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pulled in her third pot of the night with a smoky laugh.
    “It’s always my night, angel.”
    Cass smiled at the pair of them, the most improbable couple in all of Rancho Del Cielo. Where Selvyn Panyon was probably born in jeans and leather, Alice was the epitome of a debutante; cool, blonde and perfect. Ironically, Sel grew up to be a world-renowned artist while Alice was a retired firefighter. They were probably the happiest couple in town, too, with one little girl and another baby due to make an appearance sometime in the next few weeks. Not that a high, round belly kept Alice from stretching her arms around a pile of multicolored chips and chortling greedily.
    Sel smoothed a wisp of Alice’s white-blonde hair behind her ear, a gesture so intimate and familiar, Cass looked at the cards with a sense of guilt at having watched. Even jealousy. No one ever touched her like that.
    But someone would.
    Like a vow, the sentence ran through her mind as the cards ran through her fingers. When she did lift her eyes again, it wasn’t to spy on Alice and Sel, or to see what May Belle and Jimmy were conspiring about this time, or even if Ben Friedly was trying to swipe another handful of popcorn from the bowl on the counter. It was to look at Burke as she shuttled cards around the table.
    He hadn’t made eye contact all evening but she concentrated on him until he couldn’t avoid her any more. A deep blue, Burke’s eyes were those of a man who thought, probably too much. He did everything deep in his head; math, bills, itinerary, designs for the cars he rebuilt from heaps. In the span of two minutes, the man could mentally take apart an entire engine and put it back together using all the pieces. Didn’t take him much longer in real life either. His entire life was about plan of attack. If anyone should appreciate her setting a goal, it would be Burke. Normally.
    Right now, she could tell he was thinking too much again. Chomping at the bit to get the evening’s game over with so he could send her home with a pat on the head before having to discuss “the femininity plan”. Well, she’d just have to get around that, now wouldn’t she?
    “Dealer’s choice. Five-card stud, aces high, favor game. Showdown rules.”
    There were a few grumbles around the table, but no one complained about the game choice. Favor games were where you had to bet a favor instead of chips. Showdown rules meant in the case of only two players still holding, they could request a favor instead betting one. Burke eyed her suspiciously before reaching to the breakfast bar for the phone pad of paper and a pen. Cass gave him her best smile.
    He almost knocked his chair over.
    She stifled a laugh and set the leftover deck in front of herself. Carefully, she looked at her cards. Two queens, two aces and a deuce. She fought the urge to smile again as she lay down her deuce and slid it over to Jimmy. Burke was so going to lose.
    They passed the pad around and by the time it made a full circle, the pot held a portrait sketch, a casserole, a lawn mowing, three free gallons of milk, a free dinner from Shaky Jakes and a Garth Brooks CD. Cass scowled. Damn, she better win this hand.
    Right before she was about to call, Burke said he wanted to raise. He scribbled over the rights to his kitchen radio.
    Fine, she could play dirty, too. She wrote her note and tossed it into the pot.
    Jimmy leaned over and read her rotten handwriting by squinting one eye. “A date?”
    “Gotta have one to take to Luke’s wedding, don’t I?”
    She could have dropped a pin on the carpet and heard it snag.
    Finally, Jimmy coughed. “Most of us here are married, CB. ‘Cept Burke. You sure you wanna drag him to a wedding?” In other words, are you sure you want to go to the wedding?
    “Pass me off to someone. You meet more people than I do, Jimmy. I’m sure Sel could find someone if it came down to it. Alice and May Belle keep trying to set me up with people, so there’s no