“You’re not going to let him scare you because he thinks I’m eccentric, are you?”
“I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who has all their marbles like you do.” Everybody who had sat down at that poker table had been at least thirty years younger than Miss E., and she’d outwitted them all. “You are living, breathing proof that experience is the most valuable asset.”
“An asset you need to develop.”
“I’m nothing compared to you,” Lydia said almost ashamedly.
“You have skills I will never have. I sat down at the table with a bunch of men who knew my reputation and knew not to underestimate me, but you, with your beautiful face, charming manner and soft voice—no one looks at you and thinks that underneath you have a will of steel.”
“I don’t have that,” Lydia objected, thinking of all the times she’d obediently followed her mother’s orders just to be nice.
“You underestimate yourself. The second the door on your gilded cage was unlocked, you flew away.”
“I had no plan.” Running away from New Orleans had been impulsive and possibly silly. She’d done so anyway because she couldn’t stand the feeling of being cloistered, of being locked up.
“Yes, you did. You snatched your daughter and fled. You waited until you found someone...me...who would help you. You didn’t just walk into my poker school to learn to play poker for fun. You needed a skill. You needed to learn how to outwit people with what you think you don’t have.”
Lydia stared in astonishment at Miss E. If anything else, learning to play poker had taught her to keep her cards close to her vest and learn strategy. “How did you know that about me? I didn’t even know that about me.”
“I watched you watching people. In the three months you’ve been here, you’ve become a better poker player than ninety percent of the people I’ve ever taught. That’s because they were playing for fun and you weren’t. They wanted to win money and you wanted to win respect. I know you like it when people underestimate you.”
Lydia stared into the older woman’s shrewd eyes, frowning. “I’m not that good at poker.”
Miss E. simply smiled. “You don’t play cards, you play the cards, you play the people. You manipulate them by your actions. Do you know how many tournaments I’ve won and never even looked at my cards?”
“Miss Eleanor, you make me sound so manipulative.” But wasn’t she? she asked herself. How often had her husband brought home some little piece of jewelry because she admired it and had manipulated him into purchasing it? Once he bought her a brand new Lexus because she’d complained about the Cadillac. And she’d managed to keep Maya out of the prestigious boarding school Mitchell thought would be good for her by batting her eyes and telling him how much Maya was an asset for his business. All because he made profitable contacts through Maya’s friends in the fancy private school she attended. She didn’t care about his business as much as she wanted to keep Maya home with her. She had used Mitchell’s ego to get what she’d wanted. He’d given in because he adored Maya and deep down inside wanted to keep her home, too.
“You’re a beautiful, fragile woman and your ability to manipulate is your greatest weapon. You keep letting people underestimate you, because when you knock them on their butt, they are still not going to get it. And mark my words, you’re going to knock Hunter on his butt and I’m going to enjoy watching you.”
Lydia sat down on the sofa and let her thoughts wander. “Thinking back, I believe you might be right.” Unfortunately her actions reminded her of her mother and made her uncomfortable. Caroline Fairchild had gotten what she wanted the very same way Lydia had. Lydia wanted to change that part of herself.
“You fascinate me, my dear. I read you five minutes after we met.” Miss E. opened the closet door and hung up Maya’s dresses. Maya had retreated to a corner of the bedroom with her dolls, and sat on the floor playing quietly.
Lydia ran over in her mind why she’d come to Reno when she could have gone anywhere. She had more money than she could spend in a thousand lifetimes. She had global contacts and time.
Maybe Hunter had figured her out. Reno was as different as she could get. No one would think to look for her here. At least not for a while. And from the frantic phone messages left by her two stepsons, they were definitely looking for her. She kept her phone turned off most of the time because she didn’t want David and Leon to find her anytime soon. Eventually, they’d hire someone to track her down. And she would be ready for them, digging in her heels and making a life for herself in Reno despite any objections they would have.
She heard Miss E. laughing with Maya, which turned Lydia’s thoughts to Hunter Russell. He was a handsome man with his lean face and muscular body. His brown eyes had been as shrewd and sharp as his grandmother’s. Yet, he made her uncomfortable. Unlike Mitchell, who had been thirty-five years older than her. Mitchell had been a quiet, almost comfortable man. He’d asked little of her except to look pretty on his arm, to be gracious to his friends and to make his life comfortable. She had rather liked Mitchell even though he’d been her parents’ choice and not hers. Her marriage had not been the exciting relationship she had dreamed of, but it had been fruitful. Mitchell had given her Maya and for that she would always be thankful.
He’d asked Lydia if he could name the child after his mother and she’d agreed because she thought the name was so beautiful. She always suspected he’d been more of father to Maya than to his other two children.
She’d done everything Mitchell asked despite her dislike of his two grown sons from his first marriage. Leon and David Montgomery had hated her from the moment they’d met her. She’d been twenty-one and barely out of college when she’d married Mitchell. Leon and David had been in their early thirties. Leon was the consummate playboy, with two illegitimate children whose mothers had to sue him for child support, while David married every stripper he’d ever met. Crippled beneath the mountain of alimony David had to pay out every month, Lydia had the idea he’d been almost delighted when Mitchell had died until the will had been read and he’d discovered Maya had inherited most of the money and the businesses, with Lydia as the executer.
“I think we’re mostly done with the unpacking,” Miss E. said a moment later. She closed the last suitcase and zipped it. “I’ll just call the front desk and have them send someone up to collect the luggage and put it in storage.”
“Thank you.” Lydia nodded absently. “What about you? Have you decided on which suite you’re going to use?”
“I’m staying in my RV for the time being,” Miss E. answered. “I’ve lived in that RV for ten years. I’m not quite ready to give it up.” Her RV was parked in a side lot and plugged into the hotel’s electric grid. Lydia had never been in an RV before until she’d met Miss E. and she had found it to be quite comfortable if a bit cramped. She’d even considered buying her own, learning to drive it and then taking Maya all over the country to see all the wonderful places Lydia had always wanted to see. “So what happens next?”
Miss E. and Lydia went into the living room to sit down in chairs that faced each other, leaving Maya to play in her bedroom.
Miss E.’s face was thoughtful. “Reed and I have discussed letting you take over building the spa with Hunter while we take over the casino upgrades. Jasper is going to act as our consultant.”
“Do you know when Reed will be coming?”
“I
