Tahoe Blues (4 page)

The ballroom burst into applause
, and Cara mindlessly rose to her feet. Duncan stood up right along with her and wrapped his arm around her waist. Cara gave a slight bow and felt Duncan’s strong arm pull her into his body. The room erupted in a clatter of tinkling glassware, urging the pair to kiss.

Cara felt like wood in his arms.
She kept her arms glued to her sides and resisted the urge to automatically wrap themselves around his shoulders. Duncan’s lips touched her clenched mouth and his tongue lapped at her lips trying to coax her into compliance.

Unable to take any more, Cara
opened her mouth just wide enough to clamp her teeth down hard on his lower lip. Duncan responded by running his fingers through her hair.

The roar of the crowd grew louder
, and Cara applied more pressure. She tasted blood in her mouth, and after what seemed an eternity, Duncan released her.

He leered down at her
and blotted a few droplets of red from the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand. “I can’t wait to open up the dancing with you.”

H
er voice dripped with sarcasm when she replied, “Sorry to disappoint you,
babe
, but your mother broke our agreement. I am no longer under any obligation to dance with you ever again.”

Cara turned away fr
om the man she had vowed to honor and cherish and wondered how she ever thought she loved him. Despite having dodged the bare-assed beaded disaster bullet, Duncan had found a way to humiliate her. He was cruel and heartless.

Out of the corner of her eye
, she saw that Mark had risen out of his chair to intervene, but his wife tugged firmly on his hand and insisted he retake his seat.

Not
quite sure how she accomplished it, Cara made it to the podium. When the applause died down, she made her little speech. The moment she introduced Cameron Caldwell she stepped gratefully out of the spotlight.

~~~**~~~

The music began to play and couples began to make their way to the dance floor. Cara made a point of directing the band to begin playing at their scheduled time without a word. She strictly forbade them from introducing her and Duncan and threatened their paycheck if they failed to follow her precepts.

Duncan
was the first one out on the floor with his mother on his arm. His eyes searched for Cara as he twirled his elderly partner around the room. When their gaze finally connected, Duncan gave her a nod of acceptance. Cara couldn’t believe he had given in gracefully and without a fight. Part of her expected him to haul her kicking and screaming out on the dance floor. She didn’t for a moment believe she would get off that easy and knew Duncan had something even more debasing in store for her.

Cara didn’t plan on hanging around
to find out what that might be. Right before she was about to make her escape she realized the magnitude of her drunken folly when Blackjack Barbie, Lisa Hill, appeared at the bottom of the Gone with the Wind style staircase looking frightfully unsure of herself. The voluptuous redhead scanned the hall, looking for her rich sugar daddy. Her hair was teased too big, her makeup too stagey, and the blue-beaded gown was too much of nothing. The fact that Barbie knew she was out of her element was written all over her face.

Cara
felt pressure on her arm as Duncan angrily spun her around. Without a word he shot her a nasty glare, then slowly shifted his rage in Barbie’s direction. In all their years together Cara had never seen him so irate.

The girl never even tried to maintain her composure. Duncan’s glowering
scowl bore deep into her, and she crumpled under the pressure. Barbie dashed back up the stairs. The mounds of her scantly covered rear end bounced with degradation and embarrassment up every single step of the mountainous stairway. With tears flowing freely down her face, Barbie pushed her way into the lady’s room.

Cara
was disgusted and gave him a furious shove. “Nice one, Duncan.”

Duncan
pulled her back roughly and smashed her body tightly against his. Venom poured out of his mouth, “This is your fault, Cara. What did you think would happen? I would never ask her to a family function. I bought that dress for you.”

Cara
turned her head away from Duncan’s scorn. Inga stood a few feet away. The disdain she felt for Lisa Hill clearly written on her face. Cara was livid, not only at Duncan but the entire Alexander family. “Are you kidding me?” she cursed back, a little louder than she intended. “You bought that dress to humiliate me. You wanted to degrade me and make me look like your whore. All I did was give it to the person who had actually earned the title!” Cara softened when she thought of the look on the redhead’s face. “I regret it now. Not because you didn’t deserve it, but because she probably didn’t.”

She pulled out of his grasp and headed after Barbie
Blackjack and the bare-assed beaded disaster.

T
entatively, Cara pushed open the restroom door and found the young woman crying softly. She was huddled in the far corner of a small burgundy settee with her legs pulled to her chest. The beads and sequins were not meant for anything other than standing, so Cara gandered a lot more of her husband’s paramour than she bargained for. Cara shook it off, thankful that Lisa had on at least a little more clothing than the last time the two of them had been in the same room together.

Hoping to get this over as quickly as possible,
Cara reached out and gently touched the woman’s shoulder, “I owe you an apology.”

Barbie looke
d up, blinked a couple of times, and gasped in horror.

Cara rolled h
er eyes and sat down beside her. “Don’t worry, I don’t bite.” The following sentence didn’t come out quite so easily. “However, I was the one who sent you that dress.” She paused, not wanting to continue, but she forced her mouth to form the words. “And I made it appear as if Duncan had given it to you.” The heat of shame glowed bright red on her cheeks, but she went on. “I wanted to get back at Duncan for everything he put me through. I didn’t consider the fact that you would end up taking the brunt of it and for that, I am very sorry.”

Barbie shook her head in despair, “I don’t blame you. I b
lame that bastard,” she wailed. “How could I be so stupid?”

That was it.
Cara was done. She wasn’t up for a Duncan bitch session. She had apologized for her part in making the woman cry, but she wasn’t about to sit down with the woman who had willing rocked the casbah with a married man and commiserate about how he had broken both their hearts.

With a quick pat to the girl’s shoulder
, Cara stood to leave, “Good luck. If you stay with Duncan, you’re going to need it.” She gave Lisa a sad smile and left.

Cara surveyed the Grand Hall one last time. She had done her part. The gala was a success. It would bring in a ton of money for the Foundation and her presence was no longer needed. A smile filled with a huge amount of relief washed across her face.

“You look mighty proud of yourself, Cara Lee Greene Alexander,” a warm
voice spoke beside her.

It was her t
ool-man, Tanner Reed. The scruffy look had its charm, but seeing him all decked out in his dark tailored suit made Cara’s heart skip a beat. The grin that parted her lips was instinctively coy and flirty. “Come Tuesday morning, ten-thirty Pacific Standard Time, that will no longer be the case. My days as an Alexander are numbered.” She tilted her head and twirled a lock of her straight dark hair around her finger. “What about you, Mr. Reed?” You are a bit more than our complex caretaker. I believe you must own the place.”

“My friends call me
, TJ.”

He took a step closer and
Cara inhaled his scent. “Not according to Leah,” Cara countered. “She knows you as Tanner.”

Tanner chuckled and brushed the
strand of hair she abandoned away from her face. “That was a long time ago. I saw Leah wandering around making notes on all the gowns she didn’t design. I’m glad she’s doing so well.”

At
a loss on what to say next, Cara pulled out the same schmooze she’d been dishing out all night. “Thank you for your generous support the last few years. It means a lot to us.”

“It
’s an important cause. I’m glad I’m in a position to help.”

The man looked too good to be true. His
hazy blue eyes were soft and slightly lustful. She hadn’t missed the intimate way he adjusted her hair or how his fingers brushed lightly down her arm. Tanner Reed had flirted back. Cara was a little overwhelmed. It had been a long time since she had given another man the idea that she might be interested, and it had been even longer since a man had intrigued her in such a way.

Cara turned away and gazed ou
t over the ballroom. In the middle of the dance floor she found Duncan dancing with the blonde who had been on Tanner’s arm earlier in the evening. Cara pointed in their direction and sighed. “Don’t look now, but my soon-to-be-ex is dancing with your date.”

Tanner
followed her finger and scowled.

“She’s very pretty, and young,” Cara
said, trying hard not to sound envious or jealous.

“Yes, she is,” Tanner
confirmed with exasperated resignation.

“I saw the both of you earlier. She absolutely adores you.”

“The feeling is mutual.”

It appeared as if Leah’s estimation of
the couple’s relationship had been spot on. With just a small sense of regret, Cara gave up on forming anything other than a friendship with the handsome and well-off, TJ Reed. She nudged Tanner’s arm and urged him into action. “If I were you, I’d cut in. Duncan can be extremely irresistible when he wants to be.”

Tanner
watched his girlfriend dance with Cara’s husband a moment longer, then thoughtfully nodded his head. “I just might have to do that.”

Wanting to touch him just one more time,
Cara gave him a soft smile and squeezed his firm bicep. “It’s nice to finally meet you, but it’s time for this Cinderella to leave the ball.” She tilted her head in the direction of the dance floor. “And you have a date that needs attending to.”

Tanner
frowned at his adoring blonde and Duncan as they danced wrapped provocatively in each other’s arms, and asked, “Is he as much of a dog as the papers say?”

That was a loaded question. She thought about telling him about the redhead crying in the restroom, instead she simply said,
“I wouldn’t dally if I were you. He’s actually much worse.”

Reluctantly, Cara stepped away from the hold Tanner held on her and headed for the extravagant oversized gateway to freedom. She lifted each foot and removed the last pair of Jimmy Choos she would ever be able to afford and hooked their straps onto her fingers. In a moment of pure unadulterated vindictiveness, she turned and flipped the lavish Grand Hall the bird, and walked out of the Cascade Bay Resort and Casino for the very last time.

From inside the gala, she heard Cameron Caldwell express his jubilation over the exorbitant bid Brett’s roller coaster, clown laffin’ monstrosity had brought in, and she knew she had lost the bet.

Damn, she owed Brett five bucks.

Chapter Two

Tanner Reed sat across the table of his favorite tenant and sipped a cup of freshly brewed, just for him, coffee while he sleepily stuffed his face with her latest batch of blueberry muffins. Mrs. Grimes might have had about forty years on him, but her baked goods and easy conversation more than made up for the age difference, and Tanner enjoyed being her friend.

The elderly
septuagenarian had called him at the crack of dawn to complain about her garbage disposal, again. It was the third time this week it had suddenly quit working. Tanner feared the faulty disposal was a symptom of a much larger underlying problem.

Most of the units at Granite Gates Estates had b
een remodeled and updated as they became available. Mrs. Grimes’ unit as well as the one next door, which temporarily housed the beautiful Cara Lee Greene, had not been made accessible to him. The two long time tenants, Mrs. Grimes and Beth Rainy, had been resistant to change, but Tanner knew he had better take a look at Mrs. Grimes’ electrical box sometime in the very near future, and that change was about to come looming down on her, whether she wanted it or not.

He
didn’t usually mind being at the old woman’s beck and call, but he and his little sister, Erin, had been at the gala until the wee hours of the morning. Tanner’s eyes had just closed when his phone went off asking for his assistance. He was so groggy, he wasn’t sure it was a good idea for him to stick his fingers into the belly of the meat grinder. The last thing he needed was to lose a finger.

Tanner
yawned and blinked hard as Mrs. Grimes prattled on about her cute new neighbor. Forever the match maker, Mrs. Grimes spouted Cara’s attributes like a car salesman. He swore if Mrs. Grimes made one remark about low mileage he was out of here. With all her knowledge, Tanner doubted Mrs. Grimes could add to the research he had done after he watched the local celebrity carry a box of her belongings up the front steps. At the time, he hadn’t known Cara was moving in. Beth Rainy failed to inform him of the agreement she made with the soon-to-be-ex Mrs. Duncan Alexander. Subletting one’s apartment was prohibited in the leasing agreement, but Cara had been gossiped about and humiliated in every newspaper, blog, and coffee shop in town. That alone would have convinced him to loosen up on the rules a bit, but when the bottom of the box of precious cargo she carried dropped away and scattered an extensive array of phallic shaped sex toys out over her small front yard, he knew he would never have the heart to kick her out.

The
edge of his weary lips smirked a grin when he recalled the horror on her beautiful heart-shaped face, and the flying of her straight cocoa-colored hair as she raced around the yard trying to retrieve her goodies. Luckily she hadn’t known he had been watching from across the street in the unit he was working in. Tanner had jumped off the ladder and was about to help her, but stopped short when he saw the appliances on the ground were not ones which were typically found inside a kitchen.

Later that day
, he discovered one of the devices of personal pleasure hiding under a bush near the walkway. The rechargeable bunny eared apparatus was concealed inside a paper bag under his sink. In a quandary about how to return it without causing further embarrassment, for either himself or Cara, Tanner suspected it would remain in his custody a bit longer.

He tuned out Mrs. Grimes
and wished she would change the subject. There was no need for her to push him into the beautiful woman’s direction. Cara had been grace under fire when Duncan tried to use the benefit gala as a way to force her to pretend affection. She had dealt with a lot as the wife of that piece of pond scum and appeared stronger for it.

Tanner hel
d Cara in the highest regard. He didn’t know if he had a chance in hell, but he planned on getting to know his new tenant much better.

Tanner
hadn’t been celibate since the death of his wife, but he hadn’t put himself out there either. The idea of forming another serious relationship scared the hell out of him. But the long legged vision in unit 269 had him multiplying his remolding efforts in the vacant apartment across the street. It was the perfect vantage point to catch a glimpse of her short shorts walking out to her car, or standing with Mrs. Grimes out front.

T
anner suspected Mrs. Grimes orchestrated a few of those outings hoping to spur him into action.

Tanner looked at the joyful crinkl
es around Mrs. Grimes’ pale gray eyes. The old woman and her new neighbor had become chummy, and he wondered if he should have Mrs. Grimes return Cara’s toy for him. There was no way the curious lady would be able to resist taking a peek inside. He imagined the traumatized look on her wrinkled face and had to suck in a chuckle.

Tanner had been nursing his cup of coffee
, but when Mrs. Grimes began asking about Erin and the gala, he rolled his head back and stared at the ceiling. That was another subject he didn’t want to discuss. Not that he was doing any of the talking. Mrs. Grimes was doing fine all by herself.

Tanner shuddered to think what might have happened i
f Cara hadn’t pointed out the lascivious dance of deception taking place between his little sister and her ex. Even after he cut in and made his feelings clear, Erin found her way back into the dick wad’s arms several more times during the course of the evening.

Every time Tanner cut
in, he earned not only Duncan’s wrath, but Erin’s too. Tanner didn’t care. As long as there was a breath inside of him, there was no way Erin was going to get involved with Duncan Alexander.

As Erin laid into him, he watched Duncan walk up to a solid
rock of a man and angrily spout some orders. Tanner couldn’t hear what was said, but the way Duncan accentuated each word with the sharp bounce of a fierce index finger, Tanner expected to be expelled from the ball at any moment. The muscled brawn glanced his way with an appalled look on his face. Then surprisingly, he tapped his watch, shook his head, and turned away from the blustering, crowned prince of Tahoe.

Just as he was about to haul her out of that affluent
hell hole, Erin slipped away from him again. It had taken him another hour to catch up with her, and Tanner hadn’t been able to bring himself to wonder about what happened during the missing time frame.

Mrs. Grimes
tapped his hand. “Are you listening to me?” she asked softly.

Brought back to the present, Tanner shook his head. “I’m sorry Mrs. Grimes.” He stood
to leave. “I didn’t get much sleep last night and I’m beat. If it’s just the same to you, I’ll look at the disposal later.”

Mrs. Grimes nodded with understanding. “I’m the one who should apologize. I can see how tired you are and
yet I keep rambling on.” Then with a gleam in her eye she said, “Just promise to tell me all about the ball later.”

Tanner pulled the little old lady to her feet and wrapped her up in a warm hug. She had been like a mother to him since the day he took over the place
, and he hadn’t expressed his gratitude nearly enough. He stepped back and patted the top of her silver gray head. “I’ll catch you later, Mrs. G.”

~~~**~~

Cara slipped on her running shoes and took the two mile downhill jog to the lake. She crossed Tahoe Boulevard and made her way down Speedboat Way. The sun was already well above the ridge as she snaked a course through the residential area down to the beach. This was one of her favorite areas in Tahoe. The unique rock formations had been formed about four-hundred million years ago by a process known as fault blocking. Large boulders seemed to be stacked precariously on top of each other, but neither millions of years of Mother Nature raining down her worst, nor the thousands of visitors who had climbed, pushed, or prodded had been able to topple their vast mass.

Reaching
the water’s edge, she looked out and was once again amazed at the sight. The rocks which rose out of the water were immense, and their rounded bodies were reflected in the calm of the new day. In a few hours the bright sun would glint off the water, and the small lake waves made by the wind and passing boats would shimmer brightly.

Th
at was the way Cara wanted the lake to stay, clean, clear, and at certain times of the day, blinding.

Due in part to her research and fundraising efforts, Lake Tahoe had been getting just a little bit bluer.
Less than fifty years ago you were able to see over a hundred feet down from the surface. By nineteen ninety-six, that number had declined to a mere sixty-two feet. Today, between education and a lot of hard work, the lake’s visibility had increased by about ten feet.

Pollution, runoff
, and climate change were the biggest offenders, but Cara’s expertise approached the problem from a different angle. She and her research assistants scoured the lake several times a week searching for invading life forms. During the past century numerous non-native species had been introduced to the lake and had altered its natural ecosystem. Some of this introduction had been intentional. By the end of the nineteenth century and throughout the nineteen-forties, the lake had been repeatedly stocked with different types of trout and salmon. Then species like the crayfish and Mysis shrimp had been added to help improve the fishery.

More recently
, the illegal introduction of largemouth bass, bluegill, Asian clams, along with certain plant life, had placed an enormous amount of stress on the lake, and the native species who once thrived in the icy cold waters were now struggling to survive.

The latest culprit discovered was none other than the common
goldfish.

No one could imagine
that it was capable of living in the lake’s mountain water. Dumping the no longer wanted little fishy into the lake had probably seemed like the humane thing to do. The destruction that seemingly benign act could cause had probably never entered the offender’s mind.

Cara was determined to change that. She was a firm believer in the power of the press and Cameron Caldwell, the local anchorman for channel KOTV’s evening news, who had lent his v
oice at last night’s gala, had promised his support in getting the story told.

Education, education, education, she was determined to drum her message home in as many different avenues as possible. Her students and research assistants, fondly known as her disciples, represented
the future guardians of the lake, and she had no problem exploiting their boundless energy and enthusiasm to its fullest.

In a few weeks she’d be back on their research vessel for their summer session
, and this year in particular, she was looking forward to it. The Lady of the Lake Aquatic Research Vessel, lovingly called LOLA, was her pride and joy. It had taken years to convince the regents of the college to agree to help fund the acquisition of the upscale fishing boat. The fifteen year old watercraft had been outfitted for their specific needs. LOLA might have a few years on her, but she always got the job done.

Wanting a better view, Cara scrambled over a rocky outcropping and made her way around the point. She jumped down into the sand and watched a large terra-colored crayfish
that had been scavenging in the shallows shoot off for cover.

She loved the
serene mornings. Momentarily, she had the beach to herself, but Cara knew it wouldn’t be long before that changed. Soon open water swimmers and their companions cruising along on their stand-up paddle boards would dot the tranquil waters. Cara wanted to be gone before they arrived. They were a chatty group and Cara felt like keeping to herself.

The unsettling events at the gala had left her shaken. It was just another day in the life for anyone involved with the Alexanders, but Cara had taken great pains to leave the family turmoil behind
, and facing another round last night had been harder than she expected.

Cara
climbed the weathered wooden steps and headed back up the hill towards home. The rhythmic pounding of her feet matched her breath. She let go of the clutter that filled her mind, no Duncan, no gala, no drama. The only thought that rummaged through her head was that of the suave and sophisticated, Tanner James Reed, property owner. She knew that sounded a bit snooty, but she didn’t care. The hard muscular body of, TJ, the complex caretaker had caught her interest. She felt flush thinking about the way he walked and how his tool toting belt made his jeans hang low on his hips. She had more than enjoyed the look of his ripped abs and broad shoulders, but the man she saw last night had cut quite the figure, and he had taken her breath away.

Tanner
appeared to have found a balance between both worlds. He obviously had some wealth, but he didn’t flaunt it or expect people to treat him with respect he hadn’t earned. Duncan could make no such claim.

Her mind drifted to
his date, the young blonde Tanner had brought to the gala. His reaction to her dancing with Duncan had seemed a bit odd. He told Cara point blank that he adored the young woman, but then seemed reluctant to leave Cara’s side to disrupt the lusty lascivious dance between the two.

Her
breath became labored as she drove herself up the steep hill and her body warmed. Thoughts of Tanner continued to run through her mind, and her body let off a shiver of anticipation to once again see sweat glistening on his brow as his defined biceps heaved a heavy load of sheet rock into the dumpster.