The Gamble (Colorado Mountain 1)

“You’re kidding!” she screeched, excited since she took me to my first Cotton exhibition at The Met and she loved his work nearly as much as me.

“I’m not!”

“You have to send me the picture. Send it to Steve’s e-mail.”

Mom didn’t do the internet or e-mail or at least she told everyone in a superior way that she didn’t do the internet or e-mail. That said, she was on Steve’s e-mail all the time if the many jokes and lessons on “sisterhood” and heartwarming stories she forwarded were any indication.

I tried to decide if I wanted my mother to see Cotton’s photo of Max and me.

Then I decided I wanted my mother to see Cotton’s photo of Max and me.

“I’ll e-mail it in awhile.”

“Wonderful.”

I heard the door upstairs open and I said, “Mindy’s out of the shower, I have to go.”

“Mindy?”

“Max’s best friend’s little sister. She’s having some… um… difficulties and Max is helping her out. I promised her a facial, I’ve got to go.”

“Okay, honey.”

“Love you, Mom.”

I heard the taps of fingers on a keyboard in the background over the phone and she said distractedly, “Love you too… erm, what’s the town you’re in called?”

“Gnaw Bone.”

A pause then, “Gnaw Bone?”

I laughed. “Why do you think I chose it? I had to stay in a place called Gnaw Bone.”

“I love it!” she cried.

She’d love it more if she saw the shops.

“Neens?” Mindy called. “Do you want to do the facial upstairs or down there?”

“Upstairs!” I called back then said to Mom, “Now I really have to go.”

“Love you, sweetie.”

“Love you, bye.”

I touched the screen to end the call and yelled to Mindy, “We’ll need a towel and washcloth!”

“Got it!” she yelled back.

“Do you want another cup of coffee?”

“Yeah, if you don’t mind!”

“Okay!”

Then I put my phone on the counter, poured Mindy a cup of coffee and prayed that facials could induce skip-dancing in recently raped, brokenhearted, twenty-four year old girls and, I figured, I had my work cut out for me.

* * * * *

“What’s your Mom like?” Mindy asked, it was post-facial and she was sitting in the rocking chair that she pulled up next to the roll top while I fiddled with the card reader I’d brought. I was sending my mother the Cotton picture of Max and me as well as the photo of Max I surreptitiously took.

“She’s a nut,” I answered.

“Like you?”

Surprised, I turned my head to look at her and stated, “I’m not a nut.”

“You spent, like, a gazillion dollars on clothes and all sorts of shit yesterday and then ate more pizza than any girl I’ve ever met and then you laughed until you nearly fell off your bar stool about, I don’t know, a gazillion times and then you got right in Damon’s face and no one, except someone as big as Max, gets right in Damon’s face, not even Arlene and Arlene’s ornery,” she replied then, having stated her case, she summed up, “You’re a nut.”

“Well, I’m on vacation,” I replied haughtily, haughty and vacation being my only two defenses and seeing the attachment had loaded on Mom’s e-mail I hit send.

“You’re not on vacation, you’re a nut,” Mindy said and I could swear I heard a smile in her voice so I looked at her and saw there was a smile on her face.

Maybe it was the facial that did it but I was thinking it was more me being a nut. I didn’t care. Either way, I was relieved.

“Then I guess I’m a nut,” I said, scanning my inbox to see if Niles had written, he hadn’t, so I shut it down.

“Goodie!” Mindy cried while I was clicking the computer to turn it off, she jumped out of her chair and ran to the window. “Max’s home for lunch. Brill!”

My heart skipped and my belly fluttered at the thought of Max being home for lunch.

“Shit!” Mindy hissed suddenly and ran back toward me.

Then I watched in shock as she threw herself bodily on the floor on my side of the couch, she curled up so she was as small as her tall body could be and she reached out a hand to me as if she was in a foxhole, I was standing outside it and bullets were flying.

“Hurry, get down here, maybe she won’t see us!” she was still hissing.

My eyes went to the windows as I saw a fancy, shining, black Lexus SUV slide next to my rental car.

“Who?”

“Kami!” Mindy whispered loudly. “Hurry!”

My eyes went to Mindy. “Kami? Max’s sister?”

“Yes. She’s scary. Hurry, before she sees you.”

With sudden intense curiosity, I looked back to the window to see a woman getting out of the SUV. She closed the door, turned and then looked up at the house.

“But –”

“Neens, get down here!”

Too late.

Kami looked into the house, did a quick sweep and stopped, her face pointed in my direction and I was pretty certain she saw me.

“She saw me.”

“Damn!”

I stood. “Get up, lovely, she’s Max’s sister. How scary could she be?”

My point was not that Max wasn’t scary. He was, very scary but he was scary in a lot of different ways for a lot different reasons, scary in a way women couldn’t be. Though I didn’t share this with Mindy.

I was watching Max’s sister walk up the steps as her eyes stayed locked on me. She had Max’s hair, longer, the waves no less attractive. But she didn’t have his height and she was carrying at least fifty (maybe more) extra pounds than her frame found comfortable. She also looked like she was in a bad mood.

“She looks like she’s in a bad mood,” I muttered, trying not to let my lips move.

“Great,” Mindy muttered back.

I walked to the door as Kami walked through.

“Hi,” I said.

“Hey Kami,” Mindy said from behind me and Kami started when Mindy spoke then her eyes narrowed on a spot behind me and I figured that Mindy just righted herself.

“Mindy,” Kami said severely then her eyes, not clear gray but dark brown and not rimmed with fantastic lashes but makeup-less and nowhere near as spectacular as her brother’s, came to me. “You must be Nina.”