Page 126 of The Seven Rings
Whatever he wanted to meet her about would wait, she realized. Friendly conversation first, menus, specials, ordering—which included Ace’s choice of a pull-apart cheese bread for the table.
By the time Sonya sampled her shrimp salad, she’d forgotten about the requested meeting.
He told stories that made her laugh or simply fascinated her.
“Not long after Collin took over the manor, before he’d done much clearing out or fixing up, he had a poker party. A kind of christening with cards, whiskey, and cigars. Let’s see, there was me and Deuce,your cousin Connor, Larry—that’s John Dee’s dad, retired down to Florida. Friendly game, at a table he and Deuce had hauled up and set right in the big foyer.”
The memory made him smile as he ate.
“Had a fire going in the parlor, some chips and whatnot to soak up the whiskey. Now, Collin, that boy had a good brain for business. Poole brain there. But he couldn’t play poker worth a damn.”
“More a chess man,” Sonya said.
“That’s a fact. Always thought he could bluff or draw to an inside straight. We’re playing penny ante, which was lucky for him, but on one hand, the pot got healthy, and Connor raises it, and I raise that. Had myself a pretty full house, queens over nines. And Collin’s sitting there with trash. I’m telling you, you could see it on his face. But he’s getting ready to raise again.”
He paused, tapped his napkin to his lips. “Now, he’d hauled his own stereo up to the manor. Just as he’s about to bump that pot with that trash hand, lose his shirt again, Kenny Rogers starts singing. ‘The Gambler.’”
“You’ve got to know when to hold ’em,” Cleo sang. “Know when to fold ’em.”
And Ace shot a finger at her. “That’s right. Gave every man in there a good, hard jolt. He’d hauled that stereo up to the manor, but he hadn’t set it up yet. It wasn’t even plugged in.”
“Clover.” Sonya tossed back her head and laughed. “Looking out for her boy.”
“Have to say yes. We didn’t know it then, but I know it now. Turns out Collin took his mother’s advice and folded.”
“Who won the pot?”
He grinned at Cleo. “My full house beat Connor’s heart flush. Good healthy pot, too.”
Sitting back, he sighed. “For the most part after that, Collin stuck with chess.”
“We’ll set up a poker night,” Sonya promised. “But you’ll have to deal with women at the table.”
“I never object to women at the table.” He winked at them.
“And I’m glad both of you could come, indulge me for lunch. It’s good to see friends so close. My best friend, since we were boys long ago? Oh, we got into some scrapes together over the time—and some no one, not even my own darling, knows about to this day. Best man at each other’s wedding. I went for the law, he for medicine. Joe was the village doctor for more years than I can count.
“He lost his beloved to cancer about three years back.”
“Oh.” Sonya reached over for Ace’s hand. “That’s hard.”
“For some, there really is only one. She was his. A year later, he retired, moved down to North Carolina to be closer to his youngest daughter and her family.”
“You miss him,” Cleo said.
“Like my right arm. We keep in touch. Emails, calls, even social media. His oldest lives in Bangor, so he travels up now and again, visits. Paula and I travel down once a year. But I miss having a beer with him after a long day, sitting around the poker table. I know the treasure of good friends.”
He lifted his glass. “So I know that what I wanted to talk to Sonya about, she would talk to you about, Cleo. She’d want to hear what you think. You mentioned a museum, something to hold and display the history of Poole’s Bay.”
“I did.”
“Well, I had a glimmer about that, and I gave it some thought. Talked to some people. The old school—kindergarten through eighth grade.” He flashed a grin. “One of the places Joe and I got in some scrapes.”
“Redbrick building,” Sonya said, bringing it into her mind. “On the other side of the marina. It’s on… what is it?”
“Gull Lane,” Cleo supplied.
Ace sat back. “Not only a pleasure to look at, a pleasure to talk with, but observant about where you are.”
