Game of Chance

by Donna Vitek

  Tears that didn't seem quite genuine filled Wendi's eyes and her lips trembled. "Oh, please, Kathy. I'm desperate. None of the hotels are hiring, so I haven't been able to see anybody with any authority since I've been here. I get turned away by secretaries before I even get a chance to audition." She sniffled. "You're the last hope I've got. I don't know anybody else here and since your father probably knows the very people I need to meet, couldn't you please just introduce me to him? Oh, please. If you'd just do that much for me, I'd be grateful forever."

  Katherine sighed. As on the first day they had met, she felt a surge of pity for the older girl. "Look, Wendi," she said gently. "It's just so hard to get a job here as a singer or a dancer. So many people audition and so many of them are really good."

  "But I'm really good, too," the girl insisted, clutching Katherine's arm. "I really am. If you could just hear me…"

  "I don't doubt you're a very good singer," Katherine assured her kindly. "But as far as I know they have all the singers they need in both the lounges here and most of the big-name talents bring their own back-up groups. I wish I could be more encouraging, but it's just so hard to get a break in a gambling resort town. Maybe you should go somewhere like Los Angeles or something and get a better agent."

  "I can't go anywhere! I only have enough money to stay here a couple more nights!" Wendi cried. "After that's gone, who knows what I'll have to do to survive."

  Now, Katherine didn't know what to say. Though Wendi should have had the common sense to have saved enough money to leave here, she hadn't done so and Katherine could sympathize with her plight. Yet, she still didn't want to introduce the girl to her father and she shifted her feet uncomfortably, trying to decide what to do.

  The decision was made for her. "Taking a break, Kit?" Brice asked as he stepped behind her and as she turned, he gave her a half smile. Then he noticed Wendi, who had turned on a deliberately seductive smile. His solemn green eyes swept over her dark hair and petite yet curvaceous figure, narrowing appraisingly. After a long moment, he turned back to his daughter. "Well, if you're taking a break, you might as well do it in comfort. Come on to the office. And bring your friend along."

  Katherine was trapped. As Brice strode away, she had no choice but to follow and Wendi was nearly skipping along side her. "Ooh, isn't this just perfect. He is your father, isn't he? He must be. You have eyes just like his. And he's not busy after all. You can introduce me to him."

  Katherine nodded reluctantly, her stomach muscles tensing. Some sixth sense told her she would regret making this introduction for a long time. Unless she wanted Wendi to cause a scene, however, she lacked any other alternative. Dragging her feet, she followed her father through the receptionist's office, sighing as Wendi nearly stumbled over her in her eagerness to keep up with him. Then as Brice opened the door to his secretary's office and Katherine saw Jess look up from her desk and smile fondly at him, she had to bite back the groan that rose in her throat. If her father became involved with the irrepressible Wendi, Jess was going to be hurt once again and, indirectly, it would be all Katherine's fault or at least she felt that it would. What a stupid mess, she thought miserably, tempted for a moment to leave before she could make the introduction. But it was too late. Her father and Wendi were already exchanging interested glances and the smile on Jess's face had been replaced by an expression of weary resignation. So when Brice looked at his daughter expectantly, she simply did what she had to do. She introduced him to Wendi, who languidly held out to him the hand that bore a ring on every finger. He held it longer than necessary, his gaze drifting over her voluptuous body again, then he gave her one of his enigmatic smiles. "You like jewelry, Miss Miller?"

  Wendi laughed coyly. "I'm like most other women, Mr. Delacorte. I like nice things."

  "Call me Brice," Katherine's father said, finally releasing the beringed hand. "And what do you do to earn money so you can buy yourself nice things?"

  "Oh, I'm a singer, a very good one. In fact, I've sung in some of the best clubs in San Francisco," Wendi said, embellishing the truth as she had told it to Katherine on the plane. "Right now, I'm on vacation. I came to Tahoe to see if I might like to work here. I've decided it's a pretty nice place. And since Kathy… I mean, Kit, and I became friends on the plane, she offered to ask you if you might have some contacts in the bigger hotels." She laughed too brightly. "So, I decided I'd drop by and meet you. She said she was sure you wouldn't mind."

  Brice ignored Katherine's sharp intake of breath. Though he couldn't have possibly believed Wendi's lies, it didn't seem to matter if what she'd said wasn't true. "I do know a few people," he said softly, cupping the girl's elbow. "So why don't we go into my office and discuss this."

  Giving him another provocative smile, Wendi moved close against his side, glancing up at him with genuine interest in her eyes. Brice's silent, brooding, yet commanding personality obviously intrigued her as it had intrigued countless young women before her. Without so much as a good-bye to Katherine, Wendi allowed Brice to escort her inside his private office.

  The moment the door closed behind them, Katherine spun around to face Jess. "I didn't offer to introduce her to him, honestly, Jess," she said urgently, regret darkening her eyes to deep green pools. "I wouldn't ever have volunteered to bring a girl like her here to meet him. She's desperate to find a job in one of the lounges so I knew what she'd be willing to do if she met Father. I would never have brought her here willingly because I wouldn't hurt you for anything, Jess. Please believe me. I just met her again out in the casino, then my father came along and…"

  "Hush, Kit," Jess said softly, with an understanding smile. "It's all right. If it hadn't been her, it would have been some other young woman just like her, so don't blame yourself."

  "How do you stand it, Jess?" Katherine whispered miserably, thinking as much of Jason and Julie as she was of Wendi and Brice. "Doesn't it hurt you terribly to see him with someone else?"

  "It hurts, but not as much as it did at first," Jess answered, staring pensively at her desk. "Or maybe I'm just used to it after all this time."

  Not long ago, Katherine would have asked Jess why she didn't just walk out on Brice, but since she had met Jason, Katherine was beginning to realize some problems simply didn't have easy solutions. How odd it was. After seeing how her father had hurt Jess, she herself had gotten too involved with a man just like him.

  On impulse, she went around the desk to brush a kiss across Jess's cheek. "I wish you could have fallen in love with someone more dependable ten years ago," she said softly. "But I guess we don't always love wisely, do we?"

  As Jess shook her head, Katherine went to the window to stare out, not really noticing the boughs of the tall pines and shorter, fuller cedars swaying in the breeze. She sighed. Then a sharp, unrelenting pain settled in her chest as she looked at the parking lot and saw Jason and Julie standing beside the silver Jaguar. As she watched, the blonde stretched up on tiptoe to press her lips against his in a lingering kiss. Hastily turning from the window, Katherine bit down hard on her lower lip. "You know," she said tremulously, "I feel very out of place here."

  Jess looked up, her smile too wise. "I know exactly what you mean, Kit," she murmured sympathetically. "You wouldn't believe how many times I've thought the very same thing about myself."

  Chapter Seven

  Katherine arose later than usual the next morning, having spent a restless night. Dragging herself out of bed reluctantly, she shed her white cotton nightgown and went to take a bracing shower, hoping it would make her feel a bit more energetic. The cool spray bouncing against her skin succeeded in making her feel more alert and after putting on a sleeveless, cream-colored sundress that accentuated her light tan, she sat down before the vanity mirror to arrange her hair in a loose chignon on her nape.

  Deciding she looked too pale, she applied a light amount of peach-tinted blusher to her cheeks, then brushed mascara onto the sun-bleached tips of her brown lashes. Leaning closer to the mi
rror, she examined the faint shadows beneath her eyes. If Mallie noticed them, Katherine supposed she could explain them away by lying and saying she had read too late last night. Actually, though, she had fallen asleep almost immediately after going to bed, only to awaken after a couple of hours and lie there until nearly dawn's first light, thinking of Jason.

  "Stupid waste of time," she told her reflection with a disparaging toss of her hand. "I just bet he didn't waste his night thinking about you when he had Julie to keep him entertained."

  Julie. The mere thought of the dancer was enough to increase the tight ache in Katherine's chest. Her father had told her that Jason had been out with a couple of the showgirls but didn't seem involved with anyone in particular. Now it looked as if that had changed. He and Julie were apparently seeing each other quite often so Katherine had no choice except to assume their relationship was becoming serious. Of course, she had suspected Jason didn't spend all his nights alone, but it hadn't hurt so much to think of him with women who meant nothing to him. But apparently, Julie was different. He had even asked her to come stay with him when he was sick, making it quite clear that she meant more to him than Katherine did.

  That hurt much more than Katherine knew she should allow it to. From the beginning, she had known what kind of life he led, that he made no lasting commitments, and she had resolved not to become involved with him for those very reasons. Now that her firm resolution had crumbled to dust, she could blame no one except herself for the emotional wreck she was becoming.

  "Oh, drat," she muttered, irritated at Jason and at herself and at the whole world in general.

  After making her bed, Katherine left her room to go into the kitchen for a much needed cup of coffee. Her father was already there, seated at the table in the breakfast nook. When she walked in, he laid his newspaper aside to half smile at her.

  "You're late getting up this morning," he commented as she sat down across from him, cupping a mug of coffee in her small, slender hands. "You're feeling all right, aren't you?"

  "Fine," she answered shortly, still miffed at him because of his reaction when he met Wendi last night. Through the fringe of her lowered lashes, Katherine eyed him speculatively. Actually, she wouldn't have been surprised if he had not come home last night at all. She suspected Wendi Miller would have gladly welcomed him to spend the night in her hotel room, despite the fact that she had only known him a few hours.

  Since he was home, though, Katherine's attitude mellowed slightly. At least he hadn't been completely taken in by Wendi's batting eyelashes and sugary, come-hither smile.

  "Didn't you say you planned to go shopping early this morning?" Brice questioned further, reaching into the inside pocket of his jacket. He brought out a slim, expensive Moroccan leather wallet, from which he withdrew several bills of large denomination. "Of course, I want you to charge all your school clothes to me as usual, but this is mad money. Go to a jewelry store, perhaps; buy something really nice." He held out the money, smiling that crooked, rather uncomfortable smile.

  After hesitating for a moment, Katherine took the money, staring at the sheaf of twenty-dollar bills. "But there's over two hundred dollars here," she exclaimed softly, confusion unmistakable in her green eyes as she looked back up at him. "It's too much. You're paying for all my school clothes anyway. So you don't have to give me this, too."

  "I know I don't have to. I want to," he said flatly, his tone discouraging further argument. "Just spend it, Kit. Buy yourself a pretty gold chain or something. Now, since it usually takes you all day to shop for clothes, I think you should get going. Don't you?"

  "I guess so," she agreed, smiling her thanks. But as she folded the money and slipped it into her dress pocket, she heard footsteps in the hall and the door open behind her. As she turned to greet Mallie, her eyes widened and she had to bite back a surprised exclamation. It wasn't Mallie who sauntered lazily into the kitchen. It was Wendi Miller, acting as if she had every right to wander unannounced into Brice's house. Ignoring Katherine, she gave him a languorous and too familiar smile. - "Morning, darling," she whispered seductively, leaning down to kiss his cheek. "How do you manage to look so well rested and alert? You didn't leave me until after three this morning and I must admit I feel so lazy, I think I could sleep 'til noon. But since you promised to introduce me to the fellow who books the entertainment at Cedars, I decided to come over here and ride to the hotel with you."

  Resentment erupted in Katherine and she turned a chilling glare on her father, her eyes glittering like shards of green ice. To his credit, he did seem embarrassed, but Katherine was so disgusted with him at that moment, she hardly realized she was seeing him blush for the first time in her life. Clenching her jaw, she rose to her feet, tossed her napkin down on the table, then marched out of the kitchen without so much as a glance at Wendi.

  In the hall, Katherine's hands balled into tight fists at her sides. She could hardly believe her father was actually becoming involved with an obvious gold digger like Wendi Miller. This was too much. It had been difficult enough to respect him before. Now, Katherine was certain she could never look him straight in the eye again. Storming into her room, she slammed the door behind her, not caring if the sound reverberated throughout the house. She kicked off her cork-soled sandals, gaining some grim satisfaction as one went soaring through the air to land with a resounding thump on the cedar hope chest. She was muttering to herself as her door was suddenly opened and she spun around just when Brice stepped into her room.

  "Kit, I think we should discuss this. I…"

  "I don't want to talk to you," she announced stiltedly. "There's absolutely nothing to say."

  "Yes, there is," he argued, approaching her. He sighed when he reached out as if to touch her hair and she jerked away. "Kit, listen, I can explain."

  "You don't need to explain," she muttered rather sarcastically. "I have eyes and what I just saw explains everything to me."

  "Be reasonable, for heaven's sake," he mumbled, beginning to pace back and forth in front of her, avoiding her accusing stare. "I may be your father, Kit, but I'm also a man. And you're old enough to understand now that men have certain needs."

  Too angry to blush, Katherine only grimaced distastefully. "I do understand that. But must you satisfy these 'certain' needs with… with women like her? For goodness sake, she's so… so willing. And not just with you, I'm sure. So your involvement with her had to be meaningless. Isn't it? Isn't it utterly meaningless?"

  His pacing ceased as he stared broodingly at her. "Look, Kit, I didn't expect you to ever know I was seeing her. I had no idea she would drop by here this morning. I'm sorry she did while you were still here."

  "Why?" Katherine countered sharply, staring right back at him. "If I hadn't seen her this morning, would your relationship with her seem more proper to you? Or would it just have been easier for you to keep seeing her on the sly? If you feel the need to sneak around, you must know you're crazy to be involved with her! You must realize she expects something out of all this. She's using you! You must know that."

  "I know that very well," Brice responded curtly, his own green eyes taking on an impatient glitter. "I'm no fool."

  "Then why do you continually get yourself involved with women like Wendi?" Katherine retorted heatedly. "What's the matter with you? There's Jess…"

  "What the devil does Jess have to do with any of this?" Brice interrupted irritably. "Why drag her name into it?"

  "If you don't know why, then I'm certainly not going to tell you," Katherine answered disgustedly. "Just tell me why you let women like Wendi use you? All she wants is a singing engagement somewhere here in Tahoe and she's hoping you'll use your influence to get her one."

  "I'm well aware of that. I certainly didn't think she'd fallen madly in love with me. Nor would I want her to. Look, Kit, Wendi and I are both adults. We're attracted to each other."

  "I suppose that means you plan to go on seeing her?" Katherine exclaimed disbelievingly. "Although you
admit she's only using you, you plan to see her again? You can't be serious! But you are, aren't you? Well, let me tell you something: If you keep seeing her, you won't be seeing me. I'll leave here and that's a promise."

  Brice muttered a curse beneath his breath. "You seem to be forgetting that I'm the parent here. You're the child and I'm the father," he proclaimed brusquely, with more emotion than his daughter had ever seen him display. "You may be twenty-one, young lady, but you'll not begin to tell me what to do."

  Katherine gasped softly. Her father had never spoken to her that way before. He sounded like… like a father and it was a little too late. After years of paying little attention to her, she deeply resented his exercising his parental prerogative now. Even though he was her father, he certainly couldn't order her to live with him while he and his… his doxy conducted their shabby fleeting affair. She simply wouldn't do it. Squaring her shoulders, she stared defiantly at him. "All right, keep seeing her, but don't expect me to stick around here, condoning this meaningless relationship. I won't live under the same roof with you as long as you're involved with her!"

  "Katherine," he muttered, his use of her proper name a warning in itself. "I've heard enough from you this morning." Reaching into his trouser pocket, he withdrew his keys. "Now, take the Porsche and go shopping as you planned. And forget all this. It doesn't concern you."

  "You think not?" she asked mockingly, pulling the money he had given her from her dress pocket. "Well, I think it concerns me plenty and I'm not about to let you ease your guilty conscience by sending me on a shopping spree. Here, take your two hundred and give it to Wendi. She earned it, I'm sure. And don't think I'll buy clothes for school, either. I'd walk around campus naked before I'd take anything from you."

  "You're over-reacting," her father said succinctly, ignoring the money she thrust out toward him. He went to the door, then stopped to look back at her. "After you've calmed down, we'll discuss your school clothes again. Now, I'm late so…"