It wasn't long before I learned just how well this group of men played. I had to stay alert and pay close attention at all times, but slowly I discovered their little ticks and quirks. Everybody's got 'em – the only difference is the professional knows how to hide 'em. This bunch was pretty good at it, for a group of non-professionals, but each did something small and almost indiscernible that tipped me off to where they stood on a particular hand.
I started winning, and I kept winning. They knew I played honestly – they were all good enough to have figured it out if I was cheating. It was friendly, and it was enjoyable, and it was productive. At least it was for me. We talked, we laughed, we played game after game and got to know each other the way you do when you've spent all night at the same table and watched the sun rise through the east window. I didn't win all the hands, but I won more than my fair share.
I was pleasantly surprised when Wild Billy leaned over and asked, "You stayin' in town, boy?"
"Upstairs," I answered.
"You be out at my house at seven o'clock for supper. Aiden and Lee'll be there. And the man that wasn't here tonight, Hank Manchester. Then you join us here for poker at nine. Alright with you?"
I hesitated for only a minute. "I was goin' on to El Paso today, but I don't think it'll miss me. Sure, I'd be pleased to come. Where's your spread?"
There was a round of laughter from the table, and it wasn't until later that night that I understood why. "That's the right name for it, that's for sure. Spread. Out on Valpariso Road. I'm the only place out there. It's the road west out of town. Oh, and be warned, I've got a twenty-two-year-old daughter named Evelyn – Evy for short, don't call here Evie – with the most beautiful face and the worst temper you've ever met in your whole life. And I'm not kiddin' about either."
"Especially the temper," Lee added.
No laughter this time, just a solemn bunch of men all nodding their heads. "But she sure is pretty," Miguel added, and another round of head-nodding took place.
"I'll be there," I affirmed. "Someplace in this town to get breakfast?"
"Yeah, come on with us," Billy insisted. "We all go down to Sugars for breakfast. She's open by now."
"And won't she be surprised, to see we brought somebody younger than Methuselah with us for once?" Lee asked.
"Won't she be surprised that we know somebody younger than Methuselah?" That was the first time Aiden had said anything not related to poker in several hours.
"C'mon, son, I'm buyin'," and Wild Billy Sunday slapped me on the back as we got up from the table. "Barney, same time tomorrow," he called to the bartender. Of course there was a bar in the poker room at the hotel. And a bartender named Barney.
I wouldn't have believed that Las Cruces was big enough to have a cantina, much less a cantina and a café, but it did. Sugar's was twice as big as the cantina, and a quick look around explained why. The café was packed, with every manner of man in there having breakfast. Or whatever they wanted to call it.
All the way in the back we went, to a table marked 'Reserved.' Billy took a chair and sat down, and I, along with everyone else, followed suit. It wasn't a full minute before the prettiest brunette waitress showed up at the table with a full coffee pot.
"Good morning, gents!" she called, awfully chipper for this early in the morning. She poured coffee all around and gave me the once over when she got to my cup. "Well, well, well. What have you brought me this morning? Are you real?" she asked as she poked me in the shoulder.
"Ouch!" I responded.
"Yep. Real alright. You wait right here. I'm goin' to get Sugar."
"Did I grow another head?" I asked humorously.
"Wait until Sugar gets here," Lee warned me.
And then the lady herself appeared. There was absolutely no mistaking Sugar for anyone else in the world. Dressed in pink from head to toe, her red hair in the longest braid down her back I have ever seen, she walked just like I imagined a queen would walk. She had the brightest smile and bluebird-blue eyes. She walked right over to me and rested her hand on my shoulder. I rewarded her with the biggest grin I could manage. "Yep, Jancy wasn't lyin' to me. You're real. Wherever did you come from and will you marry me?" Then she bent down while everyone at the table laughed and gave me the longest kiss you could imagine.
When she finally pulled away and straightened up, I cleared my throat. "Remind me to come back here often," I remarked.
"Handsome, you can just live here if you'd like." Her hand still resting on my shoulder, she turned to Billy. "Alright, Billy Sunday, you're forgiven for anything you've done in the last ten years." That brought more laughter, including from me. Finally she moved her hand and looked back down at me. "I hope we haven't embarrassed you, Mister . . . ?"
"Maverick," I told her. "Bart Maverick. No, ma'am, you certainly haven't. This bunch I'm not so certain about."
"Jancy, come back here and take their order. And this one," she gestured to me, "is on the house. For bein' a good sport."
"And good lookin'," Jancy added. "What would you like, Mr. Maverick?"
Jancy took the orders all around and then retrieved the coffee pot. "Gonna hafta keep an eye on you, I see," she told me. I'd already finished the first cup of coffee she'd poured.
"Yes, ma'am. I drink a lot of it."
The food was good and the service was top-notch. If I stayed in Las Cruces for any length of time I would be coming back here.
When everyone was done with breakfast Sugar came back out to the table. "Dinner at the ranch tonight?" she asked Billy.
"Yes, ma'am," he answered her. "At seven. See you later?"
Sugar nodded and rested her hand on my shoulder once again. "Don't let Evy scare you. She's a lot of bluster. It's her coat of armor."
"I'll remember that," I promised, and removed her hand and kissed it. "Thanks for breakfast."
"Watch out, Billy, you've got competition," Sugar told him. It was evident there was something more than casual friendship going on between the two of them.
I walked back to the hotel; everyone went their separate ways. "Seven o'clock, don't forget," Billy called out, and I nodded. Right now the only thing on my mind was sleep, several hours of it.
I stopped at the hotel desk and told the clerk, "I'll be staying at least tonight, maybe longer. Any problem with that?"
"No, sir, not a one," he answered me, and I took the stairs two at a time to my room. Within ten minutes I was undressed and in bed, and soon after that asleep. No dreams, no nightmares, just sleep. It's so enjoyable when that happens, and I'm always grateful for it.