Stroke of Luck

April and Austin both clinked against it, then sipped. She finished hers, then poured another.

“Let’s play poker,” she said and walked toward the game table.

Austin and Quinn joined her, and soon Austin was dealing out the cards. All her anxiety about what would happen during the game seemed unfounded. They simply bet chips and played their hands, though the men carried on a good-natured banter.

April wasn’t giving them much of a challenge. She hadn’t played poker much and kept losing. Austin could read her face too well for her to bluff. She played with gusto, though, betting them up in hopes that her two kings or three tens would win, only to find Austin had a full house, or Quinn four of a kind. Her stack of chips had dwindled to about a quarter.

“I’m going to run out of chips soon,” she said as she tossed in her ante. “I don’t want to leave you without a third player, so should we ask for some more?”

“Sure. No problem,” Quinn said. He walked to the house phone and dialed. “Alan, would you send up some more chips? Yes, a hundred should be fine.”

“He’s sending a hundred chips?” April asked Austin.

“No, that’s the dollar value of the chips.”

A thought spiked through her alcohol-muddled mind.

“Dollar amount? Are you paying for the chips?” A hundred dollars seemed excessive for a stack of chips. Even these lovely, high-quality ones.

“Not exactly,” Quinn said as he returned to the table and sat down. “The casino takes a percentage of all gambling that officially takes place in the hotel. Since this is a private game, and the players settle up between each other, the casino takes a percentage of the chips delivered to the private game rooms.”

Her stomach twisted. “So I’m guessing the hundred you referred to isn’t a hundred dollars.”

Austin smiled and shook his head. “No. We each started with a stack that represented a hundred grand.”

“And so we’ve been betting real money.” Her stomach coiled so tightly she thought she’d throw up.

“Don’t worry about it,” Quinn said. “We never expected you to pay your losses. That’s why we didn’t mention it.”

She leaned back in her chair, chewing her lower lip. She stared at the chips she had left. A quick calculation told her she’d lost the equivalent of about $70,000.

Oh, God.

“April, it’s not a problem,” Austin said. “We wanted you to be part of the game, and we understand your circumstances. It’s not like either Quinn or I are worried about money.”

She frowned and turned her gaze to him. “Let me ask you this. If I had come away from the game with more chips than I’d started with, would you have given me the winnings?”

“Of course,” Austin said.

“Then I was playing with real money.”

A knock sounded at the door. Austin got up to answer it.

“Oh, God, that’ll be the new chips. That’s going to cost you even more money. Austin, just tell them we don’t need them.”

But Austin was already signing the paper the man handed him. He returned with a new stack that he placed in front of her.

“Look, we’re not going to force you to be in further debt because of a casual poker game,” Quinn said firmly. “So just relax and enjoy the game.”

“I can’t.” Her hands were trembling now. Her head was foggy, and she had trouble thinking. All she knew was that she wasn’t comfortable with them just forgiving her debt.

“I have to find a way to pay back my losses, but…” She shook her head, feeling panicky. “I don’t know how.”

“Sweetheart,” Quinn said softly, “take a deep breath.”

She drew in a lungful of air, then released it slowly.

“Now, just think about it. We didn’t tell you that we were playing for real money. That means you shouldn’t be held accountable for the debt you racked up. If you were, we would feel that we’d taken advantage of you. And all this for an amount of money that means nothing to us. So please…”