you!” Risa kissed the air just far enough from Danielle’s cheek so the gesture wouldn’t disturb the perfect makeup that was not only Danielle’s hallmark, but her trademark as well.
A year ago, even Risa had begun using DeLorian cosmetics, despite their outrageous price. “What the hell?” Lexie had told her. “So it costs a million to look like a million — the way you’re selling these days, you can afford it.”
Drawing back from Danielle’s cheek, Risa introduced her former client to her best friend.
“Risa navigated me through an absolute nightmare of a deal a couple of years ago,” Danielle told Lexie in a soft southern drawl that belied her sharp intelligence. “I’ll be forever grateful.”
“I’m so glad it worked out for you,” Risa said, then turned to see that the line had moved and Conrad Dunn, a bemused expression on his face, was waiting for her.
Flushing, she quickly moved forward. “Conrad!” she said, handing him her check as she leaned in to kiss him on the cheek. “Thank you so much for including me in this. I’m just—” She hesitated, searching for the right word, then shook her head helplessly. “I’m just overwhelmed. What you’re doing is wonderful, and I’m so happy to be able to help.”
“And I’m just as happy to have you here. You know we built the new clinic on that piece of land you helped us buy.”
“Actually, I did know that,” Risa replied. “I’m just glad I was able to help.” She turned toward Lexie. “Do you know my friend Alexis Montrose?”
Conrad turned his warm gaze on Lexie. “Thank you for coming.” He smoothly eased them toward Margot to keep the line moving, and Risa extended her hand, which Margot seemed hesitant to accept. Even when she finally did, she still hung back so her face was deep in shadow.
Clearly, Margot Dunn wished she were elsewhere, and was eager for the evening to be over. Risa couldn’t blame her. As far as she knew, this was the first time Margot had been out in public since the accident a year ago, which had received far more publicity than Risa thought it deserved. Still, she, along with everyone else, was finding it hard not to stare at Margot’s scars, and as she and Lexie moved away from her toward the dessert table, Risa heard one woman whisper to another, loud enough to be heard by everyone within twenty feet, “Did you
“There’s Mitchell Hawthorne,” Lexie said, dropping half the chocolate truffle she’d been nibbling onto the table. “You should meet him. He’s in the industry.” She took Risa’s elbow and began steering her through the crowd. “Absolutely tons of money,” she whispered, bringing her lips close to Risa’s ear, “and living in a terrible piece of crap out in the Valley.”
Risa winced at Lexie’s habitual crude directness. “Always happy to meet a potential new client,” she said, following her friend to a tall, silver-haired man holding a glass of champagne and speaking with two other men, one of whom had a familiar face.
Like the two women who had brushed by Risa a few moments ago, the men were talking about Margot’s scars. “Frankly, I don’t see how she can show herself in public,” the silver-haired man said as Lexie reached out and took his arm to draw him around.
“Mitchell,” she said, greeting him with a warm hug. “I want you to meet Risa Shaw. When you decide it’s time to buy something decent to live in, she’s the one to call.”
Risa took Mitchell Hawthorne’s extended hand, but before she could say a word, one of his friends cut in.
“Christ, Lexie,” the familiar face — who turned out to be a minor TV actor — said. “What was Conrad Dunn thinking, letting Margot show that gargoyle of a face tonight? Who’d want to contribute after seeing her? If I were him, I’d lock her up where no one could ever see her again.”
Risa glanced nervously around, hoping Margot Dunn was nowhere in the area, but as she scanned the crowd she realized that it wouldn’t matter where Margot was; everywhere she looked, she could see people whispering to each other, then looking guiltily toward the Dunns, obviously hoping they weren’t overheard. After forcing herself to chat a moment longer with the three men — and pocketing three business cards — Risa aimed Lexie toward the ladies’ room. There, at least, she might not have to overhear any more talk about their hostess.
As they passed the bar, they saw Corinne Dunn standing alone, sipping a martini. “You make a terrific emcee,” Risa said, pausing to introduce herself and Lexie.
Corinne smiled warmly. “I can’t tell you how gratifying it is to see all these children go on to lead normal lives,” she said. “You’d be amazed at how many of them stay in touch with us for years afterward.”
“It’s a wonderful thing the foundation does,” Risa said, then followed Lexie into the ladies’ room, where her friend bared her teeth in front of the mirror to make sure not a fleck of anything was marring their whiteness.
“Boy,” Lexie said as she fished in her bag for her lipstick. “This is the place to schmooze the rich and famous, isn’t it?”
“It’s an admirable charity,” Risa observed archly, even though she knew at least half the people in attendance were there for exactly the reason Lexie had just stated. “But I’m worried about Margot. She doesn’t look well.”
“I wonder why her husband hasn’t fixed those appalling scars yet?” Lexie said. “Everybody — and I mean
“I’m sure he will,” Risa replied in a tone that clearly told Lexie she didn’t want to talk about it anymore.
As usual, Lexie ignored her tone. “I mean, how long has it been? A year? Don’t you think he would have done something by now if he could have?”
“I don’t know,” Risa said, freshening her own lipstick. “And I don’t think we need to talk—”
“She’s probably just going to have to learn to live with it,” Lexie broke in, carefully adjusting her studiously casual hairdo. “How awful would that be?”
“Very, very awful,” Risa replied. “And she certainly seemed depressed. I feel so bad for her.”
Lexie’s brow rose sardonically. “Well, she better get undepressed or she’s likely to lose that gorgeous husband of hers. Every woman in this place would kill to take him over.”
Risa gave her a sidelong glance in the mirror. “Including you, Mrs. Happily Married?”
“I could be Mrs. Happily Unmarried in a heartbeat if Conrad Dunn came on the market!”
A toilet flushed, and a moment later Margot Dunn emerged from one of the stalls. Risa’s cheeks burned as she quickly replayed in her mind everything she and Lexie had said while standing in front of the mirrors, and wished she could drop through the floor.
Not even acknowledging their presence, Margot walked directly to the sink, calmly washed her hands, then dried them and left the room.
Risa slumped against the wall, her stomach churning, her face still burning with embarrassment.
Lexie, though, only shrugged. “So what if she heard us?” she asked, reading Risa’s mind. “It’s not like any of it was news to her.”
Risa said nothing, but made a mental note to call Margot in the morning and apologize.
If, that is, Margot Dunn would even take her call.
CAROLINE FISHER BALEFULLY EYED her last customer of the evening, who was still sitting at the round table in the corner, still sipping his decaf, and still reading the paper. He’d been there for at least an hour and seemed in no hurry to leave, even when she’d made a fairly unsubtle show of locking both doors and turning off the OPEN sign in the window.
Now, at seven minutes past her ten o’clock closing, Rick was cleaning the espresso machines while she finished straightening the displays of coffees, mugs, and other caffeine-related accoutrements the shop sold, then began to put the chairs up on the tables.
“Oh,” the man said, finally folding his paper. “I didn’t realize it was so late.”
Caroline gave him a smile she hoped looked warm. “You can just leave your mug there,” she said. “I’ll take care of it.”
“Thanks,” he said, tucking his paper under his arm as he waited for her to unlock the door to let him out into the warm Encino evening.
“Some people have no place to go,” Ricky said as he gave the countertops a final desultory wipe-down.
“Well, I
“Yeah, me, too. I think I’m finished here.”
Caroline nodded, looking at the clock and deciding that whatever else needed to be done could wait until
