Tahoe Blues (13 page)

Duncan’s voice was soft and soothing, “Cara
, love, I don’t hate you at all. I know I’ve made mistakes, but I still think we can make a go of it. I want you back. I have no idea what you are talking about, but let me call my lawyer. Don’t talk to anyone, and don’t worry. I’ll get you out of this.”

The man
had lost his mind! They were divorced. There was no way she was ever going back, not even if the price she paid for her independence was jail time. She whisked away her tears and yelled, “Do you think I called so you could save me? Do you think for one minute I would ever consider going back to you? Are you really that dense? Don’t you have any idea at all what you put me through? I should have listened to my gut and not called!”

If the stupid car had a receiver she would have slammed it down and stopped this insane conversation, instead
she turned off the key and slammed the door the moment she stepped out.

She would have
banged the front door of Rosie’s Cafe too if Maggie, her favorite waitress, hadn’t seen her approach and opened it. “Hi, Cara, Leah is right over there.”

Leah was sitting in a dark corner in the back of the restaurant. She was seated well away from any other customers and not at her usual table by the window
, which was currently unoccupied. Cara instantly knew something was up. She turned back to Maggie. “If Leah hasn’t already ordered, will you please bring us a couple of turkey subs and coffee?”

Maggie nodded. “You got it. I’ll be over in a sec
with the coffee. You take it with cream, right?”

Cara nodded and headed towards her friend. Leah’s fingers tapped nervously on the table and her face was full of worry. Cara sat down and grabbed Leah’s icy fingers. “What’s wrong?”

Leah withdrew her hand from Cara’s grasp and leaned back in her chair. “It’s not every day that I’m questioned by the police.”

Cara bit her lip. “About me?”

Leah leaned angrily across the table and hissed, “No, about me! What have you sucked me into?”

That news knocked the wind out of Cara. Now Duncan was going after her best fri
end. She shook her head in confusion. Leah hadn’t had anything to do with the gala. “I don’t understand.”

“They think,” Leah whispered harshly, “that I’ve been funneling money through my shop and hiding it for you.” She leaned back and shook her head in disgust. “I built my business from scratch and not even for you will I let it be destroyed.”

Cara sucked in a deep breath. “Leah, calm down. Stop and think for a moment. Have you been hiding money for me? Have I ever asked you to do anything that might be considered illegal?”

The scowl on Leah’s face softened. She closed her eyes and ran her fingers through her disheveled bob. “No,” she sighed. She shook her head
and rolled her eyes. “And that’s what I told the police. Hell, you hardly ever ask me how my business was doing, let alone be involved with it.”

Cara cocked her head. Leah’s last remark hit a nerve. Had she been so involved with her own problems
that she hadn’t stopped to consider Leah’s? “I always assumed your business was booming. Your designs are magnificent.”

Leah
’s brows rose in antipathy.

Cara
felt the color drain from her face as she realized Leah must have been struggling right along with the rest of the economy. “Business is good, right?”

Their conversation ended momentarily when Maggie dropped in to fill their mugs. She placed a small bowl filled with creamers on the table and glanced quickly back and forth between her two customers. The tension between Leah and Cara must have been evident because Maggie said, “The subs you ordered are going to take a while. If you need anything just raise your hand and I’ll come running
, otherwise, I think I’ll leave you two ladies alone.”

Cara reached out and touched Maggie’s arm. “I’ve lost my appetite. Is it possible to cancel the subs?”

Maggie nodded. “No problem. Take your time and I’ll seat everyone else up front.” Then she placed the coffee pot on the table. “Now I won’t have to come back at all unless you want me to.”

Maggie left and Cara turned her attention back to Leah and repeated her question. “Are you having money troubles?”

Leah dropped her head and covered her face with her hands. A few moments later she scrubbed her cheeks and out tumbled all her long pent up animosity towards her best friend. “We’ve known each other a long time, but every time an event came up
, I practically had to beg you to wear my designs. As Duncan Alexander’s wife you were a flippin’ billboard, a walking advertisement, but you held back. You always said you liked my work, but you hardly ever wore it.” Leah took a deep breath. She knew she wasn’t being fair, but she was done with fair. With Bellissimo Abito breathing down her neck and putting a strangle hold on her business, she didn’t know how she was going to stay afloat. Now she was being investigated just for being an associate of Cara’s, even though she had barely benefitted financially from their relationship. Even the hint of scandal in this clicky town could ruin her.

The look on Cara’s face was one of pure shock. Leah knew the extremely smart professor
hadn’t had a clue about how she’d been feeling. When Cara finally left that scum bag casino owner, Leah thought their friendship would get back on some sort of even keel, but then she hooked up with Tanner. Leah knew she would continue to be nothing more than a side note in Cara’s life.

Leah was as much at fault as Cara. She knew she should have said something a long time ago. A friendship was supposed to be a two-way street, but with Cara
, she had always been stuck in the rear with no passing lane in sight. As generous and kind as Cara could be, she made one hell of a sucky friend.

Leah knew it was time to cut the cord. She was in survival mode
, and determined not to be on the losing end. “Look, Cara, maybe we shouldn’t associate with each other until whatever this is, blows over.”

“Leah, no.” Cara pleaded. “Duncan is behind this. He must be trying to get even for the dress fiasco at the gala. Don’t you get it? He wants to divide and conquer us.”

Cara didn’t want to understand what she was saying, but Leah held her ground. “Don’t you get it? I’m tired of playing second fiddle. I’m tired of all the drama between you and Duncan.” She shook her head. “I’ve listened and supported you until I’m blue in the face, but it’s still all about you. Can’t you see that if I keep hanging around, my neck is going to wind up in a noose?”

It was killing her to hurt Cara like this, but it was time for some cold hard facts to sink into her one-sided thick skull. “When was the last time you asked me about my personal life? Have you ever come over to my place because I needed a shoulder to cry on? When my car broke down
a few months back, you were too busy to simply pick me up from the mechanic’s, but if the shoe was on the other foot, you know I would have found a way to help you out.” Leah stood up. “I’m sorry Cara, but I need some space. And you need time to think about what being someone’s friend truly entails.”

She turned back one last time. “
I love you Cara, but I’m tired of being grateful for the few crumbs you occasionally toss my way.”

Cara sat and watched her coffee grow cold. Slowly and gradually the steam dissipated as the brew cooled and the porcelain lost its warmth. Cara realized the same thing had happened with her relationship with Leah. Their friendship had been made of glass, and it had shattered under the slightest pressure.

Leah was right though.
Cara had not been a good friend. She used Leah as a therapist, which probably would have been fine, except she hadn’t repaid even a modicum of support in return. Cara hadn’t set foot in Leah’s apartment since the day she moved out. She would simply swing by the shop, interrupt Leah’s work day, and force her to listen to another round of complaints about Duncan.

She had taken advantage of Leah’s good nature and hadn’t thought about how much she could have helped her friend’s busines
s succeed. As Duncan’s wife, she had held the perfect position to bring Leah and her designs out into the forefront. Over and over Leah asked her to wear her dresses, but for one reason or another she almost always declined. Cara had practically been considered royalty in Tahoe. Her picture had been snapped from the moment she stepped out of the house until she entered it again at night. The only time she had been left alone was when she was out on LOLA, but even there a few pics had been snapped of her.

With her influence
, she could have single handedly sent Leah’s business skyrocketing into the stratosphere, but she had succumbed to the pressure the Alexander family placed on her and had continued to shop at their approved venues. She hadn’t stayed true to herself or to her friend.

Every ounce of coffee at the table, including the pot Maggie left, was now ice. Cara signaled for a fresh cup and Maggie quickly obliged. “Is everything okay?” Maggie asked as she poured the dark steamin
g house blend into a clean cup.

Cara shook her head. “I have some soul searching to do
, Maggie. Can you keep them coming?”

Maggie patted her shoulder kindly. “Sure thing
, doll. Your cup will never go cold again.”

True to her word, Maggie kept her mug filled. Cara suspected Maggie switched her to decaf after about six refills. She didn’t have the too-much caffeine jitters. It didn’t matter, Cara didn’t care what beverage sat in front of her. Mostly she needed the cup to stare into while she thought.

Leah wasn’t the only one she had used and abused. She owed Brett Boden a huge apology. The
man had been a godsend, and she insulted his work and blamed him for Duncan’s manipulation of the contract’s fine print.

Cara realized she
had treated two of the most important people in her life the way Duncan had treated her, and she was appalled at her behavior.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw Maggie making her way back to her table. Cara waved her off. “Just the bill
, please.”

Maggie pulled the check out of her apron pocket and handed it to her.

Cara hogged the cafe table for at least two hours, but the total only amounted to five dollars and seventy cents. Cara pulled out a couple of twenties. She wasn’t about to take Maggie’s generosity for granted, too.

Even as she tucked the bills under the bowl of creamer, she understood that she had rewarded Maggie’s kindness with money. Maggie might have suspected she would earn a big tip, but Cara didn’t think that had been her main motivation. The woman had always been thoughtful and sympathetic to her plight. She had even gone so far as to bar
the local paparazzi from entering the cafe, even when her own son had been the one holding the camera. Poor Scott had received an earful from his dear old mom when he tried to invade Cara’s privacy.

Her plight? Cara considered her wording. Sh
e had made herself a victim, and she had allowed herself to be used by Duncan and his powerful family. There had always seemed to be something broken about them. None of them were able to empathize with others. They were fiercely loyal, but only unto themselves, and Cara had been sucked into it all. Duncan’s mother, the dowager Inga, had been the only one who showed her any kindness, yet there was the unspoken expectation that Cara do things her way.

Cara
had become so accustomed to their superior attitude that it became her new normal. She expected her friends to support her unquestionably and listen to her tiniest troubles, Cara saw how she had blown up the smallest issues and dramatized them out of proportion. She even glorified the two local boys who followed her around with their camera by calling them paparazzi. They were really just two kids trying to make a living by selling her photograph. If she hadn’t ignored their requests, she probably would have been able to control her exposure. Instead, they were forced to follow her around and snap their pictures candidly.

She watched Maggie make her way around the cafe. Always smiling, always the
re with a kind word, not for a chosen few but for every single customer who walked through the door.

Somewhere deep inside
, Cara knew she was still a good person. She made her share of mistakes, but unlike the Alexanders, she was capable of learning from them.

She rose from
the table and made her way over to Maggie. She reached the woman and wrapped her up into a hug. Cara felt Maggie startle and stiffen, but Cara held on tight. When Maggie’s arms returned the unexpected embrace, Cara whispered in her ear something everyone needs to hear, “Thank you, Maggie. I appreciate everything you’ve ever done for me.”

Amazingly, Cara walked out of Rosie’s with a smile on her face. Riding high on her new empathetic attitude, she pulled out her phone
, wanting to have a heart to heart with Brett. There was no time like the present to start resolving the issues of their relationship.

Brett picked up, but his usual joking attitude was gone. “My place is being torn apart! They have a search warrant
, and from what I understand they’re at your place, too. If I were you, I’d high tail it out of here. They are on a witch hunt, and you’re the one they’re out to burn.”