Clark headed for Monteith’s garage soon after breakfast the next day. He’d done a cursory check of the dining room, just to reassure himself that Lizzy hadn’t decided to head down the mountain for greener pastures during the night.
He missed having her in his bed, to tell the truth. Somehow he’d managed to get involved with her more than he’d originally planned. Not that he’d done much planning where Lizzy was concerned. It was more like she’d wandered into his life and he’d been playing catch-up ever since.
Now his brain was telling him to put on the brakes, while his body was telling him the opposite. He wasn’t sure which side was going to win, and he sure as hell wasn’t enjoying the battle.
Still, he wouldn’t let a bunch of gold-digging bitches make his life miserable if he could help it, or Lizzy’s life either. He still wasn’t happy with the idea of her hiding out until the show moved on, but he couldn’t say why exactly. It just seemed wrong.
He didn’t know what Nona could tell him, but he wanted to talk to her anyway. At this point he needed all the information he could get.
Nona was at her desk at the back of the garage’s main room. Her son Al was the best mechanic in town, but the garage itself was the best because Nona was in charge. She ran the operation sort of like General Patton. Now she sat with a phone headset clamped to her head, typing something on her laptop.
“Yeah, Jerry, I know.” She sighed into the phone. “Well, of course you need your truck, but so does everybody else. You just brought it in a couple of hours ago—we’ve got people left over from yesterday that Al’s trying to finish up. I told you when you dropped it off that it would be a while.”
She rolled her eyes at Clark as she paused to listen to the hapless Jerry plead his case. “Well, I’m sorry you have to go to Wyoming, Jerry,” she said finally. “Can’t you just use Lorraine’s car?”
Her grimace became more pronounced as she listened. Apparently, Jerry wasn’t using anybody’s car but his own. “We will do what we can, Jerry. I can’t make any promises. No, don’t call me—I’ll call you when it’s ready.”
After another moment, she pulled off the headset, scowling. “What kind of lamebrained idiot brings in his truck to be serviced the day he’s due to drive it off to Wyoming? I told him Al was super busy, but he brought it in anyway. And now he expects it to be ready an hour after he dropped it off. Not happenin’, partner.”
Clark slid into the chair across from her desk as Nona pushed her fingers through her hair to fluff it. She narrowed her eyes in his direction. “So what brings you here? Don’t tell me the Lincoln’s out of whack. That’s one of my favorite cars in this town.”
He shook his head. “The Lincoln’s fine. I needed to talk to you about something else.”
Nona’s eyes stayed narrow. “That sounds ominous. What’s up?”
He took a breath. “You recognized Lizzy, right? You knew she’d been on that show when you first met her.”
Nona nodded. “I did.”
“You didn’t mention it.” He still felt annoyed that Nona hadn’t bothered to fill him in, but he tried to keep the irritation out of his voice.
“I wanted to talk to her first, make sure she wasn’t going to poison your guests. But I didn’t really figure she would.” Nona shrugged. “She just needed a break, which you gave her.”
He nodded. “She’s good at her job.”
“And I figured she’d tell you sooner or later. She’s a good girl.”
Well, not exactly. “Actually, Lauren recognized her at the photo shoot yesterday. She sent me a link to the TV show.”
“Lauren?” Nona gave him a sour look. “You mean the blonde with the tits?”
He nodded. As a description it was fairly accurate. “That’s the one.”
Nona shook her head in disgust. “She gonna make trouble for Lizzy?”
“I don’t think so. I think it was just a shot at me—we finaled in the Best of the Box for our breakfast buffet.” Technically, he wasn’t supposed to tell anybody they’d won, but he figured Lauren had sacrificed any right to his loyalty when she’d decided to go after his chef.
“Good.” Nona gave him a considering look. “You gonna make trouble for Lizzy?”
He narrowed his eyes. “What do you mean?”
“You might fire her,” Nona said slowly. “Some bosses would. She didn’t tell you about what happened when you hired her.”
He sighed. “When I hired her to help out in the kitchen, I would have hired anybody who could pick up a frying pan. I didn’t ask her for a résumé. I got lucky.”
“So she still has a job?” Nona raised an eyebrow.
“Of course she has a job.” He leaned forward, counting off his points on his fingers. “She’s a terrific chef. She’s turned the whole damn kitchen around. We’re doing turn-away business. Why the hell would I let somebody like that go?” It was the first time he’d actually spelled out what Lizzy had done for Praeger House. It felt good to say it.
The corners of Nona’s mouth edged up. “Glad to hear it. What about the rest of it?”
His good feeling promptly dissolved. “What do you mean?”
“You and her.” Nona narrowed her eyes again. “Don’t play dumb. Anybody who sees the two of you together knows what you’ve got going on. Are you two still okay?”
He shrugged, suddenly unwilling to meet her gaze.
“Oh for God’s sake,” Nona snapped. “Don’t tell me you’re breaking up with her because she didn’t tell you about the Lovely Ladies of LA.”
He shrugged again, feeling the familiar tightness in his gut. “She could have told me. She came close and she didn’t. I don’t like being lied to.”
Nona grimaced. “Okay, Mr. Truth-Is-My-Middle-Name, I assume you’ve talked to her about it now. Did she fill you in on the details?”
He nodded, scowling.
“So you know it wasn’t her fault, right? You understand that she got screwed.” Nona’s lips moved into a dry smile. “And not in an enjoyable way. She was driven out of her home and her business. Everybody she depended on turned against her. You can be annoyed that she didn’t tell you right off, but you can’t blame her.”
He sighed, spearing his fingers through his hair. “I don’t. Exactly.” But he still felt pissed. And he didn’t know what he could do about it.
Nona shook her head. “All right, I’ve said my piece. What is it you want from me?”
He leaned back in his chair again, rubbing his hands over his face. What did he want from her, anyway? “Maybe some ideas about what to do next. You know that goddamned show is coming to town in a week or so. Lizzy’s so spooked she’s planning to stay in the kitchen the whole time they’re around.”
Nona frowned. “I don’t remember that particular episode all that well. Just that a lot of people got sick. But Lizzy said they cleared her afterward.”
He nodded. “They cleared her kitchen. The food she brought in wasn’t bad as far as they could tell.”
“Well of course it wasn’t.” Nona frowned harder. “Whatever happened, Lizzy wasn’t the one who did it.”
Clark frowned back. “Do you have any ideas for handling the people from Fairstein Productions when they show up?”
Nona sighed. “I’d like to say Lizzy should go on with her business as usual. She didn’t do anything wrong, and she lost everything because of that damn show. But from what I remember of those TV people, it’s probably not a good idea to let them know she’s around. They’re liable to take advantage.”
He nodded. “They probably would if they could. They might try to stir up some more trouble. But I’m pretty sure she’d try to avoid that.”
Nona picked up a pencil, tapping it on the desk in front of her. “Which means she’s right—she’s probably better off staying out of their way.”
Clark’s jaw flexed. “Like you said, though, she didn’t do anything wrong. We’re sort of saying she should hide out like she was a criminal or something.”
“If things worked the way they were supposed to work, everybody would say she was a brave woman standing up for her rights. But things don’t usually work that way. You know that, Clark.”
“I know.” His jaw began to hurt from the tension.
“It’s Lizzy’s reputation that’s on the line here. And if she chooses to stay out of the way, that’s her prerogative.” Nona shrugged. “It may not be so bad anyway. Maybe the crew won’t remember her. They must have a lot of people to keep track of. And she was only on one episode. The guys who stay here in town might not recognize her.”
“Particularly not if she stays in her chef outfit.” On that show she’d worn a suit and heels, apparently trying to look like someone who’d work for the bitches of Bel Air. He had a quick image of Lizzy in her chef’s coat—who knew a white coat could be that hot? Focus, asshole. You’re not thinking about that now.
“There you go.” Nona smiled at him again, less dryly this time. “Tell her to come over to the Blarney Stone tonight. I’ll see if Dick has any other ideas. He knows the business better than any of us.”
Clark frowned. He wasn’t crazy about the idea of involving Dick in this thing. He could be, well, a dick. On the other hand, he was a Hollywood producer and he had a lot of contacts that might be helpful.
Nona shook her head. “Don’t worry. I’ll keep him in line. Plus he’s a lot less of an ogre than most people think. He’s a good man to have on your side, in fact. You could always bring her yourself if you’re worried.”
“Maybe.” He probably should do that. But he wasn’t sure he was ready to take Lizzy anywhere yet. In reality he still didn’t know how he felt about her, no matter what Nona said. He pushed himself to his feet. “Thanks, Nona.”
She shrugged. “Don’t know what you’re thanking me for. All I did was tell you what you already know.”
“Right. But it helps to hear it.”
Her lips edged up again. “Just make sure you listened to everything I said, not just the parts you wanted to hear. See you this evening.”
*****
Lizzy was trying to convince herself that going to the Blarney Stone that evening was a good idea. She still wasn’t sure where she stood with Clark. Or rather, she was pretty sure she knew, she just didn’t like thinking about it.
It would probably be best not to spend much time together. Maybe she could get over him more easily that way. If she didn’t see him, didn’t talk to him, didn’t think about him…
Right, Lizzy, like that’s gonna happen.
Now she walked beside him, trying not to let her hand brush his by accident. It was pretty clear they weren’t on anything resembling a date here, just walking in the same direction.
She jammed her hands into the pockets of her jacket and kept her gaze straight ahead. Strictly business. They were heading to a strategy meeting. Of course, the strategy in question was needed because of her. Maybe Clark was right to be mad after all. She was screwing up his life even as she straightened out his kitchen.
Nona was sitting at a table in the back, along with Dick. Clark pulled out a chair at the table for Lizzy, then dropped down into one beside her, signaling a waitress for a couple of beers.
“Evening.” He smiled at Nona and nodded at Dick.
“Hey there.” Nona gave Lizzy a grin. “Heard about that contest. Congratulations, kid. You know that’s a new category. You’re first out of the blocks.”
Lizzy grinned back a little tentatively. “Praeger House has a great dining room—it just needed a little push. The new menu really clicked.”
Nona nodded. “I heard all about those muffins you guys are turning out. Al brought me a couple. We need to pick up some more one morning.”
Dick leaned forward, bracing his arms on the table. “All right, I’m assuming the polite chitchat part of things is taken care of now. What do you want to do about these shitheads from Fairstein and their harpies?”
Lizzy’s eyes widened. It hadn’t occurred to her until now that Dick knew all about the Lovely Ladies, but of course he did. She only hoped Nona hadn’t told any other people. And that Dick could keep the news to himself.
Nona grimaced. “You know, it wouldn’t hurt you to get some experience in polite chitchat. And keep in mind—one of those harpies is Lizzy’s cousin.”
“Cousin or not, she sold her down the river during that show. I watched it this afternoon. You got screwed, toots.” He gave Lizzy a smile that seemed to involve a lot of gritted teeth. His eyes reminded her a little of a hungry hawk.
She nodded slowly. “I did. Not much I can do about it now, though.”
Dick shrugged. “There are some things you can do if you want to. All depends on how you feel, I guess. And whether they come after you again. I’d say if they do, all bets are off.”
Lizzy felt as if ice water had dripped down her spine. “Come after me? How would they do that? Why would they do that?”
Dick shrugged again. “Ratings. These damn shows love it when they can bring a bunch of people back together who have reasons to hate each other. Hostility’s a lot easier to sell than people getting along.”
“But why would they want me? I mean, there must be all kinds of things on that show that annoy Teresa. They don’t need me around to set her off.” Teresa’s temper was legendary within the Apodaca clan, as Lizzy had good reason to know.
Dick’s smile wasn’t pretty. “They’d want to interview you. And have you meet with your cousin on camera. Maybe with some of the people who were there that night. They’d be hoping for fireworks, like your cousin having a meltdown while they filmed it. That kind of thing gets them into the tabloids, and it gets people to watch.”
“Shit,” Lizzy whispered. It had never occurred to her that Lovely Ladies of LA would want anything to do with her again. She’d thought her main concern was staying out of range of Teresa, given that Teresa still had reasons to want her head on a platter. “Tabloids?”
“They buy pictures of people from these shows.” Nona took a swallow of her beer, grimacing. “We had problems with that before—people taking pictures around town and then selling them to those magazines.”
Dick nodded. “If they don’t know you’re here, they won’t bother you. Seems like keeping a low profile is your best bet.”
“That’s what I was planning to do,” Lizzy said stiffly. “I’ve got no reason to tell people I’m here.”
“And we can help you there too,” Nona cut in. “We can steer people from the show away from the dining room.”
Lizzy frowned. “Steer them away? How?”
“Oh, you know, tell them it’s overrated. Send them over to some of the other restaurants instead.” Dick grinned in Clark’s direction.
Judging from Clark’s expression, he wasn’t exactly delighted with that idea. “I guess that would work.”
“We’re not going to bad-mouth Praeger House,” Nona said flatly. “But we can send members of the crew to another restaurant for breakfast. We’ll tell them it’s the most popular place in town and the lines will be out the door.”
Clark shrugged. “I don’t figure we’re likely to get much of their business anyway. The big shots will stay up at the resort and the rest of the crew gets a per diem that’s too low for Praeger House. Or anyway that’s what happened when they were here before. They’ll probably stay at one of the motels out on the highway and eat at one of the fast food places.”
Someone pulled out a chair opposite Nona. Lizzy glanced up to see the spectacular blonde waitress, Ronnie, dropping into a seat. “Evening all.” She broke out one of her dazzling smiles.
“Hey, Ronnie.” Nona smiled in Lizzy’s direction. “I thought maybe Ronnie could help out. Seeing as how she’s the only one here who’s actually been through the reality show mill herself.”
Dick looked like he was considering a wisecrack but decided against it. Probably wise, judging from Nona’s expression.
Lizzy turned to Ronnie. “What was your reality show like?”
Ronnie turned her dazzle in Lizzy’s direction. “I was on two of them, actually. I mean I started out on Finding Miss Right, only I wasn’t the one the guy chose. But that turned out okay because he was sort of a jerk after all. He had a girlfriend at home. But I didn’t feel that sorry for Morena, the girl who got the proposal. Because she was really a snot and she didn’t actually like him that much.”
Lizzy blinked. Conversations with Ronnie seemed to be sort of confusing sometimes. “And the other one?”
Ronnie frowned slightly, furrowing her satiny forehead. “That was the follow-up, Finding Mr. Right. I was the star on that one, and we ended up here in Salt Box for the finale. Only I really didn’t like the choices I had at the end. So I didn’t marry any of the guys. Well, I mean, one of them was already taken so I couldn’t have married him anyway, and he turned out to be the best of the bunch. He still lives here in town with his fiancée. She worked for the show too once upon a time. Now she works for Dick.” Ronnie gave Dick a little dazzle. Dick appeared not to notice.
Lizzy glanced at Clark, hoping for a translation. “Just roll with it,” he muttered.
“So you didn’t get married,” Lizzy prompted.
“No, I started working here for Ted.” More dazzle. “It’s been a great job, and I got to stay in Salt Box. I didn’t marry anybody. Yet.”
“Those shows, Finding Miss Right and Finding Mr. Right—they’re produced by the same production company that does Lovely Ladies of LA.” Nona turned to Dick. “Right?”
He nodded. “Right.”
“So Ronnie might know some of the people.”
Dick nodded again. “She might. Fairstein’s not that big. They use the same crew from one show to another.”
“If Ronnie found somebody she knew, maybe she could get us some information about where they’re going to be shooting and when.” Nona raised an eyebrow. “Maybe she could tell us if anybody found out about Lizzy being here—keep her ear to the ground and all.”
Ronnie shrugged. “I could do that. The makeup and hair people always know everything. And they’re the only ones I was friendly with.”
“So we’d hear about it if someone told them Lizzy was here.” Nona turned back to her again. “Not that I think that’s going to be a problem, because I don’t. But it might be good to have some advance warning.”
It would definitely be good to have some advance warning if Teresa was headed her way. Lizzy nodded. “I agree.”
Ronnie turned toward Lizzy again, pushing her long golden hair behind her ears. “I saw that show they did with you. It was pretty awful. Nona says you’re okay. And you’re working for Clark. So yeah, I’ll help you if I can. I mean, I was going to look up some of those people anyway. The people who did my hair were the best.” For a moment she looked almost nostalgic. Apparently the whole reality show gig hadn’t been such a bad thing in her case.
“Maybe we’re all worrying too much about this,” Lizzy murmured. “Maybe it won’t be so bad. Even if somebody recognizes me, they might just ignore me.”
Ronnie’s immaculate forehead furrowed slightly. “Oh honey, if they see you, they’ll act like those whatchamacallit fish. The ones that eat cows if they fall in the water?”
“Piranhas?” Dick supplied helpfully.
Ronnie nodded. “Absolutely. People on that show would strip you to the bone without even thinking twice. That’s what they do.”
Lizzy’s heart promptly dropped to her shoes.
Nona took one look at her stricken face. “Let’s get you something to eat.”
“Good idea.” Ronnie pushed herself to her feet. “I’ll go see what Ted’s got in the kitchen. Nachos fix any problem.”
Lizzy felt chilled all the way to her bones. The bones that the Fairstein Productions personnel would like to strip. She took a deep breath. Keep it together.
Nona gave her a smile that reminded Lizzy of Aunt Josefina. “Don’t worry about it, hon. We’ll make sure they don’t find you. It’s going to be okay.”
“Sure. It’s going to be fine.” Lizzy’s voice sounded slightly hollow even to herself.
Across from her, Dick’s eyes looked preternaturally bright. He had that predator-bird look again. Suddenly she was glad he was on their side.
Supposedly.
*****
Clark walked beside Lizzy on the way back to Praeger House. She had her hands jammed in her pockets again, like she was trying not to touch him, even by accident. He figured he’d follow her lead. But he hadn’t realized how hard it would be not to put his arm around her, if only to keep her warm in the crisp, mountain night air.
He missed her. But he didn’t know what to do about that. It was like a barrier had gone up between them, largely because of him and his first reaction to the Lovely Ladies story. If he had it to do over again, he’d handle it better. Anyway, he hoped he would.
As they reached the front steps of Praeger House, he put his hand on her elbow to guide her. She glanced at him, her face outlined by the porch lights. She looked thinner, her eyes more deep-set. Tired.
He figured he didn’t look much better. Cluster fuck. The whole thing is a cluster fuck.
She turned toward him as they reached the door, her shoulders tight. “Look, I wasn’t responsible for what happened at Teresa’s house, but I was responsible for not telling you about it. About all of it. I’m sorry about that. I should have trusted you—I should have told you before you found out on your own.” She paused, pressing her lips together tight, as if she were trying to keep control.
If it was possible to feel crappier than he had before, he did. “Lizzy…”
She shook her head, holding up her hand. “I’m not finished.” She took another breath. “I just wanted to say that if it all comes apart, I won’t let Praeger House take the hit. I won’t take you down with me.”
His chest tightened all of a sudden. He wasn’t exactly sure what she meant, but he figured it was nothing good. “What does that mean?”
She shrugged. “If people find out, I’ll leave. You can say you didn’t know because you didn’t. If I’m not in the kitchen, there shouldn’t be a problem.”
He shook his head, slowly. “No.”
Her smile was slightly exhausted. “It’ll work. I’ve got this. Don’t worry about it.” She stepped up to the doorstep, then turned back, her eyes shadowed in the dim light. She reached up quickly and kissed his cheek, a faint whisper of her lips. Then she turned back again. “Good night, Clark.”
He watched her move down the hall. Idiot, idiot, why did you let her walk away? He didn’t know exactly. But he figured it was up to him to turn this thing around. Too bad he didn’t have a clue how to do that.