I waved politely at Miles as I kicked Vero under the table.
“Well, Irina, you look like a pretty smart lady to me. Shouldn’t take me too long to show you the ropes.”
“Looks can be deceiving,” Vero muttered.
Miles spent the next few minutes explaining the rules of the game, giving me a quick primer in what Vero had referred to as table etiquette before dealing our first hand.
“So, Miles,” Vero said as we played. “I’ve been looking for this guy I met here last time I was in town, but I lost his number. I’m pretty sure he’s local. He goes by Pokey. Maybe you know him?”
Miles’s smile quirked higher on one side. “Yeah, we all know Pokey. But he hasn’t stepped foot in here for a while. Got himself a little upside down. Pretty sure he’s been blackballed from every casino on the boardwalk. Sure you met him here?”
Vero’s face fell. If Pokey had been blackballed from every casino, that would make him much harder to find. “My memory of that night’s a little foggy,” she admitted. “Do you know where he works?”
Miles called out to the dealer at the next table. “Hey! Where’s Slow Poke working these days?”
The other dealer smirked. “Last I heard, he was bussing tables at Chubby’s.”
Miles raised an eyebrow. “Chubby’s sound familiar to you ladies?”
Vero snapped a finger. “Of course! Irina and I have been there loads of times.”
Miles smiled to himself as he dealt out the last of the cards andcleared the table. Vero tossed him a tip as she hopped off her stool. “Come on, Irina. I’ve got a sudden craving for Chubby’s.”
I thanked Miles for the lesson, hurrying after Vero as she hustled back through the slot machines and into the lobby.
“There you are!” a woman called out. We both whirled at the sound of my mother’s voice behind us. “Where on earth have you two been?”
Vero elbowed me in the side.
“Mom!” I sputtered. “What are you doing down here?”
“Looking for you! I wanted to hear all about your meeting with Sylvia. How did it go?”
“It was… surprisingly helpful,” I said, glancing over her shoulder, hoping my sister or Sam hadn’t followed her downstairs. “Where is everyone?”
“Steven’s putting the kids to bed, and Georgia and Sam are watching a movie in their room. I didn’t see any sense in bothering them,” she said with a dismissive wave toward the elevators. An awkward silence fell as she narrowed her eyes at us. “Where were you two off to just now? And where’s Charlie?” she asked, scanning the faces in the crowd.
I gestured loosely toward the street. “You just missed him.”
Vero nodded a little too hard. “He said he was hungry. He’s probably just going to get something to eat.”
My mother held her belly. “I was just going to do the same. I’m starving.”
“You should go upstairs and order room service. You shouldn’t be out by yourself.”
She dug in her heels as I nudged her toward the elevator. “No more room service. The food in this place is awful. I’m going out. The lady at the front desk said there’s a decent Italian restaurant a few blocks from here. You two should come with me,” she suggested brightly.
“I had dinner with Syl—”
“What a coincidence!” Vero interrupted. “Finlay and I were just talking about going out to eat. How about a diner?”
My mother beamed. “A diner sounds fun!”
“More fun than a bathtub full of monkeys!”
“This is not a good idea,” I warned Vero through my teeth.
“This is a perfect idea,” she said through a tight smile.
