Authors: Kay Keppler
“Okay.” Amber settled down. “I’m ready now,” she said, closing her eyes. “Tell me how to make a soufflé. Please.”
Kenji looked from Amber to Tanner. “You start with some eggs,” he said.
Tanner shook his head in exasperation. “How many eggs?” he prompted.
“A dozen. You need a dozen eggs.” Kenji relaxed a little as he felt Amber nod her head drowsily next to him.
“Do the eggs have to be at room temperature?” Tanner asked, keeping his voice low.
“You need a dozen eggs at room temperature,” Kenji amended. “You need a dozen, fine fresh eggs, not too small, at room temperature.” He glanced at Tanner, who nodded in encouragement.
“Do you have to separate them?” Amber asked, her voice sleepy.
“Yes, you do.” Kenji smiled down in surprise at the child, and Amber opened her eyes and smiled back.
“Kenji, will you be my uncle?” she asked. “And Tanner? You, too? I want you both to be my uncles.”
The men looked at each other and then at the child.
“Like Marty and everybody?” Tanner asked. “You want us to be uncles like that?”
“Yes,” Amber said. “Hope said you have to like people
especially
. And I like you both especially.”
Kenji looked at Tanner in panic. Tanner shrugged and nodded.
“Sure,” Kenji said like a drowning man, following Tanner’s lead. “I’ll be your uncle.”
“Me, too, Amber,” Tanner said. “We’re in.”
“Good.” Amber closed her eyes and exhaled softly. “I’d like that. I’ll do stuff for you, too. Hope said that’s how it works.”
Just then the nurse bustled in, but she halted in midstride when she saw Kenji in bed with Amber. She glanced uncertainly from the child to the men and shook her head.
“It’s okay,” Tanner whispered. “We’re family. Her uncles.”
“Yes,” Amber said. “They said okay.”
“It’s against the rules,” the nurse said, sounding confused.
“She needs a story,” Kenji said, his voice low. “Her mom’s not here.”
The nurse paused, looking at them. “All right,” she said finally. “Is she in pain? Amber, does it hurt?”
“Yes,” Amber murmured, as the men nodded.
The nurse took out a syringe and injected its contents into the bag that dripped into Amber’s IV tube. “She can have something now and again in two hours,” she said. She smiled at them. “Make that story a good one. Amber needs her rest.”
“It is a good one,” Amber said, not opening her eyes. “It’s a soufflé.”
The nurse, looking more confused, took Amber’s pulse and made a note in the chart, then dropped the chart back in the holder at the foot of the bed. Then she nodded at them all and left. Amber stirred, getting more comfortable. Tanner and Kenji could see her shoulders relax. The painkiller was helping already.
“Tell me more,” Amber said, her voice dreamy. “Do you beat the whites
first?
”
By early afternoon it was clear that Amber would need to stay in the hospital at least for one night. The painkillers were doing their work and, off and on, she slept heavily. Kenji, gingerly avoiding the plastic tubing that ran into Amber’s arm, was still cuddling her, not sure how to extricate himself without waking and upsetting her. Tanner joined Hope down in the administration office to make more calls while they waited for Faith, who still hadn’t picked up. Marty, however, did.
“Marty, this afternoon’s shot for sure and maybe tonight is, too,” Hope said into the phone. “Kenji, Tanner, and I are with Amber now, but Kenji’ll have to go to work soon. I don’t know where Faith is, and mom can’t get here before six, if then. Somebody has to stay with Amber, and right now I’m it. Unless Tanner wants to stay.” She looked inquiringly at him.
He shook his head no and tried to take the phone away. Hope turned her back on him.
Some help he is.
“I don’t want her here all alone,” she said to Marty. “She might be scared if she wakes up without anybody here, and Tanner says she hasn’t been feeling that great.”
Hope paused while she listened, shrugging Tanner’s hand away when he touched her arm. “I know it’s going to make a mess of my play. I
know
I’ll have only two nights left to make my stake. But
Amber.
I can’t leave her.”
Tanner grabbed her arm.
“Hey!”
Tanner plucked the phone from Hope’s fingers. “I have an idea,” he told Marty. “We’ll call you back.” And then he hung up and handed the phone back to her.
“I was
talking
here,” Hope said, annoyed.
“But not getting anywhere,” Tanner said. “I could stay with Amber while you play, but my idea is better. Troy could come over and stay with Amber. My daughter. She’s eighteen, she’s had a lot of experience babysitting. She’d do it, if she doesn’t have other plans. And—did you know Amber asked Kenji and me to be her uncles? So we could introduce Troy as her new cousin. Amber might like that.”
Hope grinned a little ruefully. “You’re Amber’s uncles now? You said yes? I’m sorry about that. I tried to get her to wait a while before she asked you. I thought it was too much of an imposition.”
“Nah, I think it’s cute. And I doubt the responsibilities will be too heavy. Although I guess you never know. Kenji had to cuddle up and tell her a story, which scared him half to death. But he seems to be coping. So, how about Troy?”
Hope looked at him, uncertain. She couldn’t leave Amber alone. But she couldn’t really afford not to play cards tonight, either. She still had to earn more than a hundred thousand dollars just to sit in the game with Big Julie. And having Tanner spot tables for her helped her game.
Every
table spotter helped. As selfish as it sounded, she wanted him helping her at cards.
Where on earth was Faith?
“I don’t know,” she said.
“I’ll just call Troy and see what’s up.” He took out his own phone and punched in a number.
“Hey, Troy. Listen, I need a favor.” He listened for a second, grinning. “Okay,
fine,
you have a deal. I need you to come over to the hospital and stay with a friend of mine for a few hours.” He listened and then glanced at Hope.
“No, not that friend. She’s eleven. Her name is Amber. She cut her hand pretty bad and needed surgery. She asked me to be her uncle, and I said yes. Her aunt Hope needs to go to work tonight, and I’ve been helping her at the casino. So it’s just till Amber’s mom gets here, but we don’t really know how long that will be. We don’t think too long.”
He listened again. He laughed. “You are grounded for six months, you know that? Okay. Thanks, kiddo. Room 410C. I’ll see you soon.” He hung up.
“She’s coming,” he said.
“Thank you,” Hope said doubtfully. “If you’re sure she won’t mind.” How would Amber respond to a strange teenager hanging out in her room? Hope wasn’t sure it was a good idea. But what options did she have?
Tanner grinned at her. “They’ll do great,” he said, as if he could tell what she was thinking. “And if I’m Amber’s uncle, I think that makes Troy your niece.”
Hope rolled her eyes. Amber was right. Suddenly the world seemed to be full of relatives. It was all very confusing.
Forty minutes later, Troy, carrying a colorful canvas tote bag and wearing jeans, flip-flops, and a halter top, tiptoed into Amber’s room. She blinked when she saw Kenji propped up in the bed next to a sleeping blonde girl.
“Hey, Kenji,” she whispered. “Is this Amber? Is she like, totally out? And where’s my dad and everybody?”
“Amber’s been sleeping for a little while. She’s had some pain meds recently so maybe she’ll stay out. Your dad is with Amber’s aunt Hope, who is hassling the insurance. They should be back any minute. Does your dad know what you did with your hair?”
Troy’s long, dark hair had been threaded into dozens of tiny, narrow braids, each of which was decorated with a handful of colorful beads. The braids swung when she moved, making the beads click together. “It’s a surprise,” she said.
Kenji grinned. “He’ll be surprised,” he said. “Rasta Girl.”
Troy grinned back, putting her tote bag on the floor. “I think Dad has a thing for somebody,” Troy said. “Is it Amber’s Aunt Hope?”
“You’ll have to ask him,” Kenji said repressively, as he started to ease himself off the bed. “Help me with this tubing, will you? I don’t want to do any damage here.”
Troy held the tubing while Kenji stood up. “You’re no help,” she said. “I can see that if I want any real information, I’ll just have to ask Amber.”
“I wouldn’t do that,” Kenji said. “Tanner would have a fit.”
“Ask me what?” Amber asked drowsily, opening her eyes.
Troy went over to the edge of the bed and smiled down at the child. “Hi, Amber,” she said. “My name is Troy. I think if Tanner is your new uncle, then I’m your new cousin.”
Amber gazed dreamily up at the vision of teenaged splendor, her hair a fantastic arrangement of braids and beads, looking like an exotic bird from a faraway land.
“
Cool
,” Amber said.
When Hope got back to the room with Tanner, Troy had braided Amber’s blonde hair with beads and was working on applying a coat of “Very Cherry” polish to the girl’s fingernails.
Tanner took a long look at Troy’s hair, and then looked from her to Amber. Their hairstyles were brunette and blonde versions of the same look—probably a style Hope hadn’t counted on.
“Troy, what did you do to your hair?” he asked, frowning at her. “And Amber’s hair? Did you think about asking Hope if braiding it was okay? Your hair is one thing, but Amber’s is quite another. I
really
don’t like this.”
“Oh,
no
,” Amber said, looking distressed. “Please don’t mind! We’re having so much
fun.
”
Hope looked from Troy’s hurt face to Amber’s pale one. Tanner might not like his daughter’s hairstyle and Faith might not like the beads in her daughter’s hair, either, but anything that Amber wanted right now was okay by her.
“It’s all right,” she said, going over to the bed and kissing her niece on the forehead. “How are you feeling, sweetie? Your hair looks fantastic, and I love that shade of polish.” She grinned at the older girl. “You must be Troy. Maybe you could warn your father before you shock him with a new hairstyle.”
Troy smiled back with more confidence. “I’m sorry if you don’t like it, but Amber and I were having a blast,” she said.
“Hope, you don’t have to let her off the hook like this.” Tanner shook his head.
“Well, it’s really up to Amber.” Hope looked at her niece from several angles, nodding seriously. “She’s going to be on the cover of a best-selling cookbook, you know. She needs to experiment with her look.”
Amber grinned at her.
“You’re the best, Aunt Hope,” she said.
“Would you like me to do your hair, too?” Troy asked, mischief dancing in her eyes. “I have enough beads. We could all match.”
“You are a minx,” Tanner said, resignation in his voice.
“Troy’s not a minx! She’s an
excellent
person,” Amber said firing up in defense of her new cousin.
“You’re a minx, too,” Tanner said.
Amber glanced at him and grinned.
“Cool.” She turned to Troy. “What’s a minx?”
Hope realized she was grinning, too.
Troy gave Amber a high-five on her good hand. “It’s a girl who wins an argument with her father,” she said, darting a look at Tanner.
Hope laughed out loud and turned to the older girl. “You’ve figured out by now, of course, that I’m Amber’s aunt Hope. Thank you for staying with Amber while I go to work.”
“No problem,” Troy said. “I wish I’d known sooner that I had a cousin in Vegas. Having a girl cousin is great. I thought the only cousins I had were two boring boy cousins back in Detroit.”
“My brother’s kids,” Tanner said.
“So,” Troy said, turning bright eyes on Hope, beads clicking as she moved her head. “You have to get to the casino, right? You’re a card player like my dad.”
Hope shook her head. “I’m not a pro. I’m actually on vacation from my real job, just trying to earn a big chunk of money in a short amount of time. Which is maybe doable if I keep at it and my luck holds.”
Troy nodded, looking from Hope to Tanner and back. “My dad is the best, so if you stick with him, you have a good chance.”
Tanner sighed. “There’s a future for you in marketing, kid. Think about it when you get to UCLA.”
Troy grinned at him. “So go, you guys. Burn up those tables. We’ll be fine here.”
“Yes,” Amber said, admiring her nail polish. “After this, Troy promised she’d tell me stories about high school.”
Tanner groaned.
“Lord help us,” he said.
Chapter 20
Big Julie Saladino stepped out of the shower, wrapping himself in the monogrammed blue-on-white, long-staple Egyptian cotton bath sheet the casino provided its guests, and stepped barefoot up to the sink. He was alone in the suite, except for Drake. He’d spent last night with Marilyn, who’d gone to the gym to meet her trainer. Big Julie had taken the opportunity to have an in-room massage.