The Big Brush-off Read Online Free Page B

call Gino and cancel tonight’s plans.”
    “Let’s not cancel.” With her shooting schedule, Laura hadn’t seen our old pal Gino Santoro since he picked us up at Grand Central Station. He’d planned a big party for us to celebrate the completion of Laura’s latest movie at his restaurant, Gino’s.
    “Are you sure?”
    Being around our childhood friend with his gift of gab might be the perfect antidote to feeling sorry for myself. “I’m sure.”
    Laura shook her head. “We’ve got to get rid of these flowers.”
    “There’s something else.”
    Laura cocked her head.
    “If you’d like to come along, we’ve been invited to Hanover, Pennsylvania.”
    “What’s in Hanover?”
    I told her about the encounter with Mary Caldwell and Father Ryan.
    When I finished, she took my hands. “Oh, Jake, things haven’t gone well for you today. Of course we’ll go.”
    I kissed her. “Did I ever mention what a wonderful wife I married?”
    Laura smiled. “You alluded to that last night in bed.”
    An hour later she’d changed into evening attire, a stunning strapless red dress. I glanced in a mirror next to the front door and smoothed the lapels of my lucky blue suit. I cinched my tie, avoiding the sensation I was tightening my own noose.

Chapter 4
Gino’s Ain’t No Yankee Club
    An hour later, Laura and I stepped off the elevator into the crowded lobby. Heads turned as my wife crossed the room in her red strapless dress with matching heels, and beads that swayed when she walked. She looked like a million bucks, if I knew what a million bucks looked like.
    When we passed by the chair Mary Caldwell had sat in earlier in the day, I pictured the desperation on the dying woman’s face. I wanted to fulfill her heartfelt request but, as selfish as it seemed, I had my own future to consider.
    As we waited for a cab, Laura pulled a hankie from her purse and dabbed moist eyes.
    I held her hand. “Sweetheart, what’s wrong?”
    “Darling, the past two years haven’t been easy for you, I know. You gave up everything for me and my career. I focused so much on becoming a star, I forgot to tell you how much I appreciate all you’ve done for me. You mean more to me than acting. You know that, right?”
    I held her in my arms as the doorman pretended not to notice. When I stared into her face, I didn’t see the beautiful movie star I married. We were kids again walking home from high school, stealing kisses before we went our separate ways. “These past two years have been the best of my life.”
    “Darling, I don’t need a career. I need you.”
    A cab pulled up in front of us. As we rode off, I was determined not to let my encounter with Mary Caldwell, or my meeting with Mildred, ruin a night out with old friends.
    Laura took a deep breath and regained her composure. She acted like everything was fine, but I knew better.
    The cabbie glanced in the rearview mirror and snapped his fingers several times. “You’re that actress. I saw you in
Midnight Wedding
last year. Sure.”
    Laura smiled. “Did you enjoy the movie?”
    “I loved the food fight and every scene you were in.” He cleared his throat then reached for a logbook and handed it into the backseat. “Would you mind? My wife would be thrilled.”
    “My pleasure.” Laura took the book, signed her name, and handed it back.
    “I get plenty of celebrities. Last month I dropped Ethel Merman off at a theater, and a few weeks before, F. Scott Fitzgerald. You think he’d be a big tipper, but not so much. Last year Dashiell Hammett gave me a tip with a bill that had a president I’d never seen before. Writers are either loaded or struggling, like actors, you might say.”
    He was right about authors.
    The driver glanced again in the rearview mirror. “Wait, buddy, you look familiar too.” As he studied my face, Laura handed me her pen to sign his logbook.
    He snapped his fingers. “You used to be a high-stakes gambler in Brooklyn, right?”
    I winked at Laura