Dead Man's Hand by Steven Meehan Page B

again this year.”  She replied cautiously.
    “You’re not going to be
any more specific are you?”
    “A girl needs to guard
her secrets, Marcus.”  And that was all she was going to say on the
matter.  It was the nicest denial I think I had ever received.
    I lifted my glass to my
mouth to take another sip of my drink while I tried to think of a suitably
clever response.  Unfortunately I was unable to think of anything, so
instead I ended up blurting out, “No, you don’t.”  I flashed the biggest
and friendliest smile I could, as I repeated my question.  “How well did
you do last year?”
    She sighed but she also
leaned over the table and gestured for me to do the same.  So I sat up
straight as I leaned across the table so she could whisper in my ear. 
With a soft and sensual tone she cupped her right hand over her mouth as if she
were trying to keep anyone from reading her lips.  Once the scene was set
she began to whisper her secret.  “Maybe another time, Marcus.  Just
maybe, if you’re lucky.”
    I couldn’t help but laugh
as I leaned back into my chair saying, “A woman of mystery indeed.”
    “And don’t you dare try
and pretend that you’re not excited and thrilled by that fact.”  She said
with a rather enchanting wink.
    I took a small breath to
steady myself before responding.  “I wouldn’t dare argue with you,
Bella.”  I was trying to avoid thinking about Dempsey or even searching
for him and of course that was when he flashed in front of my eyes.  I
could swear that Dempsey had just made eye contact with Patrick.  Had
he spoken with him already?   I don’t think he had, but I could be
wrong, it wouldn’t be the first time.  Also it was not as if I was paying
a lot of attention to either of them at the moment.
    From that look I knew
that these two knew each other. It was a look of two friends with inherent
understanding of each other might give. They would be able to have entire
conversations without having to rely upon words.  So what had those two
friends talked about with that look?   Of course I had no way to know.
After all, those two were the friends, there was no way I was going to be able
to decipher it.
    With thoughts of Dempsey
on my mind I looked back to Bella as I asked a follow-up question.  “I’m
sorry to bring Dempsey back into our conversation, but since you’ve had the
privilege of being here before, does he talk to everyone or just a select few?”
    As I waited for a reply I
looked over her shoulder in time to see Dempsey walking away from Patrick’s
general vicinity and towards yet another group of people.  “Why are you so
interested in Dempsey?”
    Even though I knew what
she would say I voiced the question anyway.  “I’m being rude again aren’t
I?”
    Using her thumb and index
finger she indicated just how rude she thought I was being as she answered,
“Just a little.”
    I was mentally exhausted
and I just needed answers.  But my best source for the information I
needed was growing more than a little irritated by my game of twenty questions,
as long as the main topic was Dempsey.  If there was anything I had
learned during my life, it was when all else fails you have to go with the
truth, or at least a piece of it.
    “I’m not trying to be
rude, Bella.  It’s just… it’s just a bad habit I’ve managed to pick up
when I was younger.  When I’m ignorant on a subject I physically cannot
stop asking questions.”  Which was very true, it just wasn’t the whole
truth.  The whole truth was much simpler, I was just a curious man by
nature.  And it had nothing to do with how familiar I was with the
subject.  “And yes I do know that drives most people crazy.”
    While she was still
hesitant to answer I desperately flashed her my most ingratiating smile. 
I guessed it helped, slightly at any rate, because while she folded her arms
across her chest she did answer my question.  “Last year he met with
everyone before we