The Gamble

by Kristen Ashley

  I started, tore my eyes from the photo and looked at Becca. “I’m sorry?”

  Becca’s gaze came to my face. “Prettiest eyes, Max said it too.”

  I blinked and felt my eyebrows go up just as I felt a pleasant warmth wash through me.

  “I’m sorry?” I repeated.

  “Max said you’ve got the prettiest eyes he’s ever seen.”

  Oh my God.

  “He said that?” I whispered and Becca grinned.

  “Yeah, the other day, when, um…” Her gaze slid to Mindy who was listening then came back to me. “He said it the other day when we were talkin’ ‘bout you. He said you were cute when you were pissed and you’ve got the prettiest eyes he’d ever seen.”

  Oh. My. God.

  I looked back to the photo and examined, for the first time in my life with any great attention, my eyes. You couldn’t see it really in the photo but I knew they were deep set and hazel, more brown than green. I’d never thought much of them except wishing they were bigger, wider so I could use more flair with eye shadow and, even focusing on them, I didn’t think much of them now.

  “You do have really pretty eyes,” Mindy said to me softly. “I noticed them right off the bat.”

  “I… they’re… um…” I stammered.

  “Really unusual, striking, eye-catching, no pun intended,” Becca said on a grin.

  “Can I have a copy of that photo?” Mindy asked, still speaking softly and I looked closely at her.

  She was gazing at the photo and her face was soft like her voice.

  “Sure, darling,” I said softly back and her eyes skittered to me.

  “Thanks,” she whispered.

  I walked to the counter, handed my memory card to the clerk as well as the photo and asked for another copy.

  Then I turned to Mindy and told her, “Best part about it, outside the view, is that Jimmy Cotton took it.”

  “Jimmy Cotton does not take snapshots,” the clerk said to me, his voice filled with unmistakable outrage.

  I turned back to him, surprised at his entry into our conversation and the tone of it, and asked, “I’m sorry?”

  “Jimmy Cotton…” he waved my photo at me, “does not take snapshots.” He indicated the walls of his shop with a wave of his hand. “He’s a master.”

  “Yes, I agree, but he happened onto us at the bluff yesterday and he took our photo.”

  “With a digital camera?” the clerk shot back, now his tone was filled with derision as if digital cameras were the invention of the devil.

  “Um…” I looked at the memory card then answered, “yes.”

  “Jimmy doesn’t do digital.”

  “Um…” I started but I heard Mindy whisper from beside me. “The bluff?”

  I turned to her and said, “Yes.”

  She snatched the photo out of the clerk’s hand and looked closely at it.

  “God, I was lookin’ at you and Max, I didn’t notice you were at the bluff.”

  “We were. Max took me there yesterday,” I said and her eyes moved quickly to me.

  Then she breathed, “Wow.”

  “Sorry?”

  “Wow,” she said louder.

  “Wow, what?”

  “Wow, Max took you to the bluff.” The strange wonder slid out of her face and it brightened then she smiled, blinding and huge. “He took you to the bluff.”

  “Yes,” I said, drawing out the word because I was confused.

  “What’s the big deal?” Becca asked, getting close.

  “The bluff is Max’s favorite place in the world,” Mindy answered.

  “He seemed rather fond of it,” I remarked and Mindy giggled.

  “Yeah, you could say he’s ‘rather fond of it’,” Mindy replied through her continuing giggles. “Brody told me he’s seriously rather fond of it. It’s his special place and he doesn’t share it with just anybody. He didn’t take Brody there for years. He didn’t take me there until my sixteenth birthday and he’s known me since I was born.”

  I had the strange sensation of not getting a good feeling about this information at the same time I was getting a good feeling about it.

  “Really?” I asked.

  “Yeah,” Mindy said through a smile.

  “Wow,” Becca whispered.

  Wow was right.

  “I don’t know what to do with that information,” I told Mindy and Becca.

  “I’ll ask Brody what you should do with that information,” Mindy offered helpfully and I felt my lungs seize.

  “No, don’t do that.”

  “Oh yeah, do that,” Becca encouraged. “I wanna know too.”

  “No, don’t,” I repeated.

  “You gotta,” Becca said. “This could be huge.”

  “Yeah,” Mindy’s eyes were bright with excitement and happiness. “Lovin’ this, Brody’ll love it too.” Her bright, happy eyes came to me. “Maybe even enough to come home and check you out.”

  This was a nightmare.

  “Um… that kind of scares me,” I told her and she laughed, linked her arm with mine and put her forehead to my shoulder.

  “My big bro is cool, you’ll adore him. He’s awesome,” she said when she lifted her head.

  I looked into her carefree eyes and I didn’t have the heart to burst her bubble.

  “Brilliant,” I muttered and she grinned.

  “That’ll be a quarter,” the clerk said from behind us, waving the print.

  “A quarter for a Jimmy Cotton print? Bargain!” Becca exclaimed, I thought mostly to annoy the clerk.

  If this was her intention, she succeeded magnificently and the three of us walked out of the shop together under the weight of his irate scowl, Becca and Mindy gulping back giggles.

  Me?

  I found it funny, their giggles were infectious and I definitely laughed.

  That didn’t mean I wasn’t quaking in my boots.

  * * * * *

  We were sitting at a red and white checked table clothed table in the center of which was an enormous pepperoni and mushroom pizza that a family of five could assist us with consuming and everyone would be sated when Mindy started the conversation.

  “Okay, it’s none of my business, really, but it kind of is because I’ve known Max since I was born.”

  I looked at her around my beer knowing I wasn’t going to like this.

  I lowered my beer and asked, “What’s none of your business?”

  Her head tipped to my hand. “That diamond on your finger.”

  I was right, I didn’t like this.

  “Mindy –” I started.

  “I know you’ve known him, like, real brief, but sometimes shit happens fast when you know it’s right and you guys seem solid,” she said softly. “Still, it isn’t Max’s.”

  Max and me seemed solid? Shit happens fast when you know it’s right?

  I ignored both of those and said softly back, “No, it isn’t Max’s.”

  “So, is it an heirloom or something?” she asked and I pulled in a deep breath.

  “No,” I said on the exhale.

  “So, whose is it?” she pressed.

  I looked at Becca who had a slice of pizza in her hand, her hand to her mouth, her teeth in the slice but her eyeballs were wandering around the room looking at anything but Mindy and me and, if she didn’t have the pizza in her mouth, I knew she would have been whistling.

  Then I looked at Mindy and made a decision. “His name is Niles.”

  “Niles?” she asked and I could tell she didn’t much like his name.

  Niles was a perfectly fine name, of course, however it didn’t ring American Mountain Man like “Max” or “Brody” or “Damon”.

  “Niles,” I repeated.

  “Okay, so,” Mindy went on and I could see she was pulling up the courage to do so and I wished she wouldn’t but I understood why she did, considering it was obvious she was close to Max and cared about him. “You’re wearin’ Niles’s ring, why are you up at the A-Frame wi
th Max?”

  “It’s a long story.”

  “We got time.”

  “Mins,” Becca whispered.

  “No, it’s okay,” I said but I didn’t know why I said it since it wasn’t.

  Then suddenly it was.

  And over beer and pizza, I found myself telling two twenty-four year old girls (I’d found out their ages) everything about my life, Niles, Charlie, my timeout adventure in the mountains and my e-mail.

  I did not, however, tell them about Max.

  When I stopped speaking and grabbed another slice of pizza, Becca breathed, “Wow, you’re goin’ through a lot.”

  “Yes, that’s about it, wow,” I whispered then bit into my pizza.

  “So, you aren’t with this Niles anymore?” Mindy asked.

  I chewed, swallowed and licked my lips.

  Then I whispered, “I don’t think I’ve been with him for awhile.”

  Then I suddenly felt tears hit my eyes.

  “Oh, Nina,” Mindy whispered back, her fingers wrapping around my wrist.

  My neck twisted and I dropped my slice, Mindy’s hand went away and I took a sip of beer.

  Then I shared, “You know, the funny thing is, that part doesn’t hurt. Losing him, not at all.” My voice dropped and my eyes went between them both as I asked, “Does that make me a bad person?”

  “No,” Becca said instantly.

  “I don’t think he’s been with you for awhile either,” Mindy said and went on, “by the sounds of it.”

  I nodded my head and told her. “I’m just sad because I care about him and I don’t want him to hurt.”

  “Not sure he’ll hurt,” Becca muttered and I looked at her.

  “Sorry?”

  Becca pressed her lips together, glanced at Mindy then said to me, “He seems pretty clueless. Don’t want to sound like a bitch or anything, but, way it sounds, not sure he’ll even notice you’re gone.”

  I had to admit, this idea had merit considering I’d sent that e-mail yesterday, Niles checked his e-mail frequently and I hadn’t heard from him at all. I did tell him I’d call in a few days but I’d also broken up with him. Like Max had said, a man cares, he phones.

  And even though I said I’d call in a few days, if Niles cared I broke up with him, he’d phone, my offer to call in a few days be damned.

  Ergo, it seemed Becca was right.

  Nevertheless, I started, “He’s just –”

  “Clueless,” Mindy said firmly.

  “But –”

  “Listen, Nina,” Becca cut in, “you’re gorgeous, you’re classy, you’re sweet, you dress awesome.” She glanced again at Mindy then went on with a sageness that was beyond her years. “See it all the time, a good woman settles for somethin’ that feels good, in your case, it felt safe, but it ain’t right. This Niles guy might be a nice guy, but he ain’t right. It’s good you realized it before it was too late.”

  She’s right, Charlie said into my head and my back went straight.

  “I saw you look at me,” Mindy said to Becca and she looked somewhat peeved so I couldn’t focus on the fact that Charlie was in my head again; or on what they’d both just said to me; or on the fact that it made sense and I felt relief, deep down, to have two twenty-four year old girls I didn’t know all that well assuring me I was doing the right thing. Instead, I needed to focus on Mindy and Becca.

  “I did,” Becca said honestly to Mindy.

  “Damon’s just havin’ a rough time,” Mindy told her.

  “Yeah, you’ve said that, like, a million times,” Becca said back.

  “Well, that’s ‘cause he is,” Mindy retorted.

  “Girls,” I waded in.

  They ignored me. “For Nina, this Niles guy, he’s boring and clueless and,” she looked at me, “Nina and Niles? That doesn’t sound too good. Now, Nina and Max…” she grinned. “that goes great together.”

  “Becca,” I said but she looked back to Mindy.

  “So she said yes because she felt safe. Now she realizes safe ain’t all that. For you, Damon is hot and he’s… well, that’s about all he’s got, bein’ hot. Mostly, he’s a jerk.”

  “He isn’t a jerk,” Mindy returned.

  Becca looked at me. “He’s a jerk.”

  I didn’t know if it was the right thing to do but I decided to add, “Max doesn’t seem to care much for him.”

  “Max never likes my boyfriends, neither does Brody,” Mindy said to me.

  “Maybe because they’re all jerks?” Becca suggested.

  “They aren’t all jerks,” Mindy replied.

  Becca looked back at me. “All hot. All jerks.”

  “Looks aren’t everything,” I advised Mindy

  “Easy for you to say,” Mindy muttered. “You’ve got Max. He’s the hottest of the hot.”

  She had that right.

  “You’ll find um… hot and nice,” I encouraged, though I wasn’t certain I should. It was my experience that those two didn’t go very well together. Niles was nothing to sneeze at. In fact, he was quite good-looking if not powerfully built and amazingly attractive. He was also nice. He was just…

  Clueless.

  “Easy for you to say again,” Mindy said to me. “You’ve got Max, he’s hot and nice.”

  I suspected she had that right too, though the jury was still out on that one.

  “Mindy –” I started and she cut me off but before she did I noticed her color had gone high, the light had gone out of her eyes and her shoulders had slumped.

  I guessed this was all indicative of a “bad moment” coming on.

  “Can we not talk about this?” Mindy asked and I knew from the dead tone of her voice that I was right.

  “Girl –” Becca began but Mindy cut her off too.

  “I asked, can we not talk about this?”

  I looked at Becca who was looking at me. I tipped my head at Mindy and Becca shrugged.

  “All right, darling, we’ll not talk about this,” I said to Mindy.

  “I need a drink,” Mindy said back. “Let’s go to The Dog.”

  “We’re drinking here,” I reminded her.

  “The Dog’s more fun,” Mindy told me.

  I was supposed to be back at the Mindy-less A-Frame after dinner to meet Max. Max and his hands and his mouth and his tongue and his muscled back and amazing chest and queen-sized bed.

  “I could go to The Dog,” I decided.

  “Brill!” Becca exclaimed. “My shift starts in half an hour, we’ll get you at one of my tables, we’ll carry on girlie time even when I’m workin’.”

  “I need to call Max,” I told them, digging in my bag, looking for my phone. “Do either of you have his number?”

  “Sure,” Mindy said but I was still digging.

  Then I realized I’d left my phone on Max’s nightstand. And Niles might have called while Max was at home.

  Drat!

  I dropped my purse to hang on the chair and turned to the table. “Actually, I forgot my phone.”

  Mindy’s thumb was moving on her phone, she beeped it and handed it to me. “Use mine, should be ringing.”

  I took it, glanced at them both and muttered, “Excuse me,” before I got up and walked from the table the short distance to the lobby.

  “Yeah?” Max answered.

  “Max?”

  “Duchess?”

  “Yes.”

  “Everything okay?”

  “Um… we’re going to The Dog.”

  There was a moment of silence, loaded silence.

  Then, “What?”

  “We had a somewhat… difficult conversation at dinner. Mindy needs a drink.”

  “Mindy’s drivin’ and she’s supposed to be drivin’ you up here, she doesn’t need a drink.”

  “Trust me, Max, I think she needs a drink.”

  He was quiet a second then his voice was soft when he asked, “That bad?”

  “Not really,” I answered honestly, “just that, if we don’t do evasive man
euvering, it might get there.”

  “I need to come down?”

  All right, maybe he was nice.

  “I’ll call you if I think you should.”

  “All right, Duchess,” he replied, “and speakin’ of callin’. Your phone’s here.” I held my breath and he went on. “You got a coupla calls. The display says they’re from your Mom.”

  “Oh.”

  Mom. She knew I was here. I was supposed to call her and talk through the Niles situation. With all that went on, I forgot.

  “You want me to answer, she calls again, give her Mindy’s number?” Max offered.

  “No, that’s okay, I’ll call her tomorrow.”

  “Whatever you want, honey.”

  Yes, evidence was clearly suggesting Max was nice.

  “I better go.”

  “Yeah, you go, the new plan is you have fun, Mindy has fun, I’ll come down to pick you both up ‘round eleven. That enough time for evasive maneuvering?”

  The evidence was becoming overwhelming.

  “You don’t need to do that. I’ll stay sober and drive Mindy home.”

  “How’ll you get here?”

  “Well, I could stay with Mindy and Becca and maybe one of them will bring me back tomorrow morning.”

  His voice was different, firm to the point of being solid when he stated, “Babe, that’s not gonna happen.”

  “Max –”

  “See you at eleven.”

  “Max –”

  “Be good.”

  “Max!”

  Wasted effort to say his name, he hung up.

  I slid Mindy’s phone closed and walked back to the table.

  “Max has a new plan,” I announced when they both looked at me, I sat down and I looked at Mindy. “He wants us to have fun. He’s designated driver, picking us up at eleven.”

  “Killer!” Becca cried.

  “Cool!” Mindy cried at the same time.

  I smiled at them genuinely this time because really, if I got down to it, spending time with them, shopping at great shops, eating delicious buffalo burgers, snowmobiling, gazing at beautiful vistas, meeting Cotton and having him take my photo with Max, getting my head sorted about Niles which was a relief even if it was a sad one, my Colorado adventure might have started out terrible and was trundling along the road of deeply confusing but still, it wasn’t turning out half bad.

  * * * * *

  “Rat-arsed!” Arlene yelled through a guffaw. “That’s just screwy.”