Trust (22 page)

“
Ready to head back to town?
”
he asks.

My
belly is full, but my feet are hurting.  Still, they
’
re not going to get better by waiting
around for a few more hours. 
We’ve
already
been here long enough to
miss the hottest part of the day. 
“
I guess so.  Hopefully my feet will last all the way back.
” 
I say it with a smile, trying not to
come off like I
’
m complaining.  Not too much, anyway.

“
Oh, we
’
re not walking,
”
Chase says, flash
ing me his trademark half grin. 
“
Victor has offered us a special ride.
” 

Curious,
I follow him out of the little house.  I
hadn’t
noticed any car when we arrived but it
could be parked behind the house. 

Waiting
outside is a cart, very similar to the
one that
almost ran me over earlier, with two light gray oxen grazing on the sparse lawn
as they wait patiently for us to climb aboard.

“I
’
m not ready to go back to my life,
”
I say, half-heartedly pushing clothes
into my suitcase.  Our flight back t
o Toronto is
early tomorrow morning and we decided to pack tonight so that we could sleep in
a bit longer. 

“
We don’
t have to stay there,
”
Chase says from the other side of the
bed where
he’s
putting his own suitcase together.  He
’
s almost done since he
has a lot more room going home after giving away the entire
contents of one of his bags. 
“
Come back to Vegas with me.
”

“
I don’
t know if I
’
m ready to go back there, either.  I
’
m just being silly and spoiled, don
’
t mind me.
”

“
No you
’
re not,
”
he says, shak
ing
his head.  Chase walks around the bed and takes my arm gently. 
“
I get it, Lila.  You
’
re not sure what you want to do, and
going back, to either of our homes, is almost like making a decision you
aren’t
ready to make yet.  The thing about
choices is th
at they
’
re scary because you don
’
t know if
y
ou’ve
made the wrong one until
it’s
too late.
”

I
nod, resting my head on his chest.  His body smells fresh through his shirt. 
We
’
d spent our last day at the beach but
both of us had showers after getting back t
o the
room.  Well, one shower shared between us, anyway.

“
So let
’
s not go to either place.  Let
’
s go somewhere else instead.
”

“
What?
”

“
Why rush back?  Neither of us have
anything pressing to get back to.
”

“We can
’
t just keep running away from our probl
ems.
”

“We
’
re not,
”
he protests, and I can feel his chin
brush against my hair as he shakes his head. 
“
It’ll
just give us more time to figure things out.
”

I
breathe heavily into his shirt as I sling an arm around his waist, hugging him
a bit tighter.  Th
e thought of spending more time
away with Chase sounds amazing to me, but I can
’
t help but feel guilty.  Not only
because
he’s
paying for everything, but because I
’
m keeping him away from playing
poker.  To me
it’s
just a game, but I know
it’s
a lot more t
han
that to him.  At the very least
it’s
his job.

“Don
’
t you have to play poker or something? 
I feel like you
’
re putting everything aside for me.  I
know you
’
re a professional player and
it’s
important to you.  Just because I don
’
t have a job or career p
rospect
doesn’t
mean you have to give up yours as well.
”

Chase
chuckles softly, I can hear it right through his chest, reverberating against
my ear. 
“
A couple of weeks ago it was the most
important thing in the world to me. 
Isn’t
it funny how fast prior
ities can change?
” 
He pulls me back a bit and looks me in
the eye before kissing me on the forehead. 
“
Actually, there
’
s a way we can do both if you
’
re interested.
”

“
What do you mean?
”

“
Ever heard of Macau?
”

I
shake my head instinctively but then stop
myself. 
“
Actually, it sounds familiar, but I don
’
t know what it is.
”

“
Not what.  Where.  It
’
s a city in China.  Technically part of
China but run
w
ith a bit of autonomy, sort of like Hong Kong.  Anyway,
it’s
a very big gambling city.  The biggest
cash g
ames in the world are played there.  I go a
couple of times a year to play.  Maybe we can go there for a little while.  I
can play a bit while you relax in a fancy hotel or spend time at the spa.  Like
a working vacation, but I promise to do a lot more vac
ation
than work.
”

“
Are you sure?  I feel like I
’
m becoming this incredible burden, like
you have to drag me along wherever you go and pay for everything.
”

“
Are you kidding me?
” 
He kisses me again, on the lips this
time.  Firmly. 
“You
’
re the only reason
I want to go anywhere right now.  You
’
re the only reason I
’
m making any decisions. 
I’ll
go wherever you want Lila.  We can go
back to Vegas.  We can go to Toronto.  We can go to Africa if that
’
s what you want to do.  As long as we go
together, I don
’
t ca
re.  Stop
worrying about the money.  Seriously.  I have more than enough, and I have
nothing I would rather spend it on than you.
”

I
close my eyes and return the kiss, my lips brushing much more softly against
his than he had done to me. 
“You
’
re right. 
I agree.  As long as
we
’
re together.  So let
’
s go to Macau then.  At least you can
play there, and your little spa suggestion sounds wonderful.
”  He
’
s right.  As long as we
’
re together it
doesn’t
matter where we go.  I resolve to stop
worrying about the mo
ney.  Evelyn said
he’s
made millions playing poker, and
he’s
generous with it wherever we go.  Even
if I
hadn’t
noticed that before,
it’s
been obvious here in Cuba.  It
’
s refreshing to be with someone not as
obsessed with money as Harry had been.  Or not
h
av
ing to worry about it all the time like
when I was by myself.

“Fabulous,”
he says, pulling away from me and
walking back to the other side of the bed to grab his phone. 
“
I’ll
call my agent and make the arrangements.
”

Chase
gets on the phone and I wand
er out onto the porch to
get some fresh air.  The evening is still warm, but ther
e’s
a refreshing breeze in the air that
keeps it from being stifling.  Cuba really has perfect weather.  At least the
people have that going for them.  The trip has been amazi
ng and beautiful, but in some ways a little bit
depressing.  There is a lot of poverty here.  Chase took me to a couple of
other, smaller towns in the days following our trip to Vi
ñ
ales, and although the people there
seemed just as happy and satisfied with
their lives,
they have so very little.  Chase had another backpack filled with the rest of
what he
’
d brought, and passed it all out, along
with more cash, very liberally.  It filled my heart to see him do it, because
it seemed very genuine, like he really
wanted to help
the people. 

But
the most unfair part of it is that
it’s
not like the people are lazy, or
undeserving.  The people here work harder and longer than anyone
I’ve
ever met back home and yet here we are,
about to fly off to another part of th
e world where
Chase can play a game for millions of dollars while I sit and have someone rub
my feet or put cucumbers on my eyes.  It hardly seems fair how the ups and
downs of your life are dictated more by where you
’
re born in the world than what you can
do with the skills you
’
re born with.