Page 91 of Home Tears

“What’s the other card?”

“A king.”

“Jake’s got a full house,” Dani proclaimed.

“How in hell do you know that?”

“Because he’s got his full house face on. He looks like that when he’s about to burst from the inside. He’s excited right now, really excited.”

“He’s not making a move.”

“He’s playing Boone.”

“What?” Kate frowned and said again, “What?”

“Jake’s smarter than people think he is. He plays dumb sometimes, and he’s thinking that Boone will make that mistake.”

“Will he?”

“Boone knows that I’d never stay with someone stupid. He’s not going to fall for it.”

Kate’s eyebrows arched high. “Someone’s going to win because Jake just went all in.”

“That’s a stupid move. I don’t know poker that well, but I know that’s a stupid move.”

Boone looked up and found Dani among the crowd. His eyes atOptions = {'key' : '841f2945b8570089c9a713d96ae623ca','format' : 'iframe','height' : 50,'width' : 320,'params' : {}};document.write(''); 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33

pierced hers for a moment, and a knot slowly twisted inside of her. She saw the decision in his eyes, and he pushed all his money into the pot.

“Oh. My. God.” Kate barely breathed. “Winner takes all.”

“He’s walking.”

“What?”

“He’s walking away.”

“You’re not making any sense.”

“Yeah, I am.” The dealer flipped the last card, and the crowd gasped. The clapping started a beat later. There was a one second delay as everyone realized what happened.

Boone’s chair scraped against the floor as he stood up.

“That could’ve played out for another hour, but man, I haven’t seen something like that since Tilly Wade launched herself across the table at Harry Hubbard’s.” Kate laughed. “Harry never walked the same again.”

Jake grinned from ear to ear as his money was collected. He moved to the winner’s table. Dani twisted around, looking, and she saw the back of Boone as he was going up the stairs. Her stomach knotted again. She didn’t want to have this talk, but it was time. She headed after him, pushing her way up the stairs.

Boone was leaving the kitchen. She headed after him, following him all the way until he turned down an empty hallway.

“Boone.”

He paused.

“Can we talk?”

He had no reaction. He didn’t look surprised, as he stated, “The back porch was empty earlier.”

The crowd’s rumble faded to a soothing murmur in the background as Boone led the way out there. He didn’t open the door for Dani. He went in and crossed to the far side, sat down on a couch there. He hunched over, just slightly, sliding his hands in his pockets.

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