Lovers' Lies

by Shirley Wine

  "Victoria?"

  She wanted to ignore him but knew she couldn't. With a regal nod she acceded.

  "This way." Keir touched a hand to her elbow as he guided her past chattering guests. "Have you met Cameron Bennett?"

  She halted mid-step and looked up at Keir, eyes wide with surprise. "The chairman of Bennett & Bennett?"

  At Keir's nod her heart skipped a beat.

  "He's here?" she asked, giving him a look of pure disbelief.

  Bennett & Bennett was a global firm that specialized in the import and export of flowers.

  "He is."

  "Do you know how difficult it is for a small outfit like mine, to get the big suppliers to even notice me?"

  "I thought that might be the case," he said, expertly guiding her across the room. "When I learned he was on Muriel's guest list I thought you'd appreciate a face to face meeting."

  "I've been trying for months to make contact with their local rep."

  "I thought it the least I could do for you," he murmured in her ear.

  Victoria's heart thudded and her breath caught. How was she meant to interpret those quiet words? She had no time to ponder this startling disclosure before Keir skillfully insinuated them into a small group enjoying a spirited conversation.

  "Cameron, this is Logan's friend Victoria Scanlan, she owns Victorian Grace," he said introducing a stocky, sandy haired man. "Victoria, Cameron Bennett."

  "I'm so pleased to meet you, Mr. Bennett," she said as they shook hands. "I've been trying to make contact with your firm for a little while now."

  "Have you? Victorian Grace?" Shrewd hazel eyes gave her a quick once-over. "I've heard the name."

  "Isn't that the floral boutique on the corner of Wakefield and Main?" The vivacious blonde beside him gave Victoria an assessing glance.

  "It is," Victoria replied, returning the woman's smile.

  "Lorna Daintry.” The woman introduced herself. “You did the flowers for Patrice Fielding's wedding?"

  "I did indeed." As they shook hands, Victoria gave her a swift appraisal. Was she Piper's mother?

  "They were stunning." Another woman chimed in claiming her attention. "Wherever do you come up with such original ideas?"

  "It's my policy to take my cue from the bride," Victoria said, including the entire group in her reply. "It's her day, so to me her wishes override everyone else's, even the bride's mother."

  Chuckles greeted these words. "And I'll bet you have to cope with some bridezillas."

  Victoria laughed. "I've had my share of those too."

  "Bridezillas?" Keir asked, looking at the women, obviously perplexed.

  The women exchanged looks of shared feminine wisdom as they all laughed.

  "They’re the brides from hell," a petite red-head took pity on Keir and explained. "They're the brides who turn from mild mannered girls into demanding divas and find fault with everything from the seamstress, the florist, the caterers and any other person unlucky enough to be connected with her day."

  "I've never had a bride I haven't been able to calm down yet," Victoria said with a smile. "The worst behaved ones are usually just stressed out, most often by over-zealous mothers or sisters trying to horn in on their big day."

  "Isn't that the truth?"

  "If you're able to do that, you must be a remarkable young lady," Cameron Bennett said, joining the conversation. "Do you have a business card?"

  "Of course." Victoria handed her wine glass to Keir while she extracted a card from her small purse and gave it to Mr. Bennett. "I always carry them."

  He gave her an approving nod, studied the card and then after a swift shrewd glance, slipped it in his suit pocket. "I'll be in touch."

  "Thank you," she said, allowing a small relieved breath to escape. Keir handed her back her wine giving her a knowing smile.

  As he moved closer, they were joined by Davina.

  One look at her expression and Victoria's spirits sank. She turned to Keir, gave him and then Davina a gracious smile, not prepared to give the other woman a chance to ruin a promising introduction.

  "Thank you for introducing me to Mr. Bennett, Keir," she included the whole group in a general smile, "now I need to return to Logan."

  "I'll escort you."

  Victoria touched a hand to his. "There's no need. Davina needs your attention."

  Keir nodded and turned to his fiancée.

  With a soft, relieved breath, Victoria rejoined Logan. She'd barely reached his side when Wilkins announced dinner.

  Logan escorted Victoria and Piper in to dinner.

  The table had been extended to seat the extra people and was set with damask napery, glittering silver and sparkling crystal. It looked like a setting for a banquet on some lavish film set.

  It seemed a shame to disturb it in any way.

  But Victoria's appreciation evaporated the moment she realized Muriel's seating arrangements effectively put her as far from Logan and the rest of the Donovan family, as possible.

  It was a very public snub.

  Mortified heat seeped into Victoria's cheeks as a woman prepared to sit on the chair next to Logan.

  It was Keir who was first to react.

  He put a staying hand on the woman's shoulder, and gave her a charming, apologetic smile. "I'm so sorry, but my step-mother's made a mistake. Ms. Scanlan sits next to my brother."

  Victoria glanced at Muriel, and saw her tight-lipped anger.

  Caine moved to Keir's side. "I'm so sorry, there's been a seating error, but it's easily rectified."

  "Oh dear," Muriel said, approaching the family group, fussing and fretting. "Have the servers made an error?"

  The head waiter approached Caine. "Is there a problem, sir?"

  A fresh wave of heat scalded Victoria's face and neck. She had never felt so uncomfortable.

  "It doesn't matter. Don't rearrange everyone because of me."

  "It does matter, Victoria," Caine said, with a calm authority Muriel couldn't challenge without losing face. "You're here as our son's guest, a member of the family."

  Deftly, without embarrassment or undue disruption, the head waiter rearranged the seating at Caine's request.

  Victoria eased out a soft, relieved breath when she was finally seated between Logan and Piper, but the disconcerting scene diminished her enjoyment.

  How could Muriel blame the wait staff for her own malice? It was so mean-spirited to publicly blame people, she knew, were in no position to defend themselves.

  The head waiter's impassive expression sufficient for Victoria to know there had been no mistake.

  Muriel had intended to deliver Victoria a crushing public snub.

  And it was Keir's quick action that rendered the snub innocuous.

  Chapter Nine

  After dinner, Logan escorted Victoria back out to the gathering room.

  "That was so embarrassing," she murmured leaning close to Logan's ear.

  "Tell me about it. But you know what," he said, shaking his head. "I've never seen Dad or Keir publicly challenge Mum before."

  "I'm grateful they did." She looked around wide-eyed. "Wow, this is huge."

  While they'd been at dinner, folding doors had been opened into the adjoining conservatory and a second lounge. Comfortable chairs had miraculously appeared and were artfully arranged so everyone would face a small stage set up with stools and amplifiers. Off to one side a screen was set up and a small lectern. Victoria guessed these were for the speaker.

  Logan glanced at his watch. "In a few minutes there'll be an influx. These are always big do's."

  Logan's words were prophetic.

  Elegantly clad couples arrived in twos and threes.

  Davina glided among the arrivals, meeting and greeting, elegant and poised. Her blonde hair, piled in a woven crown, was held in place with an elaborate diamond pin.

  More diamonds at her throat and ears competed with the solitaire in the engagement ring gracing a long slender finger, the symbol of possession. />
  Keir shook hands with men, was kissed and welcomed home by women.

  Victoria had to admit they made a beautiful couple, Davina an accomplished hostess.

  Muriel and Caine went forward to greet a small woman, wearing a close-fitting, bright red cloche hat, matching floral patterned dress and a delicate air of fragility.

  Victoria heard Logan suck in a harsh breath, and she turned to him. "What is it?"

  "That's Melanie Croft."

  "And she is?"

  "She has cancer," he said, voice flat and unrevealing. "And my ex-girlfriend."

  "She's the guest speaker?"

  "I guess."

  Victoria watched him, frowning. "You didn't know?"

  "That she was speaking? Not hardly."

  Piper joined them, the way she insinuated her hand in Logan's made Victoria suspect they shared a history with the girl taking the stage.

  "How come you didn't know?" Victoria glanced at them and then back to woman in red.

  Shushing sounds from the audience as Caine adjusted the microphone halted their conversation, and they hurriedly found seats.

  "We're here tonight to help raise funds for desperately needed cancer research. It's my pleasure to introduce Melanie Croft, one of the bravest young women I've ever met. She's going to give us an insight into her life and her ongoing battle with cancer."

  As she stepped up to the microphone, Caine hovered protectively close.

  A picture came up on the screen of a beautiful, dark haired young woman mounted on a dappled grey thoroughbred, its bridle festooned with rosettes.

  The hush was absolute.

  "Two years ago," Melanie glanced around the audience, her gaze touching every person there, her soft, lilting voice clear and composed, "I was selected to trial for the Olympic equestrian team. To me, it was a dream come true. From the time I was a little girl, my dream was to ride at the Olympics."

  She looked up at the screen.

  "That's me and Misty at the Kihikihi International horse trials. One of the conditions of taking part in the trials was a full medical check-up.

  "I went off for my medical on a high. The whole world was mine to conquer."

  She paused and looked around the room, again making eye contact everywhere.

  "Two weeks later, I was undergoing chemotherapy and later, radiation after being diagnosed with Ewings Sarcoma, a common cancer to affect teens."

  Victoria's breath backed up in her throat, hands clenched in her lap. Dear God. How would she cope if it something so awful happened to Connor?

  "Why me?" Melanie shook her head. "Believe me I went through all the stages of grief, anger, disbelief, denial and ultimately acceptance. The chemo made me so ill. My hair fell out," she touched a hand to her hat, "the tiniest cut bled like crazy. Insect bites became running sores."

  Melanie's soft voice never faltered as she described the nightmare of her day to day battle with the cancer that was ravishing her body and would one day soon, claim her life.

  Tears stung Victoria's eyes.

  A surreptitious glance confirmed she wasn't the only person moved to the point of tears. What courage.

  Her gaze sought out Keir and she saw him wipe away tears. Under his hard exterior beat a soft heart. She glanced at Logan, but his face was set and impassive, his grip on Piper's hand, tight.

  Women throughout the room were wiping their eyes.

  "This is why we're asking for donations. More research is so desperately needed. It's too late for me, but maybe with further research, more young people can be saved in the future."

  With those words, Melanie beckoned to four young people all dressed in black, standing to one side.

  They bounced up onto the stage two standing either side of her. The tallest one grabbed the mike. "We agreed to come to Darkhaven tonight for our friend, Mel."

  Melanie made a show of grabbing the mike back.

  "Tom always steals my thunder. He started when we were at playschool, filching cookies from my lunchbox. Ladies and gentlemen, The Tin Roof Toms."

  There was a ripple of laughter and applause.

  Tom grabbed the mike back. "We're asked so often how we came by the group's name. What can we say? All blame lies with our mothers. I'm Thomas Abercrombie and play the violin."

  He beckoned to the second man. "Thomas Martin who plays cello."

  "Thomas Davies who plays violin-cello." The third guy stepped forward and waved. "And last, but by no means least, our lovely vocalist, Tomasina Shaw."

  It was only then Victoria realized a fourth member of the group was a woman.

  "We started life with the very unoriginal name, The Four Toms. And then one day as we practiced in a shed, Tomasina's mother came out, hands clamped over her ears."

  He mimicked a wild woman to titters of laughter.

  "You kids sound worse than tomcats caterwauling on a tin roof," she screamed at us.

  Tom Martin ran his hands across the cello.

  Laughter greeted this sally.

  "And so The Tin Roof Toms were born. Thank you Mama Shaw."

  A burst of applause greeted this.

  "Tonight, our Mel has requested we start with her favorite song, an old 1940's Louis Armstrong hit."

  He handed Melanie the mike.

  "Take it away guys," she said quietly and left the stage to a burst of applause.

  As the haunting jazzy notes of What a Wonderful World in a deep mezzo-soprano filled the room, tears leaked from Victoria's eyes.

  But the moment of melancholy was soon dispelled as the room rocked to the sound of The Tin Roof Toms. Their music and humor brought Darkhaven alive.

  This was chamber music as she'd never heard it before.

  Some considerable time later Victoria realized Logan and Piper had quietly slipped away.

  The evening wound down, visitors left, and house guests sat in small groups, enjoying a champagne nightcap.

  Some of the men opted for spirits, Keir one of them.

  As waitresses in crisp black and white uniforms moved through the crowd, offering canapés and drinks, Keir swirled amber whisky in his glass, listening but not joining in the conversation.

  "Well I intend finish my Master's," Piper said, addressing the young man who was heckling her. "There's no way I'm going to let my brothers beat me in the education stakes."

  "What are you studying?" Victoria asked intrigued, and too aware of a stirring of envy.

  "Business management." Piper pulled a wry face. "Caleb's the brainy one in our family. He's a doctor doing his intern year at Auckland Hospital. He's going to specialize in family medicine."

  "And your twin?"

  Piper gave Logan a hard look. "Matt's in London, as you're well aware."

  "Doing what?" Logan taunted. "Living off his trust fund?"

  "No. He's gaining valuable overseas experience."

  There was no mistaking Piper's tart hostility. Victoria glanced from one to the other. What had taken place when they absented themselves from the concert?

  "Experience?" Logan scoffed. "And you, you're prepared to give up your life of pampered luxury? Actually work for a living? For sure I thought your ambition was to be a kept woman?"

  The biting edge to Logan's teasing brought a flush to Piper's face. Victoria frowned, glancing from one to the other, unsure what to make of the undercurrent of tension arcing between them.

  "And when that cozy relationship turns to custard, how am I expected to manage then?" Piper shook her head, red gold curls escaping their confinement. "No way will I be reliant on any man's goodwill for my bread and butter."

  "Bravo, a wise young woman." Victoria came to Piper's aid. "You stick to your guns." She turned to Logan. "Have you always been a closet Neanderthal, Logan? Most modern women do have careers."

  His teasing worried Victoria. This was a side to him she'd never seen. She watched Muriel through the screen of her lashes. The slight curve of her lips, the satisfied gleam in her eye revealed that the barbed exchange p
leased Logan's mother.

  What Victoria didn't understand was why?

  She glanced at Caine. He watched Logan and Piper, his mouth crimped tight with disapproval.

  Thoroughly unsettled by these observations, she stared at the champagne in her glass.

  "So how do you earn your living?" Davina asked, in a pseudo interested tone.

  Victoria gave a start as she realized the comment was addressed to her.

  "I own and manage a floral boutique." Victoria refused to let the other woman ruffle her composure. "Like Piper, I value my independence."

  "You own it?" The innuendo, the arch expression was deliberate. "You’re very young to have accomplished what would daunt many, much more experienced retailers."

  Tamping down temper, Victoria took the query at face value. "I found it a real struggle to first, but Victorian Grace is now doing nicely."

  "Such a cute name." Davina selected another canapé from the tray of a passing waitress. "Dreams of grandeur?"

  Sadness tugged at Victoria.

  "It's a combination of my name and my late mother's," she said softly shaking her head. "It was my way of honoring a very special lady."

  Davina's eyes narrowed. It was obvious she didn't like, or expect that answer.

  "What happened to your dreams of University?" Keir asked, watching her intently. "And that lucrative scholarship you'd won?"

  Victoria met his gaze, expression limpid.

  For one hell raising moment she was tempted to tell him, oh-so-sweetly that his son’s birth had scuttled those dreams. "Life has a way of changing dreams."

  One glance at Davina warned she wasn’t about to allow the subject to languish. Her next barb wasn't long in coming.

  "University studies are so expensive." She selected another canapé with such exquisite care that Victoria knew it was designed to create maximum impact. "Your family couldn't afford to help you?"

  "My father has a young family to support."

  It was the truth, partly. Her father had grudgingly given her monetary support until her business was established. And Daphne's baby was due soon.