Upstate Uproar (37 page)

“Larson adopted Austin!” Vivian smiled.

“He said he’s going to take him out any time
they have a search and rescue because he’s got the nose that
knows.”

They laughed and chatted for another minute,
but then Vivian’s desk phone rang.

“That’s my work line. I better grab it.”

“Okay, take care, Vivian. ’Bye.”

“Goodbye,” Vivian said, then grabbed her desk
phone. “Vivian Taylor.”

At first she didn’t hear anything. “Hello?
Hello?”

“Viv,” Wendy cried. “Oh my god!” she
wailed.

“What is it? Did the police find Jake?”
Vivian’s eyes teared up, and her heart sank. “Should I call Ali to
come be with you?” Ali was Wendy’s good friend in Houston who was
supposed to be her maid of honor.

Wendy sniffled and took a deep breath. “No,
Ali doesn’t need to come over, but we do need to get to Vegas.
Soon.”

“Why? What’d you learn?”

Wendy started crying again. After a minute,
she was able to speak. “Jake was up to something … something
bad.”

Vivian grabbed a tissue and wiped a tear. “We
kinda figured that. I mean, with the passport and money. So let’s
go to Vegas, figure all this out.”

“But Viv, it’s much worse than we thought.
Jake was involved with the mob.”

Lea, Johnell, Angela and Robbyn in Lake
Placid.

Handy dandy back seat bar.

Pumpkin dropping!!

Lea hiking and showing off her baby bump.

Robbyn getting a bear back scratch.

The Getaway Girlz in Upstate New York!

As always, we must begin with and thank our
all-time fav Getaway Girlz, Lea Bass Rogers and Angela Wenk. May
our vacations be many, our laughs, unending, and our wine glasses
always filled. Now let’s go to VEGAS BABY!

And special thanks to our other Girlz, Laura
Trujillo, Christine Moreno, Ellen Rink, Vikki Shelton, Stephanie
Surendran, Christina Judge, Alicia Jenkins, April Cicarello, Beth
Zimmerman, Janet Neff and Linda Pugh. You ladies provide more funny
fodder than you’ll ever know! Love ya, girlz!

To John Dycus – our word and fact checker,
occasional tisker, but most of all, biggest supporter. We’ll try to
keep your adrenaline racing for many books to come!

A special thank you must always go out to
Janet Neff, PR helper and promoter, party thrower and pool
provider, and the most amazing friend any set of Girlz could ask
for. And a big high-five to Mr. Bill. Those candied bacon deviled
eggs are the bomb.com!

Thank you to our two photographers – our
husbands! You braved the elements (and heights) to get the perfect
shot.

We’ve gotta give a big shout out to our
beta-readers! Thank you to Jackie Meeks, who sped-read and, as
always, made our story stronger. And to Stephanie Surendran, who
also put in a rush job, but was still as meticulous as ever. And,
to Tom Hill, who has time to speed read since he’s now retired. Way
to go Dad!

We have to thank our numerous experts who
helped make our story authentic – Brian Simons for his law
enforcement input and gun knowledge, Sarah Simons her medical
brain, Cheryl Mc Intyre for her knowledge of ghostly and ghastly
Upstate New York stories, Mike Joiner for his fantastic fireman
information, Jeramy Daugereaux for lock picking knowledge – if we
hadn’t known you since 1
^st
grade, this might make us
nervous!

Our favorite restaurants around Fort Worth
continue to hook us up with great happy hours, fantastic service,
yummy food, free electricity for our laptops and most of all,
friendly faces. Special thanks to Chuy’s who not only supports us
in great drink specials, but hangs our books on their wall.

We love music and we love Josh Weathers – you
keep us wanting more with every song. Please come back – we know
it’s in your soul!

Johnell wants to thank…

Thank you to my loving, kind, generous and
adorable husband (yes, I did say husband!) After knowing each other
for 34 years, I guess it was time for us to take it to the next
level, and what a level it is! The past year and a half was made
even more amazing because you were in it. I must also thank all six
of these growing, rambunctious, fantastic kiddos. Danielle, Sadie,
Cayce, Cameron, and newly added, but loved just as much, Austin and
Alison. Thanks for always being such good Barnes and Noble buddies
and for not complaining too much when I have to do my book thing.
Just keep remembering...college fund!

I also want to thank Robbyn – you’re doing a
GREAT job with sweet Ashley, our youngest Getaway Girl! She’s
amazing, like her mom! And thanks to Dave who keeps that sweet girl
while we’re writing! Appreciate ya!

Robbyn would like to thank…

My husband, David. Thanks for taking care of
the sweet girlie while I’m working. And for putting up with the
late nights!

Congratulations to Johnell and Big Lou! I’m
so happy for you and wish you many years of happiness! - R

The women behind Joan Rylen are Johnell Bégin
and Robbyn Foster, friends since kindergarten. They grew up in
Pasa“Get Down”dena, Texas, a suburb southeast of Houston. From
Brownies to high school band, these girlz have stuck together
through thick and thin…marriages, divorces, births, deaths and of
course, destruction.

Their annual girls’ trips with two other good
friends were the original inspiration for
Getaway Girlz
.
Johnell and Robbyn are the authors of three books in the Getaway
Girlz series and have plans for many more. They can be seen around
Fort Worth, Texas, writing in bars and having an all-around good
time.

Johnell and Robbyn hope to inspire women,
whether they’re 21 or 91, to stay in touch with old friends and
take getaways of their own. There’s nothing like a good friend who
knows all your stories-the ones so crazy you can’t make them up,
and loves you anyway.

Watch for the next book in the Getaway Girlz
series: