This late the menu’s light, but the food’s great.”
“Sounds good. I think I’ll play awhile, then have a meal.”
The bartender nodded. “You’re like most. Can’t wait to lose. Be sure and save enough for a meal because once you’re broke, you’re out the door. Toledo’s got a dozen guards to make sure all’s square with the house when you leave.”
Lewt laid ten dollars on the bar. “This should cover dinner in an hour and breakfast at dawn.”
The bartender took the money. “I’ll hand you your change when you leave.”
Lewt paid one of the guards for a chair and sat down to a table of cutthroats who looked like they’d committed every crime on the books and were bored with talking about it. He knew better than to make small talk. They were here to play.
Lewt was good at cards, but tonight he was careful never to win a big pot. He had a feeling the poor losers and the big winners both went out of this place feetfirst.
When the bartender brought his steak, it gave Lewt a chance to sit out a few hands and listen to the talk around him. He moved to a little table in the middle of the place so he could hear several conversations.
Lewt spotted a few other men he knew to be professional gamblers. They were men he’d seen in the rougher saloons before he worked his way up. They looked much the worse for wear. Gambling, for the most part, was a young man’s game and an old man’s pastime. Somewhere in the middle, a gambler would be smart to step out and take a few years to breathe fresh air.
Lewt had that all planned. Or at least he thought he had. A week ago he thought he’d marry a rich wife, settle down, and take his winnings to build a business and become part of the day world. No more all-night games, no more sleeping in the back of saloons with one eye open so he would wake up with his winnings still in his pocket. He’d planned to have a house, a real house with his name on the deed, and an office he could go to, and a wife who’d have supper ready every evening. He wanted to walk with her on his arm to church every Sunday morning and vote in the elections.
Except nothing had worked out like he’d planned. The only woman on Whispering Mountain he’d been attracted to was a long-legged mean-talking girl. He smiled and added in his mind, who had to hold his hand when it got dark. He hadn’t thought her even pretty, but she had a way of growing on a man. When he kissed her, the whole world seem to stop, and if he could get her to look at him he swore she had the bluest eyes in all of Texas.
One of the saloon girls circled by, letting the sleeve of her dress, dipped in cheap perfume, drift along his arms. “Want some company later?” she asked.
“Yes,” he said, thinking of Em. Even when she refused to talk to him, she was company to him. Maybe because he wasn’t trying to impress her and she wasn’t flirting with him. He and Em settled comfortably into silence when they were together. Even though their days riding the hills of Whispering Mountain had been hard work, he missed them. He missed her.
When the saloon girl circled back by to ask for the time he’d prefer later, he added quickly, “I have a game that may take me the night. How about waiting awhile?” He noticed that the girl looked exhausted.
“All right,” she pouted, “but tomorrow is going to be busy, what with the auction and all the men riding in from miles around. So if you’re interested, you’d better decide when.”
Lewt forced himself not to look up from his food, but he shoved a chair out for her. She’d just told him more information than he’d gotten in an hour of sifting through every conversation around him.
She took the offered seat and ordered a drink, knowing that if she sat at his table, he’d be charged for her drinks.
“I don’t like the idea of you being too busy. Are you sure it’s going to be packed tomorrow? There’s times I like to spend a while with a lady like yourself and not be hurried by someone waiting outside her door.”
The girl shrugged, and half her dress slipped almost to her waist. Her revealed