Chapter 2

The next ten days were a blur. Tricia had without fail made sure to get the mail in herself but there had be no follow up to the card. She had checked HIS journal every day but found nothing that would indicate he knew about the card or had sent it. There was nothing about the Circuit event in Indiana either but that was not unusual, she knew that he usually wrote about things that had happened not about things that might happen or things that were planned.

She had toyed with the idea of canceling her trip. Without saying why of course she had even talked to Matt about it and he’d even been somewhat oddly encouraging. They say that time heals all wounds and maybe that was it. Or maybe he was just tired of hanging her mistake over her head. Either way she had found it odd but didn’t think she should look a gift horse in the mouth.

The Wednesday she was to leave had come quickly. Matt had even stayed home that morning until her parents came to pick Matty up.

Her father picked up on her nervousness right away. “Getting cold feel baby girl? You’ll do fine you know. I know your mom and I thought this was a little off the wall at first but we both can see it’s something you really enjoy so you should go for it. You may not get a chance like this very often.”

She’d thanked her dad and hugged him. Her mom had cornered her in the kitchen while Matt and her father were putting Matty’s seat in her parents’ car.

“Sweet heart,” Her mom had said, taking her hands. “You are telling us the truth about why you are doing this right? I know you’re a little frustrated with the way things are going between you and Matt right now but it’s not nearly as bad as it was back then and you’re better able to talk about it now, right?”

“Mom! I learned my lesson! I’ve given Matt my entire schedule and he made the hotel reservations himself. I am going there to find out how good I am at poker. That is all.” Tricia said.

She came very near to telling her mom about the card. Her mom had actually been the most understanding back then. Her dad had sided with Matt and somehow that had made it worse even than the way Matt had looked at her then.

Her mom was the only one who knew that she had not severed all contact right away. She’d never lied to her mom about HIM though. Tricia found herself almost hoping her mom would ask if she’d heard from him. Then she could talk about it. She didn’t have the courage to bring it up herself. In part, she thought, because she only half believed it really was him and in part because she really wanted to make this trip. She needed to make this trip. Her situation at home was driving her to distraction. Matty was a joy of course but more and more Matt was like a pushy stranger living in the same house than like the loving husband he’d been for a couple of years after her short lived and ill-fated affair.

Finally she was on her way. It was only a four and a half hour drive to the casino in Indiana. It was relatively near Louisville, Kentucky. That still represented a drive that was twice as long as to Matt’s favorite choice, the casinos in Canada just outside Detroit

As she drove she thought about the card. Was it from HIM? If so why? Would he be there? What would she do if he sought her out? What would she do if she saw HIM? She shook her head and for the first time in years allowed herself to think of HIM as something other than a nameless near stranger. In truth he had been a near stranger. That was the way of hastily set up affairs she supposed. He had a name though. After the whole thing had blown up on her when it was talked about it was almost always as if he didn’t have a name. She had even begun thinking about him as HIM, not as Jaime.

The same questions ran through her mind over and over. WasJaime going to be there? Was the card an invitation? Was it a warning that he would be there and he was telling her that if she didn’t want to see him she should steer clear? That thought struck Tricia like a bolt from the blue. Shethen realized that she’d been almost hoping, certainly assuming, that the card was somehow Jaime reaching out after all these years, telling her he was thinking of her and that he would be there in Indiana for that event. What if, she asked herself, he had meant it as a warning. Telling her he would be there and counting on her NOT to be there. Way back when Jaime had promised to sever all contact and that had included never ‘accidentally’ ending up in the same place as had happened one time since they’d been caught. It had not been an accident then of course they both knew it was happening. She had, at the very last minute, come to her senses, or chickened out. She wasn’t sure to this day which it was. As far as she knew Jaime had been true to his word ever since.

Getting through Louisville turned out to be harder than she’d hoped as she’d left later than planned and ran into the start of rush hour traffic. That effectively took her mind off anything else for a while. She found the casino and her hotel and got checked right into her room.

She called Matt to check in and give him the number. She expected him to tell her she would call right back to verify it as he’d said he would when she asked to go on the trip. She was used to him checking on her by now anyway. She been surprised when she had been the one to bring it up and his response had made it sound like he didn’t care. He did it but didn’t sound like he felt it was a big deal. Tricia found that puzzling. She supposed she should be relieved that he seemed to be trusting her again but somehow something felt off about it.

Tricia had been looking all around while she checked into her hotel. There was nobody that looked like Jaime in sight. The she realized that unless he was psychic there was no way he could possibly know when she was checking in. She told herself that if she couldn’t just let it drop she was going to be a nervous wreck and would not be able to play well anyway.

Even after what was for her a long drive she was too antsy to take a nap or settle down in her room and watch TV or read. Dinner time was at hand anyway so she went down to check out the casino. She found a couple of restaurants but her curiosity about the poker room and the set up where the tournaments would be played pushed her on.

When she finally found the tournament room she stopped in the doorway, awestruck. It was in a brightly lit ballroom and there seemed to be tables as far as the eye could see. There were numbers hanging over each one and judging by the numbers there were over 150 tables. She knew that even the satellite tournaments didn’t start until the next day but there was still a lot of action going on.

After several people excused themselves and moved around her Tricia realized she was blocking the doorway and moved on into the room. She moved hesitantly, not totally convinced she belonged. No one stopped her but no one asked if she needed help either.

Shortly she found a sign up board behind a podium and there was a dizzying array of live action games going on as well as signs advertising satellites beginning the next day. Tricia stood there listening to the constant clack of poker chips and muted conversations and suddenly wondered what she was doing there.

Tricia asked herself if she really belonged here and felt almost like running away. Then, as luck would have it, a young woman carrying a clip board came bouncing up to her. There was no other way to put it.

“Hi there! What game are you looking for? We’ve got seats right now in $10/$20 pot limit Omaha

Tricia hoped her jaw had not dropped open like she felt it had. She gulped audibly and said weakly, “Uh no. I don’t play Omaha.”

“We’ve got plenty of Hold’em games. Limits from $4/$8 up to $30/$60 although there is just an interest list for that. Would you like me to put you on that? We’ve also got $1/$2 and $2/$5 no-limit.”

Tricia looked at the woman. $30/$60? Did she look like a pro or something? She finally said. “How about $4/$8?”

“Surely!” The woman said happily. “There is a list but we’re about to start a new table. Can I have your name?”

“Uh,” Tricia stared at the woman, momentarily blank and then blushed and stumbled out with “Tricia.”

“Ok Tricia. I’ve got you on the list. It shouldn’t be long. Don’t go far.”

“I was going to get dinner,” Tricia said then, realizing that she’d not done that yet.

“Oh,” Well you can come back of course or if you’re not starving you can wait until your game comes and then just order from the waitress. That’s about your best bet for comps right now anyway, otherwise you’ll have to play at least three hours to get a comp for one of the restaurants.”

“Oh,” said Tricia. “Well ok. I’ll do that.”

“Great! My name is Maria. If you need anything just holler!” Then the woman bounced off to the next person.

Tricia felt exhausted but at the same time she felt herself growing a bit more comfortable. From where she was standing she could see two low limit games. They looked just like the games she had played in Canada off and on. The players didn’t look imposing, they looked like regular people.

Looking around the room then she realized that although there were a lot of players nobody had a look about them that screamed out ‘I’m a pro’. She nearly giggled. What had she expected? Them to wear signs? Besides this was a circuit event and it was early. The big name players would not be there and would certainly not be in any game she would bein.

That led her to look around for Jaime. She didn’t see him of course but then with all the people in the room she realized that finding somebody could be really hard even if you werelooking for them.

She continued to wander around somewhat nervously checking out the room and the players at the table. Half looking for Jaime and half just looking.