A Winning Hand

by Maria Lake

  But did she feel the same way about him? Sometimes he thought so, when he caught a glimpse of her watching him, but then she'd just get a saucy smile on her face and toss off some comment that ruined the whole thing. He thought back to when he'd caught her on the fencepost about to kiss a ranch hand. She'd claimed that Ned was nothing to her- that she'd just been looking to learn how to kiss. So, maybe that's just how she thought of him too? A man to practice her flirting with, until a suitable beau came along? Could Josie see him as a prospect, or did she only see him as her employee?

  And there was another problem. The money. If he didn't tell her about it, how could she ever accept him as a suitor? She wouldn't think that he had enough to help keep the ranch afloat. And what if he did tell her about his investments, and how he now owned a good chunk of Waring Springs? Would she marry him because she wanted him as her husband, or would she just marry him in order to save the ranch?

  The idea of them lying together as husband and wife filled his heart something fierce, but he couldn't take her in his arms and love her if she didn't feel the same way.

  He was planning on going over to Waring Springs in the morning to check on his holdings, but his first order of business involved going to go talk to the preacher. And after, he could go around to the shops in Waring Springs to see what sparkled the brightest in the jewelry store.

  It was time he had a special talk with Josie, and it was time he had it while on a bended knee.

  Chapter 21

  Josie woke up to the sound of hoof-beats riding away-- she recognized the sound of Stormy's trot.

  Sam hadn't said where he was off to, but he was a bit of a creature of habit. An early start usually meant the auction at Grove. Certainly, he couldn't have been going to Waring Springs, because he always asked her if there was anything she needed in the shops before heading there. And he most definitely hadn't asked this time.

  Well, this was it. Time to execute her poker plan. Or, at least it would be time this afternoon. It was going to be a long morning waiting until then.

  To soothe her nerves, Josie spent the morning practicing her card playing in her bedroom. Still, it didn't stop her from jumping straight up when the clock chimed two o'clock.

  It didn't take Josie long to get to Waring Springs, and she surreptitiously changed out of her rough riding clothes in the ladies powder room at the hotel, just like she had two years ago.

  Only this time, Josie was immediately unhappy with her appearance. The dress she had chosen was her most daring ensemble, but she had not had a chance to try the dress on at home to see how it fit. Her shape must have changed some, for the last time she had worn this dress, it had fit rather differently. Now, instead of just showing off her curves, the dress was barely containing them. Her front and hips were certainly testing the strength of the seams. And the scooped neckline was showing more than enough bosom to pass for one of the ladies working in and out of the rooms upstairs at the Holiday Saloon. If Mrs. Martin saw her in this, she'd huff and puff and send her back to her room to change. Only Josie didn't have another dress on hand to change into. She wouldn't be able to carry out her plan today unless she did it wearing this dress. Well, Josie thought, taking a deep breath, she had wanted to wear something that would distract her opponents in the card game, and if this didn't distract them, nothing would.

  Holding her chin up, Josie walked down the street to the Holiday Saloon, trying to keep her cheeks from blazing as all sorts of men gave her hoots and hollers, and more than a few tried to catch her about her waist as they leaned in with leering suggestions. Luckily she was stronger than they expected from someone in a dress, and was soon able to arrive at the Holiday Saloon.

  Chapter 22

  Was it just her nerves, or did the entire Saloon go quiet as soon as she walked through the swinging double doors?

  A man came over to her with such a smirk on his face that she knew he was going to ask her something very improper. Before she gave him the chance, she raised her voice to its loudest, and demanded to know what the entry fee was for the big game.

  “You askin' for yer old man?” A burly man asked.

  Josie shook her head. “I'm asking for myself.”

  “This here's high stakes gamblin'. You need yer buy in, but you need to be able to show you've got collateral as the stakes get raised.”

  “Collateral?” She asked blankly.

  “Well, we don't often have females playing, but we'll take things like money, property, and in certain cases, other assets,” he said, blatantly emphasizing his last word as he didn't even try to hide that he was leering down the front of her dress.

  “Well, I've brought money, and if it comes down to it, I've got ownership papers for some fine horses, and the deed for my ranch.”

  “Well then,” he said with a sweep of his hand “let's give you a seat at the table. I'm Buck Miller, by the way. Proprietor of this fine establishment.”

  The only time he took his eyes off her bosom was when he held a chair out for her to sit on, his hand not so accidentally brushing against her in the process.

  Josie tried to keep from shaking as she glanced at the other faces at the table. Her opponents were all large, thickset men, and at least two of them had nasty looking scars on their faces. She couldn't tell what any of their eyes looked like, since they clearly had interest in only two things- the cards, and raking over her mostly exposed chest.

  “Well, let their lust be their undoing,” Josie told herself, as she picked up her hand.

  Chapter 23

  “Well, I'll be,” a man with a scar running down his face said, pulling Buck Miller over to the bar. “Heard that Lanshaw gal was growing along nicely, but never expected to see her set foot in this place. And certainly not looking like this.”

  “Shouldn't have doubted me, old friend,” Buck Miller said, leaning over next to him. “I've been in this business long enough-- I've seen her shopping in town before. I can always tell their lines, no matter what kind of a get-up a female has on.”

  “Or off?”

  Buck chuckled. In a loud whisper, he said, “That gal's got to be a good player or she wouldn’t be here-- her father and grandfather certainly played a mean game. So, if you're looking for that pretty dress of hers to belong to you, it might be a long wait.”

  “It's a pain to wait. I'd rather just go upstairs with her now.”

  “Waiting'll be more than worth it in the end, don't you think? Gambling takes patience. We'll start small, and she'll win some and lose some. Then gradually we'll raise the stakes and she'll win more. She'll get a lucky streak going and then she'll be more willing to play deep.”

  “I'd like to play deep with that one. But what if she wins?”

  Buck Miller fixed his eye on his friend. “Doesn't matter how good this gal is, sooner or later she's going to get stuck with a really bad hand. Poor little thing's going to lose her shirt playing with the big boys at my Saloon.”

  “That's not all she's going to lose playing with the big boys, is it?”

  Buck Miller chuckled again. “Don't know what I'm going to do with her ranch, but already know what I'm going to do with her. Makes sense to put her to bed as quickly as possible, but dressed like that, we'll be able to get a nice little bidding war going first.” He grinned. “And I don't think we'll have too much of a drop-off in price afterward-- little thing looks to be quite a spitfire, she'll still earn me some good money after she gets broken in.”

  “You don't mind not getting first use?”

  “What would I want a virgin for?” Buck asked, before spitting on the floor. “Wouldn't mind mounting her once she's had a bit of use though.” He grinned. “By then she'll have had a feel for the rougher stuff.”

  Chapter 24

  How had this happened? Josie raised a gloved hand to her throbbing temple, trying to keep a headache from coming on. It seemed like only a few minutes ago she had been sitting pretty, and now she was in a hole so deep it was going to take more tha
n skill to get out of. She had a lucky silver charm that her daddy had given her before he died, but right now it was sadly twinkling up at her from the pile in the middle of the table. Right on top of the deed to the ranch.

  What on earth had made her agree to such high stakes?

  Right, because she'd dug herself into a hole that she couldn't see out of.

  Josie eyed her hand nervously, trying to decide her next move, when Buck Miller reached down and plucked up the deed.

  “Always wondered what it would be like to have my own ranch,” Buck said chuckling. “Ranch's in a pretty spot too. All that wide open land--”

  “You like 'em wide open,” a drunken man yelled out from across the room. “And I ain't talkin' about land!”

  Buck tipped his hat to the man. “Surely do,” he chuckled, “surely do.”

  “Might be easier gettin' your hands on other things than that land,” a skinny man said as he sauntered over to the table, his breath laced with whiskey and his eyes raking over Josie's chest.

  “What'd ya mean?” Buck demanded.

  “Don't know if this thing's proper.”

  “Sayin' this deed ain't real?”

  “Saying that I don't know if she's got the legal authority to dispose of it—what with being female and youngish looking and all. The right might not lie with her.”

  “That'd be a right shame,” Buck said, stroking his chin as he thought things over. “That'd be an awful big debt to pay off-- sure it wouldn't lie with her?”

  “Do I look like I study law? All's I know is that if she has to pay it off herself, well, can't say folks wouldn't have some interest in lying with her.”

  “Folks?”

  “Seem to be well more'n a few of us here who've had our curiosity pricked about Miss Lanshaw ever since she walked into this saloon.”

  “Your curiosity is what's pricked?” Buck laughed.

  “Badly.” The skinny man chuckled. “I got so much curiosity about this gal, it's a wonder I can walk straight. Bet I wouldn't even try to argue about the price for a tumble with a piece like that.”

  A number of men around the saloon hollered out their agreement.

  Buck smiled at her. A twisted sick smile that made Josie's skin crawl.

  “Well, there you have it, my lovely Miss Lanshaw. If we can't have the ranch, we can always have the rancher gal.”

  Josie pursed her lips as her hands balled into fists. But it was foolish to think she'd be able to defend herself against a saloon full of men. She had only one way out of this, and that was to get a winning hand-- and fast.

  “Nothing to say, Miss Lanshaw?” Buck Miller taunted her. “Careful, a quiet gal's not going to fetch as much, and you should be real mindful of that. Even at top dollar, it'd take you years to pay back what you owe me.”

  “That's only if I lose,” Josie said defiantly, her eyes blazing with rage, “and unless you're changing the rules of the game, I've still got time to turn things around.”

  “That's the spirit,” Buck said, laughing. “Nice and saucy. That's how a gal fetches a good price around here.”

  But as fierce as she'd managed to sound, Josie was secretly quaking inside. What she wouldn’t give right now for Sam to come striding into the saloon. Even if it meant a trip across his knee. And she couldn't say she wouldn't deserve it. How foolish she had been!

  Chapter 25

  Sam smiled proudly as Nicholas Parker put the ring into a little box and tied it up with a bow. Mr. Parker assured him it was the best quality that he carried. Certainly it was the sparkliest of the bunch.

  “Anything else I can help you with today?” Mr. Parker asked.

  “I'll take a set of matched gold bands too.”

  “Sure you don't want to come back with the little lady first to make sure they fit?”

  “I can always do that afterward. No time to waste.”

  “That so?”

  “Already been to see the preacher. Expect I'll be a married man soon.”

  “Well, I'll be! She isn't--?”

  Sam narrowed his eyes. “No dirty linen here. I'm ready to start a family, but I'm not one to put the cart before the horse.”

  “Sorry,” Mr. Parker said sheepishly, “just seems sudden.”

  “After all these years? And she only recently came out of mourning-- wouldn’t have felt right proposing before.”

  “And when the old man was still alive?”

  “She was of age, but still needed some growing up.”

  “So her father wouldn't have approved?”

  “She was near twenty when he passed. Said knowing I'd be there to take care of her was the only way he could pass into the next world in peace.”

  “Better not share that story around my wife or she'll wind up blubbering all over you.”

  “Thanks for the warning,” Sam said.

  “My congratulations to your bride, she couldn't ask for a better man.”

  “That's one way to get my future business.”

  Mr. Parker smiled. “Wives like to look pretty.”

  “And if mine wants a necklace, I know where to go for it.” Sam grinned. Josie would look pretty in a sparkly necklace, especially the long kind that dipped down the front of a ladies dress and... he coughed. It was hard to keep from getting worked up over where that necklace would be nestled.

  His shopping done, Sam was eager to get back to the ranch and propose, but just as he was about to unhitch his horse, George Burke spotted him.

  “Well, if it isn't my favorite landlord,” Burke said, giving him a hearty clap on the back. Surprisingly, his cheer faded fast, his goodhearted smile turning into a pronounced frown.

  “All good at the hotel?”

  “That train,” he said, shaking his head. “A real wonder. Scarcely a day goes by where we aren't full up or nearly so.”

  “If things are going that well, I expect to see more of a smile on your face.”

  Burke attempted a grin, but then his face drooped back down. “You're a good man, Sam, and I've never been one for gossip, but I'm afraid I've bad news for you.”

  “Going to be hard for you to claim you can't make rent if business is booming--”

  “It isn't that. I-I'm afraid that Old Lanshaw's daughter, the gal you work for-- it looks like she's taken up work all of a sudden.”

  “Work? You mean the ranch? I help her with--”

  “N-no, not her late father's ranch. I mean the kind of profession that's, er--” Burke tugged at his shirt collar, and shifted his feet. He couldn't look Sam in the eyes.

  “What kind of profession, Burke?”

  “The kind that's as old as they come,” Burke croaked in a hoarse whisper.

  “That's the dirtiest, rottenest lie I've ever heard,” Sam thundered. “That you'd believe something like that and then have the gall to say it to me--”

  “I wouldn’t have believed it myself if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes. I'd just come into the hotel myself when I saw a female swanning out of it in a dress that made it quite obvious what she had on offer.” Burke waved his hand in imitation of her shape. “That's not our clientele at the hotel, so I immediately caught the bellhop and demanded to know what a female like that was doing in a respectable hotel like ours.”

  “Well?”

  “He said it was Miss Lanshaw, and that she'd arrived in trousers asking to use the powder room. Next thing he knew, she was all got out in that dress. He was as shocked as I was.”

  “Well, didn't you bother to do anything about it?”

  “By the time I was done questioning the Bellhop, she wasn't in the hotel no more. We both stepped out of the hotel looking for her.”

  “And?”

  “She was already turning down Pointer Lane.”

  Sam grunted and said something harsh under his breath. “Why didn't you run down there and stop her?”

  “Look at me, Sam. I'm nearly fifty, and I couldn't have won a fistfight when I was even half my age, and that bellhop is a sixteen year
old string-bean. If she was headed down Pointer, then sure enough she was heading to the Holiday Saloon. You know what sort that place gets- those men aren't just brawlers, they tend to carry matching six shooters.”

  “So, you weren't going to do anything?”

  “I set the bellhop on a horse with directions to your ranch. When I first saw you I thought you must have ridden to beat the devil to get here that fast, but then I realized even the best rider couldn't have made it here that quickly.”

  “Well, then how long has she been at the Saloon?”

  “I'd reckon an hour or so.”

  Sam's hands balled into fists. An hour. Did they go through any preliminaries first? An hour would be more than enough time for a man to-- Sam felt his jaw clench. Who was he kidding? If there was no romance involved, an hour could have meant more than one man.

  Was this her first time at the Saloon? If it wasn't, how long had she been doing this? Did she think it was her only way to get money for the ranch?

  And what was he going to do about it?

  When Josie's father died, her Aunt and Uncle sent her a letter inviting her down to Virginia to live with them. She'd hated the idea of having to leave the ranch.

  “Aunt wants to send me to a finishing school,” Josie'd said, clearly horrified at the thought. “She'll have me dress in flouncy things and marry me off to some Southern gentleman.”

  “Is that such a bad thing?” He'd asked.

  “That isn't who I am.”

  “Then let me write to your uncle,” he'd said. He'd been honest in his letter, explaining the situation and her father's wishes, and that he would look after her and intended to offer for her once her mourning was over. And he explained that everything would be proper- that he lived in one of the outbuildings, and that she would continue to live in the main house with Mrs. Martin, the widowed lady who cooked and cared for the house.