“The problem is finding a new bull. No one here in Treasure Falls wants to part with their bull. We’ve borrowed one several times, but it’s time to find someone new. And the only place we could find a young, randy bull is in Helena.”
What was the problem with going to Helena? It was only about two hours away. “So let’s go to Helena.”
The two men glanced at one another but didn’t say anything.
Why did she get the feeling there was a problem? No one said anything, but tonight she was going to find out. They were going to play a game of poker with new rules for the loser.
Once they were finished with dinner, she smiled as they carried the dishes into the kitchen. “Tonight, I want to play a game.”
At the sink, Anthony turned and gazed at her. “What kind of game?”
“I love to play poker. So I’d like to play five card stud, but instead of using money, you bet your clothes. If you lose, you have to remove that item and also tell me something about your past that I don’t know. Neither of you have told me much about your lives before you met me, and as your wife and partner, it’s time I learned.”
The two men exchanged a look she didn’t understand.
“All right,” Wesley said. “But how will you know it’s a secret?”
“I don’t. But you have to be honest with me,” she said. “It’s time I knew everything about the both of you.”
Again, the two men glanced at her. She took the cards and carried them to the table where she sat at the head. As she shuffled the cards expertly, the men stared at her with wide eyes.
“How do you know how to play poker?” Anthony asked.
She grinned at him. “When I lose, you can ask me that question.”
“Damn, I’ve got to win now.”
She gave the cards to him and he cut the deck. Quickly, she dealt each man five cards.
“You go first, Anthony,” she said, gazing at the man to the right of her.
“I’ll bet my boots,” he said. “But just to take them off, nothing else.”
“I’ll bet my slippers,” she said.
One glance at Wesley and she could see he looked distraught. “This is a horrible hand. Can I fold?”
“No, you have to bet,” she said, making up her own rules. How could she learn more about them if they didn’t bet?
“I’ll bet my handkerchief,” he said.
She smiled and looked at Anthony.
“Three cards please,” he said.
The man had a pair of something.
She took three cards as well.
Wesley laid down an ace and she gave him four cards.
Turning to Anthony, he shook his head. “I’m sticking with my original bet.”
“I’m going to raise my bet to my pair of slippers and your pants,” she said.
“Wait a minute. Why do you get to bet withmyclothes?”
She grinned. “Because I want your clothes off you. So I’m betting with your clothes.”