“I’m not sure. I know there were a couple other interested parties. Let me pull it up and see where it’s at and give you a call back.”
Ugh. Great. “Okay, thanks. Let me know as soon as possible. I want to get it on lockdown.” I hung up with Cassandra and stared at my crepe, not even hungry anymore.
“What was that all about?” Aria asked.
“Girl, let me tell you, that’s my life right now. You know how your wedding is going to hell? Well, so’s my business.” I filled Aria in on my missing shipment and what the realtor had just said.
“It’s definitely like someone’s messing with us,” I said.
“But who?”
“You know who I’m going to say.”
“Justine.”
“Of course.”
“But, why would she mess with me? And my wedding? She usually just tries to make only your life miserable.”
“I know, right? I don’t know. Maybe she’s kicked her craziness up to a new level?”
“You mean since her ex is your new boyfriend?”
“He’s not my boyfriend.”
“Oh, come on! Get over yourself and your weird aversion to titles. How many days do you go without talking to him?”
Well, let’s see. He’s been out to sea since Saturday, so, “three.”
“When he’s not working?”
My silence told her all she needed to know. Truthfully, Finn and I talked or texted several times a day. More than I talked to Aria lately.
“And I know you’re with him all the time. Trust me, Christina’s already reminded me a million times how much more she’s helped me with this wedding than you.”
I started to protest.
“Not that you’re not busy. Trust me, I get it. I’m not worried about us, just quit trying to dismiss your relationship with Finn. He’s a good guy. Don’t scare him away with your issues. He’s not Todd.”
“I know. Todd was a jerk.” Todd: my ex-fiancé who cheated on me with at least one other girl and then tried to blame me for it.
“He was much worse than a jerk.”
“I was being polite.”
“I like Finn. You like Finn. Don’t screw it up.”
“Thanks, Mom.”
Aria flipped me off. See? We were just like sisters.
I changed the subject, even though Aria’s words stuck with me. She was right. I knew that. I just didn’t need her to know that, not yet. I was just coming around to the idea myself.
“Speaking of Todd…” Aria trailed off.
I cringed at his name. “I’m not sure I even want to know.”
“No, what I was going to say was, do you think it’s possible he’s the one messing with you?”
“Why would you think that?”
“Um, because you keyed his car and it was a Porsche?”
I smiled at the fond memory. “Okay, that may be true, but he had good insurance, so it’s not like he had to pay for it. I mean, besides his deductible.”
“I highly doubt it’s the money aspect of it that ticked him off.”
Aria might have a point. He did love that car. “Well, he totally deserved it.”
“I agree, but who knows, maybe he’s been quietly waiting to get his revenge.”
Ugh. Aria was on a roll today. I blew out a big puff of air while I thought about it. “I don’t even know where he is.”
“Ah! But I do.”
“Of course, you do.” Aria signaled for another round of drinks. I was thinking I should switch to vodka, considering where this conversation was headed.
14
It turned out Todd was working on Whip’s campaign, which I guess shouldn’t have surprised me, since they both looked full of themselves. Todd had appeared with Whip at Vince’s most recent who’s-who shindig, and Aria got the scoop from her husband-to-be. “Keep your friends close, your enemies even closer,” she reminded me. I knew that was true, but I didn’t want to be anywhere near Todd.
As Aria was Vincent Delgado’s fiancée, we were more than welcome to attend the campaign luncheon. Well, she was. I was still crashing. I was sure Todd would have me out on my derriere if he spotted me. I had planned on posing as the wait staff, but this change in plans required a serious wardrobe change. Aria’s closet was probably the best place to shop anywhere. You know those closets in the movies with a ridiculous number of mirrors, shoes, jewelry and dresses? Yeah, that was Aria’s closet.
I chose a nude-colored, form-fitting satin dress. It hugged my curves and gave the girls just a little extra oomph. Nothing too ridiculous or revealing. Not going for Kim Kardashian here. Just enough to remind Todd of what he lost, you know, in case I ran into him. Putting the dress on reminded me of the shoes I was going to buy as soon as I solved this case. They would’ve looked awesome with this dress. As it was, I had to settle for a pair of nude-colored pointed heels with only a two-inch heel. I shrugged. It worked, but the gold sandals would’ve looked better.
We took Aria’s little red sports car to Ivy’s, where the luncheon was being held. This type of event required a classier ride than my pickup. I was done asking Aria when she was going to sell her late husband’s ride. Just as she was done pretending that she didn’t love it.
“I’ve never been to one of these things. What do we do?” I asked Aria. As she was marrying into money again, I was confident she had campaign luncheons on lockdown.
Aria waved her hand to dismiss my concerns. “You know, smile, chit chat, pretend that you care what the candidate has to say.”
“Got it. So pretty much like Vince’s shindigs and Mrs. DeVine’s gatherings, minus the business opportunities.”
“Exactly.”
We pulled in front of Ivy’s and got out to have the car valeted. Several other people dressed to the nines were already in front of us. Aria immediately spotted someone she knew, and the questions about the wedding flowed. Aria smiled and talked about how excited she was. Only I noticed that she started to scratch her upper arm and tug on her dress. I had a feeling her mind was wandering to the current mess her nuptials were in. We’d have to tackle that next.
We quickly realized that the entire restaurant had been reserved for this afternoon’s events. Port Haven was a small town, but it had quite a few residents with money, and they appeared to all be present. Maybe this will be a business opportunity after all. Aria left to get us a cocktail and I started working the room. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted the same reporter slash detective guy from earlier in the week. The man was wearing the same tan trench coat and fedora, doing a poor job of hiding out behind a fake tree. He raised his phone and snapped a couple pictures before darting back out the door. What in the world?
I dropped that thought when goosebumps surfaced on my skin. I looked around to find out what was giving me the creepy crawlies only to see Whip eyeing me up. He licked his lips and shot me a wining grin, complete with a wink when I made eye contact. I fought the urge to say oh gross! Believe me, it wasn’t easy. But I wanted to play my cards right. Yes, he totally thought he was all that, but now I had an invitation to go over and introduce myself. He didn’t give me a chance.
With his chest puffed and his long stride, Whip was at my side in less than a minute. “Why hello,” he said, taking my hand. I meant to give him handshake. He raised it to his lips instead. “Let me introduce myself. Whip. Whip McGovern. But you already knew that, didn’t you?” he said with a boisterous laugh.
Oh brother. I pulled my hand away, not letting it linger, and nonchalantly wiped it on the back of my dress.
“I always enjoy meeting a beautiful face, wouldn’t you agree?” Whip turned to the side so I could see his profile. Sure, he had a strong nose and square jawline, but I could see there wasn’t much between the eyes.
“Sure, yeah, I like meeting people.” It didn’t really matter what they looked like though.
“You should come to all my campaign events. Wait until you hear my speech. You’ll love it.”
I doubted that.
“Back when I was at Yale, I gave an excellent presentation on the economic hardships facing the South.”
“I bet that was amazing.” Only problem was, he never went to Yale. From what I’d learned, he had only played two seasons of lacrosse at the community college before dropping out.
It looked like Whip didn’t know sarcasm when he heard it either. “Oh, believe me, it was. I was a real presidential scholar.”
I didn’t get a chance to respond. At that moment, my ex stopped over to whisper something in Whip’s ear. That’s when Todd spotted me.
He stopped dead still. Our eyes locked and the color drained completely from his face. I guess I didn’t have to worry about him throwing me out. He was dumbfounded. I smiled, as it was the polite thing to do (my mother would be proud) while he continued to stare like an idiot. I hoped he would take a breath soon. I didn’t need him keeling over. Who needed that type of bad karma? The mayor episode had already used up all the good graces I had stored.
Whip didn’t catch it as Todd was standing behind him.
Aria rejoined me and raised a glass of champagne at Todd. “Hi Todd, how are you?”
He still didn’t speak, and I raised my eyebrows, waiting for him to say something. The words, “Excuse me,” tumbled out of his mouth as he turned tail and scurried away.
“Yes, excuse us. I would love to continue our chat and meet…”
“Aria. Aria Delgado.” My friend shook the egoist’s hand, giving him the same once-over I had.
It was Whip’s turn to raise his eyebrows. Delgado’s name did that to people.
“Or, it will be by Friday,” she added.
“Yes, well then it really is a shame, but I assure you I will look for you ladies when I’m done with this speech business.” Whip did look disappointed, which told me that he didn’t truly care about Port Haven and being Mayor as much as he cared about himself.
He said goodbye and Aria turned to me. “Are we waiting around?”
“Heck no. Whip is totally ridiculous.”
We skedaddled out of there as quickly as possible without seeming like we were running away, and waited until we were back in the car to debrief.
“So, Todd,” Aria said and then we both started laughing, because honestly, his reaction was priceless.
“Well, if you weren’t on his radar, you are now,” she said.
“I know, what do you suppose was up with that?”
“You shocked him, that’s for sure.”
“He looked scared, right?” I asked.
“Definitely. Like maybe you were going to kick his ass.”
I smiled at that. A year and a half ago, that could’ve been a real possibility. But he had nothing to worry about now. He wasn’t worth it. I could see that plain as sugar. Here I was smokin’ hot while he looked … vanilla. What did I ever see in him? I sent up a quick prayer to my nan, thanking her again for saving me from marrying him. I could’ve sworn I heard her say, “anytime.” I pondered what my nana would’ve thought about Finn, and I instantly smiled. She would’ve loved him. I started to sigh but snapped myself out of it. Now wasn’t the time to turn into a lovesick teenager. We needed to talk more about Todd and Mr. Ego.
I shivered. “I’m still not sure if Todd was shocked because it’s been awhile and here I show up looking like this…,” I motioned to myself.
“Hot,” Aria supplied.
“Or, if it’s because he’s the one messing with me and he’s scared that I know.”
“Girl, I don’t know either, but if he is causing all this crap, I bet he’s rethinking a few things right about now.”
“True, but I’m not letting him get off that easy if he is the culprit.”
“So, that still leaves Justine.”
“Oh, I didn’t tell you about that. I ran into her this morning at the pharmacy. Well, I ran into a shelf, but I saw her, and let me tell you, she is up to something fishy.” I filled Aria in on Justine and the rash.
“I say we run a little recon tonight and see what she’s up to,” Aria offered.
“I was hoping you would say that.”
15
I was cutting it close that afternoon. Luckily my replacement shipment was delivered on time and I had the rest of my sample packs ready to roll. This month’s promo featured lip gloss and nail polish in vivid colors. My favorites were the Rebel nail polish—a dark, rich blue; and the Sunburst lip gloss—a bright coral color. I snatched one of each for myself and planned on pairing it with a soft pink eye shadow and smidge of light shimmer on my cheeks. In my opinion, that was the only problem with being a Beauty Secrets consultant, you had to look put together all the time.
My dad showed up just as the second coat on my nails was drying. I had asked him to puppy-sit Captain Jack, seeing my pup had spent a stressful morning at the groomer and I didn’t want to make him spend the evening in his crate. The groomer completely washed out Jack’s fake eyebrows, but after several washes, the captain still had some pink tones in his fur. However, he no longer looked quite as ridiculous. In fact, his color was more in line with recent color trends. My dad readily agreed to watch him, seeing I had cable and a comfy couch. I even offered to pick up some brews for the fridge. This was why I was an awesome daughter.
“I might be a little late,” I told my dad, while loading up my truck.
“I thought Finn was out of town?”
“Dad!” He chuckled.
“I like him, just so you know.”
I thought about being annoyed at everyone telling me how much they liked my boyfriend lately, but I let it go. Until I realized that I just mentally thought of Finn as my boyfriend and started to freak out a little.
“You okay?” Dad asked.
“Yeah, I’m just used to thinking of all men as scum. Sorry. Present company excluded.”
“Todd was scum. I never liked him, and I should’ve told you that.”
“You didn’t?” This was news to me. My dad never said a word about the men I dated.
“No, but your mother made me swear to keep my mouth shut. She didn’t want to ruin your happiness and thought you were a better judge of who was right for you than I was.”
“Mom just wanted to see me married.”
“Well, there’s that too.”
“Okay, make me a deal. If you think I’m dating a jerk, give me a heads up. I don’t care what Mom says. She’s obviously not going to tell me the truth.”
“Got it, but like I said, Finn’s a good guy.”
“Noted.”
“Now, what is it you girls are doing?”
“Um, paying a visit to Justine? Recon mission.” I winked.
“Don’t get arrested.”
“Don’t plan to.”
“And if you do, call my cell phone, and don’t forget to use the shaving cream. Remember, the foam doesn’t stick as well.” I may or may not have shaving creamed Justine’s house a time or two. Although, I think the best was when I turned her car into a moving pancake; that is, smeared butter, syrup and pancake mix all over it. Hey, it was high school and she totally deserved it.
“Keep an eye out for her here, too. I think she’s up to her usual crap. And don’t tell Mom!” I turned to walk out the door.
“Hey, Ziva?” I turned back around. “Take the Buick. Justine won’t know to look for it.” He tossed me his car keys. “Call if you need backup.”
“Will do.” This, once again, was why my dad was the best.
I adored it when Marion hosted Beauty Secrets parties. Not only did she always have a fabulous turnout, but her dessert spread was fantastic. Tonight, she featured buttercream-frosted sugar cookies cut in the shapes of high heels and lipsticks, chocolate-covered strawberries, raspberry crème petit fors, and mini peanut butter chocolate cheesecakes. Swoon. This, of course, was in addition to a signature creamsicle cocktail of vanilla vodka, triple sec with a splash of orange juice and half and half. Now that was refreshing. Today was turning out to be one
cocktail-infused day, but I wasn’t complaining. It was good to have some days like that.
I had done my spiel and was working the room, answering questions and promising quick deliveries (as long as they weren’t stolen) when a woman in her mid-to-late fifties approached me. She looked regal, with her hair swept up and dangly diamond earrings. I had noticed her eying me throughout the night. I didn’t think too much of it as people tended to scrutinize your makeup a little more than usual at these shindigs, but then she said, “I thought you looked familiar, and I just placed it. You were talking to my son today.”
Creamsicle cocktail almost shot out of my nose. That’s not what I was expecting. “Excuse me, sorry, wrong pipe. Your son, you said?”
“Yes, you were at Whip’s fundraiser this afternoon, weren’t you?”
“That I was.”
“I thought so. I loved your dress. Who’s the designer?”
“Oh, I’m not sure, but thank you…,” I might have to borrow that one from Aria a little longer so Finn can see me in it.
“You know, Whip’s father would’ve been so proud of him.”
“Oh, was he in politics?”
“It wasn’t meant to be,” Mrs. McGovern said with wistful eyes. “It was probably for the best as he did just fine as a businessman. But enough with that. I just wanted to say that I saw you two talking today and I thought you made a very fine-looking couple.”
Ah, and there it was; she wanted to hook me up with her son. I did the inward cringe thing, but managed to say, “Oh, that’s so sweet of you, but I’m actually seeing someone.”
“Is it serious?” Mrs. McGovern asked as a matter of fact.
Maybe. Could be. Not sure yet. What was it with people bugging me about my relationship status lately? Gah! “Yes, yes it is,” I lied. But hey, it could be. “I thought your son was very nice though.” If superficial egos were my cup of tea.
Mrs. McGovern looked disappointed, but she was going to have to live with it. No way was I dating Whip. Finn or no Finn, that was not happening. I excused myself and went over to check in with Marion to see how she thought the party was going.
Kiss & Makeup: Beauty Secrets Mystery Book 2 Page 10