ranch. Playing honestly, if Tanner were out of the picture.
A big if. But not impossible. Even the best card players—even pros—had bad days, bad hands, and bad deals. She had to play her best so she could stay in the game and hope that she would have the skill or the luck to beat him or that Tanner would have a bad break and go down.
The game went on. One by one the other players lost their stakes and dropped out. Four hours into the game, when Hope’s back ached and her eyes burned with fatigue, only she, Tanner, and Big Julie were left.
“You play a hell of a game,” Big Julie said to Hope as he got up and stretched. “They told me you did, and they was right.”
“Thank you,” Hope said as she stifled a yawn, thinking, you have no idea. She was playing brilliantly. If Tanner weren’t cheating, she might have won by now.
“Yes, you’re playing very well.” Tanner glanced at her, his eyes unreadable. She felt a new surge of anger—she was running out of steam but she didn’t seem to be running out of fury—and she glared back, her eyes narrowing, even as she watched him gather the cards from the last hand, putting all the high cards on the bottom. It was Tanner’s deal. Another hand about to go to Big Julie. Well, at least Tanner did have a real idea of how well she was playing.
“You play very creatively,” she said, looking at him deliberately and then at his hands. “You intend to play this hand with as much—gusto—as you’ve played all the others?”
Tanner frowned at her quickly. “I just play the cards I’m dealt, like everybody else.” His voice had a sharper edge than usual.
“Hey no need to get testy,” Big Julie said. “We’re just playing a friendly game here. I want something to drink, do you guys want something? Drake!”
Drake appeared silently in the doorway. “Bring us some drinks,” Big Julie said. “Coffee for the lady, right sweetheart? And bring us some a them little cocktail wienies!”
“Better make it mineral water,” Hope said. “I’ve had so much coffee, any more would make my hands shake.”
“Can’t have that, now, can we?” Big Julie asked jovially, helping himself to a sandwich.
“It would be especially bad if the dealer’s hands shook,” Hope said pointedly, looking at Tanner. “That might reveal something.” Tanner never glanced up as he shuffled, that deceptive riffle shuffle, and put the deck down in front of Big Julie.
Big Julie took a huge bite out of his sandwich and cut the cards, slamming the cut down on the table, winking at her as he did so.
Hope watched in exhausted anger as Tanner palmed the cards during the cut. He is stealing the ranch from me, she thought. Right now, this minute, he’s stealing it from Faith, from mom, from Amber. Hand by hand in this crooked card game, he is stealing our home and our livelihood. We’ll never get it back, everything we have will be gone forever, because of what he’s doing right now.
She wondered if Tanner’s cheating was more elaborate than she guessed—if Tanner was dealing not just ace pairs to Big Julie, but had dealt all the cards he wanted to the other players. She knew there were card mechanics—cons, grifters, magicians—who could do this. Derek had not been that skilled, although he’d taught her what to watch for. She hadn’t spotted Tanner doing it, however.
She was a little further behind now. Big Julie had eight hundred thousand dollars in chips, Tanner had seven hundred thousand, and she had five hundred thousand. Not bad, all things considered. But players with poor chip counts had less flexibility to bet, less room to maneuver. She either had to win big and win soon, or she’d be out. If nothing changed, her chip count would just be whittled away slowly over time. Tanner would see to that.
Tanner dealt the cards, top-of-the-deck cards to himself and her, bottom-of-the-deck cards to Big Julie. Hope watched her opponents as they picked up their hands. Big Julie’s eyes opened a little wider, so he had a good hand. Tanner’s face, as always, remained impassive.
Hope glanced at her own cards. Ace, jack. Not bad, but it wasn’t the best hand, and she wasn’t in the best betting position. She called.
“Let’s make it interesting,” Big Julie said. And he dropped the deed to the ranch on the table.
Hope’s heart lurched in her chest. Sure—now, when she had