“Jacks are wild,” Morgan called out, dealing another round. Sydney glanced at her cards.
“Rumor has it you got married two weeks ago,” Cynthia said casually, her glossy red fingernails sorting through her cards. “Tristan Pierce, huh? The man who took Becca to the ballet recital? The one you said was just a friend?”
Oh, yeah. She’d been right all along. Cynthia had just been biding her time.
“That’s right.”
“Congratulations.”
“Thank you.”
“Lucy told me Becca was saying in school he was her real father. Imagine my surprise when I heard. How did Becca take the news? I mean, I think we all assumed her father was your ex-husband.”
A hot flush of anger flooded her. She swallowed and tried not to engage. “I’m glad the truth is finally out and that we can all finally be together,” she said simply. “Becca is happy. We all are.”
“How wonderful.” Cynthia tapped a finger against her cards. “But I’m sure Becca was rather confused regarding your short marriage. Has she forgiven you for lying about her father?” She gave a mock shudder. “The whole thing must’ve been so stressful. Keeping such a big secret in a small town and all. Such awful gossip. What made you finally tell the truth? And get married?”
Sydney stiffened. Becca was excited to tell everyone her parents were now married. Excited about having Tristan in her life. Taking such innocent happiness and twisting it into hurt was wrong on too many levels. She knew then the only reason Cynthia had come to poker night was to get her nasty gossip and spread it around the school. She’d hoped to find Sydney here. It had been no coincidence. The woman wanted to play in the gutter?
Fine.
She’d play.
“Two, please,” she told Morgan, flipping down her cards. She scooped up the next two and studied her hand. “Becca was very excited to be reunited with Tristan. We’re happy now, and try to protect Becca. There’re many people out there who are quite vicious and want to hurt a poor little girl just for some gossip. You know the type. Right?”
“One,” Cynthia said. She perused her cards with an air of casual confidence. “How terrible. Who would be so mean? At least you figured out who her father is. Sleeping with two men at the same time can be quite tricky, but I’m just over the moon it all worked out. He even married you! Now, that’s a man with honor right there. I always knew the Pierce brothers took responsibility seriously.”
A red mist blinded her. Her hands clutched her cards. What would this woman think if she threw out the known fact her husband was cheating on her? Not that she’d ever go there. She could make her point a bit more subtly.
“You know a lot about that sort of responsibility, don’t you, Cynthia?” she asked innocently. “Isn’t this your fourth marriage?”
“Third,” Cynthia gritted out.
“Ah, that’s right. My bad. It’s so nice you were able to take a risk that many times after failure. I admire you. I truly do. I want to be that brave one day.”
The woman’s gaze swiveled around and locked with hers.
“Call,” Morgan said.
“Me too,” Carla said.
The other two women folded, along with Raven. All gazes swung to Sydney. “Raise.” She threw in three chips. Everyone whistled.
“Cynthia, you can fold or see Sydney’s raise to stay in the game,” Raven explained.
A bloodthirsty smile curved her lips. The woman flicked her wrist, and three bright red chips fell onto the green felt table. “I’ll see your raise.”
“Back to you, Syd,” Morgan called out.
“Raise,” she muttered, putting in more chips.
Cynthia shrugged and gave a fake laugh. “How fun. Things are getting interesting.” More chips fell to the center of the table.
“I raise again,” she said.
And it began. Each of them kept raising the other until a staggering pile of red chips lay in the center of the table, and they had nothing left to bet. The women stared in shocked silence.
“Umm, guys. That’s a lot of money. Are you sure about this?” Raven asked, a frown creasing her brow.
Carla cackled with glee. “It’s too late now! They’re all in. Show your cards, ladies!”
Sydney showed her hand. “Straight. Ace high,” she declared.
“Cynthia, what about you?” Raven asked.
Everyone held their breath. Sydney’s heart pounded in a mad jungle rhythm. She had to win. In some weird way, it would be symbolic for her, and prove everything would work out with Tristan. She hated the way Cynthia made the whole thing seem ugly, even though she knew it could be the truth. He’d married her to give Becca a family, not because he loved her. But with this one hand, maybe her fate would change. Good would triumph. Maybe it would show they’d always been meant to be together. Maybe . . .
“Full house.”
The table exploded with noise, and Cynthia gave her a triumphant smile. Sydney stared helplessly at all the lost chips and her cards. Stupid tears clogged her throat. Ridiculous. It didn’t matter. It was only a game and proved nothing.
“Are you okay?” Raven whispered in her ear. “You look weird.”
She blinked and forced a smile. “I’m fine. Congrats, Cynthia. Great hand.”
“Thanks.” Cynthia bent over so she could utter the next words softly against her ear. “Don’t push me. Already your daughter is the subject of gossip at the whole school. It could get worse, or better, depending on if I step in.” Her smug smile made Sydney sick. “Next time you want to talk about my many marriages, remember I didn’t have to play eenie meenie miney mo when it came to figuring out who the father is.”
Sydney jerked back. With a mocking wink, Cynthia stood up and gathered her purse. For one moment, pain hit her in the gut. The idea of anyone talking about Becca because of Sydney’s mistake made her want to howl like a wolf and tear Cynthia limb from limb. She’d kept her life simple for the past years, so no one had stirred up gossip. Now she was being picked apart and analyzed because of her past.
It was all her fault.
Suddenly Raven stepped in front of Cynthia. “Hey, what did you say to her?”
Cynthia waved her hand in the air. “Oh, nothing. We know each other from the school. Our daughters go to ballet together, right, Sydney?”
Sydney rose to her feet. Very quietly, she looked the woman in the eye. “Yes, that’s right. Our daughters are also in the same class together at school. They’re friends.”
Cynthia never flinched. Didn’t matter. Sydney wasn’t going to make matters worse or put her daughter at risk of being teased or bullied. Morgan walked over and stood shoulder to shoulder with Raven. “Bullshit,” Raven said calmly. “I heard what you said to Syd.”
Morgan joined in, her Southern accent taking on a twang. “Are you trying to hurt a little girl because of your need to gossip and spread rumors?”