a slug of his drink. “This afternoon.”
“Oh?”
“Damn right, oh. What the hell am I going to do, Drake?”
Drake glanced out the window. Jump, his expression seemed to suggest.
“It’s a problem,” he agreed.
“You’re no help,” Big Julie said, fearing what might make his wife happy. The thought of having to get into bed with the flannel-nightgown-wearing, hair-curler-sprouting, face-cream-slathering Marilyn, while the ripe, luscious, soft, yielding, athletic, and best of all, naked Baby lay alone and neglected somewhere else, well, it was enough to weaken a man’s resolve, if you got the drift.
“No,” Drake agreed again. “And you have another problem, sir.”
“Whatever it is, the answer is no,” Big Julie said. “No more problems today.”
“Well, this is a problem you have to take care of,” Drake said. “You know how trouble comes in threes? I think problem number three is sitting in the living room.”
“Right now? In the living room right now?” Big Julie asked.
Drake nodded.
“Is it a dame?” Big Julie asked. “I am done with dames.”
“It is, ah, a dame,” Drake said.
“And you let her in because—”
“Because, remember? You got a call from Jersey last night. From Marty the Sneak. And he’s calling in his favor from last winter when he helped you with that thing in Atlantic City.”
Big Julie remembered. Remembered it all—last night, the call, Atlantic City, the thing, and Marty the Sneak. He groaned.
“So what does Marty want I should do?”
“He wants you to talk to this nice woman who is sitting in your living room right now, and listen to what she has to say, and if you can, accommodate her. Marty says he thinks you can accommodate her.”
Big Julie sighed. “Is she a looker?”
“She is indeed.”
“Dammit to hell,” Big Julie said. “I have really had it with good-looking women.” And then he went out to the living room to deal with his third problem.
Hope stood up when Big Julie entered the living room. He looked terrible. He was wearing a big, white, terry-cloth robe, he was unshaven, and his hair was a mess. He looked pasty, like he was hung over or tired and hadn’t seen the sun in any of his fifty years. He was holding a Bloody Mary, too.
This’ll be bad, she thought.
She, on the other hand, had given a lot of thought to her appearance. Hope knew that she didn’t have her mother’s looks, but at least she had half the lucky gene pool. She was tall and blonde, and she was wearing her hair down, so Big Julie probably would like that, and her figure was decent and her features were regular bordering on pleasant. So she had that going for her, but she hadn’t been sure what to wear. She wanted to look businesslike without looking prim. She’d settled on a navy suit with a skirt and high heels and a tight, bright pink camisole that had shrunk in the wash and never been worn again until today.
She hoped that would do the trick.
“Hello, Mr. Saladino,” she said. “I’m Hope McNaughton. Thank you for seeing me.”
“Yeah,” Big Julie said, dropping into a sofa. The bathrobe gapped open over his bulk, and Hope quickly averted her eyes.
We’ve barely been introduced, and already I have too much information.
“Siddown, siddown,” Big Julie said irritably, readjusting his robe. “Whaddaya wanna drink?”
“Oh, thank you, nothing,” Hope said as she sat down again. She smiled, focusing on his face. “I don’t want to take up too much of your time, but Marty said I should explain.”
“Explain what? Drake, get her an orange juice. Or a Snapple. We got some good Snapple—lemonade, peach tea, whatever you want.”
“Um, well, plain iced tea would be good if you have it.”
“Drake, see if we got that. Okay, now explain.”
Drake glided away again.
“I understand that at your poker game a week ago, you played with Derek McNaughton, and you won a ranch from him.”
A smile lit Big Julie’s face.
“I sure did. That guy don’t quit, I gotta give him that. But he didn’t have the cards that night. You know this guy?”
“He’s my father,” Hope said.
“Oh,” Big Julie said. “Bad luck for you.”
“You don’t know the half of it.” Hope paused while Drake brought in her iced tea, and she took a sip while he settled in a chair in the background.
“My family lives on that ranch,” Hope said.
“So what is it you would like me to do?” Big Julie said. “Assuming I can do it, or want to do it, or will do it, which is not certain yet. Because I