Authors: Maddie Cochere
My eyes sparkled, and I said, “I’ll be a June bride. June 22nd.”
“You’ll make a beautiful bride. He’s a lucky guy,” Dell said with a smile.
We chatted about my engagement to Mick for a few more minutes, and the waitress brought our omelets. They were made with lobster, asparagus, brie cheese, and they were delicious. “Yum,” I mumbled to Dell with my mouth mostly full.
“They are good, aren’t they? I’ve had three of these since we got here,” he chuckled.
After we had practically devoured the omelets, I asked, “What’s your story, Dell? Is there someone special in your life?”
He glanced
around as though to be
sure no one was listening
. He smiled an endeari
ng smile and said, “Yes
, but being one of the bad boys of hockey is actually good for publicity, so I let the stories of a wild reputation go unchall
enged. I’m not afraid to open
the door
and meet
new people, and I seem to fall into situations like
what
happened with you, so the
myth gets perpetuated.” He savored the last couple
bites of his omelet and finished his mimosa. He leaned back comfortably in his chair and continued his story
.
“I’ve been dating Lisa for over three years. She’s beautiful, she
’s smart, and she makes me
happy. When hockey season’s over this year, I’m going to ask her to marry me.”
His eyes were shining, and I could feel the love for her emanating from him. I reached over and touched his arm and said, “Dell,
that’s
wonderful. I’m
happy for you.”
He pulled out his wallet and opened it to a picture of an attractive girl with coppery red hair. She had a sweet, girl-next-door look about her. “She’s very pretty,” I told him.
“She’s more than that,” he said. “She works with special needs children, and she’s wonderful. I’m ready to settle down, and I hope she says yes.”
“Dell, I barely know you, and I would say yes,” I told him with a big smile. “She’s lucky, too.”
We both had a moment where we basked in our own happiness
before
I looked at my watch and said, “I have to go. My parents will be here soon, and I want to be at the hotel when they arrive.”
“I should run, too,” said Dell while taking care of the bill. “I’ll try and catch up with the guys downtown and see if I can win some of my money back. Now don’t forget, Susan, we have a game tonight, tomorrow, and one more on Tuesday. If you want tickets
for you and your parents,
let me know.”
“I will, Dell. I’ll ask my dad and see what he says. Thanks.” We gave each other a friendly hug, and walked to the lobby where we went our separat
e ways. I was glad
I
had run
into him and
t
horoughly enjoyed the time chatting.
I walked out the front entrance and around the corner to stand in front of the fountains. The current show was nearly over, but I was able to see some of it before it ended, and I was instantly enthralled. The water dancing to the music was mesmerizing. I could see why some people said they came to watch the fountains more than once each day when they were in Vegas.
I looked around at some of the other people watching the show and was somewhat startled to see Dudley down near the end of the viewing area. He was standing in one of the areas recessed inward toward the pool of water, so he was easy to spot.
I don’t know if he saw me
,
as he wasn’t looking my way, but I didn’t want to stick around to find out. I turned away
from him and quickly started on
my way back to the hotel. I had time to
t
ake the walk and wanted to enjoy more of the beautiful day.
I crossed the stree
t at the Paris Hotel. It was
beautiful from the outside, but I didn’t want to be late meeting Mom and Dad, so I
resisted
the urge to run in
and
shop for
fashions from France.
As I was walking up to the front entrance of the MGM, my eye caught a parked ’67 Chevy Chevelle. It was a beautifully restored Super Sport like mine. My dad had restored the bolero red car and had enjoyed it for quite a while before giving it to me for my 27th birthday shortly before he and mom moved to Texas. This car was even sweeter. It had a metallic, black cherry paint job, a white convertible top, and I could se
e the interior was white
. The trunk was open, and I simply had to ask the owner about the restoration.
The trunk lid slammed down, and my mouth hung open. “Mom! Dad! Where did you get this car?” I asked with my eyes open wide in astonishment.
“Well, hello to you, too,” laughed my mom.
I gave them both hugs and kisses. Dad had a devilish grin on his face, and I asked, “Did you restore this? Is this yours? It’s sooo beautiful. Where did you come up with that paint color? Do you love riding in a convertible?”
“Susan, slow down,” he said laughing. “Yes, I restored it. I would have shown it to you a
t Christmas, but it wasn’t
done yet. When we knew we’d be coming to Vegas, we thought we’d show you the finished product when we got here.”
“But I thought you had already made plans to fly in,” I said.
“All part of the deception, dear,” my mother said. “Now help me and your dad get these suitcases inside. I swear he packed more clothes than I did.”
Dad valet parked the car, and we carried the luggage in to the front desk. “
Change your room reservation to a
room on the 13th floor,” I told them.
“Susan! That’s bad luck,” my mother scolded me.
I laughed and said, “Trust me, it’s not. I’m on the 13th floor, and you’ll be close by that way.”
Dad
was able to get a room
across the hall and three doors down from mine. I sat on one of the beds while they unpacked. We ended up hanging out in their room for nearly two hours talking about the restoration of the car, the holidays, how excited they were to meet Mick, and the wedding. Mom had a conniption when I pulled over $8,000 from my purse and threw it up in the air.
“Susan Elizabeth Hunter!” she exclaimed. “Why are you carrying around that much cash? Why isn’t it in the hotel safe? Isn’t there a safe in your room?” She was completely horrified, but Dad was laughing.
“It’s
fine tucked away in the zippered compartment of my purse,” I told her. “I read
in a magazine that
room safes can be broken into, and less than $10,000 is considered walking around money
in Vegas, so I’m sure I’m
fine.” Mom was still dubious, but Dad’s humorous outlook on it probabl
y helped to allay her fears
my money would be lost or stolen. “Besides,” I told her, “what if we go shopping, and I find the perfect wedding dress, and my credit card can’t handle it? All of my cash in a hotel safe won’t help me then, will it?” I smiled at her as I gathered up all of the hundreds and put them back in my purse.
“Let’s quit hanging around the room,” Dad said. “We have a couple of hours yet before dinner, so let’s go do some gambling!” He rubbed his hands together like a kid in a candy store.
Mom and I laughed at him, and we all headed out of the room and downstairs to the casino. Dad’s game was poker, and he quickly made his way to the poker room. Mom and I decided to sit together at a couple of slot machines and chat while we played. As we made our way to a cluster of machines, I noticed Dudley out of the corner of my eye. He was leaning against the wall by the high limit slots room. I refused to make eye cont
act with him, and realized
it didn’t bother me to see him now that I was with Mom and Dad. I felt safety and comfort in their presence.
Two women moved away from two Betty Boop machines, and Mom grabbed my hand. “
C
ome on,” she said hurriedly. “Betty Boop just opened up!” We
rushed
over and slipped into the vacated seats. “I was reading online before we came
, and
this is one of the most popular games
in Vegas
right now,” she told me excitedly. “Betty Boop’s Love Meter. We’ll get to see how hot we are, Susan.” We both cracked up laughing.
The machines were tall with a lot of red color, bright lights, and fun sounds. The game revolved around Betty Boop and her lovable dog, Pudgy. It was a penny machine
,
paying one penny for each credit, and it looked like fun. To be eligible for the progressive slot win, you had to play a $3.00 maximum bet each spin. Mom and I each put $20 into the machine to start with 2000 credits each.
Mom
hit the love meter on her
first spin. She had to put her hands flat on the machine so it could read her hotness. She was Romantic for 900 credits. We both giggled like little schoolgirls. It had been a long time since Mom and I were silly together, and this was going to be a lot of fun.
A waitress
came by
to take our drink order, and Mom said, “White Russians for both of us. Don’t those sound good, Susan?”
I nodded my head in agreement and hit my spin button again - nothing. It wasn’t but a few
moments
later, and Mom hit the love meter again. This time, the lights ran up and down the tower and stopped on the Beautiful Betty Jackpot! Mom won 100,003 credits for $1,000.03. She was off her seat and dancing around behind me. We were both laughing again.
I kept working my spin button, but my $20 was dwindling fast. I landed on Betty’s purse and grabbed $33 and then caught five free spins for $22.50. It was just enough to keep me playing. Mom in the meantime was hitting all kinds of bonuses and caught the love meter again. Unbelievably, it landed on the same Beautiful Betty Jackpot for another $1000.78. Mom was out of her seat again, making whooping noises, and we were laughing like hyenas.
My money was finally gone, and I slipped another $20 into the machine for a new round. Meanwhile, Mom was unlocking Betty’s heart for $270, opening Betty’s purse for $33, and barely lo
sing anything; her credits
kept racking up.
My new round of playing lan
ded me on the love meter
, and I hit Light Up Betty’s Life for $115.20. My total was unsteady
with hits and misses. I
landed on the love meter again. The lights went up and down the tower and stopped on the Beautiful Betty Jackpot for $1,000.34. Mom and I were out of control making a lot of noise and dancing around our chairs. When I n
ext landed on the love meter, It was my turn to have my hotness
evaluated. It landed on Smokin’ for $75.00. Mom and I
simply
couldn’t stop laughing
,
and my side was aching
.
Eventually, t
he machines cooled off, but we had wins and losses to hold onto our big wins easily.
We were having so much fun,
it seemed
as if
we had only been playing
a short time, but we were at the
two machines for over two hours and for three White Russians.
Dad quit playing poker and found us at the machines. He was all smiles, excited, and said, “Gues
s who’s lucky today? Me! I
won $600 playing poker. How do you like me now?”
Mom and I burst out laughing. Mom’s credits were 283
,
542 equaling $2,835.42, and my dollar total was $1,290.30. Dad’s jaw dropped when he saw how much money we had on the machines. He leaned in front of Mom and said, “Let me give it a try,” and he pushed the button. You could have knocked us all over with a feather when the love meter came up and dad landed on the Beautiful Betty Jackpot for $1001.34. Mom was laughing so hard, she was crying
now
. Dad couldn’t believe it. He looked at me and said, “Let me try yours.” He reached over and pushed the button. He hit the love meter on my machine and ended up with 15 free games
which
the machine played for me. Total winnings from the free games - $60.60.
I looked at both of them and said, “Let’s go eat. Aunt Charlotte would tell us we need to quit while the quittin’ is good.”
Dad nodded his head and said, “I agree. Charlotte’s usually right, and I’m starving. Where do you two want to eat?”
Mom and I closed out our machines and took our
cash vouchers
. It was almost like musical chairs there were so many people trying to take our vacated seats. I slipped my cash voucher into the zippered compartment of my purse. I was still under the unspoken $10,000 limit for walking around money, so I wasn’t worried about the cash yet.
“Let’s t
ry the Lebanese restaurant
Tom and Bitsy recommended,” Mom said. “That sounds really good to me for a change. What do you think, Susan?”
Tom and Bitsy were friends of my parents who lived in San Antonio. “Ok by me,” I told them. “I love stuffed grape leaves. Do you know how to get there?”