrong with your grandmother?” Ash inquired, sounding serious. “Alzheimer’s?”
Ha. Adrian had thought so the first time he’d run into the OGs.
“Not really,” she answered, punching some numbers on her cell. “More like they caught a serious case of STD.”
Ash’s eyes were so big they almost popped out. Adrian’s probably weren’t much better, because she looked at him and broke into laughter.
“Senior Texting Disorder,” she explained. “Keeping up with smartphones isn’t as easy as you may think.” Then she said into the phone, “Mike, the OGs are on the move.” She laughed. “Yes, they started strong today. You on watch?” A pause. “Okay, I’ll take care of it, but you owe me one.”
She finished her call. “Sorry, guys, the company is fantastic, but it looks like I got to go get pregnant and then to bingo. Mike is in Boston with Kyra and Sam this evening.”
“Mike was going to have an issue getting pregnant,” Monti mumbled.
“True. You guys want to come with me?” she offered. “Bingo night is an eye-opening experience.”
Ash and Monti looked at each other. Then at Adrian. “Let’s go,” Monti said. “How bad can it be?”
Ha. Those punks had no clue who they were dealing with. But Rachel was going, which meant Adrian was too.
Chapter Seven
“Come on, Sheriff,” Rachel said, picking up two folding chairs from the trunk. “This is the first outdoor movie night of the year. We can’t miss it.” By the sheriff’s look, he didn’t give a rat’s ass if they missed it or not.
He was walking better now and could easily carry the chairs. He was so abusing the situation, but Rachel kept her mouth shut. After breaking the poor guy’s foot and tasing him on top of that, they were lucky he was going along.
As they closed in on the park, where some of the neighbors were already camped out, the OGs waved at them.
“I don’t think so. Keep walking, Grease Barbie,” Adrian mumbled to her.
Rachel chuckled. Bingo night several days ago had been too much for him. He’d never spent so long in such close proximity to the OGs. She was used to them, but they could be a bit overwhelming in their own habitat. Not to mention he would have preferred staying home, which he’d mentioned many times that night.
Ash and Monti had been a bit outraged that bingo night was senior bingo night, and that most of the pervert grandmas who’d tried to fondle them during the self-defense class were present. Thank God none of the offenders had been the OGs. Wilma and the others had just beaten the shit out of them—which, according to the street thugs, was way better.
“You had fun, Boomer. Recognize it.”
They’d been given stamp pencils and beer hats with isotonic drinks and been let loose. Ash and Monti had laughed their heads off. Adrian had refused the hat and tried to keep a straight face throughout, but he hadn’t succeeded. She’d caught him smiling from time to time. And rolling his eyes. He’d done a lot of that.
“Bingo night is a mess. Half of them don’t hear the numbers that are being called, and the other half don’t care. They’re too busy drinking and trying to remember which pills they’re supposed to take.”
“You forgot the line to enter the bathroom,” Rachel reminded him, chuckling. “You shouldn’t have meddled.”
“Don’t get me started. They were blocking the emergency exit.”
She sighed out loud. “They may ban you from bingo nights.”
Adrian put his hand on his chest and feigned pain. “I’m devastated. Next time I’ll send my deputies to make sure the emergency exit is clear at all times.”
Yep, the sheriff was going to be banned. Trying to come between those seniors and the bathroom was suicide.
They passed several groups of people sprawled out in the park before they reached the Bowen conglomerate. James and Tate must have been busy, but Cole and Christy, along with Max and Annie, had made it there.
“Are they approved company?” Rachel asked.
“Okay,” he replied.
Good. The Bowens hadn’t bothered with chairs; they were sitting on a blanket, Christy perched between Cole’s legs, his hands on her baby bump. Cole, the cool-headed ex-Marine and aloof explosive expert currently running the Bowens’ construction company who had never given women a second look, was so in love with Christy, it was painful to watch.
Max wasn’t much better, hugging and kissing his wife. Rachel shook his head; she didn’t understand how Annie managed to resist his devastating grin and not jump his bones in front of everyone. Even Lizzie was in love with her dad. Rachel had never seen that baby cry when she was in her father’s arms.
“Yo, Sheriff,” Max called out as Rachel planted their folding chairs near the blanket. “How’s your injury? Did the taser leave any permanent neurological damage?”
Harrumphing, Adrian sat on the chair.
“Is your dad already back at Eternal Sun?” she asked, also sitting down.
Cole nodded. “Start getting ready, Rach, because your grandma seemed awfully interested in their activities. I think the OGs may go down there to check it out.”
She thought so too. “Yeah. I fear some of those activities are on their bucket list.”
Adrian snorted. “Prepare yourself to travel to Florida to bail them out. If they’re lucky and get bail.”
“Not everyone is such a stickler for rules as you are,” she replied.
“Adrian is right,” Cole stated.
“Because you’re as much a stickler for rules as he is,” Christy said, laughing.
The streetlights at the park turned off, and everyone looked at the screen. Movie time.
“What marathon are they going to make us suffer through this year?” Adrian whispered in Rachel’s ear.
She smirked. “Police Academy.”
“Jesus fucking Christ. Who chooses the movies?”
“It’s a family activity. They go for classics.”
“Too cold for outdoor activities,” Adrian complained, scowling. “Absurd ones at that.”