| |
That night, with the exception of Garrett, all of the group showed up right at seven as scheduled. The phone rang just as they were wondering what happened to him. Cameron rushed over to answer it, then said breathlessly, “Hello—.” She gave a quick nod to let the others know it was him.
“Oh, I see. Okay, well we’re all here waiting for you—and, um, Margaret. Yeah. Matt will order our food now so it should be here by the time you arrive. Thanks for letting us know.”
She returned to her seat on the sofa. “You heard. Matt go ahead and order for six of us. Margaret will be coming with Garrett and he said they’ll be here in about half-an-hour. He said he’d been worried because she was late and that wasn’t like her. Anyway, she just called him from her car and apologized for holding things up but indicated it would be worth it. She had been waiting for some last-minute information, and according to Garrett she doesn’t say something will be worth it unless it definitely will be.”
Expectation was high while they waited. What could this newcomer bring to their little group that would be worth it? Damaging information about Shady? Some dirt on Beverly? Theories flew back and forth, but actually just helped to pass the time. Finally, there was a knock at the door. Cameron jumped up to answer.
Garrett stood framed in the doorway with a very attractive woman at his side who had to be Margaret. They both entered, and Cameron took stock of the woman who preferred to be called Maggie. She noticed that Kate was also giving her the once-over.
Margaret Stanton extended her manicured hand to each of them as Garrett saw to the introductions. She held Matt’s hand for a moment longer than the others.
Her voice had a sexy, husky quality that wasn’t exactly in keeping with her sophisticated appearance. “So pleased to meet you. I really enjoy your movies and I believe we have some mutual friends.” She reeled off a few names. Matt replied that they were, indeed, mutual friends and remarked that it was a small world.
When Cameron shot Kate a glance, she was happy to see that her friend looked relieved. While Margaret was a very striking woman with an overdose of Beverly Hills chic, it was obvious to everyone that there was no sexual attraction between her and Garrett. Kate was an expert at reading body language and had quickly determined that they were, as stated, longtime close friends.
“Danny tells me that for some reason sometimes you call him by his last name. Should I do that, too? He’s been Danny to me for years, but I wouldn’t want you to think I was talking about someone else.”
“No problem. We usually do call him Danny but every once in a while we refer to him as Garrett. No rhyme or reason to it. We just do.”
Margaret cracked a smile revealing sparkling white teeth, all lined up perfectly like a row of Chiclets gum pieces. Her medium-length straight blonde hair framed a face blessed with high cheekbones, a tiny cleft in her chin and generous lips sporting perfectly applied pale pink gloss. She surveyed the group with long-lashed, china blue eyes that were almost too blue to be natural.
Cameron did a quick assessment. Unlike her friend Kate’s natural beauty, Margaret looked like perfection created by skillful makeup and a nip or tuck by a Rembrandt of plastic surgeons, with hair by a stylist who could easily be Monique or Mr. Karl of Beverly Hills. Of course, she couldn’t be certain, but when a person pays as much as Five Hundred Dollars for a styling, it should look as flawless as Margaret’s. She patted her own hair and thought I should know. Monique’s price had just climbed from Four Hundred to Five Hundred and was worth every cent.
She snapped back to attention, just having missed something Margaret said.
Garrett added, “Wait till you hear what she has. I told you Maggie’s contribution would be valuable. If there’s anyone of note she doesn’t know in Beverly Hills, it’s a sure bet one of her friends knows all the dirt on that person.” Garrett indicated one of the chairs to his friend, then plopped into the one next to her.
Cameron could kick herself for missing what Margaret said while she was daydreaming about plastic surgeons and celebrity hair stylists. Not wanting to seem obvious, she ventured,
“Maggie, Danny said you would be a good addition to our little team if you were up for it, so welcome. That was some work you did in writing the Mancuso book. I followed all that Tony the Nose stuff in the papers. I never realized one of the authors was my neighbor. I guess some of his Mafia associates weren’t too happy his widow was writing a ‘tell-all.’ With your connections and skills, I can’t wait to hear this info that you say will be worth it. I’m so excited, let me hear again what you just said. Sounds like you might be our answer to a breakthrough.
Margaret had confusion written all over her face as she eyed Cameron, then looked at Garrett and back to Cameron. “Well, if saying I’m as hungry as a bear and looking forward to the food delivery gets you excited, I guess you’re hungry, too.”
A red flush of embarrassment crept up from Cameron’s neck onto her face as she sputtered and assumed her ditzy blonde pose. “OMG, wow, you caught me. I feel so foolish.”
“Don’t. It takes one to know one, and I’ve stuck my foot in it like that more than once.”
As if to respond to her comment about being hungry there was a knock on the door that could be none other than the food delivery. Matt said, “I’ll get it,” took a few long strides and opened the door.