He saw Melody’s black dress slide in between the crowd. She was heading toward the main door, the absolute worst place she could go. Would Alda really show up or had this whole charade been a bluff?
“That’s wonderful.” Wolf glanced from Mrs. Halbot’s wrinkled face to Melody’s progress across the room. “If you’ll excuse me, I’ll just be a minute.”
He pushed by the group of elderly ladies without looking back. Free at last! Ms. Maxhammer could skewer him later.
Wolf checked his watch. Eight thirty-seven. Alda was always fashionably late, but arriving an entire hour and a half after cocktails was not her style. Maybe she wasn’t coming after all.
Trying to avoid eye contact with the latest arrivals, he worked his way through the crowd.
“A lovely evening, Mr. Braun.” Another member of the board, an older man in a crisp gray suit walked in front of him. “I recently spoke with Mr. Wallsworth, and there’re a few things I’d like to share.”
Wolf paused. “All in good time, sir. Now, if you’ll kindly—”
Conversations hushed as the main doors opened and a gust of warm summer air blew in. Every head turned toward the door and Wolf’s stomach clutched as if fate had dealt it a fatal blow. No.
A head of tossed raven curls and a dress red as blood filled the entryway.
Alda had arrived.
Chapter Sixteen
Doppelganger
Finally finding the courage to pop a puff pastry in her mouth so she didn’t get sick from the alcohol, Melody noticed every head around her turning in unison. An entourage of camera-wielding men that reminded her of the paparazzi flooded in. Their bulbs flashed and conversations stopped.
She turned to the main entrance just as a woman, so gorgeous she must have come straight from a Hollywood movie, waltzed into the room with an entourage of minions half as beautiful. Knife-sharp cheekbones dusted in a touch of blush framed glittering emerald eyes. Her hair cascaded in ebony ringlets around her elegant shoulders, tapering at the swell of perfect breasts. Her curves protruded from a glittering, ruby-studded dress with a nonexistent neckline that ended at her diamond-crusted navel.
“Holy shit.” Carly dropped her pastry. “Who the hell is that?”
Blake Templeton cut through the crowd and bowed before her like she was royalty. He placed a light kiss on the back of her pale hand and stood to address the crowd. “May I present Alda Schuhmacher, budding actress and fashion model from Berlin.”
Carly grabbed Melody’s arm like she was having a heart attack. “Is it me, or does she look like a way meaner version of you?”
“It’s you.” Melody’s heart stopped and she hoped this vision of loveliness was Wolfgang Braun’s married sister. “Because I wouldn’t be caught dead wearing that.”
“Danke, sweet Mr. Templeton.” Alda’s eyes simmered as she scanned the crowd, raking in the attention. More cameras flashed as if the men in the room couldn’t help their trigger fingers. Alda posed. Her dress glimmered as she brought one of her shoulders back, revealing more skin.
Melody thought a wardrobe malfunction would surely stop the hearts of the oldest board members. If their hearts hadn’t stopped already.
By the looks on their faces, Alda Shoe-something had already stolen every heart in the room.
“You are such a sweet man, Mr. Templeton.” Alda chuckled from deep within her throat. Her thickly accented, velvety voice reminded Melody of a Transylvanian vampire, or no, even better: a bad guy from one of the Indiana Jones movies.
But Alda wasn’t finished. While everyone drooled, she caught Wolf’s gaze from across the room and the expression on his face was too complicated for Melody to interpret. Alda gestured toward the new conductor. “I’m here to honor my fiancé, Wolfy, and support him in one of his greatest achievements.”
Melody dropped her champagne, and the delicate glass shattered in a thousand shards on the floor. All eyes turned to her, but the only set she saw was Alda’s, burning into her retinas to see the darkest yearnings in her soul. Alda sized her up and a wicked smile curved her lips.
Melody whirled, heading straight for the bathrooms. She felt like the biggest fool that ever tried a shot at love. Her perfect dream had shattered.
This is so not happening. She felt like Carrie in the moment the blood rained down. Too bad she didn’t have any superpowers to enact her revenge.
Melody burst through the door to the ladies’ room, found the nearest toilet, heaved violently, and threw up everything in her stomach. Wolf engaged? To someone who looked like her, only twice as beautiful? Did he even mean to keep her in his orchestra at all? Or was he playing her, using her until he could get rid of her and usher Blake’s sister right in?
After the initial wave of hurt had blinded her, she realized an arm was draped across her shoulder.
“What the hell is going on?” Carly wiped her chin with a piece of toilet paper. “Did that evil witch cast a spell on you?”
“No. I-I just had too much of that champagne.” The lie was so big it rattled in Melody’s teeth.
“What a moment for it to come up, huh?” Carly patted her on the back.
Melody was relived her friend didn’t push her for more information. She turned back to Carly and saw a glimmer of intelligence, tinged by compassion, in her eyes. Thank goodness she was enough of a friend to let the subject drop.
“No more wine for you.” Carly helped her up.
Melody couldn’t make sense of all the pain to stand straight. She teetered and leaned on the stall door. “What are you doing?”
“You’re not going to hide in here with that Alda Shoeface parading around getting all that attention, are you?”
Melody bit her lip. She was afraid if she went back out there, she’d punch Wolf in the face. Reality crushed down on her. Wolf was a fraud. He’d lied about his life via a rather large omission with ginormous breasts. That’s why he didn’t want to sleep with her last night. He felt too guilty with his fiancée coming the next day. What an asshole.
Carly leveled with her, putting both hands on her shoulders as if she were her football coach. “Honey. Everyone saw you drop that glass. If you stay in here, they’ll think there’s something going on between you, Alda, and Brauny two-timer if I’m getting the gist of it, so you’d better get yourself together and plaster a smile on your face.”
Carly was right, but it seemed so impossible. Could she really face all of them again? Including Wolf? “I smell like puke.”
“No you don’t.” Carly reached into her purse and sprayed her with a small perfume bottle. “Now you smell like roses.”
“Roses and puke.”
“Wash out your mouth and the smell will go away.” Carly brandished a fancy plastic cup only the richest art gallery in all of New England would think to equip its bathrooms with.
Melody filled the cup with water, took a sip, and swirled it around her mouth. Served her right for dating another self-centered musician. She’d practically walked right into that trap. Why didn’t she listen to Laini instead of following her stupid heart? “I had too much champagne, that’s all.”
“That’s right.” Carly ushered her toward the door. “And that’s the story we’ll stick with.”
As they burst out into the crowd, Carly exclaimed, in a rather loud voice, “Good thing they threw out that bottle. Honestly, you’d think an establishment like this would have the best champagne.”
A few people in the crowd gave them skeptical looks before glancing down at their own glasses.
Melody followed Carly to a quiet corner where they took a seat underneath a painting of a naked woman fighting the devil in her bedroom. Somehow, Melody found the horror of the scene fitting.
“Look at me.” Carly coached her. “Smile and pretend we’re having a normal conversation.”
Melody resisted the urge to scan the room. A waiter brought a tray of champagne and Carly waved him away, asking for a glass of water.
“I want to go home.”
/>
“I know you do.” Carly patted her arm. “Think about your position in the orchestra. Blake said attendance was mandatory.”
Melody wasn’t sure she wanted anything to do with the Easthampton Civic Symphony any longer. Not if a two-faced playboy was running it. But she wasn’t about to voice that to her friend. “Don’t you have contacts to make?”
“You’re much more important than shmoozing.”
The waiter returned with a glass of ice water and handed it to Carly, who gave it to Melody. The cool, slick glass chilled her fingertips. She took a sip, wondering if she’d be able to hold it down as her gaze strayed to where Wolf stood across the room with Alda snaking her arm through his. Melody couldn’t see his face, but she guessed he had the same intense expression he’d used on her.
…
“What the hell are you and those paparazzi thugs you hired doing here?” Wolf hissed in Alda’s ear as he pretended to embrace her in front of the staring crowd. To renounce their engagement right here, right now, would make him look like an arschloch and damage the integrity of the orchestra. His thoughts flew to Melody, knowing he’d lost her the second Alda pranced in. All he wanted to do was rush into the bathroom to take away the pain that must be ripping through her, but that would ruin both their careers along with the fund-raiser. No, for now, it was best to play along and settle this in private.
“I’ve come to give you a second chance, Wolfy.” She kissed his ear and Wolf recoiled. “Someday I won’t have to pay the paparazzi; they’ll follow me because of who I am.”
He pulled her to a corner of the room. To the audience, it must have looked like he wanted to steal a kiss and he hoped no one in the room spoke fluent German. “How could you come in here and announce something like that? We’re not even together, never mind engaged.”
She smiled, stroking his arm with her fingertips. “I’m making it easy for you.”
“Easy for me? All you’ve done is make it hard for me ever since I met you.”
“That’s the truth.” She glanced down at his pants and smirked as though life was a game and she was winning. “A girl’s gotta play hardball to get what she wants.”
“You stole all of my savings, leaving me penniless.”
Alda shrugged as though he’d accused her of stealing his toothbrush. “Come on, haven’t you talked to Mr. Templeton? I gave some of it back.”
“To the orchestra.” Wolf emphasized every word. “So you could crash my fund-raiser.”
“So I could be with you.”
Alda always had a way of turning the argument around and it infuriated Wolf. He needed to get away from her and find Melody before she decided never to speak to him again.
A waiter came up offering a tray of melon balls on toothpicks. Wolf waved him away and turned back to his ex. “It’s over, Alda. It was over a long time ago. I should have been more firm.”
She laughed. “But we had such fun together, you and I. Imagine what we could do here in America.”
Wolf stared at her with such coolness, the glimmer in her eyes faded. “You bought your ticket for tonight, but after your trip is done, you’re going back to Germany. I have guests to attend to, and I don’t have any more time to waste on you.”
Leaving her behind him, he broke into the crowd. “Congratulations, Mr. Braun.” An older man from the board moved in front of him, blocking his path through the crowd. “What a beauty.”
Wolf waved his compliment away, but he knew he had to play the game. “I hope you are enjoying yourself.”
“Very much so.” The man sipped his champagne. “It’s the best fund-raiser this orchestra has ever put together. And that painting, such a masterpiece. I’m sure it will fetch a high bid.” As he spoke, Wolf’s eyes darted over his shoulders. Where was Melody?
“I’m glad you think so, sir.” Wolf felt every second bleeding his heart dry. “If you’ll excuse me, there’s something I must attend to.”
“Of course. You’re a busy man tonight.”
Wolf pushed by him and waved off other shouts of congratulations. This whole party seemed like a dream gone bad.
“Who thought your secret would bring so much excitement and buzz to our event tonight!” Blake approached him and clapped him on the back. “You really had me going for a second there. Well done, my friend.”
Wolf resisted the urge to cringe. “Listen. I need time to sort something out. Keep the crowd busy.”
Blake smiled. “Certainly. Right after we hold our lottery for your dance.”
“My dance?”
“Ms. Maxhammer thought it would be the perfect way to attract donors to the event. She had no idea you were engaged, but I’m sure Miss Schuhmacher won’t mind sharing you for one dance—for the good of the orchestra, of course.” Just as Blake spoke, the older woman tapped on a microphone at the room’s center, silencing everyone in the crowd.
“Why didn’t you tell me about this?” Wolf whispered.
Blake patted his arm. “I wanted it to be a surprise.”
Gertrude Maxhammer dipped her hand into a giant fishbowl and ruffled through slips of paper. “It is my highest honor to choose the winner of our dance with the conductor.”
In the background, a string quartet made up of members from the orchestra began to play a waltz. Wolf looked at them as if they’d all betrayed him.
Ms. Maxhammer pulled out a single piece of paper. Her knobby hands shook as she struggled to open the fold. Wolf held his breath, heart racing in his chest. And he thought the night couldn’t get any worse. Had Alda bought every single paper with his own money?
The older woman took agonizing seconds to open the fold and slip on her eyeglasses. She squinted at the handwritten scrawl and then nodded as if it were the only right answer in the world. “Melody Mires.”
Chapter Seventeen
Dancing Around the Truth
Melody snapped up as she heard her name. “That’s impossible. I didn’t even buy a ticket.”
Carly cringed beside her, and her friend’s sudden urge to donate to the orchestra made perfect sense. “You didn’t,” Melody begged.
“I’m sorry, hon. I thought it would be the perfect present. Not only would you get to dance with Wolf, but everyone would get a chance to meet you. I thought all the attention would be good for your position. I had no idea this would happen.”
“I’m not doing it. I’m not going out there.”
Carly pulled her up. “Oh yes you are.” She pushed Melody forward as the crowd parted around them. Giving her one last squeeze, Carly whispered, “Get some answers. Make him sweat.”
The room swam around Melody as she walked into the parting crowd. Expensive perfumes drifted over like opened magazine ads. The glittering jewels refracted in the chandelier’s golden light and she had to concentrate to stand firm on two feet. How was she going to dance?
To her relief, Alda was nowhere to be seen. At least she wouldn’t have to dance in front of Wolf’s fiancée as a shadow of who should really be in his arms. Maybe Wolf was lonely and he missed Ms. Shoeface, and Melody was the only thing left to cling to. That thought made her feel about two inches high, even in her super-tall heels.
Pull yourself together. Don’t make a scene.
Wolf stood across the room. His eyes brightened when he saw her, looking as if he didn’t think she’d give him the chance to explain himself and was pleasantly surprised she decided to show up.
Melody shook her head ever so slightly and challenged him with an accusatory stare. His gaze flitted to the marble dance floor. When he looked back up again, unshed tears welled in his eyes.
Perhaps he had felt something? Melody pushed her hopes down, allowing the simmering anger to boil over. He’s not worth it. That Transylvanian vampire could have him. All she had to do was suffer through one dance.
“Ms. Mires.” Wolf bowed before her and a few women in the crowd let out audible, jealous sighs. Melody took his hand, the touch summoning visions of last night. If only they k
new the truth.
Wolf pulled her toward him and twirled her away from the crowd to the center of the room. He bent to her ear and murmured, “I’m sorry. Alda is not my fiancée. She’s an ex trying to get back together.”
A sliver of hope floated from the dark hole her heart had become. Melody squashed it. “A likely excuse.”
They twirled and she parted from him, wanting to slip back into the crowd. She turned her back on him and he grabbed her hand, sweeping her up in his arms once again. “It’s the truth, Mel. You have to believe me.”
A tear rolled down Melody’s cheek. She shook her head, unable to speak. The muscles in her chin twitched and she tightened her jaw to keep her composure.
Wolf’s hand was warm against the silk lining her back, holding her against him as if he knew she’d run away the first chance she got. “I should have told you before.”
“Before what?”
“In the car. When you asked me why I left Germany. Mel, I left to get away from her.”
Melody considered his story, reminding herself his words could be another con. Perhaps he wanted to keep them both? Surely he must have known Alda was coming tonight. What in the hell did he think would happen when Melody found out? Unless he was telling the truth…
Neither one of them spoke as they twirled closer to the crowd. She wanted to believe him, but there was so much about him she didn’t know.
His fingers slipped under her chin, and he held her face to his. She looked into his stormy eyes, glimpsing a great, profound sadness. For a moment, his story rang true.
The song ended, and he let her go. Wolf had said his peace. It was up to Melody to make the next move.
People flooded around them and an older woman asked Wolf for a dance. Melody took the opportunity to melt into the crowd before he could stop her. Carly called after her, but she pushed through the sea of tuxes and gowns to the front door. She’s stayed long enough to cover her glass-dropping episode and even given the crowd a dance. She was done.
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