Page 110 of Win Some Love Some
“It appears we’re doing both,” Mal said drolly. “The blinds are a dollar and fifty cents, gentlemen.”
I sat down and tossed my blind in without even looking at my cards. I was in the mood to take a few risks.
“So, Nick,” Fiona asked me. “How did you like Nora’s dress that she bought for the wedding? I understand you accompanied her.”
I looked up, trying to read her face. Was this her way of saying she saw the video? But her expression was carefully blank. Around her, everyone else was staring at their cards.
“The dress was nice. She looked beautiful.”
“Nice?” Roy barked. “There wasn’t enough material on the damn thing for it to warrant an adjective.”
“I wasn’t asking you how you liked it,” Fiona said to Roy. “I wanted to get Nick’s opinion.”
“Nick shouldn’t have an opinion on what Nora wears,” Roy grunted. “Raise. Two dollars.”
“I call the two dollars.” I tossed in my chips.
“Fold,” Wyatt announced. “This food,” he said, pointing to the table behind him filled with snacks. “Can I just…”
“Help yourself,” Mal said and Wyatt beelined for the buffet.
“I don’t know,” Bobby said with a smile around his lips as he peeked down at his two cards. “I’m pretty sure Nick was fairly interested in those color contact lenses Nora was wearing the other night. I’ll call.”
Under the table I tried to kick Bobby. “Ouch,” Matt Sullivan said.
“Sorry,” I said.
“Nora doesn’t wear contacts,” Roy said.
“They’re from Paris,” Bobby smiled and wiggled his eyebrows. “You know…French.”
I glared Bobby into silence.
“And here comes flop, everyone. Good luck,” Mal said, thankfully distracting Roy from Bobby’s nonsense.
Maybe this was a bad idea. Playing this Nora’s way made me feel like I was lying to everyone, especially Roy, and I hated it. More than that, it made it seem like I was ashamed of us. Like we were doing something wrong, when it finally felt like we were doing something right.
“I’m going to grab a beer,” Matt announced. “Can I get anyone anything?”
“I’ll take a beer,” Wyatt said with a finger raised. “Also, Sydney wanted to know if it was possible while she was in town to get an autograph from your wife. She’s a huge Carrie Piedmont-Sullivan fan.”
“Sure. As long as Carrie gets one of her guitar picks,” Matt said and headed off in the direction of the kitchen.
“Seems like our small town is filled with famous people these days,” Mal said. “Actresses, singers, hockey stars and…people who go viral on the internet.”
My eyes met Mal’s, but he had a legendary poker face.
“Nora doesn’t do that anymore,” Roy said. “I’ll check.”
I knocked on the table twice to indicate I was also checking.
“Oh, I’m not talking about Nora,” Mal said with a knowing smirk. Oh shit. “Although I do miss her videos wandering through the streets of Paris. She always found the most delightful out of the way spots. I’m taking Jolie back there for our anniversary and I’d like to ask Nora for some recommendations, but I don’t want to bring up bad memories.”
“Smart,” Roy said, and at the same time I said, “She’d love that.”
“What?” I said to Roy. “She would. She likes helping people and Paris didn’t hurt her, that asshole did.”
“And the internet,” Fiona said. “All those people she thought were fans turned on her so fast.”
