Impossibly Tongue-Tied (28 page)

And the remarriage—wedding, affirmation of their vows, or whatever the hell they were calling it now—was less than a week off.

She desperately needed to talk to Sam.

 

“I just don't trust him anymore.”

There. She'd said it.

Casey looked up at Nina, who was standing in a three-way mirror, trying to the come up with an excuse to why this, the sixteenth and the last of the many frothy champagne-tinted silk gowns Albertha had left for her to try on, just wasn't right to wear to what she now euphemistically called “the circus.”

It wasn't that the cut was wrong, or the material. For sure, that price tag would give anyone palpitations. But the real rea
son was, simply, that she didn't trust Nathan any further than she could throw him.

Casey sighed. “So then why are you going through with it?”

“That's just it! I don't know! I guess because…because I was hoping I could forgive him, and we could pick up where we left off. And besides, Jake seems happy that we're back together.”

“Does he, really?” Casey looked at her closely. “You know, two days ago I overheard him say to Ben that he wished he were a clown so that he could make you smile again.” She straightened a strap on Nina's dress. “If you think that you're doing this for him, you're wrong. Nina, he knows something isn't right. He just wants you both to be happy.”

Nina brushed a tear away from her eye. “I would be happy—well, happier, if I knew…”

“It's Sam, isn't it?”

Nina nodded. Self-consciously she fiddled with a tangled fold in the dress. “I'd hoped that Sam would have called by now, but—well, he hasn't. I guess I need to hear from him that—that he's really out of the picture.”

“Yeah, I guess that would be nice.” Casey plumped Nina's petticoat, then looked it over for the full effect. “But don't you think you know what he's feeling by now? I mean, actions speak louder than words, right?”

“Yeah, right. I guess if anyone knows that, it's me.” Still unsure of the effect, Nina frowned. With a shrug, she hopped down from her perch so that Casey could help her unbutton the dress.

“Of course, one thing has nothing to do with the other anyway. If Sam comes to his senses, good, you'll deal with that
when it happens. The first thing you have to address, though, is whether you can trust Nathan ever again.” Casey's voice wavered a bit. “You know, Nina, everyone slips up. Even Jarred did, once.”

Seeing the shock on Nina's face, she nodded sadly. “It's true. You see, no one's marriage is perfect—no matter what the magazines would have you think.” Casey wiped away a tear. “When I found out, I weighed what we had together, and what he was willing to do to keep me, and came to the decision that I loved him too much to throw it all away on—on one slip of judgment.” She patted Nina's shoulder to indicate she was done, and that Nina could now slip out of the dress.

“I'm sorry, Casey. I never knew—”

“No one does. I guess we were lucky in that regard.” She sighed deeply. “And I've never regretted sticking it out.”

“Then he's—he's held to his promise?”

Casey paused, then nodded. “Yeah. Well, anyway, as far as I know. Let's put it this way: I've yet to stop giving him the benefit of the doubt.” She smiled again. “Don't ask, don't tell, right? Besides, I love him too much.”

But I would need to know that he was worthy of my love
, thought Nina as she slipped on her jeans. And that was another problem: She wasn't in love with Nathan.

She loved Sam.

 

Mexico. That's where he was headed.

Screw L.A., was Sam's way of thinking. At least, screw it for the next four days, while the town—for that matter, the whole world—went ape shit over the nuptials of those media darlings, Nat 'n' Nina.

His Nina.

He buried his head in his hands.

His aching head. Aching because of the large quantities of spirits he'd been guzzling.

No wonder his breath stank. Almost as much as his life did right now.

Not only that, but Katerina was on the war path about the way Hugo had quote-unquote “mutilated our movie,” as she so grandly put it.

He'd seen what Hugo had done. From Sam's perspective, Hugo had saved her too-often-lipo'd ass, and she should kiss his hairy one for doing so, too.

Not that she ever would. Instead, she'd started screaming bloody murder to everyone. Specifically to Archie Hardaway, who had then decided to yank any additional financing of the project and to sever any further connections with Hugo, despite the silent treatment he was getting from Lucinda for deserting her genius husband.

Yep, Hugo was a genius. His final cut was proof of that, despite what that idiot Kat thought.

Well, Sam knew how to shut her up. He invited her over to his place to make nice-nice and talk things out. Then he made her a proposition he just knew she couldn't refuse:

Money.

Or, in this town, the next best thing: a bigger cut of the gross.

She bought it, hook, line, and sinker.

Along with his beach house, because she'd always wanted a Malibu love shack. Would five mill cover it?

Hell yeah. He'd use most of it to buy the distribution rights to Hugo's film—not that he'd tell
her
that.

Besides, if he couldn't live there with Nina, he didn't want to live there
at all
. Now every time he watched the sun set from his living room window, all he could think about was the two of them making love on that very spot, and man did that hurt!

He told her he'd have his attorney, Jasper Carlton, send over the paperwork, and he tossed her the keys.

Then he headed out.

To Tijuana.
Alone
.

No clients, no cell phones, and certainly no women. Nothing except a fifth of Jack. And Towser, of course.

The estate Albertha booked for the circus sat up on the Malibu ridge, affording them a perfect view of the ocean.

It also afforded the helicopters buzzing overhead excellent visibility of the event. In fact, there were so many helicopters hovering noisily over the humongous tent that had been set on the cliff-hugging lawn that you'd have thought a mass murderer had been spotted in the area.

Jake and Ben and Plum (who was there with parents and nanny in tow because her father's studio gig deemed him invitation-worthy, according to Riley) were so excited about the whirlybirds that Nina was afraid they might distract Jake from his duties as best man, which was a shame because, quite literally, from what she could tell by the crowd that had been invited—any industry bigwig or star Riley deemed worthy enough to invite, even if they didn't know either Nat or Nina personally—he really
was
the best man there.

Unless Sam had somehow crashed the event. She asked Casey, her one and only bridesmaid, to go out and see if she
could spot him. No Sam anywhere, Casey reported back, but she did find Hugo and had asked if he knew if Sam were coming. The answer she got back was, “Hell, no! He's probably at the bottom of some bottle!”

Upon hearing that, mascaraed tears ran down Nina's cheeks. Albertha commanded the makeup artist to fix the damage before any tears fell on the dress Nina had chosen: a stunning, slim, strapless sheath embroidered with a spray of Swarovski crystals.

She had never looked so beautiful. She had never been so sad.

That was Baxter's declaration, anyway. “Those don't look like tears of happiness,” he admonished her after he'd gotten a desperate hug. “But I've got just the thing to cheer you up: pre-nup gifts! One for you, and one for Jake!”

“How sweet, Baxter! Really, you shouldn't have,” she cried. The box he handed her was tiny and sky blue. “Tiffany's! Wow! I'm awestruck.”

“Don't be.” He laughed. “The box is recycled. In fact, so is the gift inside.”

It was the key to a car.

“It's the only baby blue Beetle here. Something borrowed, right?” He murmured that just loud enough for her to hear. “Nondescript. With tinted windows. I made the valet park it right out front. It's unlocked, in case you need to, you know, make a quick getaway.”

She laughed weakly. “Thanks for the thought, but—but I have to go through with this. Nathan is really trying hard and…well, this is for Jake's sake.”

“Of course, darling. Still, it's the thought that counts,
right?” He smiled devilishly. “Speaking of the little man, here he is now! This is for you, dude.”

He handed Jake the other box. In no time flat the little boy had torn it open and was playing with the tiny digital camera he'd found inside.

Nina couldn't help but laugh. “Is this your way of saying you need an assistant? Very sneaky, Baxter.”

“Moi,
sneaky? Hardly, dearest! All children need to learn how to cherish memories, and the sooner, the better. But first off, they need to know how to
make
them.”

He bent down to show Jake how to look through the viewfinder and push the button. “Now, kid, go out there and take some great pictures, so that Mommy can remember this day forever.”

The day she made the biggest mistake of her life.

“Say cheese, Mommy!” Nina put her arms around Baxter and Casey, and pretended to smile.

 

In no time at all, Jake got the hang of it. When he got through taking pictures of Ben and Plum making funny faces, and after clicking off a few shots of the helicopters, he secretly shot the wedding guests doing goofy things.

Like scratching themselves, or picking their noses.

Or crying like babies, just because they were lucky enough to be at Hollywood's wedding of the year.

Or hissing bad words to each other through clenched teeth.

Or hiding in one of the many bedrooms throughout the big wedding house, so that they could make out in private.

Like Daddy.
With Ylva
.

Oh well, at least he wasn't kissing that mean old Balloon Lips.

Jake had a hard time finding his way back to his mommy's room. Still, he got there just in time to give her a nice big hug.

Poor Mommy is still crying
, Jake thought sadly.
Hey, maybe if she sees how good I take pictures, she'll cheer up!

 

“We need to talk.” Though Nina's eyes were angry, her voice was ice-cold.

Nathan shivered. He didn't like the sound of
that
.

“Hey, I'm not even supposed to be in here, remember?” He laughed feebly. “Jeez, Albertha warned me it was bad luck to see the bride before the wedding.”

“Yeah, well, I guess she also forgot to tell you that it's a
real
no-no to feel up the wedding guests, too.”

Nina tossed him Jake's camera. Right there on the camera's LCD viewing screen, in full-color high resolution, Nathan saw himself sucking face with Plum's au pair. One of his hands was buried in her blouse, while the other was climbing up her very short skirt.

“I can explain! Ylva's feeling a little down because Becca—”

“No you can't explain anything, Nathan!
Not this time
.” Nina yanked the camera out of his hand, then tore off her veil and threw it on the floor.

“Look, let's just face facts: You need to be single at this stage of your life. Hey, I totally understand! You're going through a lot of wonderful changes, and you're being presented with a lot of great opportunities, and that's the way it should be. Heck, you're only twenty-four, right? But I no longer fit into your life. You know what, Nathan? That's okay, too. Because
you no longer fit into mine. So let's just call it a day.” She grabbed her tiny white purse and headed for the door.

“Nina, no. Don't do this.” He blocked the door before she reached it. “Listen, if you walk out now, I'll be the laughingstock of this town—again! I can't let that happen! My—my career—that will be the end of my career! Is that what you want? Is it?” He put his hands on her shoulders, as if to hold her down.

She wasn't going to let him do that.
Not again
.