Her Heart's Desire (31 page)

Another man at the table said, “I
brought two horses tonight. One to put up for a bet, should the pot
get good enough.”

The man with the gruff voice chuckled
and rubbed his big belly. “Yep. The higher the stakes, the better
the winnings. Go on and go, Abe. I’m sure you’ll have a good time
with what little you got.”

Good. They were letting her brother go
without a fight. She stood up and started collecting the rest of
her brother’s winnings.

Abe put his hand over his winnings so
she couldn’t collect any more. “It wouldn’t hurt to sit in for a
couple more hands.”

“
There you go!” one of the
men cheered before he downed a shot of whiskey.

She made eye contact with her brother
and shook her head. No. They had what they needed. There was no
point in getting more. She willed for him to understand all of this
as she reached for more money, but he blocked her hand so she
couldn’t get anything else.

“
Sit down and relax,” he
told her, a determined look in his eyes that made her stomach tense
into one huge knot.

After what seemed to be a long moment,
the man with the gruff voice said, “You heard him. Sit down and
relax. The night’s still young and so are we, right
boys?”

The men chuckled as the one
closest to her shuffled the deck. She scanned the three men at the
table before turning her eyes to her brother. Making one last
attempt to plead with him, she leaned forward so he could see her
mouth the words
train
ticket
.

He patted her hand and motioned for
her to sit. “Don’t worry. I won’t risk anything I’m not willing to
lose. You’ll be sure to get your share.”

The man with the gruff voice laughed.
“That brother of yours is going to get some of your winnings even
though he just sat there?”

Abe shrugged and took the cards dealt
to him. “He’s my good luck charm.”

“
You have a strange good
luck charm.”

Still worried, she sat down, her hands
clenched in her lap. This wasn’t good. It wasn’t good at all! Her
brother was getting greedy, and she couldn’t think of a way this
could possibly end well. She had the sinking sensation that she
wouldn’t get that train ticket after all.

***

An hour later, Mitch Grady grumbled as
he pulled his horse to a halt in front of the saloon where the
other man stopped. This was the last place he should be, but once
again, he found himself here. Shaking his head, he slid off his
horse and tied the reins to the post. He took off his hat and ran
his hand through his dark brown hair. This was the last time he was
coming here. He’d had enough of this. He couldn’t keep coming here
to save his little brother like he was a child.

When they were growing up, it was
bearable. But now that he was twenty-five and his brother was
twenty, it was time to let Boaz face the consequences of his
decisions. And starting tomorrow, that’s just what would happen. He
couldn’t keep running around to get Boaz out of his latest jam,
even if it’d break their mother’s heart.

Mitch turned to Boaz’s friend who
remained on the horse. “I won’t be coming here again. You be sure
to make that clear to Boaz. So if he ends up in trouble, you’ll be
bailing him out, and I don’t care if you’re broke.”

Without waiting for him to answer,
Mitch entered the saloon. It took his eyes a moment to adjust to
the smoke-filled room where men drank, played poker and did other
things he’d rather not think about. He scanned the crowd for his
brother and finally found him at a poker table with two other men
and a young woman.

Shocked, his gaze went right back to
the young woman who couldn’t be older than eighteen. She wasn’t a
prostitute. He could tell that by the scared look on her face. She
wore a brown cloak that covered her entire body, except for her
hood which had been pulled off her head.

He made his way to the table. His
brother was in danger of losing all of his money again since the
spot next to him that should contain his winnings was empty. All of
his money, along with everyone else’s was in the middle of the
table. But none of this explained what a decent woman was doing in
a place like this.

“
I’m telling you she’s my
sister,” the man next to her told the men at the table. “She’s not
married.”

“
You can’t put her up for a
bet,” another man said. “It’s not right. You lost all your money.
Count your losses and go.”

“
Let’s go,” she pleaded
with her brother, her long brown locks falling gently over her
shoulders.

“
I got a good hand,” her
brother told her. “I can win this one.”

“
Oh, let him try to win,”
the leader of the group growled out in his gruff voice.

Mitch’s eyes narrowed at John Meyer.
He’d never spoken to John, but he’d seen him before and heard
enough about him to know the man was up to no good. At this point,
John hadn’t noticed him, but that had to change since he needed to
help his brother. Steeling his resolve, he sauntered forward and
slapped Boaz on the shoulder.

Boaz looked up at him and relief
crossed his face. “Mitch,” he slurred, “I’m glad you’re
here.”

Leaning forward, Mitch whispered, “I’m
not coming to save your sorry butt in the future.” Before he had to
bear the smell of alcohol on his brother’s breath, he straightened
up and turned his attention to John. “I came to get my brother out
of here. How much does he owe?”

“
$50,” John said. “Doesn’t
have enough in the pot to cover it either.”

Mitch stopped himself from swearing
because the young woman was watching him. $50? That was nearly a
month’s worth of wages! “I don’t have $50.”

“
How much do you have?”
John asked, scanning him up and down, probably looking for whatever
was of value on him.

“
I brought $30.” And that
was all the cash he had to his name.

Though he was drunk, Boaz managed to
slur out, “I don’t have $50 either.”

“
We already established
that, but he’s got it covered,” John barked. “Now stop delaying the
game.”

“
What else did he bet,
John?” Mitch demanded, not willing to show the older man he
intimidated him as much as he did everyone else.

“
His horse.”

“
His…?” Mitch slapped his
brother on the back to sober him up enough so he’d understand what
was going on. “Do you realize what you’re doing? That horse is all
you got.”

His brother turned sorrowful eyes in
his direction. “Sorry. I thought I could win.”

John chuckled as if that amused him to
no end, and knowing John’s reputation, Mitch didn’t doubt the man
loved to take everyone’s money—and property.

“
You can’t do this, John,”
Mitch growled.

“
He’s a grown man. He put
up the bet. It’s up to the cards to decide if he’ll keep the horse
or not.”

For a moment, Mitch debated whether he
should just walk away and let Boaz lose everything.

John motioned to the man and woman
sitting next to Boaz. “So, you gonna stay in and offer her up or
fold and walk away?”

She shook her head, but her brother
nodded to John. “I’ll bet.”

Mitch couldn’t believe what he was
hearing. “Let them all go, John. Take the money on the table and
get out of here.”

“
Stay out of this game,”
John growled. “You aren’t a part of it.”

Mitch grunted. “Well, maybe I ought to
be.”

The silence that followed was in stark
contrast to the rowdy men in the joint. John turned his steel gray
eyes in Mitch’s direction, and Mitch noted the challenge in them.
Refusing to back down, he kept his gaze level despite the fierce
pounding in his heart. He didn’t often give himself to
confrontation, but even he could only take so much.

Finally, after a very agonizing
minute, John motioned to the empty chair across from Boaz. “$30
gets you in the game.”

Mitch scanned the others who sat at
the table. His brother’s hopeful expression indicated that he
expected Mitch to bail him out of his bind. The woman made a move
to leave, but her brother grabbed her wrist and forced her back
into the chair. She winced and tried to pull away from him, but she
was no match for him.

“
Let her go,” Mitch
snapped, hating this even more than the thought of his brother
possibly losing his horse.

“
I’m going to win,” her
brother growled through gritted teeth.

Beside him, she broke into tears, and
Mitch’s heart went out to her. Turning to John, he said, “Fine. I’m
in. Put my horse into the pot and let her go.” She didn’t need to
be a part of this. If he lost everything, so be it, but he couldn’t
stand here and watch a man sell a woman in a poker game.

“
I’m not giving up my
hand,” her brother said.

“
I’m not telling you to,”
Mitch replied, not hiding his disgust that the man was so insistent
on selling his sister. “I’m offering my horse in exchange for
her.”

Her brother glowered at him. “You
think you’re going to walk out of here with her?”

“
No. I just don’t want her
to go home with the likes of him.” Mitch pointed to
John.

“
Ah now, what’d you take me
for?” John grunted and tapped the cards in his hand. “Ante up
there, boy.”

It was on the tip of Mitch’s tongue to
point out he was twenty-five but decided it’d be a waste of time to
do so. He put his money in the middle of the table and told John,
“She’s not in this. We’ll use my horse.”

“
Like hell we will!” her
brother yelled, slamming his fist on the table.

“
The woman stays,” John
said as he dealt Mitch five cards. “I already have a horse from
Boaz over here.”

Mitch glanced at Boaz whose head
remained bowed so Mitch couldn’t see the expression on his face.
With a look at the poor woman who continued to softly cry then a
look at her resolute brother, Mitch knew he didn’t have a choice.
His only hope was to win the game. Then the woman could go back
home where she’d be safe, and his brother could go home on his
horse.

John motioned for him to check his
cards, so Mitch did. He had nothing. No pairs or partial straights.
Nothing. If he hadn’t been watching John, he’d swear the man set it
up so that he’d have to lose. But John hadn’t shuffled the deck or
anything. Trying not to give away the fact that he had a bad hand,
he saved a jack and king of hearts. Might as well pretend he had a
pair.

He tossed the other cards face down on
the table and held his two cards. “Give me three.”

As John handed him three more cards,
he glanced at the woman and prayed she wouldn’t have to end up
doing whatever John planned to do with her. The possibilities of
that scenario made him sick to his stomach.

He turned his attention back to the
three new cards that sat in front of him, face down. Well, this was
it. He was either going to win or lose.

***

Look for Mitch’s Win in the Fall or
Winter of 2012