“Hey, Wilder.”
He glanced over his shoulder to see Joel coming out of the bunkhouse.
“What’s going on, Joel?”
“Not much,” Joel said as he closed the door behind him and leaned against the other post.
“Did you win or lose?” Wilder grinned.
“I won once. Those guys are too good.” Joel laughed. “It’s nice out tonight.”
“Yeah. It won’t be long before cooler weather moves in, though.”
“You okay?”
Wilder blew out a breath. “Been better, that’s for sure.”
“Anything I can do?”
He huffed out a laugh, deciding it was time to reel in the thieves.
“Not unless you have ten thousand dollars lying around.”
“Ten thousand? Damn, what did you do?”
Wilder knew he had to keep this up just to rule Joel out.
“I have some gambling debts.”
“Somegambling debts?”Joel sighed. “Sounds like more than some.”
“Yeah, ten thousand of them.”
“Man, I’d help you if I could, but I don’t have that kind of money.”
“Don’t worry about it. I’ll figure something out.”
“I hope so. I’m going back in. I need to get some sleep.”
“All right. I’ll be in soon. Goodnight.”
“Night.”
He could feel Joel looking at him. Then he reentered the bunkhouse, and Wilder hoped that ruled Joel out, but it could be that Joel didn’t trust him enough yet. He didn’t get a bad vibe from him anyway, and he always went with his gut. He didn’t think it was Joel. He’d bet a year’s salary on that.
When the door opened again, he sighed as Bernie stepped out, leaned against a post, pulled out a cigarette, lit it, inhaled, and blew out smoke.
“Sometimes I wish I smoked,” Wilder said with a chuckle as he leaned against the bunkhouse. He wasn’t lying because he could certainly use a cigarette or a strong drink right about now.
“I’ve been smoking since I was fifteen. Bad habit, but I love it too much to quit.”
“We all have bad habits,” Wilder murmured.
“Oh, yeah? What’s yours, Wilder?”
“Gambling. Poker, to be exact.”
“You’re good at poker, but some people can get in over their heads with that.”