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ten minutes and it’s at the other end of the ship.” She looked at Skye with big puppy dog eyes. “Owen doesn’t want to play, so he can turn in both our reservation sheets. Will you two come with me? I was so close to winning the big cover-all prize yesterday. I only needed one number and I would have won over a thousand dollars.”
    Skye hesitated. Bingo sounded fun, but she knew Wally wouldn’t enjoy it. Still, they’d been together forthree solid days. Maybe a tiny break wouldn’t be a bad thing. And it would be great if Wally and Owen bonded on this trip. She really wanted the men to become as good friends as she and Trixie were.
    Evidently Wally read her mind because he said, “I’ll go with Owen and we can meet you girls at noon for lunch.” He kissed Skye on the cheek. “Shall we try the buffet or go to the formal dining room?”
    â€œBuffet,” Trixie and Skye answered in unison. Skye added, “I can’t take three courses after that big breakfast. All I want is a salad.”
    â€œNot me.” Trixie looped her arm through Skye’s and towed her toward the exit, saying over her shoulder, “I’m going to have some of everything.”
    Skye had long since forgiven her friend for being able to eat like a linebacker and never gain an ounce, but she let out a sigh. Between the holiday parties and all the food on this cruise, she was afraid the pretty new clothes she’d bought for her honeymoon would be too tight before she had a chance to wear them.
    Bingo was held in the Club Creation, a lounge located at the rear of the ship. Trixie raced down the promenade deck with Skye hurrying to keep up. As they passed the passenger service desk, Skye said, “I need to stop here for a schedule of the knitter’s activities. I’ll meet you at bingo. Save me a chair.”
    Once Skye finished at passenger services, she jogged to the entrance of Club Creation, where she stood in a long line to buy her bingo cards. Inside, she scanned the crowded lounge until she saw Trixie on the balcony, sitting at a bar that overlooked the main floor.
    Skye joined her friend, then arranged her equipment on the counter in front of her. She had purchased a bright pink dauber and Trixie had opted for neon green. Both had bought a book of five different colored pages with three cards printed on each sheet. After each game the used cards would be discarded.
    As the host called out numbers and Skye blotted outthe ones on her cards, she did a little mental math. At least three hundred people were playing, at twenty bucks for one set of cards, and several people had bought two or three sets; that was six thousand smackers. The prizes ranged from a hundred to a hundred and fifty dollars; times four games, that was less than six hundred. The cover-all, at the end of the session, was only a grand, which meant the cruise line made over four thousand per day on bingo.
    True, the last day at sea, the final game had a purse of five thousand dollars. But a player had to cover his or her entire card within a certain number of calls. What were the odds of anyone actually winning the big money?
    They were on the last game of the session when Trixie said, “You can call me butter because I’m on a roll now. I only need two more numbers.”
    Before Skye could respond, a dishwater blonde at the table directly below them stood and screamed, “Bingo!”
    Trixie gripped Skye’s knee and whispered in her ear, “I think she’s cheating.”
    â€œHow can you cheat at bingo?”
    â€œI haven’t figured it out yet, but that guy sitting with her won the two biggest pots yesterday and now she’s won the big one today.” Trixie narrowed her eyes. “No one is that lucky.”
    â€œShe must be.” Skye loosened Trixie’s fingers from her leg. “Don’t you love her accent?”
    Trixie muttered something that sounded