“Kate!” Donald was as outraged as if he’d read her mind.

“They’re real.” She scooped up another mound. A piece of meat fell off, and she raised her fork to spear it.

“Let me see.” He thrust his hand over the plate just as she aimed the fork.

Later, she couldn’t remember whether she’d had time to stop, or if Donald’s trying to ruin her potatoes the way he’d ruined everything else had made her temporarily insane. Whatever the reason, she stabbed him with the sharp, narrow, old-fashioned fork and hit a vein in the back of his hand.

Donald screamed, and she shoved his hand away so he wouldn’t get blood on her potatoes.

“I’m so sorry, Donald,” she said and took another bite.

An hour later, Kate stopped by the cabin and dropped off the things she’d bought and then strolled back to the pool for a while. Two orders of Mrs. Dickerson’s mashed potatoes had made her world a better place, even though Donald tried to make her leave after Mrs. Dickerson had wrapped his hand in gauze.

“I’m almost finished,” she’d told him, “and you’re not bleeding anymore.”

He was standing at the bar when she sat down next to the pool, drinking with his left hand and ignoring her. Obviously he wasn’t going to be making any passes at her tonight. Just as well, she told herself. He’d probably tell me that my nightgown was polyester and that I’d faked my orgasm. And he’d have been wrong about the nightgown and right about the orgasm.

Penny waved to her and she moved to the chair beside her. “Thank you for talking me into going into town today,” she told Penny. “I had a very good time.”

“Well, don’t forget, we’re going to Nancy ’s tonight, too,” Penny said.

“Anything you say,” Kate said and slouched down in her chair to enjoy the late afternoon.


Jake watched her slouch and then deliberately turned away. She didn’t seem upset, but something had pretty clearly gone wrong that afternoon; for one thing, Donald the gnat was wearing a bandage. She must have done something to him. Jake grinned, wondering what he had done.

He felt somebody at his elbow and turned to see Kate.

“Soda,” she said. “Any kind. I’m dying of thirst.”

“Sure.” Jake moved behind the bar. “So how did the plan go today?”

Kate glanced over at Donald who was glaring at her as he nursed his hand. “Not well. Why?”

“I was curious as to why old Donald was wearing a bandage. You were my first guess. What’d you do, bite him?”

“He should be so lucky,” Kate said. “I stabbed him.”

Jake handed her a drink. “Try not to injure anybody else, okay?”

“He deserved it,” Kate said.

“I’m sure he did. But if you go around wounding every guy who deserves it, you’ll be taking out most of the hotel.”

“I’ll behave,” Kate said. “I’m not even going to be at the hotel tonight. Penny’s taking me someplace called Nancy ’s.”

“I’ll warn Nancy,” Jake said.

“Very funny,” Kate said and walked back to her chair while Jake watched.

I’m really not attracted to her kind, Jake thought. Which is a good thing, because if I was, I could be in deep trouble here.


Penny knocked on Kate’s door at seven. “Come on, Kate,” she called. “Let’s go.” She was wearing white hoop earrings the size of bracelets, her new cowboy hat, and a neon-blue scoop-necked cotton-knit shift that stopped a good distance above her knees. She had exquisite knees.

Penny came in and sat on the bed and her dress rose above her thighs. She had great thighs, too. “You’re going to love Nancy ’s. Everybody says it’s the best-a real country bar. Everybody goes there.”

“Right,” Kate said. “I’m going. Just give me a minute.”

What to wear was a problem. She really liked Penny, but going places with her was depressing. No thighs or knees, she told herself. You can’t compete.

She pulled her white silk halter dress out of the closet. It was a little formal and draped a little low in the back for a bar, but it was also calf-length. She looked at Penny’s thighs. This was the dress.

She put her hair back in the chignon and put on her gold hoops.

“You should leave your hair down,” Penny told her. “It looks really good down.”

“It’s messy.” Kate tucked a loose strand firmly behind her ear.

“Men like messy hair. They like to touch it.”

Kate looked at Penny’s hair, tumbling all over her shoulders. It was lovely.

“Not my style.” She put in another bobby pin.

Penny sighed and followed her out to the car.


Surprisingly enough, Kate liked the bar. It was everything Penny had said-a real country bar. The light was dim, the tables were scarred wood, and a jukebox glowed neon as it moaned country and western to the crowd. In the background, Kate could hear the snick of pool balls and see people playing under hanging lights, and somewhere someone was playing pinball. A real bar. Not a fern in the place.

A good-looking redhead was tending the old oak bar, wiping down the thick white-veined marble top. Like the rest of the waitresses, she was wearing a well-filled black tank top and a pink vest. Unlike the rest of the waitresses, she was self-possessed and over thirty. Kate made a bet with herself that this was Nancy.

“White wine, please.” Kate sat on the barstool in front of her, and the redhead poured her drink. Penny stood with her back to the bar, surveying the room.

“I’m Nancy,” the redhead said. “You want anything, just holler my name. Everybody else around here does.”

Kate smiled. “I’m Kate. And this is Penny.”

“I love your bar,” Penny said, turning around. “It’s just too authentic.”

“Thanks,” Nancy said. “That’s definitely the ambience we wanted.”

Kate looked at her with more interest than before. “Exactly how do you achieve this authentic ambience?”

“Oh, it’s not hard. We just hire a couple of guys in plaid shirts to come in and play pool and spit on the floor.”

“You hired them?” Penny asked.

“It’s a joke, Penny,” Kate said.

“Actually, the guy in the blue plaid shirt back there is my husband.”

Kate looked back to the pool table. The guy in the blue plaid was blond and stocky. He was staring sadly at the table where a big man in a cream-colored cowboy hat was knocking balls into the pockets with disheartening precision.

“Isn’t that Jake?” Penny asked.

“You know Jake?” Nancy shook her head. “He’s beating Ben at pool. They’ve been playing off and on for about five years now. Ben’s never won once.”

“Why does he keep playing?” Kate asked.

“He says he’s getting better.”

“Well, you have to admire a man who doesn’t quit.”

“Jake says he’s getting worse.”

“Jake’s dreamy,” Penny said.

“Go tell him,” Nancy said. “Maybe you’ll distract him and Ben will win.”

“Maybe later,” Penny said. “We want to scope out the action. Right, Kate?”

“What do you want to drink, Penny?” Kate asked hastily. “I’ll buy.”

“Strawberry daiquiri,” Penny said.

Nancy sighed.

“How about a beer?” Kate suggested. “Men in places like this love women who drink beer.”

“Are you sure?”

“Did you ever see Urban Cowboy?”

“No,” Penny said. “Beer, please.”

“Thank you,” Nancy said to Kate and went to get Penny’s beer.


Over by the pool table, Ben looked up. “Check out the talent at the bar.”

Jake glanced over his shoulder and stopped for a moment to stare. Then he turned back to the table. “The one in white is Kate.”

“The killer?” Ben took a longer look. “That’s some dress.”

“Yep,” Jake said. “I think you just lost this game, son.”

Ben looked at him skeptically. “You said she was a nice kid.”

“She is.” Jake studied the table. “Aside from the damage she does to her dates.”

He leaned over to take his shot, and Ben looked at him and shook his head. “That is no kid.”

Jake pocketed the last ball. “No, but that is the game. You got time for another?”

“Hell, yes. My winning streak is about to start.” Ben looked back at Kate. “She’s not a real blonde.”

“The hell she isn’t.”

“Twenty bucks says she isn’t.”

Jake looked at him in disgust. “And how do you propose we settle the bet?”

“I propose you find out,” Ben said, grinning.

“Find out for yourself.” Jake moved around the table to rack the balls. “But make sure I get the twenty from your estate. Death is no reason not to pay off your bets.”


“This is a wonderful place, Penny,” Kate said. “Thank you for bringing me. In fact, I like it so much, I’m going to buy the next round, too.”

“Oh, shoot,” Penny said. “We won’t have to buy any more beers. That’s what guys are for. Look at that guy in the black Stetson.”

The guy in the Stetson was ersatz cowboy, right down to his spurs. Expensive ersatz cowboy. He was probably a dentist from Detroit. Still, if Penny liked him, Kate wasn’t going to be a snob. “He’s very attractive, Penny.”

“He’s smiling at us.” Penny smiled back. The dentist ambled over.

“Howdy, little lady.” He touched the brim of his hat “Could I buy you a drink?”

“Sure could,” Penny said. “This is my friend, Kate.”

“Just leaving.” Kate backed away a few seats, taking her wine with her. The dentist smiled his appreciation.

Why is it, Kate thought as she backed up, that Jake and Penny can look honestly charming in their cowboy hats and yet this man looks like such a loser? And those spurs. Those spurs would make me very nervous.