Page 6 of A Groom for Millie
There wasn’t much to do in Flat River; so, there were a lot of cowboys with money burning a hole in their pocket. Robert found it easy enough to talk the cowboys into a game of poker or Three-card Monte.
That was how he found himself sitting here with four men he recognized from Kansas City, and the dealer.
It was funny how these men showed up in the same towns Robert did. It was almost as if they were following him. They would share a few hands of cards and then go their separate ways. Sometimes they won, sometimes they lost, but the pots were never big enough for Robert to worry about.
But tonight, the game had taken a different turn. One of the men was on a mission to take Robert for everything he had.
Robert snapped his cards closed and placed his hand face down on the table, with his palm resting over the cards. Glancing at the four other men sitting around the table he could tell that three were holding garbage and the fourth one stared at him with a steely gaze.
Bart Carson.
Robert had been playing poker with Bart since he arrived in town three days prior. The other three men were the Myron brothers – Cedric, Victor, and Ben. They were young cowboys and Robert enjoyed bilking them out of their hard-earned pay. Right now, nearly forty dollars was sitting in the middle of the table.
Rob glanced at his opponent. Bart curled back his lips and spit a stream of brown tobacco juice into the spittoon at his feet. He slapped a card on the table.
“One,” he growled.
The dealer flicked a card in front of Ben. The other men took between three to four cards each.
“What’ll it be, Taylor?” the dealer asked.
Rob fanned out the cards once more and looked at them. Picking out two, he tossed them in the pile of discarded cards. “Just two.”
The dealer nodded, picked up the cards, and dealt two cards in front of Robert.
Robert picked up the cards and added them to the rest in his hand. Fanning them once more, he quickly snapped the hand shut and put the cards face down on the table.
An ace of clubs and a two of hearts.
At least the deuces were wild.
Robert flicked a chip on top of the pile in the center of the table.
“I’m out,” Ben said, folding his cards on the table.
“Me too,” Cedric said.
Victor Myron tossed a chip in the pile. “I call.”
“That leaves you, Carson,” Robert said, his hand over his cards.
Bart lifted a glass of whiskey and tossed it back in one gulp. He closed his eyes briefly. Releasing a breath, he wiped his lips on the back of his sleeve before putting the glass back on the table. “I’ll see your $10 and raise you fifty.” Bart tossed the chips in the pile and looked at Robert with a grin.
He could see the tobacco gathering between Bart’s teeth. He turned his eyes as not to retch.
Robert turned to Victor. “You still in?”
Victor tossed his cards on the table. “I fold. This is getting too rich for my tastes.” Victor signaled to his brothers. “Let’s go get a beer.”
Robert watched the three brothers go to the bar before turning back to the man sitting across from him. He tossed three chips into the pile. “Let’s make this interesting. I’ll raise you $100.”
The man’s eyes went wide, and his hand scrambled for the glass. Lifting it, he found it empty and slammed it back down on the table. “Whiskey!” he yelled towards the bar. The bartender scrambled from behind the bar and ran over with a bottle, placing it next to the empty glass.
Bart lifted the bottle, pulling the cork out with his teeth. He filled the glass and lifted the bottle towards Robert. “You want some?” he asked around the cork.
Robert shook his head. There was one thing he didn’t do and that was drink while playing cards. He wanted to keep his wits about him, especially when playing against people like Bart Carson. Bart pushed the cork back in the glass decanter and placed it on the table with a thud. Robert watched as the amber-colored liquid sloshed over the glass rim.
Bart raised his glass to Robert in mock salute and downed the dark liquid. When he was done, Bart closed his eyes and rested his cheek on the glass edge.
