Betting the Rainbow (Harmony) (24 page)

Chapter 39

THE LAKE

A
USTIN IGNORED THE THROBBING IN HIS LEG AS HE LOADED
his boat and headed for home. This morning, when he’d left, he’d thought of taking Ronny’s little blue boat. She’d left his place after breakfast saying she wanted to spend the day making plans for her cabin. She’d even shown him pictures she’d cut out from magazines.

He must have not put enough effort into acting interested, because she’d gathered up all her samples of paint, wallpaper, and tile. She’d smiled and promised to be back for dinner.

In a moment of insanity before they crawled out of bed, he’d promised to cook supper. But ten minutes after she left he was missing her too badly to just hang around. He had to do something or go insane. Visiting Martha Q wasn’t on his list, but if he didn’t think of something before he got to town, he might even do that. Otherwise the day would be endless without Ronny.

Now, with food and books and gear piled high, Austin realized if he’d taken her boat, he’d be relaxing while he rode back across the water. Instead, he had to row. He pulled hard on the oars, wanting to get home as soon as possible. He had lots to tell her, but halfway across he started wondering if she’d take a swing at him if he asked her to put on those short shorts she’d worn to the Delaneys’ party. Surely she wouldn’t get mad. He wouldn’t be upset if she asked him to strip completely.

What he didn’t know about women would fill an ocean, and he wasn’t sure asking Martha Q for advice had been a good idea. He’d hoped for a few pointers, not a total brain meltdown of all he didn’t know about women listed in categories.

When he looked up and saw Ronny’s silhouette waiting for him on the dock, he couldn’t stop smiling like some fool falling in love for the first time.

Which, he knew, was exactly what had happened. He was in love for the first and probably the only time in his life. It had taken all these years for one girl like Ronny to speak to him and come close enough to see who he really was. The tough-guy mask didn’t fool her at all. She saw right through it. He’d better hang on to her, for he guessed he had about as much chance of finding love again as lightning striking the same spot twice.

Also, if he was dumb enough to screw this up with Ronny, he’d never find another woman so perfect. He’d measure every woman he met with Ronny and none would come close to her.

He didn’t notice her arms were folded until he was tying up. That meant something, he was pretty sure, but he didn’t know what.

When he’d dropped by Martha Q’s for a lecture a few hours ago, she’d mentioned something about folded arms, but as usual, he was only half listening. The old woman had a habit of repeating everything two or three times. By the time he’d finished his tea and coffee cake, Austin was thinking of asking her if he could have the abridged version on how to make a woman happy. Her lecture had gone on too long, causing him to barely make it home before dark.

“You shouldn’t be rowing.” She pointed her finger at him. “You should have taken my boat.”

He didn’t know what to say. Telling her to stop pestering him never worked, and yelling at her would be like kicking a kitten. Silence seemed his only defense. In truth he liked the idea that someone cared enough to worry.

“Austin, if you pull those stitches out . . .”

“They’re out.” He finally got a word in. “I went by the doc and she pulled them out. Told me not to come back unless another pig shot me.” He knew he was abbreviating the doc’s orders, but he didn’t want Ronny and the Delaney girls thinking they had to watch over him any longer.

Ronny shook her head and fisted her hands on her hips. “I love you, Austin Hawk, but I’m not putting up with your lies. What did the doctor say, and don’t even think about not telling me everything or I’ll call and check on you.”

He felt like he’d just been hit with a solid gold shovel. He didn’t know whether to be happy about the gold or mad about the hit. She’d said she loved him in the same sentence she’d called him a liar. No wonder married men walk around confused all the time.

“I brought dinner.” He reached into the boat for the bag, hoping food would provide some distraction. “Burgers from the diner.” He couldn’t look at her. He needed a moment to think. He’d heard women say they loved him because they thought that was what they should say when the hotel light went out, but he had a feeling that when Ronny used the word, she meant it.

He lifted out the two bags and stepped onto the dock, careful not to flinch when pain shot up his leg. “I’m fine, Ronny. I swear. You don’t have to take care of me.” His words came out sharper than he’d meant them to be.

She straightened as if at attention. “All right. I guess I’ll go back to the cabin. I’m obviously not needed or wanted here.”

She’d made it two steps before he dropped the hamburgers and grabbed her hand. “Just a minute. We’re not finished.”

He half expected her to run, but Ronny never did what he expected.

She pulled her hand free and pointed to the water. “Our dinner is floating away.”

He turned and watched the bags bob a few times in the water before sinking. When he looked back, she was smiling, so he thought he’d start over. “Any chance you’d go back to town with me? I’ve been smelling those burgers all the way home, and my stomach’s waiting for a taste.”

She nodded. “Only if we take my boat.”

“Fair enough.” He didn’t want to admit how much his leg hurt.

As he tied his boat up and covered the other bags he’d brought with a tarp, she ran home to get her purse. That was another thing he couldn’t figure out. Why women take purses with them everywhere but don’t offer to pay. If he didn’t figure it out fast he’d have to go back for more coffee cake and lectures.

Now his head hurt along with his leg. He needed to stop worrying and simply enjoy being exactly where he’d wanted to be all day. With Ronny.

Austin tried to think of everyday things they could talk about, like who he’d seen in town and all he’d done besides go to the doctor, but her first words kept coming back to him.
I love you, Austin Hawk.
He should have said something right then. Something simple like
I love you too
. Only he hadn’t and the moment was gone. Besides, those three words shouldn’t be something you have to think about before saying them.

When she returned to the dock, he decided to clear the air. “I wasn’t lying to you, Ronny, I’m fine.”

She nodded. “Just promise you won’t hide things from me. If you’re hurting, tell me. I don’t want to mother you, but I need to know the truth.”

“All right, pretty lady, the truth.” He started the engine and they began moving across the lake. “The doc says it will take me maybe another two or three months to be up to speed again. My leg is coming along fine. She’s also been checking on my progress from the last injury I took six months ago. The fire scarred inside my lungs as well as outside. Nothing that will affect me living a long life, but when I go back to my job next month I’ll be at a desk, not in the field.”

“How do you feel about that?”

“I didn’t sign up to do paperwork.” He cut the engine and they drifted on the lake. “I’m thinking it may be time for me to get out.”

For a while, they didn’t talk. They just sat, side by side, and let the night move over them. It felt so good having someone near while he just thought over his options. Somehow it didn’t seem near as frightening as it did when he was alone.

Finally, he whispered, “Did you mean it earlier?”

“Mean what?”

“That you love me?” When she didn’t answer, he added, “It’s all right if you didn’t. I know people say it all the time and don’t mean anything by it. I just wanted to know if—”

“I meant it.”

“Oh,” he answered. “It’s just that we’ve only known each other such a short time and you really don’t know what a hardass I am. My team used to complain that I never smiled or stopped cussing. I’m not what you—”

“I know who and what you are, Austin.” She interrupted him again. “I know you. You’re the man who stands in the rain because you were worried about me. You’re the one who missed me all day and now doesn’t know how to tell me how much. You don’t want to care about anyone, but somehow I got past your guard and that one fact terrifies you.”

He took her hand, wishing he could find the right words to tell her. Just saying that she was right about everything didn’t seem to be enough.

She leaned closer and kissed his cheek. “I know the man you are, and the man you want to be, and I love them both.”

He kissed her. “I don’t know what I ever did to deserve you, but I’d go through it all again a hundred times knowing that you’re on the other side, waiting.”

They held each other close for a while. He found it hard to believe that she saw through him so easily, and he loved that she didn’t put up with any of his manipulating or bullying.

Finally, he started the motor again and they continued across the lake.

* * *

THE DINER WAS EMPTY, BUT SHE TALKED HIM INTO TAKING
the worst table, a tiny spot by the door. He thought of complaining, but when she sat across from him, her knees slid between his beneath the little table, and he decided he didn’t mind her choice at all. The feel of her legs rubbing against the inside of his made it impossible to focus enough to read the menu, so he just ordered a burger.

The cook she called Cass got the food out way too fast, Austin thought, but he was too lost in brushing against Ronny’s leg to notice.

As they ate, he told her of the people he’d seen in town. He’d stopped by the fire station and ended up spending the afternoon showing all the men how to handle new equipment. As he described each one of the guys, Ronny filled in the details of their lives. She knew them all. Ronny might not like to talk in crowds, but she’d listened all her life.

She told him about her plans to open an office on the lake. It would be so hard to get to, she’d have to go to her clients. Though she loved people, she also loved her quiet time. She knew of one big ranch run by Cord McDowell that needed a bookkeeper, and she could do most of the work from the cabin. She’d always loved making details fit together, and she thought she’d give bookkeeping a try. She’d be helping people’s lives run smoother and she’d like that.

On the drive home she curled up against his arm, and he realized he hadn’t thought of the pain in his leg for a long while.

“I liked this, it was almost a date.” She yawned.

He patted her knee. “This was a date. Or at least I think it was. I’ve had so few, I’m not sure.”

She laughed, that soft little laugh he loved to hear. “You’re right. It was a date. We should have another one just to make sure.”

“Sounds like a plan. We’ll go out every third night for the rest of our lives. Only we’ll run out of restaurants and have to drive into Amarillo at some point.”

In the dash lights he watched her straighten. “I guess this means we’re dating?”

He laughed. “We’re far beyond that.”

She made a little sound of agreement and leaned against his shoulder as they drove back to the lake.

* * *

SHE HELPED HIM CARRY HIS BAGS OF BOOKS TO HIS PORCH.
“Stay with me tonight,” he said without turning on a light.

She hesitated, then started down the steps. “It’s been a long day. You’ll be all right. We both need sleep.”

“Stay with me forever,” he said, hating that it sounded more like an order than a request.

“Why?” she asked, and she took another step down.

One more step and she’d be out of his reach. “Because I can’t watch the one woman I’ve ever loved walk away. Not tonight, or any night.”

She turned slowly and looked up at him, reading him as clearly as she always had.

Suddenly she cried out and ran up the stairs and into his arms.

On this night there would be no holding back.

Chapter 40

D
USTI
D
ELANEY SAT IN THE
A
MARILLO
I
NTERNATIONAL
Airport waiting for her flight to Vegas. Of course she’d have to go through Dallas first, but in five hours she’d be there. She was so excited she half thought she might just jump out of her skin. She’d found a way out. With this one chance, this one game, she and Abby might find a future. Abby could be the nurse she was born to be, and she could really study photography. The farm on Rainbow Lane would always be home, but it wouldn’t have to be their lives. One more bridge to cross before their dreams would come true.

Abby had dropped her off at the airport, but couldn’t stay with her once she crossed security, so she’d headed back home. For a few days Abby would run the farm alone, and there was too much to do to waste time.

They’d hugged good-bye at the drop-off, both too excited to talk about what might happen in the next few days while Dusti was in Vegas. Since the party they’d packed and repacked Dusti’s bag. They’d talked about all Abby needed to do and how Dusti must be safe in the wild town. They’d talked about everything except what would happen if she won. This close to the end of their plan, they could no longer give words to their dreams.

Both knew if she won it would change their lives forever.

“Win or lose, I love you, kid,” Abby yelled as she left.

“Win or lose,” Dusti echoed, holding the old camera Kieran had given her to keep for him. She told herself if Abby could have her dream, she’d settle for just a fraction of hers. Unless he asked for it back, she’d keep the old camera. It felt so right in her hands.

She planned to log her trip in pictures. Step by step. Maybe no one would care, but she’d have the trip and her memories so she could never forget.

When she walked over to the coffee shop to buy bottled water, she saw Noah McAllen sitting in the corner, his feet propped up on the empty chair across from him. As always, he looked like a model off the cover of a western novel. Stetson low. Leather vest. Pearl snaps on his pressed white shirt with his initials on the cuff. Handmade boots she’d bet had his name at the top. The man was Harmony’s own Brad Pitt and he didn’t even know it.

“Hi, Noah,” she said. They weren’t really close friends, but since he’d been beat up at the same place she’d won the poker game, maybe they should talk.

He raised his hat. His left eye was shadowed in gray from an aging bruise, though it still looked too new to have been from the night of the poker game. “Morning, Dusti. You heading for the big poker game?”

“Yes.” She couldn’t stop smiling. “I’m about to make my dream come true. If I win in the money, the Delaney girls’ lives are about to change. I’m so excited I can’t sleep or eat. All I think about is winning.”

“Great,” he said, tipping his hat slightly with a bandaged hand.

“What about you, Noah? Where are you headed?” At the party someone had said that Noah and Reagan had broken up, but no one believed it. Noah, if he ever remembered to come home, belonged to Reagan Truman. Everyone had known that since high school. He flirted with the girls everywhere he went, but when he walked out he always took Reagan’s hand. Maybe bright lights had finally won out over a simple country girl.

Noah didn’t look too excited when he finally answered, “I’m headed to a rodeo in Houston. Riding for the money, you know, just like you.”

“What happened to your hand?” She had an hour to kill; talking to him seemed better than doing nothing.

“Which one?”

She almost felt sorry for Mr. Good-looking. “Both, I guess.”

He held up his left. “Forgot to wear gloves while fixing barbed-wire fence.” He held up his right. “Got bit by a rattler while I was cleaning out brush around the old home place. He barely got his teeth in me, but Reagan made me go to the doc.”

So much for the rumors that he and Reagan had split, she thought.

“And the eye?” Dusti decided not to notice the bruises that had faded to gray along his jawline.

“Biggs,” was his only reply.

Dusti should have let his comment before the medical report drop, but she’d never been one to keep her mouth shut. “You know, Noah, we’re not the same, you and I. Even beat up, you still got it all back in Harmony. All the luck and big pots. All the winner’s circle you could ask for.” Speaking her mind felt great, even if she’d probably pay for it later. “It looks to me like you got everything a man could dream of. Everyone knows Reagan Truman loves you. And some say your ranch will be the best in the county in five years if you work it. A few scratches and bruises don’t change the facts.”

Noah didn’t look like he wanted to hear what she had to say, but she added, “I’m taking a chance on winning everything I’ve ever wanted. You’re taking a chance on losing everything you’ve already got.”

He looked like he wanted to say,
Who died and left you in charge of my life
, but he didn’t. Noah was too much a “good guy” to tell her to get lost. He just stared at her.

“You’re right, Dusti,” he said, “I was just thinking the same thing. Why am I flying out when all I want is here?”

Dusti’s phone sounded. She turned away, not wanting Noah to hear two screaming old women wishing her luck. Martha Q and Mrs. Mills couldn’t have been more excited if they’d been going with her. When they finally hung up, Dusti turned back to Noah, but his chair was empty.

She looked around the small coffee shop. He’d disappeared and his boarding pass had been left in the center of the table. She picked up the pass and walked back to the waiting area.

“You’re welcome, Noah,” she whispered, wondering if she’d been any help at all.

Her phone rang again. She didn’t recognize the number but answered it simply because she had an hour of nothing left to do now that she’d talked Noah into walking away.

“Hello, lass,” a familiar voice said. “You excited?”

“Where have you been? I thought we had a date, Kieran.”

“I’ve been working straight through so I could have time off. I may be in London but I plan to be on call for you the next few days. Anytime you need a break, call and I’ll help you out. We’re not playing against each other this time. I’m all on your side.”

She smiled and walked to the long wall of glass. Here, she felt almost alone with Kieran even though a hundred people could see her there.

Kieran started going over the rules again and kept talking until she boarded the plane. Hours later when she got to her room at the hotel, she called him back and they talked for another hour about all she had to do.

“Get some sleep, lass, you’ll need it tomorrow morning.”

She promised, then added, “Wish you were here to kiss me good night.”

He hesitated for a moment and added, “So do I.”

She fell asleep dreaming of what it would be like. She’d never waited for anything in her life. From the moment of first attraction Dusti was usually running full steam ahead. But Kieran had made her wait, and right now she wanted him more than she’d ever wanted any man. A hundred times more.

The next morning she was still thinking about Kieran when she checked in at the poker registration table and took a few pictures of the lights around her and the interesting people milling around. As she waited to be called up, she did what he said; she watched every person.

For the most part the players were easy to separate from the watchers.

The types were all there. The woman with her dress cut in a deep V. The cowboy smoking his last cigar before the game started. The guy with a hood and glasses who looked like he might rob a convenience store if poker didn’t turn out to be his game. The little man who pushed his way around as if he planned to make sure he got his fair share of attention.

When she sat down at the table, Kieran’s voice was in her head.
Watch everything. Don’t talk more than you have to. Don’t get involved in a battle between two other players.

As they started playing, his voice continued.
Fold if the first two cards aren’t good. Fold if the flop doesn’t help you. Watch the other players for tells.

The cowboy whose fingers were stained from smoking shook slightly when his cards were good. The guy bluffing to her right kept checking his cards like he thought they’d change on him. A tall man whose hair had slid to the back of his head kept trying to hurry everyone along as if the game were on a timer.

Two hours later, when she’d won the first round at her table, she stood, stretched, and called Kieran.

“I felt like you were with me all morning. I felt like you had my back.” She fought not to scream into the phone. “I won.”

“More rounds to go,” he said, “and I am with you. Now, during the two-hour break, go get something to eat or take a nap. Don’t play any slots around. Today just concentrate on poker.”

She bought a candy bar and walked the half mile to her room. An hour later he called to tell her to buy strong coffee and step back into the gaming room. “Don’t be friendly, lass. You’re not there to make friends. You’re there to win.”

The next round took longer, and a sweet old man next to her kept telling her, “Go ahead and fold, sweetie, I got this one.” Kieran’s warning reminded her of the trick. Even when the old man told her he was saving her money with his advice, she didn’t fold.

She won.

It was late afternoon when she called Kieran back and wondered if it might be the middle of the night where he was. He sounded sleepy when he answered.

“I won again,” she whispered.

“Way to go, lass. Now go to your room, order room service, and relax. Let the other winners go out and celebrate. You’ve got to be ready for tomorrow. Lights out by eleven.”

“Would you kiss me good night?” she asked.

“If I were there, lass, I’d kiss you senseless, but it’s a good thing I’m not. You need a clear head. I’d only mix it up. Sleep, eat, get ready to play.”

When she hung up, she did exactly what he told her to do even though several of the other players offered to buy her a drink. She was here to win, not party.

One of the other players had put his arm around her as if planning to herd her along to the bar. Dusti stepped free and didn’t bother to thank him for the invitation.

Kieran woke her early, telling her to eat a good breakfast. He said today would be intense and she had to be ready for anything. One by one he listed everything she needed in her emergency bag. Cough drops, aspirin, tissues, candy that didn’t make noise or melt.

“If you get a break in the play, disappear; don’t stand around talking to the others. The less they know about you, the better.”

Dusti laughed. He was starting to sound like her nanny. “I love you for doing this, Kieran.”

“I love you too, lass. Now get in there and play your best game.”

She smiled as she walked into the gaming room. He had to believe she had a chance or he wouldn’t be doing this. She’d worried about being all alone, but she wasn’t alone. He was with her, along with Mrs. Mills and her advice about how to play in a mostly man’s game and Martha Q with her jokes about always keeping her pants on between rounds.

“Been talking to your boyfriend?” the guy with the dark glasses asked. “Maybe whispering sweet nothings to him?”

Dusti straightened, putting her phone away. “Nope,” she answered. “Still afraid of the sun?”

She didn’t give him time to answer. If she made it through this round, she’d have a seat at the final table. She’d be in the money.

It seemed like she waited hours before it was her turn to play her round. She was exhausted from pacing. She’d even tried to watch the earlier games but couldn’t.

Kieran hadn’t called back. He must be in the air flying somewhere. He couldn’t just forget his job and coach her on the game. She knew that no matter what happened he’d be the first call she made when she walked away today.

Finally, her name was called and she walked calmly to her seat.

In all her scatterbrained life, Dusti had never concentrated on anything so completely. She played exactly as Kieran had taught her to. One by one the others moved away from the table, busted.

The clock seemed to tick by at half speed, until finally only Dusti and the sunglasses remained. Their stacks were almost equal after three hours, but she finally saw her chance. When he raised her, thinking she’d fold, she saw his tell, a slight huff he made whenever he was bluffing.

“All in,” she said. “I’m betting the rainbow.” All colors of chips rattled into the center of the table.

If he backed away, he lost big.

She licked her lips, the same thing she’d done the last three times she’d bluffed. She had no idea if he saw her. The glasses made him seem more like a bug than a person.

He smiled and shoved his pile in. “Time to shut up or get up, girl.”

The cards seem to float over the table in slow motion. He had a pair of jacks. She had two kings.

She hadn’t bluffed this time.

She won.