by Myrna Parks
Carter squinted closely, leaned forward, and then burst out laughing. “You’re wearing enough paint on your face to audition for the circus!”
“I donned my clearance badge and then waited for the hammering in my heart to slow down to a steady pounding. I simply moved along with the crowd, looking shocked and anxious like everyone else. The anxiety,” she said, giggling, “I assure you, required no acting.”
When her story was finished, Carter felt as if he should lecture her but found it impossible to scowl when all he wanted to do was laugh. From the moment Beth walked into his life, he’d never felt more alive. She never bored him. She might exasperate, irritate, and bewilder him, yes, but she never bored him.
“Beth,” he said, deciding to give it a shot. “You must realize that in times like these, and in a city this size, any breach of security could have serious repercussions.”
“But it was a perfectly innocent escapade,” she insisted, puzzled. “I bought the pizza with my own money. I didn’t lie. I told them I had pizza for Mr. Adams, which was true. Why delivering pizza at noon should cause such an alarm is more than I can imagine.” Beth shook her head in bewilderment. “Perhaps Mr. Adams is a vegetarian. Or maybe he’s lactose intolerant, or never eats cheese on Thursday. Who knows?”
“Perhaps he doesn’t like pizza.”
“Everybody likes pizza.”
Carter started to laugh and then remembered he should be scolding her. “Now, Beth—”
“Please don’t fuss. I realize I acted foolishly, but I just had to try. This is my opportunity to really make it on my own. When I took the job working with Amy and Bill, I never intended to stay at a small-town newspaper. I’ve spoken to Amy every day, and the most exciting newsflash in Laurel, Georgia, since I’ve been away consists of ‘Local Forest Ranger Discovers Beaver Dam to be the Source of Unexplained Flooding near Piney Ridge’ and ‘Hoping to Draw Summer Tourists, Two New Hiking Trails Are Now Open for Those Daring Enough to Explore Scenic Mountains Above Laurel.’ This was the best idea I could think of. What am I going to do? Tomorrow is Friday—”
“Why didn’t you do as I suggested earlier this week and just send him the letter along with a note? Or why couldn’t you have taken the letter up there yourself and asked to see the author?”
Beth stared at him openmouthed. “I could never just walk up there and say, ‘I know somebody who is related to someone who, once upon a time, was acquainted with Mr. Adams, so will you please let me in to see the kind old gentleman?’ Adrian Adams is world renowned.”
“You could have tried.”
“Well, I didn’t. Now it’s too late.” Beth groaned and turned away. With shoulders slumped, she trudged toward the bathroom. She left the door open. Carter could hear the water running and cabinets banging. He decided she must be scrubbing away the layers of cosmetics from her face.
Beth lifted her voice so he could hear her. “Just in case they post Nancy or her companion near the entranceway tomorrow, I dare not show myself during daylight hours at the center.”
Carter got to his feet and walked to the patio door, rubbing his chin. Beth returned to the bedroom, brushing her hair with smooth, even strokes until the strands fell like silken honey over her shoulders and down her back. She looked so clean, so fresh, so adorable that Carter forgot what he was going to say. Giving himself a mental shake, Carter said, “I was saving this as a surprise. You could have spared yourself a great deal of anxiety if you had simply told me about your plan.”
The hairbrush halted in mid-stroke. Her eyes searched his face. A question mirrored in her gaze.
“What if I told you that I talked to Henrietta Huxley yesterday and managed to finagle a VIP seat for you at the banquet tomorrow night? You will be,” he said, pausing for effect and then proudly announcing, “seated at the speaker’s table!”
For several long seconds Beth just stared at him, her gaze vacant and blank. When reality found its way from her ears to her brain, her eyes began to dance, and a slow, heart-stopping smile lit up her face like a single ray of sunshine on the far side of the moon.
He heard a breath catch in her throat as she ran across the room. Throwing her arms around his neck with a soft, joyful laugh, she pressed her face against his neck.
Carter closed his eyes and buried his face in her glorious hair. He longed to tell her just how he felt but knew in his heart he must wait — just one more day.
Chapter Thirteen
Friday morning, Beth tripped down the stairs with a smile on her face, a song in her heart, and feet that barely touched the floor. When she entered the breakfast room, she found only her father and sister seated at the table. Beth kissed her dad on the cheek. “Good morning! Where’s Mother?” she asked, pulling out a chair.
John Ashton refolded his newspaper. Laying it aside, he responded, “It’s time for your mother’s car to be serviced. Peter drove her to work this morning. You know your mother. The wheels could fall off before she noticed her tire was flat.”
“Where’s hubby?” Alexis asked, sipping from a china cup.
Beth could not seem to wipe the silly grin from her face. Tonight she would meet Adrian Adams. And when she recalled the look in Carter’s eyes before he left her on the balcony — as if he wanted to kiss her but, instead, stroked her cheek with his finger and said he would see her in the evening — she gave herself a mental shake before answering, “Carter drove downtown early this morning. He said he had some things to finish up.”
“You’re not going to the conference today?” Alexis asked in a tone of surprise.
Beth shook her head and reached for a piece of toast. “I’m taking the day off.”
With a smile, Alexis said, “Me, too!”
Her father asked, “So, little girl, what are your plans? If you’re leaving in the morning, how do you intend to spend your last day in Sacramento?”
“I want to go shopping. I’d love a new dress to wear to the banquet tonight.”
“Let’s go together,” Alexis said.
Her father folded his napkin, scooted back his chair, and said, “Meet me downtown for lunch, you two. It’s been a long time since I’ve had the privilege of taking my girls out, just the three of us.”
A surge of affection caused Beth to realize how much she missed her family. She couldn’t imagine Alexis in a consignment shop, which was the only store Beth could currently afford.
Alexis took a sip of coffee. “It’ll be fun to spend the day together. Remember the first time you drove us downtown once you acquired your driver’s license? We surprised Father by taking him out to lunch?”
Beth grimaced. “I remember. I ran over the curb and scraped the wheel against the sidewalk before I even got out into the street.”
Alexis laughed.
“You might not want to come along with me when I tell you where I plan to go shopping. I intend to check out a resale shop my friend Maggie told me about,” Beth said.
Her sister’s smile faded from her lovely face. “Used clothing! You can’t be serious. Beth! You’re an Ashton!”
“I want a nice dress, but an original label doesn’t fit into my current budget.” Beth mourned the loss of the hundred-dollar bill she’d wasted on the pizza delivery girl.
“Then, please! Allow me to buy you a new dress.”
Beth shook her head. “I can’t expect to live on handouts if I’m going to make it on my own.”
“What about your inheritance? I know you received money from grandmother’s estate, as we all did. Surely, you haven’t gone through all of that.”
“No,” Beth replied, not wanting to think about how many times she’d already dipped into her savings — for new tires, the expense of the trip, and other things. ”I have money in the bank. However, I must learn to live on a budget. One dress where you shop would cost more than next month’s rent.”
“I can’t enter a shop of that sort. People would recognize me. They know my face, my voice. I have a reputation to maintain.”
“There might be way…” Beth speared a bite of honeydew melon with her fork. Popping the fruit into her mouth, she chewed slowly as she nursed the birth of a new plan.
Alexis arched one perfectly shaped eyebrow in Beth’s direction.
Beth swallowed. “You could disguise yourself.”
Alexis’s dark eyes widened. “How?”
Beth could feel those little gray cells beginning to churn and that familiar surge of adrenalin rushing through her veins. Her fork clamored to her plate. “Scrub that paint off your face, little sister! I’ll see you upstairs in your bedroom in ten minutes.”
Excited, Beth abandoned her breakfast and hurried up to her room. Inside the bathroom, she gathered an assortment of cosmetics. She then scurried to the closet and slipped one of Carter’s clean shirts from its hanger. Convinced he would not mind, she left the room, humming a cheerful tune. She walked across the landing, around the corner, and down the corridor to the west wing, holding the items close to her chest.
Beth entered Alexis’s bedroom suite, which was bold and beautifully decorated, just like its owner. She stepped through the sitting room and into her sister’s bedroom just as Alexis came out of the bathroom.
With her face scrubbed and glowing, Alexis spoke with a glimmer of curiosity in her eyes. “What’s the plan?”
Beth dumped the cosmetics onto the dressing table. Handing her sister the pale, boxy-looking shirt, she said, “Put this on with the plainest, longest skirt you can find in your closet.”
“I can’t wear this!”
“Yes, you can.”
“This is a man’s shirt.”
“I know.”
“It won’t fit.”
“That’s the point. If you look drastically different, then no one will recognize you.”
Alexis stood there, holding the garment like a poisonous viper.
“Pretend you’re doing undercover work for a news story. If someone recognizes you, just smile mysteriously and tell them you can’t divulge inside information.”
Apparently, the idea of working surreptitiously appealed to Alexis. She turned and headed for the closet. When she came out, Beth wanted to laugh. The ill-fitting shirt, which Beth felt certain was adorable on Carter, hung loosely over Alexis’s calf-length tan skirt, stopping two inches below her thighs. The baggy ensemble did wonders at disguising Alexis’s shapely figure. Ankle socks and tennis shoes were the crowning touch.
“Sit down and let me work on your face.” Beth was amazed when Alexis complied without a single argument. The sudden shift in authority gave Beth a surge of power. For the first time in years, Beth wasn’t intimidated by Alexis’s dominant personality; she felt like an older sister.
Disguising Alexis’s flawless complexion was a challenge. Using her own cosmetics, which were entirely the wrong color tone for her sibling’s darker complexion, Beth layered her sister’s face, lips, and eyebrows as she had covered her own face the day before with thick foundation. With creams, blushes, and various pencils, Beth patted, blotched, and covered Alexis’s face completely. When she finished, Beth stepped back to study her handiwork.
“Not bad,” she said, pleased with the results.
“I look awful.” Alexis made a face at her reflection in the mirror.
“That’s the idea. Now we have to work on that hair.”
Beth brushed, pulled, twisted, and then pinned Alexis’s hair into a knot high on the top of her head. When she slid the heavy black-rimmed eyeglasses over Alexis’s nose, Beth stood there, amazed at the transformation.
Alexis snickered. “I look like an advertisement for an old maid.”
“Except for that voice.” Beth winced and then suggested, “Try lifting your tone two decibels and talking through your nose.”
After three failed attempts and two bouts of hysterical giggling between the sisters, Alexis mastered the technique.
In the spirit of disguise, Beth’s sister rummaged through her closet until she found a large bag to use as a purse. When the two left the room, heading off on their shopping spree, Alexis added a quick, tight, little walk that kept Beth giggling with delight all the way down to the garage.
Half an hour later, the two entered the shop and stared openmouthed at the elegant interior.
“This looks just like one of those posh boutiques in New York City,” Alexis whispered.
Beth nodded in agreement. Together the women moved as one, from display to display, eyes wide. Midway through the store, Beth spotted the perfect dress, an emerald green, brushed-silk that was short, strapless, and just her size. When she pointed to the label and showed her sister the price tag, Alexis gaped, reached for the item, and then fingered the fabric to make certain the garment was real.
To her delight, Beth found shoes and a handbag to match her outfit. She entered one of the spacious dressing rooms and zipped herself inside the dress.
As she stood in front of the mirror with a glorious smile, she heard a light tap at the door, followed by Alexis’s faux nasal twang. Beth suppressed a giggle and opened the door.
Alexis slipped inside with three garments in her clutches. “You won’t believe what I found!”
For Beth, the sight of her sister going pop-eyed over used clothing brought a hand to her mouth and a pang to her heart. There was a side to Alexis that she had never seen.
Alexis raked an experienced eye over Beth’s ensemble. “That dress is adorable,” she mouthed softly. “The perfect color for your eyes.”
Two hours later, the siblings left the store weighted down with shopping bags. Alexis sighed. “I haven’t had so much fun in — I can’t remember ever having this much fun.”
“Me, either,” Beth earnestly agreed, wondering if her day could get any better.
When they found the car and settled inside, Alexis removed the ugly glasses and said, “Can I keep these? It feels wonderful to go unnoticed.”
Beth shot her a skeptical glance. Alexis turned the key in the ignition. “You might not believe this, but it’s not always such a good feeling to—”
Beth interrupted with a sarcastic retort. “To be so beautiful?”
Alexis turned to face Beth. “There are some things that appear taboo to speak of, like, yes, being beautiful. I can’t help how I look. Like everyone else, I enjoy being attractive, but everything has its price tag.”
“Like what? Tell me what your penalty is for being so gorgeous.” She tried not to sound spiteful, but realized her jealous tone came through loud and clear. When Beth saw the beginnings of tears glistening in her sister’s big brown eyes, she felt like a heel.
“Like going out on a date and spending the whole evening with a man who never sees the color of your eyes. Never knowing when a man says ‘I love you’ if he even knows what it means. Believing that no matter how intelligent you are, to a man you’re just another soft body. Feeling vulnerable and afraid instead of cherished. After awhile you become paranoid and begin to feel like prey instead of a person.”
Beth could see the hurt in her sister’s eyes. She felt tears prickling her own. Beth suddenly realized just how much her jealousy and insecurity had overshadowed everything in her life. She’d cheated herself and her sister out of a deep and lasting relationship. “Alexis, I’m sorry. You have always seemed so, so —”
“Confident, overbearing, and self-assured.”
“Well, yes. It never occurred to me that you suffered,” Beth admitted.
“When Lon first asked me to marry him, I felt guilty and turned him down.”
Beth looked away. Her gazed drifted out over the parking garage. Her sister continued, “You were gone for nearly a full year before I finally said ‘yes.’”
“Do you love him?”
“I can’t imagine life without him.”
Beth looked at her sister. Reaching out, she touched Alexis’s hand. “Lon never loved me, Alexis. If you hadn’t pulled him away, someone else would have.”
“That’s just what I’m afraid
of.”
“What do you mean?”
“Beth, what will happen when my looks fade—”
“Is that what this is all about?”
“As long as I keep Lon at arm’s length, he drools, but what will happen when we get married and our day-in, day-out life begins?”
“You should build your life together on principals of character, such as respect, trust, and honesty. I’m sorry I haven’t been there for you. From now on, I promise I will be.” Beth pulled her sister into a comforting hug.
Alexis sniffed.
Beth released her sister. Laughing, she said, “Starting right now, I’ll act like a big sister. Can I borrow your diamond earrings and necklace to wear with my new outfit?”
Chapter Fourteen
Beth and Alexis spent the remainder of their day laughing and enjoying each other’s company. They lunched with their father — after Alexis changed back into herself — and then Alexis helped Beth with hair and makeup in preparation of the banquet.
Beth modeled and Alexis responded enthusiastically, “You look wonderful! Carter will be so proud.” The mention of Carter brought an unconscious hand fluttering toward Beth’s heart.
Later, when Alexis stopped the car near the rear entranceway where the banquet room was located, Beth clutched her evening bag with the thumb-drive tucked securely inside. She gave her sister a quick, affectionate hug. “I wish this wasn’t my last day in California,” she said.
Alexis returned her hug and flashed that famous heart-stopping smile. “I wish you two would settle in Colorado, and then you wouldn’t be so far away.”
Another reminder of Carter brought a flash of hope that propelled Beth from the car with an ethereal smile. However, once she left the safety of Alexis’s vehicle and approached the building, she saw a variety of security guards and experienced a revival of anxiety. Trying not to look over her shoulder like a criminal, Beth joined a group of people clad in formal wear, who were moving through the doors. When Beth flashed her tag and the guard waved her through the door without comment, she sighed with relief.