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“I’ve been looking for you. I was afraid I wouldn’t recognize you if you wore a mask.” Apparently, he was happy to have tracked me down. Oh goody.
What good were these masks if you could still recognize a person? What to do now?
“Hello, am I interrupting?” Tammy stood behind Justin.
“Tammy, of course not. Please join us, Porsche just went to the buffet.” I was so happy to see her. I was sending a desperate message with my eyes pleading don’t leave me. I took off my mask, so she could see my pleading eyes better.
Justin cleared his throat, uncomfortable with so many adults no doubt. “Would you like to dance?” He asked with a hopeful look. Oh, why me? I looked between him and Tammy and swallowed.
“I’d be delighted to dance with you, young man,” Tammy offered, “but I don’t’ think her boyfriend would approve.” She winked for my benefit.
“I think your boyfriend isn’t real. I found out you’re here with your friend. What guy lets his girl go to a romantic resort without him?” He looked at me with an open and earnest appeal.
Good question. He didn’t know the half of it!
“Um, well it’s never that simple,” was all I could manage.
His eyes shifted to what I guessed were his parents waving for him to join them, “I’ll be back and maybe we can dance later.” He left, and I let out my breath.
“That is one determined boy who’s smitten with you.” Tammy chuckled as she sat in Porsche’s seat.
I groaned, “I’m too young to be a cougar and besides, I should be able to attract eligible men my own age.” Eligible, meaning emotionally available as well as my age – thank you very much!
“You have a boyfriend I thought.” She looked concerned.
That peaceful relaxed feeling flew out the proverbial window. I took out my cell phone from the glitzy little purse and pulled up the photo of Mason on the red carpet he sent me. He wore an expensive suit, which he looks particularly good in. His rugged good looks combined with naturally wavy shoulder-length hair and broad shoulders were a potent mix.
I explained, “That’s him, he sent that in a text. He’s...in California for work.”
“Wish you were here. Hmmmm. What does he do that takes him to the red carpet without you?” Her eyebrows had pinched together.
If it weren’t for the text, most people probably wouldn’t even believe I actually knew him, let alone he was my guy. I felt like I had to prove I wasn’t lying.
“I know it seems unbelievable, but he occasionally does bodyguard work for celebrities.” The words were incredible, but I also felt like he wouldn’t want me sharing that much since he works undercover as their boyfriend.
Of course, I could just be an idiot and believe some outlandish tale he fed me when he is still a full-blown playboy. I thought the man I trusted last fall was earnest with me, but I could’ve been wrong. I just didn’t know him well enough to be sure.
“He seems familiar, is he famous?” Her eyes scrutinized me.
“He’s a photographer, and he has done the bodyguard thing for a while so he may be in some celebrity photos.” Okay, probably a whole bunch of photos. I felt totally stupid. I was tensing up with every word.
Her eyes changed to sympathetic. “This is a sore spot and I’m making it worse. I’m sorry dear.”
I waved her comment off. I didn’t want to talk about my angst over Mason especially since the noise level was rising and I was almost yelling to be heard. Porsche returned and I let her take my seat, and made my way to the buffet, away from talking about my kinda-sorta boyfriend.
I progressed down the food line, recognizing the same offerings served for some of the conference luncheons. The many entrées and side dishes mingled into a heady aroma made my stomach growl in anticipation. The occasional strong perfume from a fellow guest would overpower the food. I absently placed items on my plate when a conversation broke through my fog.
“I’m so excited to be going home tomorrow. I might not even take a sleeping pill to sleep tonight.” Mrs. Lochran was commenting to a lady next to her.
“Oh, I sleep like a rock no matter what. Always have.” The unknown lady answered.
“Wade is so good and made sure I was getting good sleep. He fusses over me. I’m not complaining, it’s better than the alternative.” She mused.
Better than the alternative...like Mason – emotionally distant? Our first few months was littered with indications he wasn’t ready for commitment, but I accepted the excuses. I could see that looking back now. After the discussion with Tammy, I couldn’t help but go there. I shook my head and focused on what I was piling on my plate.
By the time I returned to the table, Johan had joined our group and somehow we now had extra chairs crowded around the table. Perhaps, being the police he got a few favors.
Porsche was reserved chatting with him, but she had an air of bittersweet joy. I ached for her. It was all enough to make me swear off romance movies, let alone dating.
Tammy made a trip to load up with food too and for a while, conversation came to a halt while our collective focus was on eating and people watching. That didn’t last long though.
Tammy jumped into the taboo subject of the night, the proverbial elephant in the room. “All our prime suspects are in one place. I don’t suppose there is a dramatic arrest about to take place detective?”
Johan shook his head and sighed, “I wish that were the case. I have to say, I take all the guests disbanding and scattering to their respective homes as a personal defeat.” His eyes were surrounded by deep worry lines.
“You can’t blame yourself, it was a confluence of events.” Porsche offered.
The thought of a killer getting away galled me too, I understood – on a much smaller scale no doubt – how Johan must feel.
Porsche and Tammy got up to choose a dessert, leaving me alone with the detective.
“I want to thank you for funneling information to me the last few days. I wish I hadn’t involved you.” Johan admitted.
“Don’t worry about that, it’s the least I could do. I wish I could’ve been more useful, actually.” I confided.
“I don’t understand why more people didn’t share openly when I questioned them.” He shook his head.
“Oh, I suppose it is a few things. The person really may not see any significance in what they saw or heard so they don’t want to get a person in trouble over nothing. Perhaps it is so insignificant that they don’t even remember it at all. Or, the idea of coming close to a brush with death just from seeing or hearing something pushes it from the mind as self-preservation.” I offered a few of my own conclusions over the same question.
He sat, sipping his club soda and lime, looking at Porsche. “I never expected to find her in the course of this investigation. You were correct to warn me of the temporary nature. Still, I...” His thought trailed off.
When Porsche and Tammy sat back down I decided to cruise the dessert table myself. I was staring at the selections, all decedent and works of art. My mind wondered to a flurry of thoughts jumbled together. A tap on the shoulder sent my thoughts flying out of my head.
“May I have this dance?” Justin had snuck up on me. I cursed my luck. But he wasn’t going to stop and maybe just one dance and I could send him on his way.
The music mix that played on the sound system alternated between energetic dance tunes and slow romantic selections. Currently, it was a fun toe-tapping song. But as soon as we started to dance, the song ended and – you guessed it, a slow song began playing. I think it was the theme to the movie Romeo and Juliet. Just my luck.
Justin blushed and tried to take me in his arms, I extended my right hand and placed my left on his shoulder for a traditional couple dance pose, even if we only managed a side step. Justin swallowed, and his eyes took on an anxious look.
His hand came around too low on my back and I moved it up to my shoulder. “I guess you get to learn how to dance. “
“I know how to dance, just not like this.”
“Trust me, this will impress girls as you get older.” I wasn’t completely sure on that score, but I showed him a basic side-touch step. Then got him to do a turn as he did the side touch. By the end of the dance, he was beaming.
“That wasn’t so bad, was it?”
“It was easy once I got my feet to cooperate.” He flashed a shy smile.
“Why don’t you practice with your mother, that would be special for her.”
He was disappointed when I left the dance floor and returned to my seat, but he did bring his mother out to dance for the next slow song. He flashed a smile in my direction at the end of the dance. I suspected he would sweep some girl off her feet one day with that simple dance step.
“That was nice of you to teach him to dance,” Tammy commented next to me.
“Purely ulterior motives of self-preservation. It kept him from getting too comfortable and made it more formal.”
“Maybe they should’ve given some dance lessons for an activity.” She commented, and I nodded.
By the next slow dance, Justin was back. This time Johan asked Porsche to dance too.
We all joined the dance floor that was now getting crowded as more people joined the fun. I explained how he had to lead through the minefield and keep us from colliding with other couples. We had only a few mishaps.
Wade Lochran and his wife were close and my eyes fixed on the cuff of his shirt on the extended hand holding his wife’s hand. His hunter green button-down shirt cuff had two clear buttons rather than matching dark green like the others as if they were replacement buttons from a travel sewing kit.
My mind flashed to a vision of him that first night in the bar when I met him. He had on that bright pistachio colored sweater and that same shirt under it.
Could it be?