Gypped Read Free Page A

Bobby Jo and I are having a wonderful time.”
    “That’s good,” Zelda answered, trying to sound enthusiastic. “I wanted you to enjoy your birthday again.”
    After Zelda’s mother died four years ago, her father had been so lonely. Friends wanted to fix him up with women but he wouldn’t have any part of it. He’d have breakfast with his pals at a local coffee shop, take a two-mile walk, then sit in his mobile home up in Santa Maria reading the paper and watching television. Zelda prayed that somehow, some way, he would meet that someone special. Her prayers were answered. Threemonths ago he encountered Bobby Jo at a gas station. She asked him for his help with a pump she couldn’t get to work. Never one to refuse, he did. Since that day she had hardly let him out of her sight.
    “Be careful what you pray for” had almost become Zelda’s new motto. But she was still trying to remain optimistic, and stick to “Everything happens for a reason.” It wasn’t easy. “Did you win any money?” she asked brightly.
    “No, but I won something much better.”
    “What’s that?” Zelda put on her blinker and gratefully turned into the steep driveway of the Scrumps estate. There had been a lot of traffic.
    “I won Bobby Jo’s hand in marriage.”
    “ What ?” Zelda exclaimed as her hands went flying into the air. The car started to veer into the woods. Zelda grabbed the wheel and pressed harder on the accelerator, lurching the car forward.
    “That’s right, honey. Last night we were having a grand time celebrating my birthday. There we were, sipping champagne, playing the slot machines, when two rings came up on Jo Jo’s machine. She turned and looked at me with those big brown eyes of hers and, just like the flirt she is, said ‘I need another ring.’ ”
    I can’t take it. Zelda cringed, not wanting to hear any more.
    “So I said, well, let’s get you one.” Roger laughed and sounded exuberant. “We’re like a couple of kids. I never thought I’d feel this happy again.”
    Oh my God, Zelda thought, as she kept driving toward the house, barely noticing the overgrown lawn and bushes.
    “Next thing you know we’re grabbing a taxi, and our way to a drive-through chapel. I’m sorry you missed the wedding, honey.”
    Missed the wedding? Zelda wanted to shout. It was in the back of a cab!
    “The driver was our witness. I gave him a good tip.”
    By now Zelda had pulled around to the back of the house, past the caterer’s van. Her head was reeling. If Bobby Jo makes him happy, I should be happy, she tried to convince herself. Mom must be rolling over in her grave. Mom, who was so soft spoken and sweet and understated. Bobby Jo was nothing like her. But then again, maybe that’s better.
    But they only met three months ago! And it’s my fault!
    In July, Zelda had flown up to Santa Maria to spend the weekend with her father. A few hours after she arrived, Zelda decided to take a shower before they went out to dinner. Her father, feeling restless, went out to gas up the car. He came back with Bobby Jo.
    “You don’t mind, honey, if this lady joins us?” he’d asked Zelda. It was a rhetorical question. “She’s on her way back to Santa Barbara from a visit to San Francisco, and boy, does she make me laugh.” He’d slapped his knee.
    At the time Zelda had been happy to see a sparkle in her father’s eye. A sparkle she hadn’t seen in what felt like forever. How could she object? That afternoon, Zelda had given him a pep talk about getting out and dating. She didn’t expect him to act on it so fast.
    Bobby Jo was an attractive, sturdy woman in her mid-sixties, with bleached blond hair cut close to her head. When Zelda met her, she was wearing the feminine version of a bowling shirt, if that’s possible, green shorts, and sneakers. Her jewelry consisted of large hoop earrings, three different necklaces, a gold watch, and a colorful wooden bracelet. Her makeup was simple—orange lipstick.
    At