The Only Girl in the Game Read Online Free PDF Page B

There’s noroom in any of these palaces along the Strip for … some kind of perfectionism, or idealism, or whatever you want to call it.”
    “I just want to do my job and ignore all the rest of it.”
    As he was not looking at her just then, she could look at him with most of her heart in her eyes and say, “I hope that’s the way it will work for you, Hugh. I really hope that’s the way it will be, until you can leave with all the bread you need for Pepperbox Island.”
    “Peppercorn Cay. I’ll take you with me when I leave, Dawson.”
    “Sure enough?”
    “And you’ll be the only entertainment in my joint. Dawson of the Islands, they’ll call you. Of course, I’ll have to clean up some of your blue material.”
    “My God, not that! I’ve got no voice and I can’t play much piano, so what would I have left? Oh oh! Here comes a flaw in your coffee break, Mister Manager.”
    Jane Sanderson was walking toward them. She stopped at the foot of the chaise and said, “It’s nice to get out here once a day and find out how the rich people live. How are you, Betty?”
    “Broiled. I endure this discomfort for the sake of my vast following. They appreciate a spurious look of health.”
    “Oh, sure! Mr. Darren, this wire came for you.”
    He began to smile as he started to read it.
LOYALTY DEMANDS WE FOLLOW OUR FAVORITE BONIFACE EVEN TO DEGRADING PLACES. CAN YOU SUITE US FOR A WEEK, STARTING FRIDAY? WE ’ RE ARRIVING ANYWAY, SO BE READY WITH ACCOMMODATIONS OR APOLOGIES. VICKY AND TEMP.
    “They’ll be through redecorating 803 Thursday, won’t they?”
    “That’s the schedule, Mr. D.”
    “Have the desk set it up for Mr. and Mrs. Temple Shannard of Nassau. Fruit, flowers, free drinks on arrival.”
    “Will they be billed at all?”
    “Yes. And thanks, Jane.”
    As Jane Sanderson walked away, Hugh handed the wire to Betty, saying, “Wonderful types. Real people, for a change.”
    “They sound nice.”
    “Temp owns a piece of the place I managed in theBahamas. He helped me fight my battles, backed me up when I needed it. He’s loaded. He inherited a little and made the rest out of the tourist business in the Islands. Vicky is English. Temp came originally from New Hampshire. He’s one of the guys who has promised to back me when I’m ready to go. You’ll like them and they’ll like you, Betty.”
    “How old are they?”
    “I’d say Temp is fifty, but he doesn’t look it. Vicky is close to thirty, I think. His first wife died. His kids are grown. He’s been married to Vicky for seven or eight years. They’ve wanted kids, but they haven’t been able to have any. They’ve got one of those … good relationships, Betty. They don’t have to go around patting and cooing for you to sense it. It’s just there, all the time.”
    “Whenever I run into that bit, I get wistful. Wigwag that high-heeled dolly over there so we can drink some free liquor, buddy.” As the waitress started toward them, Betty sat up and snapped her white bathing cap in place and said, “Tell her another rum collins for me, please.” She was pleased she had timed it perfectly, so that while she was walking away from him he was too busy with the waitress to turn and see the rear view of the bikini.
    She felt unaccountably depressed as she slid down into the dance of the blue water and began her slow and lazy trips up and down the pool. When the reason for the depression occurred to her, the realization created a sour, guilty amusement. She wanted him all to herself, to be his only friend, the only person he could talk to unguardedly. Now old friends were coming to restake old claims and talk to him of times and places she had never known, shouldering her out of the way for a little time.
    Be careful, girl, she told herself. When it gets this strong and this important to you, it means that you’ll have to work twice as hard to keep it from showing, to keep him from guessing. With a man like Hugh, should he ever learn how