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That text was a relief — not only because he’d reached out to confirm our plans, but also because he didn’t seem to have any issue with having dinner at the Gold Dust. When I’d first told him about the plan, he hadn’t even blinked, just nodded and said that it made sense to have dinner there, since it was definitely the nicest restaurant in the area.
So I closed up the shop, then went upstairs to change and check on Archie. He seemed to be sulking, curled up in a ball in a corner of the couch, but I knew there wasn’t much I could do to improve his mood. It wasn’t as though I could back out of my dinner plans just because they put my cursed cat’s nose out of joint.
Clouds were building to the east once again as I walked out to my car. I’d started keeping a compact umbrella under the passenger seat ever since monsoon season had started up, so I knew I didn’t have to worry even if the storm made it this way by the time we were done with dinner.
I got to the casino about five minutes early, but that turned out to be fine. Calvin was already there, chatting with the pretty girl working the hostess station. Just seeing him standing there, in jeans and a button-up shirt in a deep bricky red shade, gleaming black hair pulled back into its usual ponytail, made my heart go pitter-pat. The man looked great in his uniform, but he looked even better out of it.
“Hi, Selena,” he said as soon as I walked up to him, and even bent down to give me a quick kiss on the cheek. After that brief caress, he went on, “This is my cousin Janelle. Janelle, this is Selena Marx.”
“Hi, Janelle,” I said, doing my best to sound casual, even though that small public display of affection had been enough to start my heart beating a little faster. Clearly, he hadn’t been kidding when he said he wasn’t going to try to hide things from his family.
Janelle smiled. If she had an issue with her cousin dating someone outside their tribe, she definitely didn’t show it. “Nice to meet you, Selena. I’m glad you were able to convince my cousin to have dinner here. He tends to give this place a wide berth.”
“Why?” I asked, looking up at him.
He gave me a lopsided smile. “Well, people come here to have fun and relax. It can be kind of awkward when a cop shows up at a casino, even if he’s only there to grab a burger.”
“You’re not in uniform now,” I pointed out.
“True,” he said. “But enough people here — even the ones who aren’t San Ramon Apache — know me that it can still be a little weird. It’s fine, though. They’ll see me here with you and your family, and will know I’m not at the casino on official business.”
Almost as if mentioning my family had been an invocation, Tom and my mother came through the glass doors that separated the hostess desk and waiting area from the parking lot. Both of them looked fairly relaxed, so I hoped that meant nothing too horrible had happened at the house during the afternoon.
It was a little awkward to make introductions with Janelle looking on, but everyone was cordial — and my mother turned and gave me an approving nod as the men started to follow Janelle toward our table.
That little gesture made me feel a lot better. Of course, you’d have to be a special kind of stupid not to appreciate someone like Calvin Standingbear, but still, I hadn’t known for sure how my mother would react to him. Tom had been friendly right away, although I had a feeling he was just happy that I was dating someone with a respectable job and not a woo-woo guy like Brant Thoreau.
Well, most likely Brant wasn’t into dating women at all, but that wasn’t any of my business.
We all sat down at the booth that had been reserved for us, and Janelle handed out menus and a wine list, then said our server would be by shortly. A few minutes were spent choosing our entrees and an appropriate bottle of wine. At that point, the waiter showed up to take our orders before telling us he’d bring out some bread and dipping oil.
It was all so utterly prosaic, I had a hard time remembering that a self-proclaimed demonologist was currently hanging out in the Bigelow mansion, waiting for another round of unearthly knocks and screams and groans to analyze. Whether that would happen while we were at dinner, I didn’t know. The first attack had come in the middle of the night. Then again, last night had been utterly quiet, so maybe I just couldn’t yet grasp the pattern of the phenomena.
The bread and wine arrived, and we ate and chatted, mostly about Globe and its environs. Calvin told Tom that no, there weren’t any golf courses nearby, but if he didn’t mind a drive of about forty-five minutes or so, he could head up to Payson and play there.
“That’s an idea,” Tom said. “It would get us out of Brant’s hair for a while.”
Calvin didn’t need to ask who Brant was, since I’d filled him in on all the details during our lunch the day before. He only said, “That might be a good idea,” and the conversation moved on to other topics.
All in all, I had to count it as a very successful meal. When it was over, we all walked out to the parking lot together, and Calvin and I said goodbye to my mother and Tom. After they’d gotten in Tom’s Porsche SUV and driven off, Calvin turned to me.
“That went well,” he said.
“Definitely,” I agreed. “They really like you.”
“I like them. Your mother is awesome. I can see why you turned out so well.”
“Is that a fact?” I asked, my tone arch.
“Absolutely.” He leaned down and brushed his lips against my cheek. “It’s still early. Do you want to go back to my place for a while?”
Of course I did. Driving on the dirt road that led to his property was even less fun in the dark, but I figured that was a small price to pay for getting to spend a few more hours with Calvin.
We headed out, with me following him in his big white Durango with the San Ramon tribal police logo on the door. He’d told me after we started dating that it was his only vehicle; the tribe had decided it was better for him to drive it all the time, just in case he got called in to work at odd hours or whatever. Anyway, it had big lights mounted to a rack on the roof, and so the way out to his house was much better illuminated than it would have been if I’d been driving out there on my own.
Cool, faintly moist air met me as soon as we stepped inside. Now that we were safely alone, Calvin bent down to give me a proper kiss on the lips this time, one that tasted faintly of the flourless chocolate cake we’d shared for dessert.
“Mmm,” I said after he pulled away. “That was yummy.”
