“I’ve got David signed up to help with the moving back and forth,” Vonnie said.
“Yes, and my Vernon too,” Evie added.
“Great! Then, let’s plan to meet back here about nine,” I said. “I’ll have the work schedules made out by then, so everyone will
know their jobs.”
“This is so exciting, girls!” Vonnie said. “The way we’re organized, what could go wrong?”
What could go wrong, indeed,
I wondered as I drove toward Breckenridge later that evening, chagrined that I had to see Clark with my husband nowhere to be found. Well, at least Beverly would
be there to act as my guardian (whether she knew it or not).
Soon, I walked into the marbled lobby of the Mountain Bell Tower Resort and turned down the hall leading to Clark’s office. I knew Michelle, Adam, and Tim worked in some of these back offices, but they’d probably all left for home by now. I knocked then poked my nose inside Clark’s office to see him busy working at his
desk. “Is Bev here yet?”
He stood. “Lisa Leann, Bev will be here momentarily.” He walked around the desk and took my hand. “She just called and said she’s running a little late. But while we wait, let me show you the setup for your catering team.”
I shrugged. “Okay.” I followed him down the hall. He smiled at me then. “Oh, and I appreciate you sending me the Harris-Vesey wedding. I met with your deputy friend the other night and I think she’s going to sign on the dotted line any minute.”
I stopped dead in my tracks. “David and Donna are getting married? Here?”
Clark studied me. “Didn’t you know? I know she’s trying to keep it all hush-hush, especially after pretending Hollywood Harris’s name was Smith, but I saw through their little ruse. I know they’re just trying to protect their privacy from the media crush the news of their wedding will surely spawn.”
I nodded, shell-shocked. How could I have missed seeing Donna and David’s romance develop? And why hadn’t she yet come to me to help plan her wedding?
When we bypassed the conference room where the shower was to be held, I stopped. “Clark, just where are you taking me?”
“To the room where you’re going to set up your catering operation,” Clark said, as if he were puzzled by my hesitation. He stopped in front of a nearby door and inserted his master key. “This way,” he said as I entered ahead of him.
The door shut behind us, and I reached for the wall to see if I could find the light switch. But before I was able to flip it on, Clark pulled me into his strong embrace. I tried to push away. “Clark, what do you think you’re doing?”
“I told you, Lisa Leann, you belong to me,” he said, kissing me gently on the forehead.
“Stop it, Clark.”
He whispered in my ear, “I know you love me, Lisa Leann. I know you want me. Why else would you have come tonight, with Henry out of town?”
“No! I . . . I came to meet Bev.”
“Really? I don’t believe she’ll be here till tomorrow afternoon. That means we’ve got the whole night to ourselves.” Clark continued to back me through the room until I bumped into the edge of the bed with my legs.
“Clark, stop it. No!” I shrieked as he lowered me onto the plush mattress. He began to tug at my clothes, his kisses heavy on my mouth. I squirmed my face away from his. “Stop! Help!” I cried, hoping I was loud enough to be heard by someone passing by.
The room door rattled open as a backlit figure stepped into the darkness.
“Who’s there?” Clark asked, kneeling on the bed above me. He switched on the nightstand lamp.
I gasped out loud when I saw a face materialize in the lamplight. There stood Donna Vesey dressed in her deputy’s uniform with one hand resting on her holster.
“I got a tip from one of the staff that something was about to go down in here. I was just outside the door when I heard a cry for help. Is everything all right?”
I jumped off the bed and ran to her, tugging my red sweater back into place. “No! Donna, thank God you’re here.”
Clark ran a hand through his disheveled hair. “What is this? How did you get in here?”
Donna pulled a passkey out of her pocket with her free hand. “I’ve got connections,” she said. She held up a photograph of a document and continued, “And, I’ve got evidence. In fact, Clark, I was just on my way to hand-deliver it to you.”
Clark climbed off of the bed and took a step toward her as he tucked in his shirt. “What do you mean?”
Donna opened the file folder, which contained enlarged photographs of Clark kissing a young redhead.
“What is this?” Clark demanded.
Donna handed him the file. “Some photos we snapped yesterday, plus some sworn statements that you’ve been sexually harassing some of the staff. This file is for you, Clark. I have another copy of it down at the station.”
Clark thumbed through the pictures and photocopies and looked back at Donna. His voice rose. “What are you planning to do with this?”
Donna frowned. “Actually, it’s up to Lisa Leann to decide.”
Clark’s eyes bore into mine. “What’s your part in this?”
“I’m just as surprised as you are, Clark. I’m surprised by this ‘evidence’ as well as your behavior tonight. But I like where Donna is going.”
Clark wore his little-boy pout that I’d once found so adorable. “But I was only doing what you know you wanted.”
I took a couple of cautious steps toward him. “No, Clark. You were doing what you wanted. I’ve long come to realize that getting involved with you was the worst mistake of my life. Tonight proved it.”
Clark looked shocked. “But we were in love.”
“No, we were in lust. What we did was wrong in the eyes of God.”
Donna handed me the glossy photo of Clark in a major lip-lock with a young redhead. “Don’t feel too sorry for Clark; from the looks of things, you were only one of many.”
I nodded as I stared down at the picture. “I can see that.” I looked back up at Clark and narrowed my eyes. “I can’t believe I betrayed my husband for you.”
Donna put her hand on my shoulder. “Lisa Leann, what do you want to do?”
I folded my arms and gave Clark the once-over. “It looks to me that there are other victims you need to talk to besides me. But if it were up to me, well, I’d expose Clark for what he is.”
“You’re kidding, right?” Clark said. “Because if you tell on me, I’ll certainly tell Henry about us.”
I felt a strange sense of calm. “I’ve already made up my mind to tell Henry. When you showed up at my church, I realized that telling the truth was the only way I could finally be rid of you. I don’t know how Henry will take it, but I’m willing to bet my marriage just to prove to you we’re over.”
Donna looked at Clark. “You heard the lady. I’ll be expanding my investigation to see if there are more sexual harassment complaints from your employees.”
“That’s outrageous.”
“Outrageous is a word I’d use to describe your behavior,” Donna
said.
Clark blinked, and Donna grabbed my arm and tugged me toward the door. “Time to go home, Lisa Leann. I think we’ve concluded
our business with Clark.”
With my heart still pounding, I followed her into the hallway without looking back. I leaned against my friend. “Oh Donna, I had no idea Clark was capable of something like this.”
“I know.”
We walked down the corridor and into the parking lot, where
the evening’s chill cooled the hot flush that had engulfed me.
“Come sit in my Bronco for a minute, we need to talk.”
I climbed inside as Donna slid into the driver’s seat. She turned to face me. I folded my arms across my stomach. “Since when did you get engaged to David Harris?”
“Oh.” Donna laughed. “We’re not engaged, we were just undercover.”
My eyebrows leaped. “You were what? Girlfriend, you’ve got a lot of explaining to do.”
Saturday Evening, March 25
My husband of approximately two months stood at the door of our bedroom. He leaned against the doorframe, dressed in an impressive dark blue suit, and gave a slow whistle. He crossed one ankle over the other. “Look at you, Evie-girl.” He whistled again.
“I could say the same,” I said, “if I knew how to whistle.” I turned away from his boyish good looks and back to my reflection in the mirror. “Are you sure I don’t look too . . . I don’t know . . . fancy or manly?”
Vernon pushed himself from the door and came up behind me, then placed his hands on my shoulders. “Lisa Leann’s idea?”
I nodded. Lisa Leann had insisted we wear a woman’s tux with crisp pink tux blouses, which would, of course, blend beautifully with our pink chef’s aprons. Though I’d never thought I’d live to see the day that I would wear a tux of all things, I had to admit I looked pretty sharp. I’d curled and styled my hair to perfection, applied just the right amount of makeup for a woman my age (Lisa Leann would, no doubt, do flips over it), and, in my new duds, held my shoulders back and kept my chin up.
“You look hot,” Vernon said. “And I don’t mean in terms of temperature.” I caught his face in the mirror. He winked. I blushed. Even after two months of intimacy, the man still made me feel a little unnerved. Vonnie insisted this was a good thing.
To break the tension, I glanced down at my feet and pointed a toe. “What about the shoes? How do you feel about these puppies?”
Vernon’s gaze went south, and he chuckled as he took in the sight of the other item Lisa Leann had insisted upon: black leather classic Walker Hush Puppies. “Well, I suppose they’re practical. After all, you’ll be on your feet most of the evening.”
I frowned. “How’d I get myself into this?” It was a question that didn’t require an answer. “Let’s go. If I’m more than a minute late, Miss Texas will have a fit.”
We arrived in Breckenridge and at the resort only a short while later. We’d spent all afternoon the day before doing the setup— Vonnie’s ficus trees adding the perfect touch—but still I wasn’t sure which door we should use. “Let’s just go through the lobby,” Vernon suggested. It sounded good to me.
Of course, Lisa Leann was already in the large ballroom—dimly lit by lowered-light chandeliers and the twinkling lights on the ficus money trees, and elegantly laid out with small round tables, each adorned with floral arrangements and a single candle—flitting about. I noted her arms were laden with the clear acrylic cocktail napkin holders we’d ordered. “Finally,” she said when she saw us, then jerked her head to a doorway behind her. “Why didn’t you come in from the back?” She had already donned her pink chef’s apron, our name and logo in its center. Other than that—and her Hush Puppies—she looked as though she could have been attending the event rather than catering it. Her hair was beautifully coiffed, and she was wearing just a tad too much makeup for my taste. Still, I had to admit, she looked fetching.
I shrugged. “Wasn’t sure which way to come, to be honest with you.”
Lisa Leann sighed dramatically. “Well, go get your apron. I’m almost done setting these things out, and then I’ll fill them with the personalized napkins.” She took her eyes off me for a millisecond in her babbling and over to Vernon. “My, my, Sheriff Vesey. Don’t you look debonair?”
Vernon pressed the palms of his hands to his chest and ran them down his suit’s lapels. “Thank ya kindly, ma’am,” he said in his best Texan drawl.
Lisa Leann giggled. I turned to Vernon, took his hand in mine, and squeezed it lightly. “I’ll be back. Don’t you dare let that redhead talk you into working. You are a guest here this evening and don’t you forget it, Vernon Vesey.”
Vernon gave me a light peck on the cheek. “Yes’m.”
I felt my brow go up. “Since when don’t you kiss me on the lips?” I whispered.
He leaned in and whispered back, “Since you started wearing pink stuff on them.”
“Gloss,” I countered. “It’s called gloss.”
The door to the kitchen opened wide, slicing harsh light into the romantically set ballroom. We looked toward it. Velvet and Doreen were pushing their way through, each carrying large, obviously heavy, boxes. Vernon did what any man would do, I suppose. He stepped away from me and over to them. “Here, let me help you with that, ladies,” he said.
I shot a look over to Lisa Leann, who did the same to me. She shook her head lightly and mouthed “No, no,” as if to say, “Don’t go there, Evie. Stay calm.”
I went to the kitchen, where my job, according to Lisa Leann’s what-to-do-list, was to begin the final steps of preparation for the strawberry punch. I only hoped that—with the open bar—the punch would be partaken of at all. As I stepped into the kitchen I heard Vernon say, “Good to see you, Doreen.” I looked over my shoulder at them. He took the box from her arms with a grunt and added, “Goodness, woman. How’d you manage to pick this up?”
“You’d be surprised what bar-backs can lift,” she answered with a throaty chortle.
About that time I felt a hand on my other shoulder. I turned with a start. Donna stood before me. “Don’t let it get to you,” she said.
I smiled a weak smile at her.
At least,
I thought,
she’s being nice to me.
“Have you had a chance to talk to your mother much?”
She shrugged. “A little. I’m still a bit wary around Velvet, but . . . time will tell.” Her blue eyes softened as she looked past me. I turned again, witnessed what she was seeing: Vernon and Doreen pulling bottles from the box and setting them on the bar while Velvet removed various sizes of glasses from the opposite side.
This was Donna’s blood family, or a part of it, at least. I could not begin to imagine what she was feeling at this moment. “I never thought I’d live to see the day when my mother and father were in the same room, much less in the same section of it,” she continued. I looked at her again, and she brought her eyes to mine. “Does it bother you? At all?” she asked me.
I had to think about that for a minute. Did it? After my time with Doreen, my feelings had truly changed toward her. For that I was thankful to God. But in the secret places of my heart, I wasn’t so sure I was ready to see her and Vernon shoulder to shoulder. For any reason.