Savannah’s Fun Evening #2
“Yeah.” Maria had played poker with Seth and his friends many times. “I’m not that good, but I know how it works.”
“Good,” Savannah said. “We’re almost done playing pool. It’s not as boring as I thought. I’m winning.”
Maria looked around helplessly. She couldn’t get out of this.
She’d agreed to hang out with Savannah, and Tim didn’t seem to be leaving.
They’d just have to get along. She didn’t want to say anything awkward or rude in front of Savannah, and clearly the girl was excited to hang out with both of them.
“I’m gonna do my last shot,” Savannah announced. “Everybody stand still.”
She aimed the cue, tongue between her teeth in concentration, while the adults waited. She shot, sending the eight ball straight into the pocket.
“Yay!” Savannah clapped her hands. “Wasn’t that good?”
“Beautiful,” Tim said. “You’ll be a pro in no time. You’ll give Luke and Will and Danny and Blaise a run for their money.”
“Let’s play poker now,” Savannah said, dragging a silver case out of the game shelves. “I want to get good enough at all the cowboy games that I can beat everybody on the ranch.”
“That’s a tall order, sister.” Tim grinned.
This wouldn’t be so bad. If Maria and Tim focused on entertaining Savannah, the evening would be all right. Meanwhile, Maria was getting hungry. Dinner had been a while ago, and she’d been too busy talking to Jessie to eat much.
“I’m gonna bring us a snack from the kitchen,” she said. “I’ll be right back.”
“The only thing better than a regular game of poker is poker with snacks,” Tim said. “We’ll get set up.”
In the kitchen, Maria filled a sectioned serving platter.
There were little sweet pickles—somebody in this family must really like pickles, because they were always on hand—and green olives.
They had blue corn chips and thick spicy “cowboy caviar” salsa.
Better get something to have with the salsa.
Maria grabbed a jug of milk and a stack of tumblers.
It wasn’t the most conventional snack, but it should be good.
She was still missing something. Ah, dessert.
Somebody, Aunt Steph probably, had made no-bake chocolate cookies.
Maria grabbed a few of those too. Carefully, she balanced the serving platter along with the milk jug, the tumblers, and a stack of napkins.
Working at the Virginian, she’d learned how to carry a lot of things at once.
She was hailed with enthusiasm in the family room, where Savannah and Tim were stacking poker chips and brushing up on the rules. “Just the woman we wanted to see,” Tim said. “Let me get some of that from you.”
They played poker and ate snacks and joked around.
Clearly, this wasn’t Tim’s first evening hanging out with Savannah.
They had a complex secret handshake and a number of inside jokes.
To Maria, who hadn’t hung out like this in a while since her breakup had claimed most of her friends, it was a breath of fresh air.
“Savannah, I can see your cards,” Tim exclaimed. “Here. We’d better deal you a fresh hand.”
Savannah stuck out her tongue. “You probably peeked at them because you thought I had a good hand.”
Tim laughed. “Anybody can see your hand if you hold it flopped down in front of you like that. And it’s a rotten hand, anyway. Come on, you two, give me your cards, and I’ll re-deal.”
He managed Savannah so adroitly, Maria remembered he said he had a younger sister. Maybe he missed her. Maria handed over her own cards, a royal flush.
Tim grimaced. “Sorry. You would have mopped the floor with us!”
Maria laughed. “That’s all right,” she said. “I’m not too competitive with cards.”
“You don’t get a thrill from trying to beat everyone else?” Tim grinned. “Not too much like Savannah here. She’s a serious player. Real card shark.”
“I’m gonna beat you if it’s the last thing I do,” Savannah said. “He’s good,” she whispered loudly to Maria.
“I believe it,” Maria stage whispered back.
Tim pretended not to notice, getting another helping of chips and cowboy caviar. “All right. Re-deal.”
They played poker until the snacks had diminished to nearly nothing, Savannah had a huge pile of poker chips (Maria suspected Tim of letting her win), and the clock read nine-thirty. The window in the den was a black square. Maria got up and drew the shade.
“I’ve got an idea,” Savannah said. “Let’s play hide and seek in the dark!”
“In the dark? Aren’t you gonna trip over the furniture?” Tim paused shuffling the deck.
“Nope,” Savannah said. “I know where everything is. I used to play it with Annabelle and Elijah, before they were gone all the time.”
Tim looked at Maria. “What do you think?”
“Well,” Maria said, “I think it’s all right. I’ll probably hit my shins on chairs and end tables, but I’ll live.”
Tim grinned. “All right then. I’ll hit some of the lights. Are we limiting this to the first floor?”
“No, all over the house,” Savannah said. “Except the offices. And I don’t want you hiding behind the nearest door, either. Make it really hard.”
Tim laughed. “She’s relentless,” he said. “Come on, then. Who’s gonna count?”
“Me,” Savannah said. “I won poker.”
She waited until Tim and Maria had turned off the lights. “I’m going to a hundred,” she said. “One…two…”
Maria snuck through the family room and into the far side of the house. She knew where she was going to hide—that swivel chair in the den where Annabelle had sat, hidden from view, that evening she’d been upset with Tim.
Everything seemed different in the dark. Maria crept carefully, feeling for walls and corners, misremembering what some rooms were. It wasn’t as dark as she had thought it might be though. The rain had stopped outside, and the moon, still nearly full, was rising.
Maria found her way to the den and dropped into the swivel chair, turning it to face the window. In the distance, she could hear Savannah still counting. She was in the forties. It would be a while.
The curtains weren’t drawn, and the moon illuminated the landscape outside. Maria hadn’t looked out much on this side of the house. This window looked down into the big valley, where the river wound lazily in a shimmer Maria could barely make out in the distance.
On this side of the river, on the ranch, everything looked peaceful.
Hopefully whoever was sabotaging the ranch had been forestalled by the rain.
Although maybe they were out there, wreaking havoc.
Would Elijah know what to do about criminals invading the ranch?
Maybe the Montana Rider was out there too and could help.
He seemed to show up at the most random times.
A dark-clothed horseman came into view far below. It must be the Montana Rider, right on cue. At least, Maria hoped so. She leaned forward to look.
Someone gripped the top of Maria’s chair, and she almost screamed.
“Ssh!” a male voice said behind her. “It’s just me.”
“Tim,” Maria gasped, turning the chair. “You startled me.”
He was tall in the dark, his blonde hair glinting in the moonlight. “Sorry. I was gonna hide here.”
Maria grinned. “It’s a good spot. You’d better hurry—Savannah will find you.”
“She won’t find me any quicker than she finds you.” Tim dropped into the other swivel chair. “I’ll hide here too.”
“We’re not playing Sardine,” Maria objected.
“This isn’t Sardine,” Tim said. “I have my hiding place. You have your hiding place. It’s just a coincidence they happen to be in the same room.”
Maria couldn’t help smiling. “You’d better stop talking. Savannah will hear us.”
“I can barely hear her yelling those numbers,” Tim said. “She can’t hear me.”
He looked out the window. “I hope somebody’s keeping an eye on the ranch,” he said. “I’d do it myself, but Pat would have my hide. She made me take the day off. Elijah better be keeping an eye on things.”
“Maybe the Montana Rider is helping too,” Maria said. She didn’t feel like talking about the Montana Rider, but maybe the idea would help Tim feel better. The horseman she’d seen was gone now.
“Hmm,” Tim said, looking into the distance. “Sometimes I’m not sure what help he’s really able to give.”