Authors: Kay Keppler
“Okay,” Amber said, looking confused. But when she opened Hope’s gift, she became speculative.
“It looks like a food dish,” she said. “And a collar. And leash. For a dog.”
“Yes,” Hope said.
“I guess it’s time for you to get my present,” said Faith. “But you have to come with me.”
“Mom?” Amber asked with mounting excitement as she scrambled out of her chair to follow her mother. “Is it a dog? You got me a
dog?
”
Everyone stood up as Faith and Kenji led Amber out of the dining room, through the kitchen, and out the back door to the restaurant’s loading dock. There, tied up in the shade of an overhang, lying on a thick mat with a bowl of water and another of kibble, sat a largish brown and white dog that wriggled and whined, almost dancing in eagerness and anxiety, as they came out the door.
Amber dropped to her knees on the hard concrete loading dock next to the mutt, and the dog flung itself into her arms, licking her face and almost knocking her over. She hugged the animal, laughing while it wriggled against her. Kenji leaned over, trying to get a grip on the squirming dog to put the new collar on it.
Amber looked up at her mother as everyone smiled. “What’s her name?”
Faith reached down to scratch the dog’s ears. “That’s up to you.”
The dog nuzzled Amber, licking her from her chin almost to her hairline, and then turned to Faith, who pushed it away, laughing.
Amber didn’t hesitate. “Squeegee,” she announced. “My dog’s name is Squeegee! Because she licks everybody in sight. Thank you, mom!”
Squeegee lunged at Amber again, trying to lick her face, while Amber laughed and put her arms around her new pet.
Hope felt a heavy sadness steal over her. Tanner, who’d been watching her instead of Amber and the dog, noticed Hope’s changed expression.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
Hope swallowed.
“The dog’s probably a bad idea,” she said softly, watching Faith and Amber play with Squeegee while Kenji tried to get the collar on her. “I don’t even know if she’ll get to keep it.”
Tanner glanced at her. “Why wouldn’t she be able to keep it?”
Hope shook her head. “Oh, you know. But Faith wanted to make a positive affirmation, and I decided I would try to live up to my name and be a little hopeful. Despite everything.”
Tanner, looking puzzled and concerned, opened his mouth to say something. Hope took a deep breath.
“I have to go,” she said, glancing at her watch. “Kenji, this was great. Thank you for everything.”
“No problem,” Kenji said, glancing up at her, still struggling with the collar.
“I’ll go with you,” Tanner said.
“You don’t have to,” Hope said.
“Yes, I do,” Tanner said patiently. “We all do. We’re helping you at the tables, remember?”
“Oh,” Hope said. “Right.”
The uncles nodded.
“Set a date for that helicopter ride, Amber,” Marty said. “Let us know.”
“The meal was delicious,” Isaiah Rush said.
“Especially the potato salad,” Tanner said.
“Bing, bing, bing!” Sharp Eddie said.
“Thank you for inviting us,” Weary said.
“We had a great time,” Pete Wysniewski said.
“Our best wishes for a felicitous day and many memorable and exuberant birthdays in your future,” Jim Thickpenny said.
“Happy birthday, Amber,” Hope said, stooping to give her niece a hug.
“Thank you, Hope!” Amber said, beaming at her. “Thank you, everybody! This has been the best birthday
ever!
”
Seeing her niece’s undiluted joy, Hope tried to put some energy into her smile, but she felt her sadness spread like thick, damp fog through her body. Even as her shoulders sagged, she heard her little voice kick in.
Don’t feel sorry for what you lost. You’ve worked hard so Amber—everyone—can be secure. Safe. So get back to the tables and win the ranch back.
Chapter 16
Hope walked down the hallway to the casino so fast that Tanner had to make an effort to keep up.
“Hey, Hope, is everything all right?” he asked.
“Sure,” she said. “I’m just ducking in here for a minute.” She headed toward the women’s restroom, pushed the door open, and disappeared. Tanner looked at the closed door.
The uncles ambled up.
“Where’s Hope?” Sharp Eddie asked.
Tanner nodded toward the restroom. “Did she seem okay to you?” he asked. “I’m not sure she’s okay.”
“I’m not going in there again,” Weary said. “I went in the last time. I don’t exactly mind it, but I think it’s somebody else’s turn.”
“We’ll give her a minute,” Marty decided.
“What?” Tanner asked. “What’s going on here?”
Marty shrugged. Looked away. Looked at Tanner. Thought about it. “Hope ain’t exactly on good terms with birthdays,” he finally said.
“She did pretty good with this one,” Pete Wysniewski said. “That I saw.”
Marty nodded. “She thinks the world of that little girl,” he said. “Plus, I think she likes having us here. In spite of everything.”
“Until the end there,” Weary said. “The dog.”
Everybody nodded.
“Will somebody tell me what the hell is going on around here?” Tanner said, exasperated.
“Hope had her heart broke on her birthday,” Marty said. “A long time ago, when she was just a kid. She took it real hard. And birthdays been pretty sensitive ever since.”
Hope had looked very sad at the end.
“What happened?”
Marty shook his head. “If she ain’t told you, I’m not sure she wants you to know,” he said. “And I’m not sure you gotta know it for this gig.”
“If she can’t snap out of it, she could mess up her card playing,” Tanner argued. “At least for today.”
“Then we’ll deal with it,” Marty said.
Hope dried her eyes in the restroom and checked her mascara. Seventeen years later, and she could still bawl at a family birthday party. What a joke.
She’d gotten out just in time—before she embarrassed herself and ruined Amber’s birthday. If she’d done that, she never would have forgiven herself.
She peered in the mirror. Her eyes were a little red, but there was nothing she could do about that. At least the tear stains were gone from her face. She was about as ready as she’d ever get.
Someone knocked on the door. Hope smiled, still feeling a little shaky. One of the uncles. They were worried about her. Well, they knew the story.
Tanner stuck his head in the door. “Everything okay in here, Hope?”
She blinked, a little surprised to see Tanner. “Just coming,” she said. She stroked on a bit of lipstick, glanced at herself again in the mirror, and headed for the door.
Time to suck it up.
“Tell me something upbeat and cheerful,” Hope said to Tanner as they headed toward the casino. “Something that will make me feel strong and confident and help me win.” Marty had split off, saying he had to do some “research,” leaving Tanner to coordinate the poker phone bank, and the other uncles had ranged ahead and were even now leaving the Desert Dunes for other nearby casinos. Tanner would stake out the Dunes card room.
“You look fantastic,” Tanner began.
No compliments. Not from Tanner. No good can come from this.
“You already said that,” Hope said, realizing almost to her chagrin that she did feel more upbeat and cheerful when Tanner complimented her. “I want a confidence boost to be based on something real.”
“How fantastic you look
is
real,” Tanner said. “But if you don’t want to hear that, then play to win. Then you
will
win. And that should give you all the confidence you could want.”
He was right.
She just needed to go out there and play to win.
“Which table?” she asked.
Tanner glanced around. “That one,” he said, nodding to one.
“Why that one?”
“The guy on the end is looking at his cards too long. It means he’s got a weak hand, and he doesn’t know how to play it.”
“I’m on it,” Hope said, and went to get a seat at the table.
Tanner went back to the bar and ordered a cup of coffee from Skip.
“Watch out! We’re in a danger zone here,” Skip said as he brought over the pot. “Everybody stay low.”
“What on earth are you talking about?” Tanner asked, looking around for Frelly. Had Skip seen the FBI agent in the house? That was all he needed.
“You’re still with that blonde,” Skip said, pouring the coffee. “That’s gotta be uncharted territory for you. Two days running and you haven’t hit any landmines yet.”
Tanner rolled his eyes. “Cut me some slack here,” he said. “We’re not dating.”
“That explains it, then,” Skip said, moving off. “Still plenty of time for crashing and burning.”
Tanner shook his head. When had he ever crashed and burned with a woman? Every dating relationship he’d ever had—and okay, there’d been a few, but they’d all been brief—short excursions that had ended smoothly, coasting quietly to a stop.
But Skip was right about one thing. This—whatever it was he felt for Hope. This intense awareness. Yearning. Desire. Madness, even. This
feeling
—he could see himself crashing and burning over it. That aching sadness in her eyes. He’d never seen that look in a nice woman’s eyes at a kid’s birthday party. He’d give a lot to know what caused it, and to make sure she never felt it again. And to punch out the lights of whoever had put it there.
He frowned, watching Hope play cards. What was she doing? She’d pursed her lips and folded, after she’d bet the first two rounds.
He watched as the guy two seats over glanced at her. So now that bozo had her figured out, did he?
Maybe it was a ploy. Maybe she’d done that to throw off the other players.
Tanner watched as Hope went down another hand. And then another. And then another.
No reason to panic. She wasn’t in deep. But she wasn’t playing with any spark, either. She was showing tells all over the board.
Tanner dug out his phone and called her.
“Hope, get out of the game and come over here. We have to talk.”
“I’m fine,” she said. “Really.”
“Really, you’re not. Get out now. You’re wasting your time and your money. I’m telling you.”
He watched as she banged the phone shut, but a second later she cashed out of the game and joined him at the bar.
“What?” she said, frowning. She sounded irritated. In that white dress sprinkled with orange butterflies she looked like a flower garden filled with crabgrass—really crabby crabgrass.
“Your heart’s not in it,” he said. “Time to take a break.”
“I can’t take a break! I need to play.”
“You need to
win
. Playing like you’re playing now won’t get you where you need to go.”
“What’s wrong with my game?”
“Are you kidding? You weren’t focused. Your play was sloppy. You have to be better than that at the thirty dollar tables. Those players are too good for easy mistakes.”
“You call yelling at me
helping?
”
He sighed.
Hope deflated. “You’re right,” she said. “I was playing badly. I didn’t mean to snap your head off. I’m just upset. But I can’t stop now.”
“There’s a time to play, and there’s a time to sit back and count your winnings. Take the afternoon off. You’ll be better for it.”
“How badly was I playing?”
He shrugged. “You’ve played a lot better. It’s okay. We’ll do something else to change the pace. Something fun.”
“You want to stop coaching me so we can have fun?” Hope asked. “I’m completely anxious now. How are we supposed to have fun?”
He grinned at her as he took out his phone. “Loaded question,” he said. “I’m not answering it.” He called Weary to tell him that they were taking the afternoon off. When he’d finished, he looked at Hope.
“So, what should we do?”
“I don’t know,” Hope said. “I don’t have any ideas.”
“In that case, we’ll go bowling,” Tanner said. “I have to go home first and get my shoes.”
“
Bowling?
” Hope said. “You have
shoes?
”
Tanner pulled his pickup into the driveway of his house and parked. Hope looked at the house. It was an older, ranch-style house, nothing special, in a nothing-special middle-class neighborhood. The only thing that set it apart was its landscaping: desert plants in graceful arrangements replaced grass, and a gently curved path of crushed stone and wood chips meandered up to the front door. The yard was pretty.
“You live
here?
”