Tahoe Blues (2 page)

She ended it with a tease about how they would all have to wait and be surprised as to what Brett planned for the gala this year.

It irritated her, but no amount of coercion would get Brett to give her
as much as a hint. To get his goat, Cara threatened to take the word
International
out of his description. His art was basically only known in the Western United States and Canada, but since that would defeat the purpose of acquiring the best price possible for his donation, she reined in her spite and let the program go to press unedited.

Of course, she
didn’t let Brett know she hadn’t followed through with her threat.

Immense disappointment made the smile, which had clung happily to her face, fall away the moment she walked through the ornamental archway. Cara could not believe the monstrosity in front of her was a Brett Boden design. She stood frozen, her mouth agape. The form in front of her was like nothing she had ever seen before. It was an amalgam of metals reaching skyward in a mass of swirls and curves.

Cara didn’t claim to be
an art critic, but she knew as she studied the atrocity before her that Brett had hit a low point in his career. “Wow!” was all she could think to say.

Brett’s eyes twinkled
, but instead of being insulted, he looked as though he was trying not to laugh. “What’s wrong? Don’t you like it? I used your eyeball door as inspiration.”

Cara nodded. T
he door at her new apartment was a sight. Gaudy described it perfectly. It was made of solid mahogany and carved under about fifty layers of glossy dark lacquer was a giant bulging eye, spying from both inside and out. The monster reminded Cara of an eerie nineteen-twenty’s fortunetelling machine whose marquee read,
The Eye Sees All
. The only good thing was it made her new apartment easily distinguishable from all the other units at Granite Gates Estates.

Cara
shot Brett an incredulous look, then stared blankly back at the statue. “I appreciate art, and I know what I like. For the sake of tonight’s success, I hope someone out there appreciates your work, but I have to be honest with you, this is not one of my favorites.” She looked a little closer and touched the smooth edge of the curves. “And other than the fact that they are both a piece of work,” she commented with her eyes slightly crossed, “I’m not sure I get the relationship to my front door.”

Brett choked back his mirth and tried to explain
, “I know a hotel right down the road from the Santa Cruz, Beach and Boardwalk, where I’m sure your parents must have taken you when you were a kid. It’s just south of San Francisco on the California coast. Both the hotel and the boardwalk were built in the same era, and the hotel has the same exact doors as the one on your apartment.” Brett swiped his hand skyward. “If you look closely at my sculpture, you’ll be able to see my interpretation of the Giant Dipper.”

Cara knew the Santa Cruz area well. She and her parents had made it a frequent vacation s
pot while she was growing up in the Sonoma wine country of California. The Giant Dipper was one of the few remaining wooden roller coasters in the United States, and Cara had enjoyed many days racing up the enclosed ramp. Her child eyes had been in awe of the black and white portraits of Marilyn Monroe, Bob Hope, and many other celebrities whose names she could no longer recall.

The
thought of the Giant Dipper could still elicit the feeling of excitement. Cara loved being sandwiched between her mom and dad and watching the safety bar close down upon their laps. She smiled, remembering how she would scream joyfully at the top of her lungs as the ride chugged through the dark tunnel before it burst out into the sunlight and whipped them around the first curve.

Cara could
almost feel her father’s hand on her shoulder, keeping her body safe inside the car. With her arms raised high in the air, she would squeal with delight at the surprise dip in her tummy when the ride plunged down from the highest peak.

By
the third or fourth trip around the track, Cara’s head would feel woozy, and she would no longer be able to speak due to all the high-pitched shrieking and laughing she had done.

Cara
tilted her head and tried to see some semblance of her favorite coaster. If she really stretched her imagination, she could make out the curves and movement of the giant ride. “I kind of see it,” she struggled, “but what’s that thing in the middle?”

“It’s Laffin’ Sal!”

Cara shook her head at the frenzied mass. “Who?”

“That
freakazoid robotic laughing clown. She used to greet all the visitors from high up in the tower as you entered from the pier. Now she’s a valuable antique and is enclosed in glass near the miniature golf course.” Brett saw her confusion and shook his head. “Come on, how could you not remember her? She was really loud. The lady never stopped laughing, and its freckled face and missing tooth were a little creepy.”

Cara nodded
in agreement. Brett had successfully captured the creepy part. “I know the Boardwalk. I’ve ridden the Giant Dipper, but Laughing Sal?” She shook her head. “We’ve never met.”

No longer able to contain his merriment, Brett spurt out, “L
affin’ Sal, not Laughing Sal.” He wrapped his arm across her shoulder. “Don’t worry about it, art is subjective, but I bet my piece sells for more than any other item at tonight’s auction.”

His eyes practically sparkled with joy. Brett obviously had something up his sleeve, but for the life of her Cara couldn’t figure
out what it could be. His design was hideous. She doubted it would even sell, let alone bring in the highest bid. “I’ll take that bet.” She reached her hand out to shake his. “How about five bucks?”

Brett’s graying temples and surprised green eyes reared
back. “Five whole dollars. We’re not feeling very confident are we?”

Her eyes narrowed
suspiciously and Cara snickered, “Somehow you have the inside track on this one, and since I’m pretty sure I’m being taken for a ride...” she paused and poked his ribs good-naturedly as she played off his roller coaster theme, “that is all I’m willing to wager. Take it or leave it.”

Brett grabbed her tickling fingers and gav
e her hand a quick shake. “Deal. I think I can almost buy a six pack with that.”

“Probably clo
ser to a four pack,” Cara giggled, “but enough of this playing around, finish up and get changed. Guests are starting to arrive.”

Brett pulled out his phone. “I just need
a few pics to add to my portfolio and I’m done.

Hoping
beyond hope, she looked at the statue one last time and prayed tonight’s guests would appreciate Brett’s artistic lopsided interpretation of a roller coaster. She walked away and prayed they would also be willing to fork over a ton of charitable cash for the privilege of having Laffin’ Sal and her missing front tooth stare back at them for the rest of their lives.

Leah rushed up beside her with a conspirer’s smile
grinning from ear to ear on her pixie round face. “Do you think she’ll show up?”

Cara
drew in a quick breath and pursed her lips together. She didn’t want to think about that. Cara was typically a goody-two-shoes, but the day she tried on the gown from Bellismimo Abito for Leah, the devilish duo had come up with a fiendish plan. Since the see-through frock looked more like something designed for use in one of the shows the casino produced, Cara and Leah drunkenly decided it was far more appropriate for Duncan’s new redheaded girlfriend, and sent it over to Cascade Bay for her. They made it appear as if the gift had come from Duncan.

If Cara could do it over
, she would have simply burned it in her new apartment complex’s communal fire pit. She and Leah had made their way through a couple of pitchers of margaritas, and it seemed like the perfect form of poetic justice. The note they enclosed with the gown did not mention Cara’s soon-to-be-ex in anyway, but the intent was clear. Duncan wanted Lisa Hill, Blackjack dealer extraordinaire, to come to the gala, and he wanted her to wear the gorgeous gown purchased from one of the most exclusive stores in town.

Cara
grabbed Leah’s arm and pulled her into a safe corner and out of earshot of any of the catering and serving staff who milled around the ballroom. “Shhhh,” Cara whispered sharply. “The moment Barbie walks through that door, Duncan will know exactly what we’ve been up to. I wish we’d sobered up before we shipped it over to the tramp.” Cara lifted her chin and held her head high. “But since we didn’t, I hope Lisa, Blackjack, Hill waits until the dancing is in full swing before she makes her grand entrance. Then I can give Duncan one final sickly sweet smile and walk out of those ostentatious ten foot high doors and never cross the threshold again.” The two women walked back out into the main hall and Cara continued, “I’ll drop my keys off at the main desk and be done with this family forever. I’m not even waiting around to see how well the auction does this evening.”

Leah batted the long lashes of her
violet eyes in Cara’s direction. “You, relinquishing control? I’ve never seen that before,” she teased. Then she scrunched her nose and backed away. “Tell me you’re not going to do the First Couple dance with Duncan again. It was absurd when you were happily married, now it’s just plain ludicrous.”

“
Sorry to disappoint you girlfriend,” Cara said consolingly, “it was a concession I made with Duncan’s mother. I would dance with her son one final time, and Inga would introduce me as her
lovely Cara
, and not as her daughter-in-law.”

Leah’s eyes t
urned bright. “Speaking of the family, where is that luscious Mark Porter hiding out these days? I’m sure he’s left Drew by now and is in need of a little comfort. I can hardly wait for you to officially introduce us.”

Cara shook her head and c
huckled. “You aren’t going to like the answer to that question either. He and Drew are still trying to make a go of it.”

“Too bad,” Leah sighed. “He is one good looking security guard
, and you know how I love a man in uniform.”

Cara suppressed the urge to roll her eyes.
Mark was head of security at the Cascade Bay, and the only uniform he wore was of the three-piece variety. He was always meticulously dressed, and the only clue that he was anything other than a perfect gentleman was the occasional bruising on his knuckles.

Once in a great while
, her brother-in-law’s rugged jawline would be slightly swollen when a rowdy guest was lucky enough to get in a punch as he was escorted out the door. But Cara knew, and apparently Leah did too, that under his slick exposure, Mark was a solid mass of muscle. He and Duncan worked out together, almost on a daily basis. While Duncan worked on perfecting his nearly flawless physique, Mark worked on gaining the strength and speed he needed for his volatile line of work.

Other than
Duncan’s mother, Mark was the only person in the entire Alexander family who understood her situation. Duncan and Cara had been idiotically referred to as Duncara by the local press, and their photos had been snapped a million times on their way to and from, the endless functions the hot Tahoe couple had attended. Months before their official split, the deterioration of their relationship had already been well documented.

Pictures
of Mark escorting a visibly upset Cara home while Duncan stayed to play had dotted the gossip sites, blasted through the blogs, and trended on twitter. Mark had done his best to protect Cara from the paparazzi of the small town, but he had been defenseless against their new high-powered lenses and the distance they were now able to keep.

To his credit,
Mark had never spoken a word against his brother-in-law, but the scowl on his face when Duncan instructed him to take Cara home, or his jacket draped over her chilly shoulders to guard against the mountain chill, and his warm comforting embrace when Cara could no longer hold it together, spoke volumes. Cara knew Mark would remain her friend and would be there for her if she ever needed him.

Cara tried to stem the hurt she suffered at Duncan’s hand from creeping in and spoiling the joy she felt earlier. She stood up just a little taller and squared her shoulders. She swore right then and there that she would never wonder about a man’s faithfulness again. The moment the thought crossed her mind that the hand placed in the small of another woman’s back was anything other than an innocent gesture, she would be gone.

Leah
pulled Cara out of her mounting melancholy when she shouted, “Holy Mother Mary! That man cleans up nice.”

Cara looked to see who Leah was referring to and found herself
having to do a double take. “That’s the maintenance man at my new apartment complex!” The Armani suit he wore had been tailored to fit his form perfectly. Unlike Duncan and Mark, Cara knew TJ Reed’s muscles had been built on hard work, and Cara knew for a fact that the man knew how to use his tools. Cara found herself admiring his strength and grace on more than one occasion as he dug a flower bed in front of her elderly neighbor’s picture window, or as he renovated the empty unit across the way. His tight t-shirts hugged his chest, and the weight of his tool belt pulled his loose fitting jeans down a little lower than they would normally ride.