The Gamble

by Alice Ward

  “Honey,” my mom said, pushing her food away. “I think we should talk.”

  “Okay,” I said, moving closer to her bed. “What is it?”

  “I think it might be time for me to live somewhere safer.” She pressed her fingers to her head. “This fall. This accident. It’s scary.”

  “It is,” I said with a nod. “Which is why I thought I might move in with you.”

  Her forehead creased into a frown. “No. You have your own life, and I’m not letting you give it up. A home would be best.”

  “The doctor said the same thing,” I sighed. “The truth is, we’ve talked about this before. Just a few weeks ago actually. I’ve been looking at some places, and the doctor thinks he could get us a deal.”

  “That’s great,” she said. She tried to smile, but I could tell she was upset.

  “I just hate the idea of you being alone,” I said sadly. “I can’t stand the thought that something else might happen to you.”

  “I won’t be alone,” she said. She took my hand and squeezed. “Those places have nurses and staff members that are always on call. If anything, I’ll get annoyed by all the company.”

  I laughed and tried to keep myself from crying. She was right. I knew that, but it was still hard to admit. All my talk about putting her in a home had been bravado. Now that it was finally time to move forward with the plan, I couldn’t do it.

  “I’ll be okay,” she promised. “I will.”

  I swiped at a tear. “I know. I know you will.”

  It was strange how clear my mother was thinking. She seemed to be more herself than usual. As she laid in that hospital bed, her eyes were steady, and her voice didn’t waver once. It was just further proof that she was right.

  “Why are you sad?” she asked.

  “I just don’t want to put you in a—”

  “No,” she said with a frown. “That’s not it. What else is wrong?”

  I looked at her and blinked slowly. She could always read me too well. My thoughts turned immediately toward Talen, but I wasn’t ready to tell her about him yet. I wasn’t sure I would ever be.

  “Nothing at all,” I said. “Nothing else is wrong.”

  To avoid having to talk anymore, I pulled out my phone and logged into my banking app. I was curious if Talen put the money in like he promised. Once the app loaded, I was shocked to see that he had. It wasn’t just the money we agreed to though. It was more. Much, much more.

  One million dollars.

  “We have the money for the home. Or for me to stay with you. I can—”

  She squeezed my hand. “Let’s do the home, honey. It’s my choice and that’s what I want.”

  “Are you sure? I could pay to have a nurse live with you if—”

  “Shady Pines,” Mom said, and I looked at her in surprise. “When I was first diagnosed, I toured different facilities. Shady Pines was my favorite.”

  I smiled for the first time. “It’s my favorite too, and Dr. Talbot agrees.”

  She frowned. “It’s very expensive though. I—”

  “Paintings,” I blurted. “I sold a bunch of my paintings and we don’t have to worry about money anymore.”

  Her eyes widened. “Really?”

  I squeezed her hand, hoping she could forgive me for the lie. “Really.”

  Relief was like a living thing as it washed over her precious face. “Then let me go there. They have these floors…”

  I listened to her tell me all the reasons she liked the place, my heart lightening a little with each word. She even had two friends who lived there now and was excited to be able to see them every day.

  Thank you, Talen.

  As angry as I’d been at him earlier, I was even more grateful to him now.

  I watched Mom eat more of her breakfast. It was like this new decision had been a relief to her too. As she grew sleepy again, I told her, “Get some more rest. I’m going to find the doctor and start getting everything set up for you.”

  Her eyes closed but opened again. “Please tell me what else is wrong with you.”

  A fist squeezed my heart. “Everything else is perfect.” My fingers went to my left hand before I remembered I’d stuffed the rings into my pocket yesterday.

  “Okay.” She didn’t look convinced but appeared too tired to argue as her eyes slowly closed.

  As I left, I knew she didn’t believe my lie. She could always see right through me. She knew something else was bothering me, and it was. Talen had been occupying my mind more often than I liked. Despite worrying about my mom, I couldn’t seem to keep him out of my head. I replayed our last conversation so many times that I thought I was going to drive myself insane.

  Part of me really thought I did the right thing. He let his father trash talk me. He didn’t say a single word in my defense. He wasn’t the man I thought he was. And still, he came to the hospital. He showed up not long after I did, and he wanted to wait with me, but I sent him away.

  Maybe I was the cold and heartless one.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

  Talen

  I hadn’t spoken to Dani since she kicked me out of the hospital. I thought about calling, if only to check on her mom, but I couldn’t bring myself to pick up the phone. She had been scared when I left her that day. I could see it in her eyes. She was terrified that her mother might die, and I didn’t help her through it. She told me to leave, and I listened. She said she didn’t care about me, and I believed her.

  Still, I wasn’t angry. I put enough money in her account to make sure she’d always be taken care of, and I moved forward with the annulment. I had the papers ready, but I hadn’t sign them yet. I couldn’t. Not yet. Not then. Instead, I held onto them and hoped that I might hear from Dani again. I hoped she would reach out and tell me what happened with her mom. She never did, and I couldn’t blame her. I screwed up that day with my father. I had the chance to defend Dani, and I let it pass me by. I spoke up too late, after she was already gone.

  For days, I felt weak and hopeless. I lost Dani, and I lost my place in the company, all in the same day. My life had never felt more pointless than it did that week. I spent all of Tuesday and Wednesday sitting in my apartment alone. It wasn’t until Thursday afternoon that I finally dragged myself out of bed and drank a tall glass of water. My throat was painfully dry, and my stomach empty as a pit. The water hit me like a rock, but I drank it all.

  When I was done, I forced myself to eat. It didn’t taste good, but I needed food. As much as I missed Dani, I couldn’t just let my depression swallow me whole. If I did, there would be no point to anything ever again. I still had a life. Friends. My mom. There were still people who counted on me to be Talen Gaston. As I remembered this, my mind turned immediately to Brandon. I hadn’t seen him since our boat ride when he called Dani a hooker. I was still mad at him for it, but I didn’t care anymore. I would have to let go of my anger, because I needed a friend. I needed him.

  I picked up my phone and dialed his number. He answered on the third ring. His voice sounded hoarse and exhausted. I knew he’d been drinking. I could always tell from the way he answered the phone if he had a hangover or if he was still drunk. Both were good signs to me that morning. The only thing I wanted to do was run away from my life. I wanted to party and forget all about Dani and my epic failures.

  “Want to go grab a steak?” I asked by way of hello. “Tonight.”

  “You don’t have to tell me twice,” he said. “I’ll pick you up at seven.”

  “Great,” I said and hung up.

  I wasn’t in the mood for small talk. All I wanted was to make a plan and stick to it. I still had hours before Brandon would be here. I thought about going back to sleep, but I’d been sleeping for days, and it was the last thing I wanted to do. I showered and got dressed, determined to keep myself upright until the night began.

  When Brandon finally arrived in a limo, I was more than ready to escape my apartment. Brandon brought two bottles of whiskey, and I brought my
own bottle of tequila. I’d sworn off tequila so many times before, especially after my drunken marriage to Dani. That night though, I didn’t care. It felt amazing as it burned a path down my throat to my stomach. It was like it was burning away all my sadness and every bit of my depression. I used it to drown out thoughts of Dani and to numb my heart and my brain.

  It didn’t work.

  After the steak dinner, I was ready to head home, but Brandon had something else in mind. When the limo pulled up to the same strip club where I’d met Dani, I immediately said, “Hell, no.”

  Brandon just opened the door. “Come on. I have a surprise for you.” When I didn’t budge, he gave me a serious look. “Please.”

  He seemed different too. We’d both been drinking, but neither of us was drunk, which was unusual for us both. He also seemed more focused, intent even.

  “Five minutes,” I finally said, and Brandon gave me a solemn nod of agreement.

  When we stepped inside the strip club, it felt like a punch in the gut. My eyes moved immediately to the bar where Dani and I talked that night. I could almost see her, sitting there waiting for me.

  But it was all just in my head. Dani wasn’t there, and she never would be again. I’d seen the last of her at the hospital. The thought brought tears to my eyes, but I shoved them away. I ordered myself a drink and downed it fast.

  “I’m ready to go,” I said, still standing, but Brandon just shook his head.

  “What you’re ready for is…” he looked around then smiled when a gorgeous stripper came up and stood beside him, “this.”

  Why did she look familiar?

  “Come with me,” she said, her face serious, not the normally flirty stripper expression I was used to.

  The only place I was going was home. “There’s been some mistake,” I began, then her hand came down on my arm.

  “Please… I need to talk to you.”

  Something in her eyes told me I wanted to listen to what she had to say. “Five minutes.” It was becoming a mantra of sorts.

  She nodded and led me through the strip club toward a back hallway. Inside the dark hall, she pushed me into an abandoned room. There was a lone couch, but I stayed on my feet, my arms crossed over my chest.

  “Dani is my best friend.”

  I was immediately alert, totally focused on the barely clad woman in front of me. “Seriously?”

  “Yes, seriously. My name is Madison. Dani Brooks is my best friend. I’m the reason she was at this club on the night you two met. We’ve been best friends since we were kids.”

  “Then you know how badly I’ve screwed this up.” It wasn’t a question.

  She nodded. “Yes.”

  It was like a punch to the gut. “And you know how much she hates me.”

  She stopped nodding. “No. That isn’t true. She doesn’t hate you,” Madison said softly. “I promise, she does not hate you.”

  I remembered the cold look in Dani’s eyes. “She said as much.”

  “But she didn’t mean it,” Madison insisted. “Listen, she was terrified that her mom was going to die, okay? I’ve talked to her. She told me everything. Trust me, she doesn’t hate you. She was just scared, and she lashed out.”

  I looked into Madison’s compassion-filled eyes. “So…?”

  “Talk to her,” she said. “She’s miserable and thinks you hate her too.”

  My heart squeezed. “I don’t.”

  She smiled. “I know. Brandon told me everything.”

  My eyes narrowed. “Yeah, about that. How did you and Brandon get to know each other?”

  She lifted a shoulder and a soft grin appeared on her face. “He looked me up, trying to figure out a way to make things right for you two.”

  I was stunned. “Seriously?”

  “Yep. Seriously. So we’ve been talking and…” She lifted her shoulder again, the smile still playing on her lips.

  Madison really was beautiful, and it seemed like Brandon and I had some additional talking to do. But not right now. Right now, I needed to know more about my wife.

  “What should I do?” I asked her and sank down onto the couch, then popped right back up, remembering where I was.

  Madison sighed. “Talk to her. Talen, I don’t know you, but I do know Dani. She really, really cares about you. And she misses you. She was just scared that you didn’t feel the same way about her. She thought that you were only using her for your company. She had no idea that you had truly grown to care for her too.”

  “But I do. I really, really do.”

  “I know,” Madison said. She put her hand on my shoulder and patted it comfortingly. It was then that I realized just how strange this all was. I was in a back room with a barely dressed stripper who was my fake wife’s best friend.

  “I need to get her back.”

  Madison nodded and a grin appeared. “I have a plan.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

  Dani

  Friday finally arrived, and with it, came my art show. I’d dropped all my pieces off at the gallery the night before. The owner agreed to let me set everything up. She knew it was important to me and that I was nervous. When I arrived two hours early, I immediately began to place my paintings strategically around the room. There wasn’t a real rhythm to them. I simply laid them out in the order that I’d painted them. It was like my own personal, emotional timeline. It started with my breakup with Perry and ended with my mother being admitted to the hospital. The paintings told a story that only I could understand.

  I was scared no one else would see the emotions in them. My biggest fear was that everyone would simply look at them and turn away. After all, at my last show, I’d only sold the one painting. My work hadn’t been enough to draw people in. They weren’t captivated or inspired. They weren’t intrigued or riveted. In fact, most of them were barely interested at all. They simply looked at the art, drank the wine, and left without a word. No matter how encouraging the gallery owner had been, I was scared that this would be a repeat of that night. I wasn’t sure I would be able to handle another failure.

  After everything that happened with my mom and with Talen, my emotions were already on edge. I felt like I was one second away from a total breakdown. My mind was constantly racing between thoughts of them both. I thought about Talen every day, every hour. He crossed my mind at the most inopportune times, and there was nothing I could do to stop it. His face floated across my brain. He was already latched so tightly around my heart that I couldn’t shake him. Despite my desperation to do just that, he clung to me tightly.

  All my paintings were in place except for one — the painting I did of Talen. I wasn’t sure where to put it in the timeline or if I should even put it out at all. When I placed it in chronological order, it didn’t feel right. He felt misplaced, like it was too early in the lineup. The only place it made sense was at the very end, right by the front door. The thought of placing it there made my nerves spark violently. In that position, it would be the first and last painting everybody saw. I wasn’t sure I was ready for that, to let every guest know how I felt about this man they didn’t know.

  In the end, I decided to put it out. My life had spun so far out of control over the last month that I felt like I was floundering. There was only one thing I could control, one thing that was still within my power. My work. My art. My paintings. So, I placed the painting proudly and told myself it would be okay. This wasn’t the time to play it safe or hide from my emotions. If I was going to be successful, I had to throw everything into this show. I couldn’t hold anything back. And I didn’t.

  The doors opened, and the place immediately flooded with guests. I began to relax as the compliments flowed in. I mingled as best as I could and was kept so busy that I didn’t have a chance to check on the sell sheet. Two hours into the show, I didn’t know if a single painting had sold, but I didn’t care. For the first time in my life, I didn’t have to worry about every dollar and I could focus on enjoying my guests. They were pleasant an
d positive. Just hearing their compliments was enough to fill me with a sense of pride and accomplishment that I hadn’t felt in years.

  “Hey, there.” I spun around to see Madison behind me, a wide smile on her face.

  “You made it,” I gushed, throwing my arms around her. “I’m so glad you’re here.”

  She hugged me tight. “Have I ever missed one of your shows?”

  I kissed her cheek. “No, and that’s why I love you.”

  “Dani, this is amazing,” Madison said, looking around in awe. “I know I say that every time, but I actually mean it now. These paintings are so real. I’ve never seen you do something like this before.”

  “I just decided to go for it,” I admitted. “Jump in with both feet and see what happens, you know? I’m scared to death, but everyone seems to love them.”

  “Because they’re great,” Madison said. “I mean, this is your best work yet. Seriously.”

  Tears burned the backs of my eyes. “Thank you.”

  “I especially like the painting by the front door,” Madison said with a sly grin.

  “Don’t…” I warned. “I don’t want to talk about him right now.”

  “Dani,” she began, but I cut her off with a raised hand.

  “Not tonight, okay?” I begged. “I just want this show to go well. Thinking about Talen will only upset me.”

  She lifted a brow. “Why?”

  “Because I blew it with him,” I said, my heart aching. “Remember? The way I treated him at the hospital was so horrible. He’ll never forgive me for that. No one would.”

  Madison smiled sympathetically and glanced behind me. I watched as her face lit up. When she looked back at me, her eyes were wide, her grin growing even wider.

  “I don’t think you blew it, Dani,” she said and looked pointedly over my shoulder.

  When I turned around, Talen was standing by the front door, staring at the painting of himself. My stomach felt heavy as I watched him. He hadn’t seen me yet, and I wasn’t sure I wanted him to. I didn’t know if I could face him or what I would say. Worse still, I had no idea how to explain that painting. There was so much emotion in it, so many feelings that I couldn’t even begin to put them into words. I was scared it would frighten him away, that he would turn around and run.