Not as easy as you’d think. Even if there are other bunkers that people built around here over the years, like Willie Wayne’s uncle did, nobody talks about them.
And considering Tavi and her whole family are all up to something more than supposedly turning themselves into good people, and everyone here knows it, you wouldn’t think the threat would make her go pale, but it does. “The tabloids are great, but you should really start thinking bigger if you want to get Tickled Pink back on the map.”
Ridhi splits the deck, shuffles, and bridges it. “We’re still on the fence about wanting to be on that map. Bets down, everyone. Dylan, get me a bourbon on the rocks while you’re up.”
“Anybody else?” I ask.
“Brought my own beer,” Jane says.
Willie Wayne lifts a sparkling cider. “Got my own too.”
“I brought dried cauliflower sticks to share.” Tavi reaches into her purse, not calling any of us on Ridhi’s insistence that Tavi have vodka if she wants to play, but I’d bet she noticed. “They’re curry flavored.”
“If you want to live, you’ll keep those in your purse,” Ridhi tells her.
Pebbles barks in glee like she agrees.
Tavi makes kissy-faces at the dog. “Who’s a sweet girl who loves curry cauliflower sticks?”
Pebbles gives her a doggy grin.
Say what you want about Tavi Lightly—she treats that dog mostly right.
Can’t be all bad if you care that much about an animal, though I hope she feeds the pup some meat when no one’s looking.
I fix drinks, pass them out, and lean against the counter, watching the first few games go down.
Tavi’s truly terrible.
Takes six rounds for her to almost run out of chips, and all the while, she’s asking questions about Tickled Pink like she’s a travel reporter, not like she’s someone who’s been stuck here for months.
When I heard some rich old lady was bringing her family here to Tickled Pink because she’d decided thatPink Gold, the movie filmed here about a rich old lady trying to get to heaven, was the blueprint to saving her own soul, I, like most people around here, figured they wouldn’t last a week.
And then I heard Estelle Lightly was planning on moving her family into the abandoned Tickled Pink high school building and fixing it up as part of their “soul journey,” and I joined the chorus of people speculating they wouldn’t last three days.
They’ve proved us all wrong. Guess you don’t get rich without also having some drive, and honestly?
It’s nice seeing the old high school put back to rights.
Not because I liked my time there. Or becauseanyoneliked my time there.
Feels a little like all that cleaning, renovating, and fresh paint is giving us a new perspective on what we’ve forgotten Tickled Pink could be.
“Drink up,” Jane says to her, nodding to Tavi’s still-full vodka as they’re dealing out the seventh hand. “Might help.”
“Oh, I don’t mind losing.” Tavi gestures to the four chips left in front of her. “There’s more where that came from.”
Ridhi glances at her two cards, then shoves her own pile of chips into the pot. “If you’re trying to butter us up by letting us have your money, won’t work.”
“I don’t buy my friends, Ridhi.”
“And we don’t make friends with people who don’t drink their vodka.”
Tavi eyeballs the shot glass on the table in front of her, scoops it up, and tosses it back. “Yay! We’re friends now.”
Ridhi and Jane share a look.
“This is such a great town,” Tavi says. “With just a little extra publicity, you could get tourism up even more. Like, enough to really maintain all of the improvements my family’s making this year. I’msupergood at helping people learn how to market themselves. I could, like, totally show you how to market the town.”
