“You bet,” John said.
There was a slight discrepancy over one of the kings—whether he actually had a beard or if it was only five o’clock shadow. It was Alex’s card, and she said she didn’t need for it to be wild. For once, she had a hand. A royal flush, with the king being just what he was.
It seemed to be the only hand she was going to take. Watching David and John, she had a feeling they would both do well in Vegas.
It was difficult to sit there. She wondered how she could have spent the time she had with David, how she could have gone to her cottage, felt the overwhelming urge to make love, while still feeling that little tingle of doubt. But watching John Seymore and the subtle—and not so subtle—ways he challenged David, she had a difficult time believing that he could be an out-and-out liar or a murderer, either.
Jay’s third turn to deal, and he called for Indian poker.
“What?” David asked.
“You must have played as a kid. We all get one card and slap it on our foreheads. We bet on what we think we have,” Jay explained. “You can try to make faces, bluff each other out.”
“It’s fun, do it,” Alex advised.
The cards went around, and they all pressed them to their foreheads, then stared at one another.
“Hey, there aren’t any mirrors in here, are there?” Hank Adamson asked.
“Don’t think so. And no one is wearing glasses, so we should be all right.”
“What do we do now?” John asked.
“You’re next to me. You make the first bet,” Alex said.
John shrugged and threw in a quarter chip.
He had a three on his forehead. Jay had a seven; Len had the queen of diamonds, Hank a ten, and David the queen of hearts. “Big bet, buddy, for a guy with your card,” Len warned him.
“Oh, yeah?” John said. “You should fold right now.”
“You don’t say? My quarter is in.”
“You really should fold,” David told John.
“You think? I’m pretty sure you shouldn’t even have bothered to ante,” John told him.
Betting went around twice, with each of them saying some things that were true and others that weren’t.
In the end, Len folded, followed by Hank, and then Jay. The pot rose, and Alex was amazed in the end to find out that she’d been sitting with the queen of spa des on her head, enough to beat David’s queen of hearts.
“I don’t think I should play against you guys. You’re going to lie about every hand, and I’m going to fall for it,” Len said.
“Len, at most, you’re going to lose about twenty-five dollars tonight,” Alex told him. “Start bluffing yourself.”
“I never could lie,” he murmured, shaking his head.
“Ah, an insinuation that the rest of us can lie with real talent?” Hank asked him.
“Careful—anything you say can and probably will be used in a column,” Alex warned Len.
“Hey, I’m wounded,” Hank protested. “Seriously, I’m having a blast, and I’m going to write this place up as the next paradise.”
“Let the man win a few, will you, guys?” Jay said, pleased.
“Yeah, Alex, quit winning,” Len said.
“Me? Look at those two,” she said, indicating the piles of chips in front of David and John.
“Right. Quit winning, you two,” Jay said.
“Hey! I can bluff with the best of them. Don’t any one dare let me win,” Hank protested.
“Storms are funny, huh?” Len said a few minutes later, passing the cards to John. “My sister’s in-laws all have boats and live right on the water. Years ago, Andrew was supposed to hit the coast. They all asked to come in and stay with my sister inland. Well, that’s where the storm came in, and they all got mad at her when their cars were flattened and they had to spent the night praying in a bathtub! This is better, huh?” he said to no one in particular.
“Who would have figured we’d be here tonight?” Jay said, shrugging.
“Who’d have figured?” David echoed. He was staring at John.
“Yeah, odd isn’t it, how the best-laid plans can be interrupted by nature?” John Seymore responded.
It was enough for Alex. She had to get away from the table and all the dueling testosterone or she was going to scream.
She yawned. “I’m going to beg out of this. I’m going to make a cup of tea, and then I’m going to sleep.”
“But you just won a huge pot. That’s not legal,” Len said.
“You can split my pot among you. I think I can spring for the ten bucks,” she told him, pushing her pile of chips toward the center.
“I can cash you out,” Jay said. “That’s not a problem.”