Trapped in Tourist Town (17 page)

“Game's five card stud, deuces wild. Ante up, gentlemen.”

Chase sat with his back to the garage door. He shuffled the deck like a pro, dealing the cards out to the group seated around the small folding table. His friend, Foster, sat on his left, Wallace on his right. Burke was across from Chase, his chair butting up against the work table along the back wall. If he didn't know better, he'd think the seating arrangement was deliberate.

The other two men in the game tonight introduced themselves as Curtis and Jonah. Burke had seen them at the bakery but had never been formally introduced. Their casual rapport with each other led him to believe they were father and son, though they looked nothing alike.

This was going to be an expensive night. Burke slid a chip toward the center of the table. When Chase had invited him to join them for poker night, he'd been quick to accept, eager to be accepted into the fold. Never mind the fact that he'd never played a game of poker in his life. One could only learn so much about the game through the Internet. The rest he'd have to pick up on the fly.

“Burke? Another beer?” Wallace had tipped his chair back to reach the small fridge in the corner of the garage behind him.

“Yeah, thanks.” He accepted the can, cracked it open, and took a deep guzzle, careful to avoid eye contact with the man.

Okay, so maybe he shouldn't have accepted the invite so readily. Walking into the garage tonight had felt a little like entering the lion's den. Of course, that was his own guilt talking. Not two nights ago, he'd been spending some quality naked time with a woman probably anyone in this room would kill to protect. Damned if he wasn't already trying to figure out when he could get her alone again.

The first few rounds of bets went by with little talking. These guys took their poker seriously. Chase set a bowl of pretzels on the table and everyone dove in. Cady had insisted he take along a batch of her peanut butter brownies. Was it too soon to mention sweets?

“So how was your little vacation to the city?” Chase sent Burke a cryptic look over his cards.

“Well, it was ... I had business. I had meetings.” Burke slid a finger beneath the collar of his shirt and tugged a little. Was it getting hot in here?

“Our little Cady was quite impressed. Hasn't stopped talking about it since she got home.” Wallace watched him closely as he popped a pretzel into his mouth and chewed hard.

Was that why he'd been invited here tonight? Was this a set-up? They were going to beat the crap out of him. A thin bead of sweat trickled down the side of his face, alerting everyone at the table to his discomfort. Burke pretended to study his cards while he struggled to come up with a way to diffuse the situation.

It wasn't like she was a kid. Cady was a grown woman and could sleep with whomever she wanted. They had a right to live their lives without public scrutiny. What had she said to her father, her brother? Whatever it was—he was a dead man!

Unaware of the tension zinging back and forth across the table, Curtis doubled the bet. Jonah folded. Well, the sooner he lost his money, the sooner he could leave. Burke pushed a stack of chips in. Chase grinned, lifting his ball cap from his head only to plunk it down low over his eyes.

“Looks like things are getting interesting, boys.” He waited for Foster to fold, then matched Burke's bet.

“Too steep for my blood.” Wallace tossed his cards on the table, face down.

Back to Curtis, who looked a tad uncertain about his chances to win now that the pot had grown this large. “
Don't throw it now. I'll never get out of here,
” Burke screamed inside his head. The older man looked back down at his cards, frowned, and called, adding more chips to the stack.
Thank God!
One by one they revealed their hands. Chase swore under his breath when his two pair turned up nothing. Curtis proudly showed off his three aces and everyone at the table waited for Burke to flip his cards over. He had three of a kind and a pair.

“Son of a bitch—full house,” Curtis moaned.

Damn it! He'd won a sizeable pot, the opposite of what he'd set out to do. So much for going through his money quickly.

“Heh. Beginner's luck.” Burke jumped when Jonah slapped him on the back.

“Dude, who brought the brownies? Are these peanut butter? Sweet!” Foster had stepped away from the table and was prowling the goodies set on the woodwork surface. He carried the plastic container to the table and the group of grown men descended on it like vultures on carrion.

“See, I knew inviting my sister's boyfriend would be a good thing.” Chase held a brownie victoriously in the air.

“Even though he's taking all your money?” Jonah laughed.

“Yeah, well, there is that. It's all good. The night is young and I intend to make him cry.” Chase's laugh held nothing sinister. It was almost as though he were genuinely joking around.

“We aren't officially dating,” Burke felt the need to point out. Though if it were up to him, they would be.

“And I'll bet money it's my daughter holding you at arm's length, isn't it?” Wallace folded his muscled arms across his chest as he leaned back in his chair.

“I wouldn't exactly say that. Amanda said Cady had big plans for that fancy weekend getaway.” Chase wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

“I thought we were here to play cards.”
That's it. Remind them of the business at hand
.

“What's the matter, Burke? Why can't you tell us about your cozy little trip?” Chase flipped a poker chip back and forth between his knuckles, like a Vegas pro.

“Dude, he probably thinks you're gonna take him out back and shoot him for messing with Cady.” Foster shoved Chase in the shoulder, knocking the poker chip to the table. He may have been trying to help Burke out, but the guy still wore a shit-eating grin.

“Son, we know you're sleeping with my daughter. Why do you think we asked you here tonight?”

Aw, hell. It was an ambush. A poker table and five grown men stood between him and the nearest door. Burke couldn't take all of them on. Maybe he could outrun them? He reached into his khakis for his keys. How to get a running start?

“You idiots are never going to get Burke to go along with what you want if you make the poor kid piss his pants.” Curtis rolled his eyes toward the ceiling.

Wait, what?

“I can't help it if the guy has a guilty conscience.” Chase shrugged.

“Okay, yeah, I slept with her, all right? She's a big girl.” Burke wiped a big hand across his face, blinking.

“That girl of mine knows what she wants and she goes after it.” Wallace harrumphed. “She wants to move to the city. But she wants you, too. And that's a good thing.”

“Excuse me?” This conversation was starting to give him a migraine.

“You seem to be carving out your own space here in town. You intend to stay, I take it?”

Burke nodded.

“You make my little girl happy.” It was a statement, not an order, no matter how gruffly it was uttered.

“Cady doesn't date. She can't be bothered with locals. I didn't think she even cared about sex until you came along.” Chase put his palms on the table, leaning forward over his elbows.

“She prefers to play matchmaker,” Jonah added, the others nodding and murmuring their agreement.

“Then you came along and she finally starts acting like a woman ... with needs.” Chase screwed up his features, shuddering his disgust.

Jesus. Beam me up, Scotty. Anywhere but here
.

“Bottom line, guys? 'Cause you all are seriously making me uncomfortable.”

Burke stared Chase down, waiting for him to get to the real reason they'd invited him to poker night.

“You like her, right? You want to date her, but she's got her own agenda and she's pushing you away?”

“Yeah, that's about it.”

“Convince her to stay. Convince her she has everything she needs right here in Scallop Shores.” Wallace had scraped his chair back and moved to stand over Burke.

“This was why you invited me to play poker with you guys? To help you emotionally blackmail Cady into giving up her dreams so you don't have to give up your daughter, your sister?”

“Aw, don't get upset. You're an okay guy. We were gonna invite you anyway. Just thought we'd kill two birds with one stone.” Chase puckered his lips, making kissing noises to the amusement of the others seated at the table.

“That and we knew Cady would send some of her goodies with you.” Wallace reached across the table for another brownie, nodding at Burke as he stuffed nearly the whole thing in his mouth.

So this is what it felt like to be a part of something? Burke downed the rest of his beer and settled in as Foster dealt another round. What the hell had he signed on for? On the one hand, he had to admit that it felt good to be needed. On the other, he knew he didn't have it in him to manipulate Cady that way. Even if it was to his own benefit.

Hell, he even planned to make her transition as easy as possible, by offering her the penthouse so she wouldn't have to worry about a place to stay. As much as it killed him to think it, he was going to have to get used to the idea of saying goodbye. Like it or not, so would they.

• • •

“How about this one?” Cady held up a tiny navy blue sweater with a sailboat embroidered in the center.

“Too boyish. What if it's a girl?” Her mother tsked.

Sighing, Cady slipped the hanger back onto the rack. She shouldn't even be here. She'd already spent far too much of her precious savings on Baby Eaton. But the little squirt needed something better than a matching onesie and bib that read “I heart the Big Apple” from his or her favorite aunt.

She wouldn't be spending much time with them once she moved to the city. So the gifts she chose would say a lot about who she was, right? Did she want to be the funny aunt, who sent silly, meaningless gifts? Or did she want to be the beloved aunt, whose gift choices were thoughtful and from the heart?

A frail hand dropped onto her shoulder and Cady turned her head to smile at her own aunt. Amanda's baby shower was later this afternoon, so they'd sprung Auntie from Kittredge Manor for the day. Auntie didn't need to be in this baby boutique either. She'd worked so hard on a handmade gift for the shower.

Cady covered the old woman's hand with her own and squeezed gently. Auntie's talent with a crochet hook never ceased to amaze her. Stiff as her fingers now were, her aunt had turned a simple skein or two of yarn into a beautiful layette for the newest member of the Eaton family.

“Your mother needs to spoil her first grandchild. We'll let her have her fun now, won't we?”

“I was so excited to buy the baby his or her first New York souvenirs. I thought it might be a way for them to remember me. But now I just feel foolish. You made that gorgeous blanket, with the matching sweater and hat and booties. Mom is buying everything under the sun.”

Auntie pointed a gnarled finger to a display in the corner of the store. Cady followed with her eyes. Keepsakes, tins, albums, oh! Picture frames. They shuffled together as one, their hands still clasped, until they stood in front of the frames. She let go of her aunt's hand to pick up a sterling silver frame, flowering vines decorated the edges. In beautiful script at the bottom it read:
Only an aunt can give hugs like a mother, keep secrets like a sister, and share love like a friend.
This. This would be her gift. The photo would be their first moments together, when she finally got to hold her precious niece or nephew.

The price tag on the back made her wince. It was sterling silver, not eighteen-carat gold, for crying out loud! Cady shook her head and started to put the frame back on the shelf. Sure, it was perfect, but sometimes perfect just wasn't practical.

“Buy the frame, Cadence. You know it's exactly what you want to give.” Auntie nudged her shoulder.

“I can't justify it. It's too expensive. I'm going to need every penny I have to float me until I get a job in the city.”

“Trust me, young lady. Buy the frame. Do you honestly think I would let my favorite niece make the biggest decision of her life without helping her out?”

A mischievous smile transformed her wrinkled face and put a twinkle in eyes that had been more rheumy than clear for many years now. Cady paused, still holding the photo frame, wondering what her aunt was up to. She appeared tickled to be the bearer of a delicious secret that she wasn't quite ready to divulge.

“Fine. I'm buying the frame. But don't think I'm going to let you off the hook that easy. How are you helping me out, hmm? Are you going to carry furniture into my new apartment? Do you have contacts in the city that are going to give me a job?”

“I have an inheritance to leave that I am willing to part with now, so that I may see it enjoyed while I am still on this Earth. But if my lippy grand-niece is going to get fresh with me—”

“
You
have an inheritance?” Cady clapped a hand over her mouth the minute she'd uttered such a tactless question. She cringed as the older woman cocked her head to the side and gave her a look that showed her just how inappropriate that question was.

“I'm so sorry, Auntie. It's just that ...” She was about to put her foot in it again, she realized. “No, you're absolutely right. Why wouldn't you have some sort of nest egg? You've been an intelligent, independent woman your whole life.”

Auntie had only taught elementary school, giving piano lessons on the side to make ends meet. Maybe she was a shrewd investor? Cady bit the inside of her lip as she pondered this surprise revelation.

“And now you're sucking up. Close your mouth, child, and go buy the damned picture frame. Your mother beat you to the register.” Auntie nodded toward the counter at the front, where Cady's mother was leaning over the top, probably getting ready to deplete the shopkeeper's supply of gift boxes.