Tahoe Blues Read online

  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, “Laffin’ 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 gave her hand a quick shake. “Deal. I think I can almost buy a six pack with that.”

  “Probably closer 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 turned 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 chuckled. “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.

&
nbsp; 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.

  Cara shook her head to keep her thoughts from drifting any farther down that stimulating path of seduction. “I don’t recall sending TJ Reed an invitation. I wonder if he is someone’s guest.” She snickered, positive TJ would be the date of a wealthy elderly patron who wanted a little eye candy on her arm.

  Leah shot Cara a small frown. “I’ve never heard him called that before. I’ve always known him as Tanner James Reed. We went to high school together.” Leah grinned and waggled her freshly waxed brows happily. “The heck with Mark Porter, he’s married. Tanner’s wife passed away in a car accident several years ago. I just might set my sights on him.” Then Leah sighed. A sympathetic look crossed her face, and her voice turned soft with concern. “I know how much he loved Kate. They were together all through high school and college. If I recall correctly, they were married right after graduation. After Kate died, Tanner dropped off the face of the earth. I had no idea he was working as a maintenance man. It seems like a waste of a college education to me.” Leah took a sip from a fluted glass. Her eyes gleamed as the expensive sparkling wine slid down her throat. “I see the family has gone all out again. This champagne is good.”

  “It comes from the Napa Valley, so technically it’s sparkling wine, not champagne,” Cara interjected absently as Leah drained her glass and snagged another from a passing server. Cara’s mind was spinning. Tanner James Reed had made a couple of donations to the Blue Tahoe Blue Foundation, which was second in size only to the ones made by the Alexander family. Cara realized her apartment maintenance man couldn’t possibly be an ordinary laborer.

  The instantaneous quiver she felt at the sight of Tanner in his Armani suit told Cara she was a total snob. She enjoyed the view which TJ had been presenting the last few weeks but she hadn’t given the complex caretaker the time of day. She hadn’t even introduced herself. Now that she knew there was more to TJ, the tool-man, Tanner James Reed, Cara was fairly certain she wouldn’t be ignoring him any longer.

  Cara had sublet the apartment from a friend of a friend when it became clear she was in Leah’s way. With the gala approaching, Leah had been working in high gear to meet all her deadlines, and their two very different schedules weren’t meshing. Leah’s sewing machine hummed all night long, causing Cara to function on little to no sleep. Getting up in time to instruct her eight a.m. class had been beyond difficult. Seeing the dark shadows developing under Cara’s eyes, a fellow professor introduced her to Beth Rainey, a friend who was leaving the country for an extended stay in Europe.

  The two women hit it off, an arrangement was made, and Cara moved into her new apartment a few days later.

  The tingling fanning out across Cara’s abdomen diminished sharply when Tanner turned to reveal a stunning blonde on his arm. The young woman looked up at the irresistible Tanner Reed with doe-eyed admiration. Her ruby red lips were parted and thoroughly enthralled as she hung eagerly onto his every word.

  Cara studied them intently and felt a scowl form on her face. Tanner’s head turned in her direction and he caught her gaze. The depth of his piercing blue eyes burned through her. His usually stubbled face was clean-shaven, and he looked like a professional athlete at an awards ceremony.

  Tanner nodded and shot her a quick smile before he turned back to the woman on his arm.

  Leah’s shoulders slumped into a dejected sulk. “Well, that settles it,” she muttered. “Besides the fact that he just smiled at you, he has a date who is a lot younger and prettier than me.” Nothing could ever keep Leah down for long, and a moment later her frown turned upside down. “I love her dress. I’m going to go see if I can figure out who designed it.” Leah nudged Cara’s shoulder and headed off into the growing crowd.

  Feeling a little unsettled, Cara stepped back and checked the time. There were only a few minutes remaining in the cocktail hour. Soon guests would be seated, and the big event would begin. She motioned to a waiter and picked up a glass of the smooth sparkling wine Leah was so fond of, and headed off to find this evening’s Master of Ceremony.

  This year she had been lucky enough to snag the local news anchor, Cameron Caldwell. His celebrity had brought a bigger than average buzz to the night’s event, and his strong personality and stage presence would keep the event flowing and the auction productive.

  Cara drew in a deep breath and released the tension building in her neck. This was it. Her last hoorah. Soon she would join the ranks as an Alexander Clan cast-off. She looked at the beautiful dress she wore and wondered if Duncan would even notice. So much for his little peek-a-boo, blue beaded nightmare. The cocktail dress Leah designed fit her every curve, and it was absolutely perfect. She grinned expectantly, knowing after this evening there would be no more Tahoe Blues for her. She was young and almost free. Cara couldn’t wait to begin her new life.

  “What’s that smile for?” Cameron asked as he approached.

  A coy smile curved at the corner of her lips. Her eyes sparkled as she mischievously tilted her chin into her shoulder. “Contrary to popular belief,” she said sweeping her arm out across the extravagant ballroom, “I am not completely devastated to be leaving all this behind.”

  She locked arms with him and guided him towards the bar. “We’ve worked hard. We have some beautiful pieces of art to auction off, and I just happen to be feeling a bit on the joyful side.”

  Cameron stepped back and held her out at arm’s length. He took her in from head to toe and smiled appreciatively. “You are a truly beautiful woman.”

  Cara enjoyed Cameron’s company. They had become acquainted during the planning of the gala. It was nice to have a new friend who didn’t care if she was part of the Alexander family and who liked her just for her little ol,’ Cara Green, self. “Any questions about the schedule of events,” she asked, “or anything we need to lock down?”

  Cameron ordered a bottle of water from the bartender and shook his head. “Nope, it’s all lined up and ready to go. I see nothing but smooth sailing ahead.” He raised his drink in salute. “To a successful evening. May we rake in a lot of dough.”

  Tapping the edge of her glass to his plastic bottle, Cara echoed his sentiment, “Here, here.” She took a sip and turned towards the hustle and bustle at the entrance. The excitement, which suddenly filled the air, could only mean one thing. The Alexander family had just entered the Grand Hall.

  After a curt nod in the direction of the charity’s founders, Cara turned reluctantly back
to Cameron and pouted. “Looks like I have to go make nice one last time.”

  Cameron chuckled at the sad look on her face. He grabbed her arm and pulled her in for a quick hug. “You got this, Cara. Just try not to trip on that lower lip on your way.”

  Inga’s smile was immediate when she greeted Cara. “There you are, dear. You look absolutely fabulous.”

  They hugged and Cara replied, “Thank you. This is one of Leah’s designs. She made it especially for the gala.” Feeling the icy chill of her father-in-law’s disapproval rake over her, Cara turned away from Weston Alexander and greeted her brother-in-law with an affectionate, “Hi Mark.” Then she nodded a bit more coolly at his wife. “Drew.”

  Mark wrapped Cara up in a warm hug while Drew conveniently snubbed her under the guise of speaking with her father. The only attribute Drew had, as far as Cara was concerned, was that she had married one hell of a man and she had to wonder what Mark saw in her. Had he been duped as she had, or had he been in it for the money? Cara gave his broad shoulder one last squeeze and stepped back. She wanted to look into his eyes and find the answer to her question, but when Mark released her, she bumped straight into the six foot wall of Duncan Alexander, and nearly spilled her wine.

  Duncan gripped her arm to steady her. He smirked his dashing smile. “Sorry babe. You look gorgeous tonight.” He moved in for a kiss.

  Cara dodged his mouth and forced a peck on her cheek instead. She pushed him firmly away and struck a fashion model pose. “Isn’t this dress amazing?” she taunted.

  His golden brown eyes turn hard, and Cara knew she had scored one for her side. It was time Duncan accepted the fact that the clock had run out on their marriage and that the game was over. She was no longer his wife or possession, and he had no right to think he could ever press his lips on hers again. “If you’ll excuse me, there are still a few things I need to attend to.”