After a few minutes of chitchat, the two other young women excused themselves to use the bathroom and once they were out of earshot, Bliss took Dani’s hand. “I never did stop by to thank you for listening to me the night of the football dinner. I’ve been thinking about what you said.”
“Oh?”
“I forced myself to take a good long look at Vance and I…I realized that I didn’t love him.” Bliss’s lips twisted. “Heck. I didn’t even like him.”
“So you called it quits?” Dani asked. “What about your plan to marry some guy to support you?”
“I still have a year.” Bliss shrugged. “There are other fish in the sea and I have pretty tempting bait.” She ran her hands over her hips. “But this time, I’m going to really make sure he’s a good guy before I reel him in.”
“How about love?” Dani asked, amused at the young woman’s determination.
“That too.”
Bliss’s friends returned and Dani said goodbye. She made her way out of the main room and into a small parlor. Slouched on one of the two chairs was Vance King.
Wondering what her reception would be, Dani perched on the love seat and said, “Hi. I don’t know if you remember me or not. I catered Regina’s luau.”
“Yeah.” Vance sat up straighter. “Your food was great. Sorry about knocking over the torch.”
“Thanks. Glad I was able to put out the fire so fast.” Dani studied the young man. He was pale and seemed to have aged ten years. “Are you okay?”
“What do you think?” Lance pulled at his necktie. “I’m off the team, my girlfriend broke up with me, and my parents are so disgusted with me they can’t stand to have me around.”
“That’s tough.” Dani scooted closer so she could lower her voice. “Will you have to go to trial for breaking into Regina’s house?”
“Nah.” Vance’s fair skin reddened. “My folks got the Bournes to say that I had permission to be in their home.”
“Why would Regina’s parents do that?”
“Since Regina and I had dated, they didn’t want the contents of the video to get out any more than my parents did.” The young man squirmed. “Although people have heard about it, seeing it is a different matter. If there was a trial, it would be played in the courtroom. Then it would doubtlessly get on the internet and live forever.”
“Well.” Dani patted Vance’s clenched fists. “At least you won’t have to worry about having a criminal record.”
Vance shrugged and didn’t respond.
“I’m sorry you lost your spot on the football team, but it’s probably for the best that Bliss broke up with you.”
Dani was surprised when Vance sighed, “Yeah. We weren’t right for each other.” His lips quirked at the corners. “One of the cops took me aside and talked to me about my…ah…unusual tastes.” He glanced at Dani and when she nodded her understanding, he stared at his hands. “He has similar preferences and steered me toward a club of like-minded men and women. He’s going to mentor me in the lifestyle.”
“That’s good.” Dani was thankful for her experience in HR. This was far from the first time that she’d heard about BDSM. “I believe the rule is safe, sane, and consensual. As you follow that tenet and find a woman who likes what you like, I bet you’ll end up a lot happier than trying to change or hide who you are.”
He grunted his agreement and Dani said goodbye, then wandered into the other room. Holding back a giggle, she wondered if anyone else had ever dispensed advice about BDSM at a funeral.
A commotion at the funeral-home door drew Dani’s attention away from her speculation. Standing just inside the room, arguing in whispers, were Chelsea and Trent Karnes.
Dani moved toward them in time to hear Trent say to Chelsea, “I feel like a hypocrite being here.”
Chelsea tightened her grip on her husband’s arm and hissed, “Just say you’re sorry for their loss. You are sorry Regina is dead, right?”
A mutinous look on his handsome face, Trent muttered, “Of course I’m sorry. But those people didn’t even come home when they found out their daughter was murdered. They’re no more in mourning than my computer is.”
“You’re probably right,” Chelsea said, guiding her husband toward the front of the visitation room, “but since when does sincerity matter in our crowd?”
As the Karneses moved off, Dani rolled her eyes. She was glad she only had to cook for the upper class, not socialize with them. Speaking of which, what was Ivy doing here with Laz? She hadn’t said anything when Dani had told her she was going to the wake.
Dani spotted them seated on a small settee situated off to the side of the row of folding chairs. Curiosity drove Dani over to them and as soon as Laz spotted her, he dropped Ivy’s hand and shot to his feet.
His ears red, he said, “Ivy didn’t mention you were coming to the wake.”
“Oh?” Dani raised a brow. “Maybe she didn’t remember me telling her.”
“You were already gone when Laz texted to see if I’d go with him,” Ivy explained.
“How are you doing, Laz?” Dani asked.
“Okay.” The young man shrugged. “Today’s hard. I keep trying to reconcile the Regina I knew all my life with the one she’d turned into at the end.”
“It seems that there’s often a distance between our visions of someone we think we love and who they really are. A lot of us never make that crucial leap because the price can be too high. We’re afraid that if we see the real person, we won’t be able to handle it.”
“I suppose that’s true.” Laz slumped. “I knew my folks expected us to get married and I didn’t want to see who she really was because then I’d have to disappoint my parents one more time.”
“And now?” Dani asked, glancing at Ivy. She hoped the girl wasn’t letting herself in for a
