Chapter Fifteen

Aggie added up the potential value of her thirteen cards. Twelve. Five of them hearts. She laid all of the cards facedown in front of her, placed her elbows on the table, framed her face with her hands and gave Max, who was about to start this round of bidding, her I-love-you expression.

His lips twitched, but just for a second, and then they went back to neutral.

“You okay there, sugar britches?” Meemaw said. “It’s not like you to prop your elbows on a table when in polite company.”

Aggie removed her elbows, picked up her cards, and gave Meemaw a look of pure innocence. “Simply trying to concentrate on the rules of the game.”

“Is that what you were doing?” Max asked in a deadpan tone.

She watched his eyes to catch his signal. None came. Why?

“Maxi, darling, start the bid,” Ms. Grace said.

“One heart,” he said.

Ms. Grace, who sat to his left, studied her cards. “No bid.”

Aggie chewed on her bottom lip and tried to recall all the details on deciding your bid. She didn’t want to blow this. She needed to impress Max with her brain. She studied her cards. “One no trump.”

Meemaw surprised Aggie with a, “No bid.” It wasn’t like Meemaw to not play aggressively at anything. Even if it meant bluffing.

After the bidding went another circle around the table, Max said, “We have three no bids. A contract has been entered into. And we are about to play a hand in which we must make at least eight tricks with hearts as trumps.”

Aggie grinned. This was good. She had hearts. Five of them.

Max surprised everyone by chuckling.

Meemaw glanced from one to the other. “Grace, I do believe our grandchildren have found their rhythm.”

Ms. Grace glanced at Max from over her cards. “I do believe you’re right.”

Sometime later, Aggie released a whoop of joy. “We win!”

“Gosh darn it, looks like the two of you will have to do the cooking,” Meemaw said. “Shall we say next Wednesday night?”

Max pulled his gaze from a smiling Aggie and glanced from one grandmother to the other. “You two lost on purpose, didn’t you?”

Aggie lost her smile and glowered at Meemaw. “You purposefully threw a game?”

Meemaw grinned. “Someone needed to show the two of you how to lie convincingly. We decided it might as well be us. The very ones you were trying to dupe.”

“You know about our plan to hoodwink you?” Aggie asked.

“Oh yes, we do,” Meemaw said. “And there’s only one logical reason I can think of as to why you’d feel the need to go to such lengths. You like each other a lot, and you don’t want us to know yet.”

“Grandmother, you’re awfully quiet over there. What do you have to say for yourself?” Max asked Ms. Grace.

She folded her hands primly on the table. “It’s your own fault. When the two of you went outside in a supposed huff, we happened to see you laughing together. It became obvious to us that you’re simply pretending not to get along.”

“Oh, we’re not pretending. He’s quite pompous.”

“And she’s quite horrible.”

Aggie startled. “Horrible? I’m nothing if not fabulous.”

“And if that is true, I am nothing if not humble.”

They glared at each other.