Blind Love (12 page)

“What about the bachelor?” asked Henry.

“Tony has already been approved by Cara’s security staff.”

Henry gave her a strange look, and she knew she’d have to tell him, but not the others. “Mitzi, did you line up wardrobe and makeup and hair stylist?”

“Yes to all. The girls will be given formal dresses, but not—”

“They’ll be given whatever they need to wear on camera, including costumes for the party. It’s included in the budget. I want their costumes to reflect their personalities—belly dancer, dance hall girl, princess, Indian maiden, Cleopatra, or whatever. We’ll put Tony in a pirate outfit—tight breeches, flowing white shirt open down the front, and high black boots. The costume ball will be the first show after he takes off his blindfold, and each girl will introduce herself to Tony that evening.”

“How many girls will be left by then?” asked Henry.

“Seven.” Catherine glanced at Henry. “He’ll eliminate the first six before he knows who he’s eliminating, and one more after the costume ball. Each of the remaining girls will have their portraits taken in their costumes, and they’ll autograph them, so Tony can put the names and faces together. After the party, we’ll show him picking up the pictures and studying them.”

Several people around the table were smiling or nodding, including the two writers. She took that as a good sign.

They spent the rest of the meeting going over the segments of each show and filling in details. Catherine intended to get Tony’s dog in there somewhere. She couldn’t picture him with a woman who didn’t like animals, but then she couldn’t picture Tony with anyone else but her.

As soon as the meeting ended, Henry called her into his office. “Good meeting, Cat. You have a good handle on what you want from the show, and the pacing is excellent. Are you getting what you want from Mitzi?”

“Yes and no. She’s planning a beauty contest, and that’s not what I want. If the women are all beautiful, the concept won’t work.”

“It’ll work if you keep on top of Mitzi. So tell me. Who’s the guy, and why did Cara Andrews want him on the show?”

“His name is Tony Donatelli. His cousin is Cara’s husband. And you are
not
going to use his name on the show or for publicity. If he allows himself to be identified at the end of the show, that’s fine, but the choice has to be his.”

“Why the big secret?”

“Tony can’t tell if women are attracted to him or to the idea of being related to Cara Andrews. I understand. That’s why I’m Cat here instead of Catherine Timmons. Aside from you, nobody on the staff knows who I am.”

Henry dropped his pen on the desk. “We’ll do it your way, but I hope he’ll let us use his name for publicity after the show is in the can.”

“That has to be his choice.” She’d told Tony they wouldn’t use his last name, and she wouldn’t betray his trust.

After Catherine closed herself in her office, she tried again to reach Tony by phone. The same girl answered and said he couldn’t come to the phone. Was he even getting her messages?

There was more than one way to get through. She nabbed Scooter, hit the redial button on the phone, and told Scooter to ask for Mr. Pettibone. He was put on hold and Catherine took the phone. “Thanks, Scooter.”

After a short wait, Mr. Pettibone answered. “Mr. Pettibone, this is Catherine Timmons. I’ve left several messages for Tony, but he hadn’t returned my calls.”

“Please hold for a moment, Miss Timmons. Mr. Donatelli has been expecting your call.”

Catherine sighed with relief. He wasn’t avoiding her. But whoever that girl was, her job was toast.

“Hey, Catherine. I tried to reach you. Why didn’t you return my call?” Tony’s voice made her smile.

“I left three messages and finally went through Mr. Pettibone.”

“You’re kidding. I didn’t get any messages. How’s Walt?”

“He’s doing okay, and he loves his room.”

“Glad to hear it.”

Listening to Tony’s deep voice, that knot of worry in her stomach loosened, and the longer they talked, the better she felt. It had been like that from the day she’d met him. Tony calmed her and excited her at the same time. Her spirit felt so light it floated around the room, and her body tingled from the sound of his deep, sexy voice.

“I miss you, Princess.”

“I miss you, too, Tony.” She longed to feel his strong arms around her and his lips on hers.

“Can you come early for Cara’s birthday bash?”

“I’ll try.” She’d do more than try. She’d be there if she had to strap on wings and fly there under her own power.

<>

Tony wanted to ask Mr. Pettibone who had been answering the phone the last couple of days, but he didn’t have to ask. Lisa was in tears. She’d been fired. Stupid girl knew he’d been waiting for a phone call, and she couldn’t bother to call him to the phone or pass on a message. He’d asked her twice if he had any messages. She was too young and irresponsible to work here.

The staff was quiet the rest of the day, their usual chatter subdued. Tony hated firing people, but he didn’t hesitate to do it if necessary. Forgiving honest mistakes was one thing. Lying or not doing the job was grounds for dismissal on his crews. Who had time to mess around with employees like that when there were so many other qualified people out there looking for work?

Whistling for his dog, Tony returned to work on the gazebo. Riley came on the run. Tony’s spirits wagged along with Riley’s tail.
Catherine called.

He finished the framing and stood back to examine his work. So far, so good.

And not just with the gazebo.

<>

Catherine reviewed the videos of all the interviews Mitzi had done, and there were quite a few. For the most part, she’d picked the ones most comfortable on camera, and those were the pretty ones, of course. One girl talked too much, a paralegal from Tennessee named DeeNae. She was a bleached blonde with a pleasant accent.

Mitzi came in and sat beside her. “That one talks too much.”

“She’s cute,” said Catherine. “The chattering is probably nerves, but so what if it isn’t? She’ll drive the other girls crazy. Instant conflict. She has personality, and that’s what we’re looking for.”

“Okay, I’ll add her to the list. What about the valley girl?”

“Which one is she?”

“Charlotte, but she wants to be called Cookie.”

Catherine watched that one next. Cookie was twenty-five, a college dropout, unemployed, and she lived with her parents. She had no direction in life, no goals except to find some great guy and party. Catherine laughed. “If you had a job opening, would you hire this girl?”

“Are you kidding?” Mitzi waved toward the screen. “Listen to the way she talks.”

Cookie had spiked hair, a mixture of black and blonde, and at least six earrings in each ear. “Body piercing?”

“It doesn’t show on this video, but yes. Want to make her an alternate?”

“I don’t think we’ll get that desperate, but sure. Put her on the list.”

Jenny’s video was next. “I know her, or I knew her years ago, in boarding school. Nice girl, and prettier than I remember. I see no reason not to use her.”

Mitzi stared at Catherine. “You went to boarding school, and you went to college with Cara Andrews? Who
are
you?”

Catherine looked Mitzi in the eye and told her the truth. “Catherine Anne Timmons. My father used to own Timmons Hotels. Keep it to yourself, Mitzi. I don’t want anyone treating me any different because of my name.”

“No wonder Henry gave you the show,” Mitzi said with a touch of awe.

If that was what Mitzi wanted to believe, that was fine with Catherine, but she knew better. Mitzi had to be told what to do all the time, while she was a take-charge person, someone with vision, a woman who accomplished things.

Catherine moved on to the next interview. It was Chelsea, the model with the striking blue eyes and long, light brown hair. “She’s gorgeous, a good balance for the cute ones and the ditzy ones.”

Rachel, a former Miss Florida, had black hair and brown eyes. She carried herself like a beauty queen, and she had a nice smile. “She looks great on camera.”

Mitzi nodded. “I thought so, too. She’s tall. How tall is Tony?”

“Six-two.”

Lily was tiny and dark, a grad student at UCLA. She was bright and articulate. “Not beautiful, but cute, with plenty of personality. She’s perfect.”

JoJo was a Latina with short hair and a vivacious personality. “This one is, too. Good choices, Mitzi.”

Victoria, the widow with two boys, seemed relaxed and pleasant. Tony would have plenty of blondes to choose from on this show. “She’ll do.”

Marilyn’s interview was next. “Is she Chinese?”

“Quarter Chinese. She’s friendly, bubbly,” said Mitzi.

“Good. That’s what we want. With his blindfold on, Tony can’t tell what they’re like unless they talk to him.”

The last tape was of Carina, the blackjack dealer from Reno, the one they’d saved to use as an alternate. After seeing the interview, Catherine moved her up from alternate. “We’ll use her on the show. I’ll bet she’s a big flirt, like Tony.”

They had some diversity, which was good for the ratings, and their personalities were different enough to give Tony something to think about. “How many is that?”

Mitzi counted the names on her list. “Nine for the show and one alternate.”

“We need at least a half-dozen more. Enough beauty queens. Try for cute or just personable.”

Without asking whether Catherine wanted to see it, Mitzi ran Fawn’s interview. Catherine had to admit that Fawn looked and sounded good in the interview, but she didn’t want to work with her. She didn’t ever want to see the woman again.

“What about this one?”

“No. She’s out.” Definitely out, no matter how good she looked on camera.

Sometimes she wondered how her father found the women he brought home. Some had only stayed one night, while others moved in for a few days or a few weeks. None were what Catherine considered the motherly type, and apparently none were wife material, or he would have married again.

Fawn wasn’t the worst of the bunch, but she was close. A woman who’d slip a man an illegally obtained drug had an iffy character, and Catherine didn’t want that kind of person on the show or in Cara’s house. She probably wouldn’t pass the security screening anyway.

<>

“I have you down as an alternate,” said Mitzi.

Fawn groaned. She didn’t want to be an alternate. “Don’t leave me hanging, Mitzi. I need to know if I’m going to be on the show.”

“The woman in charge said we have too many beautiful girls. She wants me to find contestants who aren’t so pretty to balance it out.”

“You’re kidding! I’m being rejected because I’m beautiful?”

“It doesn’t make sense to me either, but that’s the way it is. If someone drops out, we’ll definitely call you. I’ll keep you on the list, unless you want me to take you off.”

“No, keep me on the list. I really want to do this, Mitzi.”

“I know. I’ll do my best to get you on.”

Fawn disconnected and swore. She thought when she met Walt Timmons that everything would fall into place. They’d marry and she’d live in that big house in Santa Barbara. She didn’t like his staff, so she convinced Walt to fire the cook and housekeeper. She wanted to get rid of Sanchez, but Walt refused to fire him.

She didn’t like Walt any better than she liked Sanchez, but since he was the one with the money, she had to put up with him and his stinky cigar.

Fawn wondered if the bachelor on the new TV show was rich. She hadn’t gone to the pain and expense of getting her nose and breasts fixed to settle for a poor man.

<>

“I already have a tux,” Tony told Catherine on the phone that night. “I was Nick’s best man, and Cara wouldn’t let any of us rent them.”

“I was in Europe when they got married.”

“So that’s why I didn’t meet you then,” he teased. “I’m sure I would have remembered you.”

She laughed softly, and the sound of her voice made him smile. “What else do I need? I only brought casual clothes.”

Catherine ran down the list of clothes he’d need for the show, and he jotted them down. “I’ll see what Nick has in the closet here. We’re the same size, right down to shoes.”

“Guys compare those things?” she teased, and he realized there was more than one way to take that.

“Like girls compare bra sizes,” he replied. She’d come out the winner on that one. When she didn’t respond right away, he was afraid he’d insulted her again. “Hey, don’t hang up on me.”

“I won’t. Tony, do you think your mother would be willing to appear on the show?”

His
mother
? He didn’t normally think of her when he was picking out a woman to date. “I guess that depends on what you want her to do.”