vegetables, a thick wedge of pecan pie topped with ice cream. Afterward, Lisa wants to go straight to the bar, but Danny says they need to make sure they can get in the room. They ride the elevator up to the sixth floor and follow the numbers down the hallway. It’s the most beautiful hotel room Lisa has ever been in, nicer even than the one in Gatlinburg where she and Danny spent their honeymoon. A crystal chandelier hangs from the ceiling and a thick maroon carpet muffles their steps. On one side of the room is a small bar with a glass mirror, and opposite, a canopied bed whose pillowcases and bedspread look as if they’ve never been wrinkled. Lisa goes to the window, touches the plush velvet drapes as she looks out at mountains turning bluer and bluer as they stretch westward into Tennessee. Danny comes over to look as well.
“It’s such a pretty view,” Lisa says. “I bet some of those mountains go far as Knoxville.”
“Probably so,” Danny says.
Lisa presses her palm against Danny’s cheek and lifts her mouth to his. She thinks about taking him by the hand and leading him to the bed, but there will be time enough for that later tonight and in the morning too.
“Let’s go,” she says. “I’m going to get me one of those fancy-colored drinks with an umbrella in it.”
They sit at the bar and Lisa chooses a piña colada from the plastic drink menu. Danny orders a draft beer, same as he’d get at The Firefly. When the drinks arrive, they turn their seats and watch the players at their machines. The lights and noise remind Lisa of the county fairs of her childhood. Only a Ferris wheel is missing. When she finishes her drink, Danny’s glass is half full, but he tells Lisa to go ahead and order herself another. Her next drink is so blue it shimmers within the glass. Soon the casino’s bright lights begin to blur. The vibrating bass connects her whole body to the music. Lisa wishes she and Danny could dance, but there’s no dance floor.
Her glass is empty, Danny’s as well. Two drinks are usually her limit, but it feels so good to be away from everything familiar, to have the kind of luck, twice, that people hardly ever get. She can’t help thinking it’s the best day of her and Danny’s life together, better than the night they got engaged or their first Christmas, even their wedding day.
“Third time’s the charm, right,” Lisa says as she looks over the drink list.
“It was today,” Danny says.
Lisa gets the bartender’s attention and orders her drink and, though he doesn’t ask her to, another beer for Danny. This drink is green and sweeter than the others, like liquid candy. She sips and watches the players. Many rise from their stools empty-handed, but a few carry white slips over to the exchange machines. A woman in a blue jumpsuit is hugging a man at a poker machine as an employee hands them a stack of bills.
“Why don’t they have a white slip?” Lisa asks.
“If you win over a thousand,” Danny says, “an employee has to pay you.”
Lisa scoots her chair closer to the bar, her eyes on Danny as well as the machines. He watches the players intently, but with yearning or just curiosity she cannot tell. Two thousand, three thousand, four thousand, five. In the alcohol haze it’s as though the numbers are rolling out in front of her. Shouldn’t two pieces of good luck lead to a third, she tells herself. The straw sucks air and Lisa peeks beneath the little umbrella, confirms the glass is empty. The room tilts and Lisa almost loses her balance when she sets her glass on the bar. She giggles. Danny opens her handbag, takes out a twenty and a ten, and lays them on the bar.
“You’re my lucky boy,” Lisa says as he guides her through the casino, up the escalator, and across the walkway to the hotel.
Danny doesn’t remove his arm until they are in the room. When he does, the pastel walls shift. Lisa flops onto the bed and grins up at him.
“Come keep this girl company,”
“It’s such a pretty view,” Lisa says. “I bet some of those mountains go far as Knoxville.”
“Probably so,” Danny says.
Lisa presses her palm against Danny’s cheek and lifts her mouth to his. She thinks about taking him by the hand and leading him to the bed, but there will be time enough for that later tonight and in the morning too.
“Let’s go,” she says. “I’m going to get me one of those fancy-colored drinks with an umbrella in it.”
They sit at the bar and Lisa chooses a piña colada from the plastic drink menu. Danny orders a draft beer, same as he’d get at The Firefly. When the drinks arrive, they turn their seats and watch the players at their machines. The lights and noise remind Lisa of the county fairs of her childhood. Only a Ferris wheel is missing. When she finishes her drink, Danny’s glass is half full, but he tells Lisa to go ahead and order herself another. Her next drink is so blue it shimmers within the glass. Soon the casino’s bright lights begin to blur. The vibrating bass connects her whole body to the music. Lisa wishes she and Danny could dance, but there’s no dance floor.
Her glass is empty, Danny’s as well. Two drinks are usually her limit, but it feels so good to be away from everything familiar, to have the kind of luck, twice, that people hardly ever get. She can’t help thinking it’s the best day of her and Danny’s life together, better than the night they got engaged or their first Christmas, even their wedding day.
“Third time’s the charm, right,” Lisa says as she looks over the drink list.
“It was today,” Danny says.
Lisa gets the bartender’s attention and orders her drink and, though he doesn’t ask her to, another beer for Danny. This drink is green and sweeter than the others, like liquid candy. She sips and watches the players. Many rise from their stools empty-handed, but a few carry white slips over to the exchange machines. A woman in a blue jumpsuit is hugging a man at a poker machine as an employee hands them a stack of bills.
“Why don’t they have a white slip?” Lisa asks.
“If you win over a thousand,” Danny says, “an employee has to pay you.”
Lisa scoots her chair closer to the bar, her eyes on Danny as well as the machines. He watches the players intently, but with yearning or just curiosity she cannot tell. Two thousand, three thousand, four thousand, five. In the alcohol haze it’s as though the numbers are rolling out in front of her. Shouldn’t two pieces of good luck lead to a third, she tells herself. The straw sucks air and Lisa peeks beneath the little umbrella, confirms the glass is empty. The room tilts and Lisa almost loses her balance when she sets her glass on the bar. She giggles. Danny opens her handbag, takes out a twenty and a ten, and lays them on the bar.
“You’re my lucky boy,” Lisa says as he guides her through the casino, up the escalator, and across the walkway to the hotel.
Danny doesn’t remove his arm until they are in the room. When he does, the pastel walls shift. Lisa flops onto the bed and grins up at him.
“Come keep this girl company,”
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