3 Sin City Hunter (7 page)

We were walking by the front desk, and Dad said, “I’ll find out.” He walked up to the clerk, and said, “Hi, I’m Earl Hunter in room 1310. I hear there’s a Lebanese restaurant not too far from here. The De
sert Oasis. Would you
be able to tell me how to get there
,
or find the address for me?”

The clerk brightened and said, “It’s one of my favorite
restaurants
, and it’s right out by the airport. She grabbed a piece of paper and drew a quick map. It
appeared
we would only need to travel on
two roads
. Dad thanked the clerk, retrieved the car from the valet, and we were off.

Mom let me ride in the front seat with dad
,
so I could bask in the glory of the restored Chevelle. “Dad, I think this is the nicest car you’ve done to date,” I told him. “Where did you do this? Do you have a garage available to you?”

“Your mother hooked up with a new bridge club
,” he said. “O
ne day
,
while the ladies were playing, the husband of one of the women invited me to lunch. We got to talking about cars, and it turns out Bub has a garage where he works
on
old
cars. When he found out
I was into restoration, we started working on a couple of projects together. I couldn’t believe my good luck when I found the Chevelle on Craigslist. It was pretty rough, so I got it fo
r a song. She turned out
good, didn’t she?” he asked.

“She sure did,” I said softly. I was in awe at the work my dad could do.

We pulled up in front of the restaurant, and Dad used the valet service for parking. The restaurant was warm and inviting. The walls were brick with lighting
to highlight
their brown and red tones. The
wood flooring was a medium brown color
with a lighter grain
running throughout the wood
. The booths were upholstered with brown and green. The
wood tables
almost perfectly matched the floor. We were seated by
a
crackling fireplace, but it wasn’t too hot
. The atmosphere was
perfect for winter dining.

After the White Russians at the hotel, I decided to drink iced tea with dinner. For appetizers, we ordered stuffed grape leaves, hummus, and baba g’noush to eat with warm pita bread. We each had a Greek salad, and we ordered lamb and beef shish-kabobs over rice pilaf. Dinner was fantastic, and I loved having this time with my parents.

I was
soon
stuffed, but Mom insisted we share dessert – baklava and cheesecake – and both were sinfully delicious.
I looked up from my plate and saw Mom was staring at something over my right shoulder.
She frowned, and her mouth dropped open as if she couldn’t believe what she was seeing. I whipped around quickly to see, and I mirrored her expression. Dad started laughing, and I let out a loud squeal.

“Where did you come from?” I asked with delight as I stood up and threw my arms around Darby.

He was adorable, as usual, and all smiles as he said, “You left Friday morning, and
by Friday night, I realized
I didn’t relish the thought of a week without companionship. My work is caught up right now, so I decided to fly out and see your mom and dad and make sure you stay out of trouble.” He kissed me on my nose.

My mom had stood up, and Darby gave her a hug and a kiss on the cheek and said, “You look beautiful, Lilah. How are you doing?”

“I’m doing great,” she said excitedly. “It’s so good to see you, Darby. This is such a nice surprise.”

Darby reached across the table to shake Dad’s hand. “Earl. Good to see ya,” he said.

“Nice to see you, too, Darby,” Dad said with a warm smile. “Have a seat and help us finish off some of this dessert.”

I sat back down and scooted over to make room for Darby in the booth. “How in the world did you ever find us here?” I asked him.

“The desk clerk at the MGM,” he said. “I knew
that’s where you were staying
, so when I asked at the front desk for you or Earl Hunte
r, the clerk said she knew
where you
were and gave me directions. I rushed right over in hopes of catching you before you got away.”

“Fantastic!” I said happily. I leaned
into his arm and said, “I’m
glad you’re here. You can go shopping for
wedding
dresses with me and mom, and I want you to take dad over to the Gold and Silver Pawn shop. He’s got an old comic book he wants to try
to
sell.” I smiled at my dad. He knew I didn’t want to go with him and be embarrassed when they laughed at him for bringing in an old worthless comic book. What if they put
his visit
on television? I didn’t want any part of it.

Mom chimed in and said with a frown, “Darby doesn’t want to go shopping for
wedding
dresses. Why would you think he’d want to do that?”

“Oh, I definitely want to help pick out her dress,” he said. “I’ll be looking for something with big poofy sleeves, and a really high collar, and it should be fully covered with heavy lace.”

Dad was laughing, but mom
was
confused. I punched Darby on t
he arm. I knew he was teasing
. “Stop it,
” I said laughing. “I know you and I will
agree on the dress, and I want you there for confirmation.”

“Oh!” he said as though
remembering something. “Nate’s flying out in a couple of days.” Nate was Darby’s significant other. He had met him in St. Petersburg, Florida last year, and they had been back and forth to see each other several times.

“That’s perfect!” I told him. I looked at my parents and said, “You’ll really like Nate. He’s nice, he’s funny, and he gets along with everybody. If he’s here in time, he can help us look for the dress, too!” I laughed at the thought of me and mom with two gay men shopping for wedding dresses.

Mom still looked confused. Dad noticed the look on her face and said, “Lilah, Darby and Nate are a couple. They’re gay.”

“What?!” she practically shrieked it. It took a moment, but the information finally seemed to connect in her brain. She burst into laughter and said, “Oh, my. That’s so funny.” She was having a hard time talking through the laughter. “Darby, I’m sorry to be laughing, but I’ve been pestering Susan for the longest time to make moves on you, so you would start dating her. You two are like an old ma
rried couple anyway, and I
could
never
understand why you
never hooked
up.”

I looked at Dad an
d asked, “How did you know
Darby was gay? I never told you.”

Dad smiled and said, “I knew the first time you brought him to the house.”

“You did not!” I snapped at him with a laugh. I ha
d always been so frustrated
that
I had known Darby for over
a year before I found out
he was gay. Everyone knew it or suspected it but me. Mom and I obviously didn’t have the gaydar gene at all.

Mom was still giggling. I
glanced at
Darby. He was obviously amused at all the hoopla over his sexual orientation. I asked him, “Have you checked in already? Where’s your room?”

“I’m not checked in yet,” he said. “I
only
checked my bags with the front desk. I wanted to get a cab over here to find you guys as soon as I could.”

“Oh, good!” I told him with a little squeal. “I have two queen beds. Stay with me until Nate comes and then you two can get a room. Mick won’t be here until Friday night. And,” I said with a devilish grin, “we’re all on the 13th floor.”

“No way,” he said laughing while shaking his head. “Don’t you know that’s bad luck?”

“Not for us it’s not,” I said smugly. Mom and Dad were
both grinning
.

“Come on, kids,” Dad said. “Let’s get out of here. I think I hear another round of poker calling my name.”

We left the restaurant, piled into the Chevelle, and made our way back to the hotel, talking the entire time about the car, which Darby thought was amazing and sexy.
Back at
the hotel, Dad headed straightaway for the Poker Room, and Mom went to look for an open Betty Boop machine. Darby and I acquired a second room key for him,
reclaimed
his luggage, and headed up to my room.

While he was unpacking, I
washed
my face and hands, freshen
ed
my makeup, and change
d
out the white blouse and pink jacket for a soft black pullover sweater with long sleeves and a scoop neckline. I walked out of the bathroom and plopped onto my bed while Darby was finishing up.

“Fill me in, Susan. What
have
you been doing since you got here?” he asked.

“Gambling mostly,” I said. I reached over to the nightstand and grabbed my purse. I opened the zippered compartment, grabbed the Benjamins, and tossed them into the air letting them land all over the
bed. It was still fun to toss the money
. Darby’s mouth fell open.

“You’re kidding!” he said in disbelief. “
You won that much money in
one day?”

I giggled and pulled out the uncashed ticket. “Yep! And here’s a voucher for another $1350. And that’s not all. Mom’s got a voucher for over $3800, and Dad won $600 playing poker. Staying on the 13th floor has been very, very good for us.” I was smiling and so was he, but he was shaking his head not believing our good luck.

As I was gathering up the money, he asked,
“Anything else? Has th
at
big diamond on your hand kept the wolves at bay?”

“I don’t know,” I told him, a fleeting shadow of concern crossing my face.

He saw it right away and asked, “What is it, Susan? Tell me.”

“There was one man who seemed to think he was really important. He’s crossed my path twice, and he’
s been pretty forward and
unpleasant.” I paused for a moment be
fore saying, “And it seems
everywhere I go, I see Dudley, and I don’t know if he’s just there, or if he’s following me. But I just got here, and there’s no reason for anyone to follow me at all. I actually feel better and safer now that Mom and Dad are here – and now you,” I told him with a smile.

“Who’s Dudley,” he asked.

I giggled. “You, of course, know what Detective Bentley
looks like.” He nodded
. “
H
e’s got that square-cut jaw with the cleft in it.” Darby nodded again. “Well, this guy
who
might be following me has a similar jaw line, but his cleft is even deeper, and he has lighter coloring and hair. He looks like Dudley Do-Right, so I’ve been calling him Dudley in my mind.”

D
arby didn’t say anything
. He
simply
laughed, hung his head, and shook it. When he was freshened up and ready, we made our way down to the casino in search of Mom. I stopped at the cage to cash in my voucher and added the cash to the zippered compartment of my purse. The rest of the evening was spent playing slot machines with Darby and Mom. I never did see Dad again
. At about 1:00 A.M., I
decided to call it a night. Darby and Mom seemed to be headed into a winning stre
ak, but I was down about $30
, and I was tired. I said goodnight to the two of them and made my way through the casino to the elevators. I passed Dudley leaning against the wall. He nodded to me and slightly tipped his bowler. I ignored him
and kept walking, praying
he wouldn’t follow and get onto the elevator with me. He didn’t.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

By 9:00 in the morning, I was
awake and in the shower. I
heard Darby come in around 3:00 A.M. and whisper a soft goodnight to me, but I didn’t hear him get up and leave this morning. There was a note from him on the desk
which
read, “
Meet everyone at the front desk at 10:00 – if you’re awake.
”

I knew we were going out to the Hoover Dam after brunch, so I wanted to d
ress comfortably. Thinking
they would be warmer than jeans if it was cold at the dam, I pulled on a pair of skinny black corduroys. A feminine, long s
leeve pullover shirt in a
heather plum color
with
a ruffled effe
ct down the front was next, and
I zipped on
a pair of black ankle boots which
would be comfortable for walking. On my way out the door, I grabbed my thigh-length, gray taffeta trench coat to wear at the dam.