Chapter 8
The cabin was smoky and close. As soon as Lila entered, she was hit with an overwhelming odor of cigars mixed with cologne that was being quickly stifled by the stinging hint of whiskey. A round, green-topped card table sat in the center with six men sitting around it. In among the playing cards were stacks of colorful chips, shot glasses, tall bottles of half-filled amber liquid, and mugs of beer. Some of the cowboys looked as if they’d just come in off the range with six-guns strapped to their hips while others dressed like rich riverboat gamblers or oil men in lace-edged shirts, vests, string ties, and Derringers.
The rich ones looked as if they belonged there, but the cowboys had a look of hunger in their eyes. The higher the pot grew, the more they sweated until they had b
