Valley of the Moon (19 page)

Piper beckoned to me and mouthed the words, “Come with us!”

I shook my head. My feet wobbled in Candy’s heels and the bodice was making it hard to breathe. I just wanted to get it all over with and go home.

Piper and her dad made their entrance. Then Cressida and Martin. Fernanda Cruz. Bernadette and her father. Finally, it was my turn. Miss Grimm grimaced when she saw me at the front of the line. Alone.

“Oh Lana, this is terrible.”

“It’s fine, Miss Grimm. Really.” But inside, the butterflies were going wild.

“Marissa Frye!” I heard the announcer trill. I was right after Marissa. She and her father stepped over the threshold into the darkened gym to loud cheers.

“Oh dear! Well, we don’t have much of a choice, do we? Get ready, Lana. Wait…wait…and…GO!” At the last second, I hesitated, one foot on the threshold. All those people, and I was going to waltz in solo? Was I nuts? I took a step backwards. My car was right in the parking lot… I could run, jump in, and just drive away…

I heard my name blasting through the loudspeaker. “Miss Lana Goodwin!”

Miss Grimm gave me a firm push, and I lurched forward into the ball.

***

The instant I stepped inside, a dazzling spotlight blinded me. The cheering crowd went silent as I stood there blinking in the light. I couldn’t see a thing. The announcer said my name over the loudspeaker again. “Miss Lana Goodwin!”
Just get it over with. Wave and leave.

I gritted my teeth and took a wobbly step forward. To my astonishment, a muscular arm slid around my waist.

“Sorry I’m late,” a male voice said. The stranger led me to the center of the dance floor, placed his hand on my waist, and spun me around. A dim part of my brain registered wild cheers from the crowd, along with a few catcalls.

“Hey Lana,” he whispered. “Breathe.” The spotlight illuminated his face and I found myself staring into a pair of wide-set hazel eyes. All the blood in my body defied gravity and rushed to my head. Somehow, incredibly, it was Tractor Beams. The guy whose car I crashed. The guy from my dad’s shop. Dark hair cut short, high cheekbones, the chin with the little cleft in it, those eyes.
This is not happening. How can this be happening?

“If I had known what you looked like out of that valet uniform, I would have tried a little harder to be on time,” he whispered in my ear.

“But what…what are you…” was all I managed to say before losing radio contact with my tongue and my vocabulary.

“Mind if we go someplace we can chat?”

He threaded his arm through mine and guided me to the edge of the dance floor. Fernanda Cruz stared at him like she wanted to eat him. In fact, a lot of the girls were looking at him. So were some of the mothers.

The Briar Athletics Pavilion had been transformed into a glittering ballroom. There was a shiny dance floor in the middle, ringed by round tables draped in silver tablecloths. Extravagant flower arrangements were set on each table. A small orchestra at one end of the gym—complete with musicians in white tuxedos—played the greatest hits from the 18
th
century.

As we made our way through the crowd, I even caught a few grandmothers ogling him.

I was at a convention of hungry lions with a dead gazelle in my mouth.

Behind us, I heard the announcer call the name of the next girl. He led me to a small table in the corner and pulled out a chair for me. I pulled my arm free and faced him.

“Why are you here?” I demanded. “What is going on? Is this a joke?” His eyes glowed with pleasure.

“It’s kind of a long story. I heard you needed an escort to this shindig. I’m not normally in the escort business. But for family, I make exceptions.” His eyes crinkled and the dimples in his cheeks deepened.

Wait. WAIT. Did he say…family?

“What are you talking about!” I shook my head in a futile attempt to think clearly. Could he be a relative of my dad’s from Kansas City? He sure didn’t look like he lived in a trailer park or ran a truck stop bar. Then I remembered Ramona’s phone number programmed into his car. I didn’t want to hate him, but if had anything to do with Ramona, I’d have to. I braced myself to hate him.

“Have a seat and I’ll explain.”

I obeyed, hardly able to breathe. He sat next to me and scooted his chair close. I could smell his cologne. He adjusted his tie and leaned in towards me.

“First of all, you look very nice. I’m glad you didn’t wear the wig.”

I blushed hotly. “I only wear that for work.” He grinned and his eyes twinkled in the low light.

“Second, I’m really sorry about your dad.”
How does he know?
“I hear he’s going to make a full recovery, which is awesome.”

“How do you know about him?”

“My name is Alexander Ambrose. We’ve been looking for you, Lana Goodwin.” My mouth went dry. Ambrose.

I gathered my shattered thoughts and cleared my throat.

“But…you already found me! When you bought your car from my dad’s shop!”

He grinned. “You’re an excellent saleswoman, by the way. I didn’t know who you were yet. Sheer coincidence. My father saw the car online and sent me to pick it up. Lucky for me my mom hated it, so now it’s mine. Severine didn’t ask me to help find you til last month.”

He was looking for me.

For me.

“Who is Severine and why’d she ask you?” I tried to act normal but it was hard when he kept looking right at me. His eyes glinted gold in the low light.

“Great-aunt Georgette’s old servant. She tried writing you letters, she said. She asked me because she knew I lived in San Francisco, and out of all the Ambroses, I’m the only one close to your age.” Great-aunt Georgette! I had a billion thousand questions. But I first had to know more about the handsome stranger who, it turned out, I had some actual, real connection to.

“So how old are you?

“Twenty-three.”

“And you’re saying we’re related?”

“Yeah, we seem to be cousins—distant cousins. But not so distant anymore, right?” He laid a hand on mine. His skin was dry and warm. I took a deep breath. My thoughts ran wild and I tried to control the heat rising in my face.

“I didn’t know I had any cousins.” Especially not gorgeous ones.

He laughed. “I’ll draw you a family tree one day. Here’s the abridged version: Claudette Ambrose was your great-grandmother—Bart Fremont’s mother—and she died years ago. Georgette was her little sister. Together, Claudette and Georgette raised your mother in New York City after her parents died.”

I could barely breathe. All the secrets…he knew all the secrets.

“They also had an older brother, George Ambrose. My great-grandfather.” He squeezed my hand and his eyes softened. “Any questions?”

A stab of unexpected anger went through me. For so long it had just been my dad and me, alone in the world.

“Okay, here’s one—if we’re supposedly family, why did it take so long for anyone to look for me?”

He shrugged and shook his head. “My father said that Georgette tried to, but mentally, she went downhill fast after her sister died. According to my parents, she became a complete recluse. She got weird. She refused to speak English and only spoke French—I guess her mother had been French. She started collecting things—especially dolls. She had hundreds of them. I think your mother made it clear she wanted nothing to do with the old biddies. According to Severine, they didn’t even know where Tanith lived.”

“But Ramona did.”

He chuckled to himself. “Ah, your stepmother—sorry, ex-stepmother—she is an interesting woman. She’s been pretty helpful, actually.” I shook my head in disbelief.

“She lied to Severine! She told her I was out of the country.”

He rubbed his chin. “She was a friend of your mom’s, right? So maybe she was trying to do what your mother did—hide you from the Ambrose family.”

“I doubt it.” I tried to think of how explain the fact that Ramona was a poisonous snake he needed to avoid at all costs. On the stage, the orchestra music swelled for the father-daughter dance and girls rushed by us on their way to the dance floor. I watched Martin Crawford twirl Cressida across the floor. She looked out-of-character happy. I saw Ramona across the room, talking to Headmaster Wimbish. She caught my eye for a second and her scarlet lips stretched into a thin smile.

I shivered and turned back to Alexander. It was hard to look at him without staring. I wasn’t used to being this close to someone who looked like he did.

“But, why bother looking for me at all, Alexander? Just to tell me my great-great-great something or other is dead?”

He grinned at me. Those dimples. “I was just getting to that part. When Claudette died, her granddaughter and ward—your mother—showed up at the funeral, but that was the last time anyone saw her—or you. No one knew she had changed her name and moved to Sonoma. You were there.” He regarded me intently. “Do you remember? I was there, too. It was snowing that day. You must have been two or three.”

People streamed past us the watch the dance, but I was lost in another world. As I tried to absorb what he was telling me, I felt the first infant tinglings of thrilling possibility.

He continued. “Anyway, Georgette left her entire estate to her sole heir.” He unleashed a face-splitting grin. “Her goddaughter.”

I stared at him blankly. His words failed to penetrate my brain, hitting an impenetrable wall of disbelief.

“You’re her goddaughter, Lana.”

“Oh.” My stunned reaction seemed to delight him. I felt like I was floating and falling at the same time. My hands ached and I realized I’d been gripping the edges of my seat as if I was on a roller coaster.

“Hey—are you okay? Do you understand what that means?”

Nope. I didn’t understand. I didn’t believe him. I considered telling him my godmother had already said hi—from beyond the grave. But I’d save that tidbit for when he knew me a little better. I just closed my eyes and shook my head.

He grimaced. “That was probably a lot to take in. Maybe we should get some air.” He stood up and helped me to my feet. My eyes refocused just as a cluster of people headed straight for us.

Just act natural. Like your mind hasn’t been blown to absolute bits.
Maya, Piper, and the Blodgetts crowded towards me. Piper gave me a huge hug while her parents congratulated me and asked about my dad.

Piper whispered in my ear, “Dude, who is your date? Everyone is freaking out about him!”

“Oh! He’s my…wait, I’ll introduce you.” I turned back to the table, but Alexander was gone.
It was a dream. You dreamed it.

Then I felt his arm was around my waist. Relief rushed through me. I had this crazy feeling that I never wanted his arm to move. Alexander extended his free hand to Maya.

“Hello, ladies,” he said, as though this was all normal. “Congratulations. My name’s Alexander.”

Piper stared slack jawed in the full glare of his Alexander-ness.

“My cousin,” I added.

“And I’m…um…I’m… ” Piper stared at him, her name forgotten.

Maya recovered and stepped forward. “She’s Piper. I’m Maya. It is so nice to meet you!” She reached over and grabbed my forearm, digging her nails into it hard. “Come with us to the bathroom right now. I
really
think you need to go.”

“Go ahead—I’ll talk to you later,” I said. They reluctantly walked away and I turned back to Alexander. I had a few billion more questions for him. But before I could say another word, a familiar perfume stung my nose.

“May I offer you
my
congratulations, too?” Ramona’s jet-black hair was swept back into a glossy ponytail. Her smile glittered with sly intent. She had removed her suit jacket to reveal a tight black sheath, cut low.

“Ah, thank you, Ramona.” Over her shoulder, I watched Cressida slinking over to join us. My heart sank.

“Salutatorian, that’s quite something,” Ramona purred. I could sense her coiled pounce. She casually glanced up at Alexander and unleashed a blinding smile.

“Alexander! How lovely to see you again. How were my directions?” My hatred for her boiled. Why was she even talking to him? He was
my
cousin. This was
my
life. She had interfered enough.

“Got here a little late, but I made it,” he said. Ramona firmly guided Cressida so she stood right in front of him.

“May I present my daughter, Cressida?”
Maybe this is why Ramona wanted him here. To meet his future bride.

“Very nice to meet you, Mr. Ambrose,” Cressida said in a quiet voice. “My mother has told me so much about you.” I rolled my eyes. She held out a limp hand and Alexander shook it politely.

“Your mother told me how close you and Lana were growing up,” he told her. I almost laughed out loud. What other lies had she told him? Cressida shot me a quick look.

“I’m sorry about your dad, Lana. Tell him I said hi, okay? He was always really cool to me.” She glanced away and bit her lip. Alexander wrapped his arm around my shoulder.