Her brothers had been predictable with the ‘it’s too fast’ and ‘you just got together’ comments, but she almost throat punched Luke when he compared it to her mother’s string of love affairs. The only thing that saved him was when he finished with, “I’m worried you just went through an ordeal, and you aren’t thinking clearly.”
“It’s not fast at all,” she said through gritted teeth. “I’ve felt this way for months, and it’s not like we weren’t already living together.”
“I like Wes. I just want you to be sure. Until a couple of weeks ago, you insisted he was in love with someone else.”
His words brought a twinge of doubt, but she shrugged it off. Either she was going to trust Wes with her heart, or she wasn’t.
The bid for the house was accepted, and they expected to move in a little more than a month. After a week in a hotel, Cara was ready to be around her own stuff again. Wes needed to travel to Jin and Nina’s house to work every day because the Wi-Fi wasn’t secure at the hotel, and with Atlanta traffic, that was a nightmare. It made sense for them to return to the little house in Chamblee.
It wasn’t as painful as she expected. The house had been cleaned since they left, and no sign of the break-in remained. Skye called her soon after she returned from Ireland and asked Cara to work with her on a new TV show at Magnolia Studios. While Cara was flattered at first and enjoyed the new job, it made her realize that being a makeup artist wasn’t where her passion lay.
She loved makeup and the camaraderie of the set, but in her off hours, she found joy mixing new concoctions and experimenting with oils for the skin. Cara sourced a natural foods wholesaler where she could order large amounts of ingredients for the beauty products she was making at home. Needing feedback from someone who had been in the industry longer than she had, Cara invited Skye over and tentatively laid out her plan.
“I know everyone thinks they’ve got the next best thing—”
Skye rubbed a dab of the face cream between her fingers. “I like the texture.” She rubbed it into her hand and raised it to her nose for a sniff. “The light honeysuckle is nice, too. Floral but natural.” She cocked her head. “So, where are you going to sell it? The Peachtree Farmers Market?”
Cara beamed, her excitement growing. “Do you think people would buy it?”
Skye appeared thoughtful. “I think if you get some cute packaging and play up the all-natural benefits, you’ve got a shot. Also, we’ll get people we know in the entertainment industry to post on social media to drum up some interest. Can’t hurt to try, right?”
“This calls for bubbles,” Cara said, getting a bottle of champagne from the fridge. The ladies were two glasses in and searching the internet for packaging ideas when Wes came home slinging his messenger bag over the back of the sofa.
“What are we celebrating?” he asked, with a smile.
“I showed Skye the creams.” Cara couldn’t contain her grin, and Wes smiled at her proudly.
“They are pretty great even I have to admit.” He rubbed his cheek. “My skin feels better since she started using me as a test dummy.” Wes came around behind her chair and bent to kiss the side of her neck. “But I don’t know how I feel about all these other girls running around Atlanta smelling like you.”
Skye pretended to gag. “Could you two be any cheesier?”
Over the next couple weeks, as they slowly packed up the house, Cara created enough of her product during her off hours to display at the farmer’s market.
The only ugly spot on her new happiness was that the investigation into Courtney’s connection to their father’s murder had stalled out after Dublin.
James could find no record that matched the police report in the official files, and they concluded it was fake, too. It also explained why Courtney hadn’t repeated her threats. Declan was still trying to track down Vincent Menardi, her father’s head of security, and Mrs. Woodson had remembered nothing new.
Cara knew Declan wouldn’t give up, but she needed to move on with her life.
CHAPTERFIFTY-EIGHT
“I’msorry I can’t come with you today.” Wes stacked the last box in the back of her car. “I’ve got to finish this report.”
Cara gave him a kiss as she opened the door. “It’s not a problem! Skye is coming with me, and she’ll help set up. She’s proven to be an exceptional asset. No offense, but somehow I don’t think sitting at a table, talking to people about skincare, is a great fit for you.”
“Skincare I could do… in measured amounts, but people.” He gave a mock shudder, and she laughed as he had intended. Wes watched as Cara buckled herself in and shut the door.
For the next couple of hours, he concentrated on the reports he needed to get out. Their closing on the new house was Tuesday, and the movers were coming on Wednesday. Shutting his computer, he went to the refrigerator to get a drink.
Hearing heels on the tile, he asked, “How did it go?” But the words died in his throat when he saw Melody standing just inside the front door with a suitcase at her feet. “Melody? What are you doing here?”
“Aren’t you happy to see me?” She sashayed toward him.
Wes frowned. He didn’t like the look of this. Now that the blinders had fallen from his eyes, he was more wary of his old friend. “It’s always great to see you,” he hedged. “I’m just surprised. Where’s Luca?”
She didn’t answer his question, casting a glance at the boxes stacked around the room. “Did you finally find a house?” She lifted her hands in front of her mouth in an expression of excitement, but it didn’t ring true. “I can’t wait to see it.”
“Wedid.” He saw the second his deliberate word choice registered with her. A small twitch in her eyes gave her away, but Melody didn’t acknowledge it. Instead, she licked her lips, and moved closer to him. He felt a tinge of sadness for her. “Melody, what’s going on? Why are you here?”
