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The trip to Lake Mead had been moved to after lunch, thanks to Nana’s big night out with Bill. The two grandparents had returned from their slot machine and buffet date night and not even batted an eye at Lisa and Ryan waiting together for their return. They’d said hi, Pops had given Nana a good night kiss, and Nana had trotted off to bed without any further word.
Ryan told Lisa good night—words only, no more kissing—and said he would escort Pops back to his room on the next floor down. Before she knew it, Lisa stood alone in the expansive suite, and within a few minutes, she could hear soft snoring coming from Nana’s room.
At least someone in the suite could sleep. Lisa sure couldn’t. She’d tossed and turned, thinking of how Ryan had turned her in his arms and how her heart rate had gotten tossed into the stratosphere the moment his lips touched hers.
This kiss had been so different from the one for the TV cameras. That had been a stunt, a joke. But alone, with the lights of Vegas spilling a glow across the living room of the suite, no one had been laughing.
And then Lisa’d spent all night reliving it. By the time the sun started to glow through the crack in the curtains, she gave up, called room service, and ordered a croissant with chocolate hazelnut spread and a full carafe of very strong coffee.
By her fourth cup of coffee, she started to wake up and as she pulled the front section of hair off her face and secured it with a clip, she couldn’t help but compare the buzz from the coffee off the buzz she’d gotten from the kiss with Ryan.
“What a mess,” she muttered to her reflection in the mirror.
“What mess?” Nana padded into the bathroom, brow furrowed as she scanned the room in search of something. “Have you seen my toothpaste? I can’t find it and I need minty fresh breath for today.”
Lisa stuck her hand in her travel bag of toiletries. “Here, use mine. You’ve renewed your commitment to dental hygiene?”
Nana nodded and grinned. “Bill says my smile reminds him of when we were eighteen. He says it hasn’t changed a bit.”
“I can’t argue with that, Nana. You’ve always had a beautiful smile.” Lisa went back to brushing her hair.
Nana stepped over to the second sink and turned on the tap. “You have the same smile, girlie. But it’s hiding today. Don’t you know this is the happiest place on earth?”
“That’s Disneyland, Nana. Head a few hours to the west. This is Las Vegas. Sin City.”
“Whmpmvr.” Her response was muffled by the suds and bubbles covering her teeth. She spit the toothpaste in the sink, picked up a glass, and rinsed. “It’s my happiest place on earth. And tomorrow is my wedding day!”
Even though Lisa’s misgivings about Nana’s impending wedding loomed as high as the mountains in the Nevada desert around them, there was no denying the joy in Nana’s voice. She hadn’t heard that simple happiness in a while. The sweet sound lightened Lisa’s heart.
“But something’s bothering you, my dear. I can tell. What is it?”
Lisa tried to wave off Nana’s concern. She wasn’t even sure Nana would really understand. “It’s nothing.”
“Yes, it is. Don’t lie to me, Lisa Marie.”
Lisa leaned forward and watched carefully in the mirror as she applied her lipstick. She took more time than usual, trying to decide what she would say to Nana.
“I wasn’t lying, Nana, not really. It’s just...well...it’s Ryan McBride. But it’s really nothing.”
“Bill says Ryan’s unhappy.” Nana reached out her hand. “Let me use your lipstick, dearie.”
Lisa laughed a little bit. “I guess so. He quit his job yesterday.”
Nana puckered her lips into an O and dotted the lipstick around, then smoothed it out by pressing her lips together. Just the same way she’d done it Lisa’s whole life. “I’d heard his name mentioned by a lot of people downstairs last night, but I didn’t know what they were talking about.”
“He announced on TV that he was leaving the Global Poker Challenge tour.”
“Yes, but people were saying something else too.” Nana handed the lipstick back to Lisa, then shrugged. “But I can’t remember. I wonder what it was.”
“That he was engaged?” Lisa went with the most obvious choice.
“Yes! That’s it. He was engaged.” Nana’s eyes sparkled a bit. “I love weddings. I hope he invites Bill and me. Did he say who he was marrying?”
Lisa took a deep breath. “You’re not getting an invitation, Nana.”
“And why not? I’m marrying his grandfather.”
Lisa wanted to laugh at the indignation in Nana’s voice over the perceived slight.
“Because there’s no wedding.”
“Lisa Marie, you’re really confusing me. Why would people be saying he was getting married if there was no wedding? Did it already happen?”
“No. It’s just not going to happen.” For the life of her, Lisa had no idea how to explain this one.
Nana raised her eyebrow. She was not dropping this until the answers made sense to her. “And why not?”
May as well just throw it out there. The whole thing was confusing anyway, potential Alzheimer’s or not.
“Because the people who were talking think I’m Ryan’s fiancée.”
Nana’s smile returned to her face with a wattage to rival the brightest Vegas neon. “Oh, how wonderful! We can have a double wedding!”
Lisa opened her mouth to try and explain better, then she shut it abruptly. She couldn’t take that smile off Nana’s face. She just couldn’t.
She just raised her hands, covered her face, and tried not to think about kissing the man Nana now thought was her fiancé.
The first few rounds of poker tournaments like this always went slowly, as they narrowed the ranks. Ryan knew it was unprofessional, but he couldn’t keep his thoughts on the game. They kept coming back to Lisa and that kiss.
He’d first run his mind over the kisses they’d shared in this room yesterday, while the NCN cameras rolled.
But he didn’t care to focus on those for very long.
He didn’t care to focus on his cards.
He just wanted to think about the sweet surrender he tasted in the suite last night when Lisa kissed him back as the lights of Vegas glowed behind them.
Snap out of it. You’ve got business to take care of. You’re going out after this. You need to go out on top.
As another round of cards was dealt, Ryan looked at the back of the room.
A familiar white-haired man in a seersucker suit came in the room, wearing the VIP pass Ryan had left for him. To his right was another cotton-topped VIP, dressed in an oversized floral print blouse and pants that appeared to be of a sturdy, thick knit. She’d put on her pearls for the occasion, Ryan noted, and wore her VIP pass like another necklace.
Behind them came the face he’d thought about all morning.
Lisa didn’t look left or right, just slightly down, as she followed straight behind her great-grandmother and her great-grandmother’s fiancé. The loose waves of her hair tumbled like a honey-and-cinnamon waterfall and partly obscured the gentle features of her face.
Ryan leaned back in his chair and squinted. He wished he’d been able to see her lips. Maybe, like finally hearing an earworm tune, just a small glimpse of her mouth would put an end to the revolving kiss-cam in his mind.
The small group followed the GPC staffer to three empty seats. Of course, they were in front. Of course, they were near his table. The young man probably thought he was doing his job well to sit Ryan’s VIPs down by him.
Usually, it was good to have Pops in the audience. Pops had taught him his first lessons on cards so many years ago, and having his steady, supportive presence nearby always seemed to bring him a certain amount of luck. Even though the poker world knew Ryan himself as the “Lucky Charm,” Ryan always thought of Pops as his personal secret weapon—the real lucky charm.
But today, Pops brought baggage. Specifically, a fiancée who may or may not have a soon-to-be-evaluated dementia issue and the great-granddaughter who worried about her—and who, in turn, Ryan found himself worrying about.
When they called a break in between rounds, Pops stood up and walked over to the rail closest to Ryan.
“We’re about to head out to Lake Mead, son.”
“Okay, Pops.” Ryan looked just past his grandfather to the two women with him. “Is everyone going?”
Pops nodded. “Everyone but you. Gina Mae and Lisa are both coming along. Your concierge friend called me this morning and said the car would be here around one-thirty. We’ll go see the lake and have dinner. Looks like you’ll be here late tonight.”
“That’s always the goal.”
“Last man standing.” Pops gave him a confident smile. “I know this is your last tournament. I just wanted to say how proud of you I am, son. I know people think poker is just a game. But you found something you loved a long time ago and you worked hard to be the best. It’s paid off in a way I never thought possible when I pulled out that first deck of cards when you were a kid. I just thought it would be something we could play together after dinner—a way to connect with a scared little boy who’d been through a lot of changes. I don’t know what you’ll do after you leave this room for good, Ryan McBride, but I know you’ll be successful. And I hope you know I’ll always be proud of you.”
Pops clapped a hand around Ryan’s bicep once, then twice. Ryan felt his throat constrict with memories. And love. For more years than he could count, Bill McBride had been his whole world. He’d stood in as mother, father, grandparent, confidante, mentor...and friend.
Ryan loved the man more than words could ever say.
He’d tried to repay Pops by making sure he was cared for. That he had the best housing and assistance money could buy. That he didn’t have to work or worry. That after a lifetime of seeing to it that Ryan had comfort and security in his life—when he’d started out with so little of both—Pops could now enjoy both of those necessities for the rest of the days the good Lord gave him on Earth.
But as he stood there, staring into Bill’s icy-blue eyes and seeing love and pride shining back in their reflection, Ryan was hit with a gut punch more solid than a prize fighter’s knockout blow. Money hadn’t been what made Pops—and the memories he’d created—special for Ryan. Pops had worked for years after his retirement age to support the child who came under his roof long after his contemporaries sported empty nests.
Time, love, and personal interest had been the tools Pops used.
And Ryan could give Pops all the money and assisted living in the world, but he couldn’t give him twenty-four-seven companionship.
But that sweet woman who walked into Pops’ open arms at McCarron International Airport yesterday could.
Ryan shifted his gaze from Pops to Lisa, speaking in slow, hushed tones to her grandmother. Although he and Lisa had just met, she’d felt comfortable enough with Ryan to confide her fears about her great-grandmother’s health. Ryan didn’t want to betray that trust.
The more he thought about it though, following through on his original gut instinct—preventing the marriage from happening—would be a betrayal of the lifetime of support Pops had given him.
However, he knew that Lisa had a similar connection to her great-grandmother, and she was opposing Nana’s trip down the aisle for very real, valid reasons—ones he’d shared until this very moment.
Ryan knew he was stuck between a rock and a hard place.
He also knew that he had a game to play, business to attend to. He needed to clear this lump in his throat and the thoughts in his head, then get back to the table, and get his mind focused.
Ryan put his hand on Pops’ shoulder, mirroring the reassuring gesture Pops had given him.
“I love you, Pops. You know that, right?”
“Of course I do, son. I told you yesterday that you had a cynic’s heart. That’s not quite right—you have a cautious heart.” Pops smiled, pushing away the thick fog in Ryan’s brain as the corners of his mouth raised. “I hope that once you’re out of this business you can have an open one. Life’s too short to not take chances. I could have married Gina Mae more than six decades ago in a quickie wedding at the courthouse. I don’t regret marrying your Memaw or having you in my life. But now, my greatest wish is for you to be happy, son, and to not live with what-ifs. But I know you’re going to have to take a chance and see what it’s like on the other side, the less cautious side, to get there. Now, son...get back to that table and go out in style.”
Ryan walked to the spot they’d set up for him for this next round of the tournament. He saw Pops talking with Gina Mae and Lisa and gesturing toward the door. He figured they were discussing the Town Car which would be arriving soon at the hotel’s front door to take them on a sunny day of Nevada sightseeing.
They rose and headed for the doors at the back of the room. Ryan sat in his chair and studied them carefully.
He didn’t want to be stuck inside these four walls, overanalyzing facial tics and mentally counting cards round after round after round. He was quitting the game because he’d grown bored with the rote, with the predictability of the tasks. He’d mastered the skill and now it did come down to luck.
But he didn’t want to be lucky at cards anymore.
He wanted to be lucky in life.
Pops was right. Ryan needed to see a side of life where every move wasn’t calculated and evaluated against the decisions of others and the whims of rectangles with royal designs printed on them.
Lisa turned her head as she paused at the door. She looked at the spot where Ryan had been sitting in the last round, then scanned the other tables in the room. She didn’t see him at his new corner table, and it gave him a moment to watch her.
Ryan knew Lisa was looking for him.
Pops had been looking for Gina Mae.
Who was he looking for?
He’d been looking out for just himself for far too long.
The other players filed back to the tables and took their places for the next round of the tournament, scheduled to begin shortly. Ryan looked at his watch and watched a handful of seconds tick away.
He looked up and no one stood near the back door. Lisa was gone.
The wave of adrenaline and pure physical desire that had overpowered him last night when he’d put his hands on Lisa’s shoulders to give her some support and let her know she wasn’t alone—it returned with the force of a gale.
“So, I guess this may be the last time we sit down at a table together, LC.” Davian Rentfrow took the seat next to him. “It’s been good playing you, man. Good luck in retirement.”
Even though Davian had always been a good guy and a worthy challenger, Ryan couldn’t even look toward him in acknowledgment.
“Thanks, man,” he said, acutely aware of the absent tone in his voice, but unable to do anything about it.
Go out in style. Pops’ last words before he left with Gina Mae and Lisa hung in Ryan’s mind.
The outcome of this tournament didn’t change anything for him. He had a lifetime of money, and then some. He’d already announced his retirement—nothing depended on how he fared in this game. And the charity already got his buy-in.
He didn’t win anything he needed by staying, and he didn’t lose anything of value by going.
Ryan stood up and pushed his chair back from the table. He walked over to a tournament official and muttered a few sentences in his ear, then he headed for the door between the playing floor and the viewing area.
Emma, the NCN reporter, tried to block his path.
“Where are you headed, Lucky Charm?” She pushed her microphone close to his face, but Ryan batted it away with one swat.
“I’m going all in, Emma.” He edged through the door and around her attempts to block him. “And the name’s not Lucky Charm. It’s Ryan. Just Ryan.”
Lisa looked at the sleek, black car in the circular drive of the hotel. She knew the cliché said everything was bigger in Texas, but apparently, it applied to Las Vegas too. Bill had told her over lunch that Ryan had arranged for a Town Car to drive them out to Lake Mead. Clearly, they watered and fertilized their Town Cars in Vegas, because where Lisa came from, this car was called a limousine.
“The hotel upgraded your car, Mr. McBride, with our compliments on your upcoming wedding to Mrs. Fleming, sir.” The head bellhop opened the door to the passenger section of the car.
“Well, thank you, young man. Very kind of you.” Bill pulled out some cash from his money clip in his pocket and handed it over as Nana bent and crawled inside, followed by Lisa.
“Certainly, sir. Your grandson is a favorite here at the Renaissance Grand. We’ll always do what we can to take care of him—and his family.”
The bench seat was a soft, taupe leather and it curved around the inside of the stretched middle of the car like a snake waking up from a nap. Overhead, blue lights twinkled in a matching taupe fabric sky. Opposite the seating was an extended mirrored bar, stocked with shining crystal and a row of high-end bottles.
Once Bill slid onto the seat, the door closed with a satisfying sound. The partition between all the opulence and the driver’s area lowered and a man in a black jacket turned to face his passengers.
“Is everything to your satisfaction?”
Nana spoke up. “Oh yes. It’s beautiful back here. I feel like a movie star.”
Her eyes twinkled a bit, like the little lights in the ceiling, as she studied her surroundings.
“Wonderful, ma’am. My name is Brent. I’ll be your driver today for your trip to Lake Mead and back. Should you need anything, please press the red button on the edge of the partition.” He pointed to a light in the corner. “Otherwise, please enjoy your ride with Limovegas.”
Several minutes passed and they hadn’t moved. Bill and Nana were scrolling through the lists for the onboard entertainment system and settled on a station that played big band standards from the 1940s.
“Remind you of anything, dear?” Bill looked at Nana with kind eyes.
It would have been so much easier for Lisa if he hadn’t been such a sweet man. It was going to break his heart when she had to step in and call off the wedding. She didn’t want to do that, but she still couldn’t see a way around it. Tonight, after they’d had a memorable day in a beautiful setting, she’d have to sit them down and explain.
Maybe having one last day of memories together would help soften the blow.
She hoped so because it was becoming increasingly clear that the necessary words to come would be some of the hardest she’d ever spoken in her life.
The door to the limousine opened back up and sunshine streamed in.
Ryan climbed in. Lisa couldn’t contain her confusion. “Your break just ended. You should be playing now, right?”
He slid to the edge of the bench seat. “I quit.”
“I know. You announced it last night. This is your last tournament. So why aren’t you in it?”
“No, I quit early. I cashed in my chips. I didn’t want to leave you here with Pops and Gina Mae by yourself.” He looked at his grandfather. “You told me to go out with a bang, Pops.”
Bill pointed a mockingly-stern finger at Ryan. “So I did. But I didn’t tell you to be a quitter, son.”
“I’d already made my decision. It was just time.”
Ryan took the cap off a bottle and poured a little bit of amber liquid over two cubes of ice. “Not as good as last night’s, but it’ll do. Pops, you want one?”
His grandfather smiled with a gleam in his eye and then looked at Nana. “Don’t mind if I do indulge my inner Irishman a bit. Would you like anything, dear?”
As her grandmother nodded politely, Lisa couldn’t help but frown a bit. Nana never drank, but she’d had champagne last night, and now she was studying the sleek bar inside the limo. Lisa smoothed away a non-existent speck of fuzz on the dark blue denim covering her legs as she thought. She was no teetotaler, but it would be harder to evaluate Nana’s true condition if she had a glass of anything right now.
“Lisa?” Ryan tapped her on the shoulder and she felt a small spark, stronger than static electricity, where his finger touched the lightweight, crochet-style sweater. “How about you?”
“No thanks.” Lisa felt totally drained—by the travel, by the situation with Nana, by what she knew was to come, and by her increasing awareness of Ryan’s smooth presence.
This morning, as she got dressed and tried to sort out her thoughts about the evening before—especially how it ended—she knew she’d see Ryan again, but she’d been thankful for the buffer that his tournament and this day trip would provide. The hours at the lake were supposed to give her time to think through what she needed to say to Nana and Bill, build her courage, and let her do what had to be done without thinking about how just for one small moment she’d felt secure in Ryan’s arms, like a promise that everything would be taken care of somehow.
Now that he was here, sitting next to her, Lisa felt completely insecure.
Like she didn’t know where to start.
She knew where she had to go. Back home to Texas with Nana, and only Nana. But she didn’t know how to get there.
“How about this, then?” Ryan handed her a bottle of sparkling water and twisted off the cap.
“That’ll work great, thank you.” Lisa held the bottle out slightly. “Nana? How about one of these?”
“Yes, please, Lisa Marie.”
Ryan reached for another bottle, opened it, and then looked point-blank at Lisa before handing the water to Nana. “Lisa Marie?”
She shrugged. “My mama liked Elvis.”
“You’re in the right town.”
“So it seems. At least she didn’t name me Peanut Butter and Banana, right?”
“Or Hound Dog.”
“That would have been tough in junior high.” Lisa couldn’t help but laugh a little as she answered.
“You might have gotten in a fight over it and had to spend the night doing some jailhouse rock.”
Oh no. He wasn’t going there, was he? “As long as some blue suede shoes came with my prison jumpsuit, I probably wouldn’t have minded. I had a thing for shoes back then. Still do, actually.”
Lisa wiggled her toes, where they stuck out of the little hole at the tip of her favorite casual wedges.
“I see that. You had some nice ones on last night. You picked a great outfit on short notice.”
“Thanks.” Lisa took a long sip from the curvy green bottle. “You paid for a great outfit on short notice.”
Ryan pressed his lips together. It gave his face an almost stern air. “Lisa, you don’t owe me anything. You and I are kind of in this boat together.”
“Kind of?” She shifted in her seat, turning her back slightly on the older couple at the far end of the bench. Bill was pointing out landmarks and scenery to Nana as they drove by with Glenn Miller tunes filling the car with punctuating brass.
Ryan leaned back against the soft, stuffed leather. “I’ve been doing some thinking.”
Me too, Lisa thought.
But...she was pretty sure Ryan wasn’t talking about that. He’d probably kissed a thousand girls in his tenure as a Las Vegas card shark. Last night couldn’t possibly have registered on his radar the way it registered on her slightly-less-experienced one.
So, she settled on a reply that was slightly more casual. “Oh?”
“I know we both think we need to stop tomorrow’s ceremony from happening. But what if we can’t?”
Lisa tucked her water bottle into a nearby cupholder. “Well, that’s not an option. I have to get Nana to the doctor for tests. I’m just not comfortable with her making a life change like marriage until I know one way or another. I don’t think she fully understands what she’s consenting to. Have you heard anything from either one of them on where they’re going to live? How they’ll manage money and retirement funds—not that Nana has many, but they’re still hers. Have you heard any plans for anything other than tomorrow? They sound like a couple of crazy teenagers headed for a drive-through chapel. I can’t have Nana wake up the next day and realize she’s made a terrible mistake. Not on my watch.”
Ryan stole a glance back at his grandfather, then looked back at Lisa. “No, I haven’t. But I also know this is the happiest I’ve seen Pops in I don’t know how long. Something about seeing Gina Mae again has brought back some long-lost meaning to his life.”
“Ryan. You told me we were in this together. You told me you were going to help me end this. Don't get sentimental on me.”
“I am. I’ve just seen a lot of guys make big mistakes that have cost them everything they’ve worked for. I don’t want to see you do the same. What happens when Gina Mae decides to never speak to you again because all she can see is that you’re standing in the way of her happiness? She’s an adult. You don’t even have a diagnosis from a doctor, much less the necessary paperwork to put you in charge of the decisions in her life.”
Lisa lowered her head into her cupped hands. He was right.
She’d always known the conversation would be tough, but she’d assumed if she could just find the right words, she could get Nana to understand. But even though they’d been a team for decades and relied on each other’s steady counsel, what if Nana stopped listening now? What then?
Ryan placed a hand on her back. He didn’t pat or rub, just laid it there—a silent acknowledgment of the fact that there were no easy answers. There weren’t easy answers for this situation with Nana, and there weren’t any easy answers for why she’d kissed this man last night and liked it. Or why just the simple touch of his hand over her spine made her feel protected.
“Why don’t you just try and enjoy the day, Lisa? We’ll think of something together.”
Together.
Ryan’s hand remained softly in place. He didn’t let go. And somehow, that made Lisa feel a little less daunted by everything she knew was to come.
“Can I ask you something?” Ryan spoke with a slightly lower volume, but not exactly a whisper.
“Sure. I guess so. What?” She tried to brush off the uneasy quiver in her stomach that twitched as she tried to figure out what Ryan was getting at.
“They’re not listening—they’re back in the 1940s with their Glenn Miller.” Ryan nodded toward Bill and Nana. “So I need you to be totally honest with me, Lisa. If your Nana marries my Pops tomorrow, what’s the worst that could happen? What couldn’t be fixed? Do you see the looks on their faces? Don’t you think they deserve the happiness being back together brings each other?”
Lisa opened her mouth to reply. Then shut it firmly closed, trying to shove back the tears that just popped up without warning. She couldn’t look at Ryan.
She certainly couldn’t look at Nana and Pops.
What couldn’t be fixed? Her heart, for starters. She’d be alone. Nana needed her, but if Lisa was truly honest, she needed Nana just as much. Maybe more. Nana was the living scrapbook to her childhood. If she wanted to know anything about her life as a child, she’d ask Nana. Even if she ever saw her mother again, Lisa doubted that the woman would remember anything. Her mother’s unconditional love ended the minute she filled a glass or sat down to get a hit.
Pamela Fleming was a directionless mess.
Just like Lisa would be without Nana.
But even though Ryan had asked for Lisa’s honesty, she couldn’t tell him these deep fears. It just sounded so selfish.
“She has to get evaluated by a doctor. I need to know if her behavior lately is part of normal aging—or if it’s something more.”
“Lisa, there are doctors in Las Vegas. Beyond the Strip, this is a very normal town. Good people who work hard to provide for their families live here. There are suburbs. Shopping centers. There are Walmarts, for Heaven’s sake. It doesn’t look much different than Texas, I’d wager. Couldn’t she see a doctor here?”
“I’m sure there are doctors here, Ryan, but how can I manage that from Port Provident? I have one week off for Spring Break, but then I’m due back in a classroom until the end of May. I have a contract. I don’t get the luxury of just walking off from a table when I’ve had enough.”
She knew that blow was a little low, but she shrugged it off. Sometimes the truth hurt.
Just like Ryan’s probing question a few seconds ago.
“I walked off because it didn’t matter anymore. My family did. My Pops did. The woman he wants to marry did. I didn’t need to bring home another pot. I already knew it, but you helped me see it. I’m just trying to help you see it from their perspective, too.”
“But Ryan, you and I talked about this. Where would they live?”
“At Pops’ assisted living facility,” Ryan said it with total clarity, like it was the obvious solution.
“You said last night that your big jackpots brought you the ability to pay for a place that’s the best in this part of the country. Need I remind you that there’s no teaching jackpot? I can’t afford to pay Nana’s bill there, and neither can Nana. And the district is talking about budget cuts next year. That always makes me nervous.”
He picked his drink up from the cupholder and took a quick swallow. “So what if I just kept paying for it?”
Lisa cocked her head. “Listen to yourself. Yesterday, you were convinced I was a gold digger using my great-grandmother to come after your money. Today, you’re offering to pay her housing bills for the rest of her life? You don’t make any sense, Ryan McBride.”
“I’m not trying to make sense. I’m trying to make my Pops happy. I’ve just realized I am willing to take a loss if that means he wins. What about you, Lisa?”
“I’m not much of a gambler, Ryan.”
“Don’t you love the theatre?”
She didn’t see how the two had any connection. “Yes, obviously. But what does that have to do with anything?”
“Happily Ever After. Don’t you believe in that?”
“Of course I do, Ryan.”
Well, except when it came to her real life.
A real, mother-daughter relationship? Happily Never After.
The Broadway role she’d earned but couldn’t have because she’d refused to put her morals to the side of the casting couch, as one director insisted? Happily Never After.
The fiancé who had dumped her two years ago because he “wanted more”—which was shorthand for the realization that his champagne tastes and social mobility needs were never going to get met by being paired with a drama teacher? Happily Never After.
“But those are all stories. Notice that they don’t keep going after everyone gets their feel-good ending. The curtain goes down. But once Nana says ‘I do,’ her story keeps going. And I’m responsible for it.”
“Lisa, your Nana is in her eighties?” He looked at her, head slightly askance.
“In her nineties.”
He nodded. “Exactly. And she’s probably made a mistake or two, right?”
“Well, sure.” Where was he going with this?
“But more often than not, hasn’t she gotten it right?” Ryan smiled casually. “She raised you. Pops raised me. I’d guess neither of them guessed they’d be raising their kids’ kids. They probably wondered where they’d gone wrong with their own kids and were afraid of how everything was going to work out. But I think I turned out okay. And from what I see of you, I’m pretty sure you did too.”
Ryan reached out and took Lisa’s hand and squeezed lightly.
She couldn’t help but nod. His words made a lot of sense.
“So, if I go along with this, and something goes wrong, what do I do?” She started to move her hand from under the protective cover of Ryan’s, then hesitated.
“Break out into a song and start some coordinated dancing in the middle of the street. Isn’t that what all of you theatre people do?” His smile inched out just a little further, showing straight white teeth that caught her gaze and held tight.
“Sometimes.” She wiggled her fingers a bit, threading them through Ryan’s. Somehow, even though she hadn’t known him long, she already felt like she knew him well. And she knew he meant it. He wouldn’t leave her to face this alone. “So you’ll be in my flash mob?”
“Always, babe. Let’s just have a fun day with the people we love and let the cards fall where they may.”
After a sightseeing trip at the Hoover Dam, Pops and Gina Mae scooted out as soon as the limo stopped in front of the landing which led to Lake Mead Dinner Cruise.
“Dinner on the water? Oh, how lovely.” Gina Mae couldn’t contain her excitement. “Bill, did you plan this?”
“No, I told Ryan I wanted to do something special for you today, but he put everything together.”
Ryan closed the door to the limo after everyone had exited. “Well, I had some ideas. Winter at the concierge desk did all the scheduling this morning after I headed to the tournament.”
“Still. You’re a very thoughtful young man, Ryan. Thank you for taking the time to make today special. And thank you for coming with us. I thought you were going to be working,” Gina Mae said.
“Well, I did too, Gina Mae. But you know, things change.”
She patted her silver curls as a small gust of dry wind picked up around them. “I certainly do. Who would have ever guessed I’d find Bill again. And on a computer web site place. Things have certainly changed from our day. But I’m glad they have.”
Pops and Nana held hands, walking at a pace dictated by their age, but with footsteps in sync. Pops held the door at the dock for Gina Mae, and she thanked him with a smile. The years fell away as her eyes caught his and Ryan couldn’t help but see the girl she must have been before World War II arrived and tore her away from his grandfather.
Ryan stopped near the sidewalk and turned slightly, waiting for Lisa. He held the door open for her, wondering if he’d get a smile like Pops had received.
Had he really just called her “babe” in the limo? He certainly hadn’t planned it. And the more he thought about it, the more he felt like he’d just spiraled into some alternate world of Vegas cheesiness. Except that wasn’t how he wanted Lisa to think of him at all. They were in this situation together, and if he was honest with himself, her opinion now mattered to him.
Lisa looked up, a honey-gold sparkle in her eyes. The fears and worries that had been so evident earlier had been washed away. She looked beautiful, in a simple way that he hadn’t often seen in his years of living under the bright lights on the Strip.
Last night, he’d definitely taken notice of her—even though he’d initially tried not to. He’d wanted to treat her like an opponent, come up with a strategy to clean out her chips and send her packing.
But then he had a chance to talk to her, to get to know the real Lisa. And somehow, in that one evening, she’d been able to solidify his resolve to leave gaming and to find a way to start fresh and pursue his restless desire to do something with meaning.
She couldn’t possibly know what those few hours and her listening ear had done for him.
Once they were inside and their tickets had been checked, Lisa walked over to some of the photos on the wall and studied the visual history of the Hoover Dam and Lake Mead. Ryan stopped beside her.
“It’s all going to work out, you know that, right?”
“For whom?”
He pointed his thumb at the couple on the other side of the small room. “Well, them. But I think it’ll work out for us too.”
She turned away from the pictures and looked at him.
“I mean, I think we’ll be okay because they’ll be okay.” First, he was calling her “babe” and now he was calling them an “us”?
Rookie mistakes, all of them.
He wasn’t even half a day removed from his days as a professional gambler and he was tripping all over himself like he hadn’t done in a decade.
Not smooth at all, McBride.
Besides, it wasn’t like he was looking for someone.
She smiled up at him, clearly picking up on his mistake. The peaches-and-cream vibe she gave off, from the array of dark gold in her curls, to her ivory complexion, to her honey eyes, to those soft lips and the slightly askew crocheted sweater that revealed the tank top that contained all her curves—it was distracting him in a way that none of his professional training had prepared him for.
So, maybe he wasn’t exactly looking for someone.
But maybe he’d found something he hadn’t been looking for.
He wasn’t a professional anymore. But he knew some of those lessons would stay with him for the rest of his life. They’d become a part of his personality, they made up who he was. And the number one lesson of playing poker is finding a way to win with the hand you were dealt.
Ryan’s thoughts continued to spin as they boarded the paddle wheeler. Sunset was on the way and he could feel the change in the air. Tonight, it seemed to signal more than just a natural course of the day. It felt like a sign.
When he’d sat at the table, he’d always tried to read the signs around him. He’d been dealt a crazy hand of grandfather-planned-surprise-wedding-to-his-teenage-girlfriend. But he wondered if he could turn it into a winner for everyone involved.
“Tell me something,” Lisa said as she stopped at the rail near the front of the boat. Her hands rested on the red-painted wood that bordered the white gingerbread beneath. “How’d you get the nickname Lucky Charm? Even the manager in the boutique called you that instead of Ryan.”
“Most people do. It comes from my last name, McBride. It’s Irish, obviously, so when I started winning tournaments out of nowhere, some commentators said I must have the luck of the Irish. It evolved into Lucky Charm, and then it kind of stuck.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever really had a nickname.” She watched the waves lap around the edge of the boat as the paddle wheel began to push them out across the lake.
The night breeze picked her curls up and tossed them around her face and shoulders, like confetti in a parade.
“Do you want me to give you one?” Ryan leaned one arm on the rail next to her and turned to face her. The last red rays of the sun gleamed behind her profile, lining her features with a burnished glow.
Ryan knew he’d seen a lot of things over the years. Some good, some bad. Some incredible. But this was a moment he knew he wanted to hold onto for a lifetime. A gentle breeze, a striking sunset, and a quietly beautiful woman who’d captured the corners of an imagination he’d long thought was in hibernation—or worse.
A wry smile feathered her lips. “I think I’m too old for that now. I’m just Lisa.”
“No, you’re not.”
She turned toward him, shifting the setting sun’s light to frame her hair. “Come on. I’m just a theatre geek. We don’t have teams or secret handshakes or anything like that.”
“Well, we’re kind of on the same team now.” Ryan pointed back toward the dining area, where he knew Pops and Gina Mae had gone to sit down.
“But no secret handshake.”
Instinct took over, sending a little pang of fear through Ryan. He never acted on instinct. He acted on the odds which were most likely to result in victory.
But with victory came surrender of the other side, and he’d never wanted anything more than the surrender of Lisa in his arms. And the odds said the most likely way to get there was to let his instinct run wild.
“No secret handshake. Just this.”
His instinct ran straight to Lisa’s mouth and the overwhelming need he had to taste her and touch that edge of light and shadow on her skin.
Ryan leaned down as swiftly as the breeze that swirled around them. As he got the contact he craved, the slight intake of breath Lisa made caused him to pause.
The adrenaline screeched to a halt in his veins, like a dam struggling to hold back a freak unexpected rainstorm.
Lisa lifted her arms and laid them over his shoulders, and the flood of his heightened awareness of her and only her crested the top of the dam and broke free. He kissed her hard, and as she slid tentative fingertips through the edge of his hair on his neck, he pulled forward and kissed her deeply.
It felt like the Fourth of July instead of the day before St. Patrick’s Day. Lisa pulled a little closer to Ryan and sparks of fireworks lit in every space and hollow where their bodies touched and the thick yarn of her light sweater pressed tightly between them.
He wasn’t calculating odds, counting cards, or looking for signs. Ryan’s eyes were closed and his mind was processing only the feel of her in his arms and the hasty sound of her breathing just below his ear.
The ringing of a loud brass bell nearby crashed through the moment with the sharp finality of watching an opponent rake your pile of chips into his own. There was nothing you could do except know the moment was gone.
But Ryan knew this moment would be with him in his mind for a long time to come.
Lisa stood rooted to the deck, not following the crowd inside for dinner.
“You’re not playing me, right, Ryan?” She looked at him, then back out toward the water, where what was left of the sun was now nothing more than a dusky haze atop the surface.
Her words stung, like a razor blade that just barely misses the prescribed angle while shaving.
“That wasn’t a game, Lisa.”
“So do you know what we’re doing here?” Her eyes seemed to plead with him for an answer.
“I think I’m spending the evening with a beautiful woman because I enjoyed her company a great deal last night.” He couldn’t decide if it was a good idea to reveal that or not. As the words came out of his mouth, he felt a little exposed, and he wasn’t used to that.
But he could see that the full truth mattered to Lisa. And if the full truth was too much, she’d be on a plane in a few days, anyway.
Unless...
The thought parked in Ryan’s head before he could fully form it.
He looked at Lisa, now dusted with the shadows of the oncoming evening instead of the copper sunset that had just highlighted her only a few minutes ago. The sun seemed to have set quickly tonight. Even more quickly, it seemed that their relationship had changed.
Ryan hoped it was changing for the better.
He forced himself to complete the half-thought in his mind. He hoped it was changing for the better because he didn’t want Lisa to get on a plane in a few days. He wanted her to stay here, to get to know her better, and to see if his hunch that there was something between them that went beyond the situation they’d been thrust into by their love-struck grandparents.
“Ryan, you don’t have to say that just because we’re forced together in a slightly crazy situation.”
“I’m not. Do you not believe I’d want to spend time with you?”
Her brow furrowed as she tried to place her words. “I think you’re the Lucky Charm of Las Vegas. Everyone knows you and everyone seems to want a piece of you. I don’t quite understand what a teacher from Texas would bring to the table to compete with your everyday world.”
“Maybe I’m tired of my everyday world. Maybe I want something different.” Ryan paused for a second and stared out at the same small dips and swells of the water that Lisa was focused on. “Maybe there’s no maybe about it.”
“I know you said that you were tired of being on the poker tour and you wanted to do something with more meaning. But Ryan, don’t you think making too many changes at once is a little dangerous?”
“I’ve spent the last ten years on the edge. Every time I sat down at a table, Lisa, I could lose everything at the turn of a card. What’s dangerous for most people is everyday life for me.”
He wished she’d look at him, but she kept her eyes steady on the lake. “Can you promise me this isn’t some elaborate bluff?”
“My bluffing days are over, sweetheart,” he said solemnly.
Lisa turned and faced him. “I want to believe you.”
“Lisa, your stories last night helped me see that I’d made the right decision. There’s more for me out there, and you helped me know that when I questioned the announcement I’d made. Your concern for your grandmother made me really stop and think through this situation with Pops and it led me to the conclusion that I have to support him in the decisions he makes for his life, not expect him to conform to what’s convenient for mine. You gave me a clarity I couldn’t find on my own for not one, but two, major decisions I needed to make in my life.”
Ryan reached out his hand and gently cupped it around Lisa’s forearm. At his touch, she pulled her gaze up and turned her head toward him.
He decided to lay it all out there. If she turned him down, at least he’d know and he could get used to the idea that she’d be leaving soon on a plane. At least he’d know and he could pick up the uncertainty of his new-found retirement and go from there.
“It’s a beautiful night and I’m here on this boat with a beautiful woman. I can’t let Pops have all the fun. I’d like to take the other Fleming on a date right now. Would you please be my date tonight?”
Lisa swallowed and Ryan watched the set of her jaw and the contraction of her slender throat. He felt a chunk of ice slide to the pit of his stomach. Clearly, she wasn’t interested.
He couldn’t blame her for still wanting to focus solely on what was right for her Nana.
“I suppose I can trust you. Those two chaperones wouldn’t let you try anything out of line.”
Ryan shook his head and the ice melted with the warm relief that kicked in his veins.
“No. I only bring the finest chaperones out to impress the ladies. I require an average vintage of ninety years.”
Lisa smiled, and Ryan knew he could look at her face like this all night.
Nana and Bill had been feted with a table for two near the dance floor. The cozy round table had been set with special china and crystal. The candlelight reflected off the facets of the crystal and glowed on the glaze of the china, making the setup look fit for a fairy tale.
The crew had reserved a table near the window for Lisa and Ryan. Lisa had hoped to sit with Nana and Bill, but to see the looks on their faces as people stopped by their table and congratulated them warmed her heart over and over and over again.
“They look so happy, don’t they?” Lisa spoke out loud, but the words were almost as much for her as for Ryan.
“You could be too, you know.” Ryan poured a glass of wine from the bottle the server sat at the edge of the table. The red liquid swirled around in the glass and rippled gently with the rocking of the paddle wheeler as it chugged on its journey across Lake Mead.
Lisa tried to keep the sigh inside.
“I heard that.” Ryan took a thoughtful sip of his wine. “Why do you disagree?”
“I don’t know.”
The waiter brought a narrow silver tray lined with a blue napkin and tucked full of crusty sourdough rolls. Ryan took a roll, placed it on a small white plate, and handed it to Lisa.
“I think you do. Look, Lisa, I don’t expect you to marry me tonight, but we’re in this together for the long haul. You are the primary caregiver for your great-grandmother. I’m the primary caregiver for my grandfather. They’re getting married.” He pulled apart his roll and swiped creamy butter on the exposed fluffy bread. “We’re in this for the long haul at one level or another, you know? You can be honest with me. I promise.”
It was nothing more than a reflex, a long-conditioned reaction to keep from being hurt, but Lisa shook her head mildly.
“You can’t?” Ryan’s tone of voice held a hint of surprise.
Lisa thought about what her body language had just conveyed. “It’s been a long time, Ryan.”
“Since what? A date?” He leaned slightly forward in his chair.
“That too.”
“And?” He wouldn’t give up. He was reading her as clearly as if she wore a neon Vegas sign.
“Trusted.”
“Trusted. So you don’t think you can trust me?”
Lisa stabbed at squares of lettuce with her fork, trying to collect her thoughts under the guise of eating. “It’s not that.”
“It’s something. Look, Lisa, you’re a good actress, but you’re not that good. Changes are coming for each of us in our families. But I can’t help you—and you can’t help me—if you’re not honest with me.”
She swirled the cabernet in her glass and then took a long sip of liquid courage. “I just don’t trust too many people. I don’t have a reason to.”
“Nana’s not a reason?” He was making this hard and it was making her mad. She didn’t want to have this conversation. She didn’t want to open up to Ryan McBride. She wanted to look at his eyes, pretend as if for a few daysthat someone in her life didn’t have an ulterior motive, then get Nana back home to Dr. Reynolds.
And then take care of herself.
Alone.
Without worrying anyone, especially Nana.
Or herself, if she was extending this honesty thing all the way.
“Nana’s the best reason. But I don’t even know you, Ryan.”
He smiled, teeth sharkishly grinning in the midst of the dusting of beard across his chin and cheeks. “So what do you want to know? We’ve already discussed my nickname. And we never need to go there again. If I never get called Lucky Charm again, that’s a good thing.”
Lisa took the opportunity to turn the spotlight off her. “Why? It’s kind of cool that people know you and they like you.”
“Well, it’s cool if you’re a multicolored marshmallow or a leprechaun on a cereal box. Not if you’re a thirty-three-year-old man. Ladies aren’t generally impressed by leprechauns.”
“The lady in the boutique said you used to date some European supermodel. So I guess someone was impressed.”
“She was a poker player, not a supermodel. And it was all part of the game.”
The waiter removed the salad plates and replaced them with a plate artfully styled with a small steak, several grilled shrimp, garlic mashed potatoes, and some roasted carrots shining with a light honey glaze. Lisa silently prayed that drool didn’t begin to snake down her chin.
“The game? Isn’t it funny how everyone’s playing a game?” She took a bite of candied carrot, letting the sweet taste overpower some of the savory conversation.
“Are you?” Ryan polished off the grilled shrimp in quick succession between the beats of conversation. “I’ve played all sorts of games for a long time. Games at the table, games of popularity. All that business. I’m looking forward to just being me for a while.”
Lisa still didn’t know how to give Ryan the answer he was looking for.
She didn’t even know how to give herself the answer.
“Who is that?”
Ryan didn’t waste any time taking a bite out of the filet mignon. “A guy who lived the dream and then woke up. Who are you, Lisa Marie?”
“A girl who tried to live the dream, but it turned into a nightmare.”
She clamped her mouth shut. She’d said too much and the fear of the honesty gave her a paralyzing case of conversational lockjaw.
Ryan didn’t reply and Lisa decided to keep looking down and focus on what she could control.
Carrots and mashed potatoes.
It was a sad commentary, she realized. A good-looking man who had been considerate to her wanted to get to know her better, and all she could do was stare down carbohydrates.
“I don’t want to pretend anymore,” she said softly, chasing a carrot around her plate with the fork. “I don’t want to be an actress. I just want to be me.”
“So I’ll ask again. Who is that, Lisa Marie Fleming?” Ryan’s voice was soft but insistent.
Lisa looked up. She knew the expression on her face was blank, like the laundered white tablecloth covering their table. It embarrassed her to have nothing to give.
She felt the flush in her cheeks and the sweat just under the skin of her fingertips.
Ryan stood up from his chair and came over next to Lisa.
She opened her mouth to speak. Ryan pressed a strong finger against her lips. She could taste the faint hint of butter and honey.
“Sssh.” He kept the finger in place. He lowered it, trailing the edge over the curve of her lip and tapping her chin once. “Why don’t we just not talk?”
Ryan held out his hand and kept a steady gaze on Lisa until he got what he wanted.
The sticky feeling in the swirls and grooves of her fingertips came alive like microscopic lines of cinders the instant she put her hand in Ryan’s. The contours of his hand cradled hers and he tugged gently as she scooted her chair back and took a small step.
A silver-haired woman in a blue lamé-trimmed pantsuit stood behind a small glittery DJ booth. She tapped the microphone for attention twice. “We’re going to get the dance portion of our dinner cruise started with the traditional Anne Murray. This one is for all the lovebirds on board.”
“We can’t pass up the traditional Anne Murray. Just come with me, Lisa. You don’t have to say anything. I promise.”
As the familiar sounds of the Canadian singer’s most famous hit began to fill all the corners of the paddle wheeler, Lisa let Ryan lead her to the parquet dance floor. Purple and blue spotlights flicked back and forth, casting a violet tint on Ryan’s arm as he wrapped it comfortably around her waist.
“Could I at least have this dance for tonight, Lisa?” Ryan asked, echoing the theme of Anne Murray’s words.
Lisa nodded and felt a shy smile on her lips. Ryan’s arms felt solid, strong. Just like they’d felt on the deck earlier when he’d pulled her in for that kiss.
Maybe it was the kiss that had gotten her so tongue-tied. She wasn’t usually like this. She was trained to speak to people. It frustrated her that she couldn’t speak to Ryan, that she couldn’t just carry on a conversation and answer his questions.
A mirror ball the size of a basketball twirled just above them, throwing more sparkle and light on the dance floor. Three other couples staked their place and tapped and twirled along with the music.
Lisa left all her dance training by the wayside and just swayed in Ryan’s arms.
She wanted to just be.
Who was Lisa Marie Fleming? At this moment, she knew the precise answer.
She was a girl who just wanted to be supported for who she was. She wanted someone to stand beside her and be there for the future. She wanted to dream and inspire and have someone understand why. She wanted someone who would ‘get’ her, with no reservations, now that Nana was exiting stage right from her day-to-day life.
“I’m scared, Ryan.” Lisa’s whisper held up just barely over the start of a Frank Sinatra standard.
Ryan looked down, locked his gaze on hers, and pulled her a little tighter as she rocked back and forth like a metronome, doing the same movement over and over because it didn’t require any more thought.
“The only person who really knows me is Nana. Who am I when she’s gone?”
Ryan brushed back a lock of Lisa’s hair.
“The woman she raised you to be. Her legacy.”
A tear slipped from the corner of Lisa’s eye. It ran down the valley beside her nose. Ryan brushed it away with the care of collecting a rare diamond.
“She’s the only person who hasn’t pulled the rug out from under me. My mother left because I cut into her personal life. My Broadway dreams were done when I realized the people who didn’t expect me to sacrifice my morals were few and far between. The man who said he loved me didn’t love me enough to let me work through some changes in my life.”
“Do you feel this, Lisa?” Ryan flexed the muscles in the arm around her waist.
She nodded.
“It’s not going anywhere. You have a friend for life. No matter where life takes you, I’m not walking the other way.”
Lisa gave a very unladylike sniff as she tried to choke back another tear. “But why not? You barely know me.”
“Maybe. But I know my Pops. And if your Nana was special enough to stay in his mind through more than sixty years of living, then I think I’d be crazy to assume her great-granddaughter didn’t have some of those same qualities.”
Squares of light from overhead dappled Ryan’s face, highlighting his eyes. The violet of the lights somehow made his eyes an even deeper blue. Lisa felt herself being pulled into them, like a rip current off a rolling seashore.
“I’d call it placing an educated bet. I’m taking the knowledge of what I see before me, calculating the odds, and then committing to the play.”
His words made total sense to Lisa. She picked up her feet and started to shuffle a little across their corner of the dance floor. Ryan matched her steps one by one until they were both in time with the music—and with each other.
Six decades after last seeing Bill McBride, this week’s reunion with the man brought a genuine twinkle to Nana’s face. Ryan was right—there was something between the two grandparents, a lesson she could learn if she chose to be the pupil instead of the teacher for just a moment.
It was more than something you’d see in a TV movie, more genuine than anything that could be memorized from a script and brought to life.
It was life. Real life. And Lisa didn’t want to live in the shadows of the past, haunted by the questions of decisions made long ago.
On this crazy makeshift dance floor in the middle of a replica paddle wheel boat, with the sounds of classic crooners filling the air, there were only bright spotlights, live colors, dancing diamonds of light. There were no shadows.
Lisa longed to come out of the shadows which had started haunting her as a little girl, when her mother stopped coming back to Nana’s house. She tugged Ryan toward the center of the dance floor, where the colors glowed the most strongly, and she spoke in a language she knew he’d understand.
“I’m all in.”
Nana brushed past by Lisa, held tightly in Bill’s arms. He reached up and out and twirled Nana with practiced ease. Lisa smiled just watching her. She looked sure-footed and at-ease, as though she was still that girl caught up in a summer romance before enemies dropped bombs and pointed guns half a world away.
On their next round of the dance floor, Bill and Nana slowed alongside Lisa and Ryan. “You two look like you’re enjoying yourselves. Bill, isn’t it like we’re looking in some kind of mirror? That’s just what we looked like almost eighty years ago.”
Bill nodded in hearty agreement. “She looks just like you, the night that I took you to the dance at the Mueller family’s barn. You wore that white dress with the yellow flowers embroidered on it. I never forgot how beautiful you looked that night. And it does seem that Lisa got a good dose of those genes. You’re both beautiful—God knew what he was doing with you two.”
He lifted Nana’s hand and gave it a gentle kiss.
Lisa found herself caught up in something about the boat ride, the classic dance standards coming through the speakers, and this sweet man whose love for her grandmother had stretched across more than three-quarters of a century.
She looked up at Ryan and saw the same eyes as the smitten older man next to them—only, a few shades darker, and not surrounded by the lines of life. She’d heard it said so many times that “character is who you are when no one is looking.” Bill McBride’s character was evident in every loving gesture, every compliment, every sentence he spoke. He loved Gina Mae Fleming. He loved his grandson.
Ever the dreamer, Lisa had always hoped for a love like that. And she’d always gotten burned. But what if Bill McBride’s love and decency were just as much of a genetic legacy as the shape of his Irish blue eyes?
Lisa knew what she wanted half a century from now. She wanted the chivalry, the caresses, the shared jokes that still made each other laugh. She wanted a lifetime love.
“What do you think He was doing with us, Pops?” Ryan chuckled and elbowed his grandfather playfully.
“Us? Well, my boy, we live in the luckiest town on earth. It only makes sense that he made us lucky in love.” With anyone else, a bold statement like that would have been cloaked in mirth and said with a chuckle.
But with Bill, it came out as a statement of fact.
He believed it.
And as another song came on and Ryan pulled her close for a slow dance, Lisa believed it too.
She was falling for Ryan McBride. She didn’t know how and she didn’t know why, but she saw the starry skies out the back window of the boat, closed her eyes, and made a silent wish that the luck of the Irish would rub off on her heart too.
“I’m so glad you and Lisa decided to get married too.” Nana used enough volume that no one could mistake what she’d said.
Lisa tugged a little on Ryan’s sleeve, trying to encourage him back to dancing. Ryan looked at her, that heart-stopping blue barely visible between the squint of his eyelids.
“What is she talking about?”
“I told you. She needs to go to Dr. Reynolds soon.” Lisa racked her brain, trying to think of a way to change the subject.
She didn’t want her luck to run out before it ever started.
On their way back to Las Vegas, Nana and Pops dozed in a corner of the limousine’s long, curved seat.
“They’ve had a big day. And a bigger one ahead tomorrow.”
“Mmm-hmm.” Lisa tried unsuccessfully to stifle a yawn. “I’m sorry, it’s not the company, I swear.”
“I know it’s not. I’m used to late nights. I doubt you are. High school theatre is probably over by ten.”
She laughed as she nodded. “Something like that. The kids may not be through, but they can take it to the local pancake place. Their teacher sure is finished. I’m like Cinderella’s carriage. I turn into a pumpkin at midnight.”
“I bet you’re the prettiest gourd out there.”
“You sure know how to compliment a girl, Mr. High Roller.”
Ryan leaned back in the seat. “Nah. My high-rolling days are over, remember?”
“I do. Have you thought anymore about what you want to do?” Lisa kicked off her shoes and tucked her legs and feet up on the seat, underneath her. The position pulled her dark wash jeans tight and showed off her assets in a way that began to drive Ryan more than a little crazy.
“Well, I guess your Nana thinks we’re actually getting married.”
Lisa’s immediate tension at Gina Mae’s proclamation earlier told Ryan she knew far more than she was letting on. But other activities on the remainder of the boat ride prevented him from probing further.
A nice, quiet limousine ride, on the other hand, seemed like the perfect time to ask—and actually get an answer.
Lisa squirmed a bit in her seat. If she kept moving like that, he might not care what answer she gave.
“She heard about your announcement. I told her it was all a misunderstanding.”
Good news traveled fast.
Ryan thought back to that kiss under the stars, and later, the feel of Lisa in his arms as they danced on that small dance floor. He turned over the moments in his mind, dissecting the sounds and emotions and the thoughts he’d had all night.
“What if it wasn’t?”
She sat up straight. “What if what wasn’t what?”
“A misunderstanding.”
Her lips pursed as her eyes narrowed. The blue glow of the custom overhead lighting fell on her, making her look like a curious Smurf.
Ryan wasn’t sure he’d seen anything more beautiful. Saturday morning cartoons had never made him feel like this. The anxious waiting he’d felt during commercial breaks, waiting to get back to the animated action didn’t come close to the swift acceleration of pulse and kick of adrenaline swishing through his veins as he anticipated Lisa’s reply.
“Like you and me?”
“Isn’t that how it happens in the scripts and stories? Boom, you just know? Like a Hallmark holiday movie—just at spring break, in Vegas?” He ran a hand through his hair. This wasn’t going how he wanted it to.
Of course, he didn’t know exactly how he wanted it to go.
He only knew that he wanted Lisa.
Wanted to know her better.
Wanted to ease the worry she seemed to carry with her like a well-worn handbag.
Wanted to kiss her deeply and find out what would make her wrap her arms around his neck again.
“But this is real life, not the theatre or the Hallmark Channel, Ryan. Who acts like that in real life?”
On one hand, Ryan knew she had a point. But on the other hand, he could think of evidence against real life.
“Them.” He pointed back at the sleeping couple, Gina Mae’s head tenderly resting on Pops’ shoulder, their hands loosely clasped between them. “Me.”
“You? No. You’re Mr. Direct. The moment I met you, you tried cutting me down to size.”
“I won’t deny I wasn’t happy to be there at the airport. But Lisa, the way I see it, you and I have a lot in common. In each of our own way, we’re both dreamers. I’ll risk everything for a good card. You’ll slip into the world of a character. I’m a gambler by trade. I take risks. I’ve told you some of those moves are calculated. But you can’t be a good gambler if you can’t go with your gut. ”
Ryan didn’t want to hear her protest. He knew he was right. As she opened her mouth to speak, he leaned toward her and covered her mouth with his own.
Gently, at first, then instinct took over. He brushed his hands over her hair, feeling the soft curls and waves. He felt his fingers down the groove of her spine, first at her neck and then between her shoulder blades.
Ryan shifted his weight and moved his arms to frame Lisa’s body. He braced his weight with his hands and waited for her to signal with a turn or a push that he’d gone too far by stealing another kiss tonight. He hesitated one moment, then one moment more, and then he was unable to hold back anymore.
The blood pounding in his ears drowned out any other soft sounds in the limo and the lingering light floral scent at the spot between Lisa’s collarbones called to him like a magnet pulling in the direction of true north. He closed the kiss, lifted his head slightly, and moved his focus, nibbling along her jawline and caressing the slope of her neck. When he finally found the hollow he’d been searching for, he pressed a kiss in the soft curve and Lisa came alive with a low moan in her throat.
If the driver turned now and headed for the California coast, Ryan knew he still would not have enough time to kiss Lisa the way he wanted to.
She tangled searching fingers at the crown of his hair and Ryan almost lost all sense of himself at her own form of wordless risk-taking. Lightning storms were generally rare in the middle of the desert, but the electricity which flowed from Ryan to Lisa and back again drove him mad.
“See. I told you, Bill. You said that lady in the casino was wrong. I told you she said they were getting married.” Gina Mae’s voice held a small sound of sleepiness and a large dose of smug. “Won’t a double wedding be fun, Bill? How lucky are we?”
Ryan decided there was no use trying to casually slide back to his portion of the bench seat. They’d been caught.
Lisa might have been worrying about a dementia diagnosis for her grandmother, but she clearly didn’t need to concern herself with getting Nana checked for cataracts.
Caught. Red-handed.
And red-lipsticked. Ryan swiped a hand near his cheek, trying to wipe away some of the evidence. Then he stopped himself. No sense in denying it, really. They were two grown adults.
Plus, he’d enjoyed it. Really, really enjoyed it.
“Nana, remember what I told you earlier...” Lisa weighed in with some hesitation.
The older woman’s clear eyes looked back blankly. “No, not really.”
Lisa took a deep breath, then spoke with clear syllables and a deliberately slow cadence. “It was all a mistake. The reporter made a mistake.”
“Well, really, she didn’t,” Ryan interjected himself casually into the conversation.
“Yes, she did.”
He shook his head. “Nope. If we’re going to discuss that interview, let’s get it right.”
“Ryan!”
He didn’t know how she did it, but Lisa turned the four letters of his name into a whole different kind of four-letter word, just with her tone of voice.
“I told her I was retiring and then I threw in that I was getting married, just to mess with everyone.” He raised his arms and locked his hands behind his head. “So she was just reporting what I told her.”
“See, honey, the reporter wasn’t lying.” Nana just smiled.
“Nana! Don’t you think I’d know if I was getting married?” Lisa looked at Gina Mae, then over to Ryan. The look on her face begged him for help.
But he hesitated. He could help Lisa, but not in the way that she was hoping for right this second.
Wouldn’t that solve all her worries about taking care of Nana and paying for the expensive tests that were to come? She said she didn’t want to accept his help in paying Nana’s part of the assisted living facility expenses. But he also knew she likely hadn’t come up with any way to make it happen on her own.
What if financial support from him wasn’t a handout?
Even if it was just a temporary arrangement—the quickie annulment or divorce was just as common around Vegas as the quickie wedding—he could handle that. Just something to get Pops and Nana settled in their new place in a way that caused as few disruptions for them as possible.
And if Lisa chose to pay his investment back in another series of kisses like that last one, well, those would be acceptable terms.
“Don’t you want to get married?” Ryan decided to put his plan in motion.
Her jaw popped open and her nostrils flared slightly with incredulity. “Aren’t you supposed to be helping me?”
“You’re not answering the question. I can’t answer yours until you answer mine.”
“Of course she does. She used to be engaged.” Nana chimed in when Lisa wouldn’t break the silence.
“Thank you, Gina Mae. Now we’re getting somewhere.” Ryan nodded, a gesture of thanks. “So, you used to be engaged. That means you’re comfortable with the concept of marriage.”
Lisa’s jaw set like a steel trap closing in around prey. She refused to let any words escape.
The familiar tingle of adrenaline, of having an opponent on the run, began to percolate in Ryan’s veins.
He wouldn’t necessarily call Lisa an opponent.
But he didn’t have any plans to stop until she called.
He’d come too far to fold now.
“So if it’s not marriage, is it me?”
“I. Don’t. Know. You.” The syllables barely squeaked out.
“All evidence to the contrary. You’re in the habit of kissing men you don’t know, then?”
Pops cleared his throat. “Son, I think you’re misunderstanding what she’s saying. I don’t know what you told that reporter, but I don’t think you’ve ever been engaged before. At least not to my knowledge.”
“Nope, Pops. This is a first for me.”
“A first? It would have to have happened for it to be a first. Right now, it’s still a zero. This is like trying to buy a burger with Monopoly money. Yeah, it looks kind of like money, but it doesn’t spend in the real world.”
“Lisa, your grandmother is asking for a double wedding. You’re not going to give her what she wants for her special day?” He couldn’t keep the grin off his face.
Now he was just having fun. He knew he’d have to ask her forgiveness later. He’d put some thought into it and come up with an appropriate plan.
It would probably involve kissing.
It would definitely involve kissing.
That is, if Lisa ever allowed him within fifty feet of her again.
The limo pulled up to the main doors of the Renaissance Grand. Their ride was over, but the discussion wasn’t. He’d gone too far to back down now. Besides, Nana gave him a peck on the cheek as she exited the vehicle. At least one of the Fleming women wasn’t offended.
Lisa looked at Ryan’s outstretched hand, ready to assist her in exiting the limousine, then pushed past, giving herself a wide berth.
“I think when it comes to wedding gifts, normal people just ask for a blender,” she said before walking through the sliding glass doors without so much as a backward look at her erstwhile fiancé.
