Page 108 of A Whim and a Prayer

Greetings sounded around the table from everyone but Winnie, who stood frozen to the spot, wondering why the woman she’d pushed into Beck’s arms had to look just like a young Hedy Lamarr.

Really, God?

She jolted when Abby pinched her leg under the table, bringing her back to the painful reality that if she truly loved Beck—and she did—she would be civil to his girlfriend. Swallowing the lump of shock in her throat, she stepped forward to extend her hand. “Hi, Cari Lee, I’m Beck’s friend, Winnie. Nice to meet you.” Winnie inwardly cringed inside at the lie that so easily slipped from her mouth.

Cari Lee timidly shook Winnie’s hand, her smile nothing but kind. “His best friend, I know. Beck talks about you all the time.”

Winnie’s chuckle was strained. “Gee, I hope not—that sounds like a pretty boring date.”

Cari Lee peeked up at Beck through thick dark lashes, her smile both shy and smitten. “Oh no, our dates are never boring.”

Beck cleared his throat as he turned to Hedy Lamarr. “I thought you said you wouldn’t be here tonight.”

“I wasn’t supposed to be, but when my girlfriends heard Tommy Dorsey was playing, we decided to come after all.”

Surrre you did, Winnie thought, her smile suddenly feeling so plastic, she turned to grab her Coke, lashes lowering in shame while she took a large gulp of her drink.

Love never fails.

All at once, she was miffed. Not so much at Cari Lee Barton for hunting Beck down, but at God for opening her eyes to the truth—that all these years, Beckett Campbell had been a far better friend to her than she’d ever been to him. Glugging down the rest of her Coke, she made up her mind right then and there that for Beck, she could not only change, she would change. And she’d begin right now.

Whirling around, she gave a nod toward the dance floor as the band began to play. “I don’t blame you, Cari Lee—Tommy Dorsey is one of my favorites too.” She elbowed Beck. “Go on, Campbell, ask the girl to dance! Where are your manners?”

Beck stared at her open-mouthed. “But you and I were going to dance—your favorite song, remember?”

Cari Lee took a step back, more color flooding her cheeks. “Oh, no, please—I’ll just see you at work on Monday, Beck.”

“Nope.” Winnie gave Beck a push in her direction as several from their table got up to dance, along with others who headed for the restroom, obviously giving them privacy. “I’ve been out there with him all night, Cari Lee, and my feet are pretty sore.” She bent to rub the top of her foot as she scrunched her nose up at Beck. “And I don’t mean from dancing, so you best watch your step.”

“You sure, Pooh?” Beck studied her as if confused by this sudden change of heart.

“Yes, I’m sure.” She shooed them away as she took off her pumps and sat down to put her feet up on a chair. “You two kids go and have some fun.”

“Well … okay. If you say so.”

“Thanks, Winnie, so much!” Cari Lee laid her purse on the table as she awarded her that same sweet smile that put a cramp in Winnie’s gut.

“Yeah, thanks, Pooh—I owe you one,” Beck said as he placed a hand to Cari Lee’s back to usher her to the floor, casting a grateful smile over his shoulder before disappearing into the crowd.

“No, I owe you, Beck, and way more than one,” Winnie whispered, hardly able to believe what she’d just gone and done.

A guy asked her to dance and she pointed to her bare feet with a sad smile, sending him away like she’d done all night to every guy who’d approached. Because there was only one she trusted enough to dance with, and he was out on the floor with another girl. Her heart stopped when she caught a glimpse of Beck and Cari Lee through the crowd, his head tenderly against hers as she laid her head on his chest.

A pain unlike any she’d ever felt seared through her so strong, she caught her breath. “Love never fails,” she whispered over and over, striving for a calm she so desperately needed. But when she saw Cari Lee lift up on tiptoe to brush her lips against Beck’s, she couldn’t help but wonder …

If love never failed …

Why did it feel like it right now?

Chapter Seventy-Four

Squinting at the inventory sheet before him, Beck blinked several times to try and clear the blur from his mind, scratching more numbers down on the inventory sheet the dock foreman was supposed to do but usually left for him. Even the four cups of black coffee hadn’t helped jumpstart his day, nor the sugar overload from the box of donuts someone had brought in. But then not getting home from a New Year’s Eve party till four in the morning didn’t help either. Nor did volunteering to do a favor for a friend by taking the 9-hour holiday day shift from nine to six. Beck sighed as he finished and initialed the page.

Sagging back in Mulvaney’s chair, he yawned with a wide stretch, his thoughts wandering to the night before. The Herald New Year’s Eve party Cari Lee had invited him to sure hadn’t been what he’d expected, but it had been fun.

When Cari Lee had first asked him in the stairwell the day he’d found her crying, he hadn’t realized it wasn’t just a copywriter’s department gathering—where she worked—it was The Herald’s bigwig’s private party at The Hotel Statler. His lips twitched with a near smile, remembering the surprised look on Mr. and Mrs. Dennehys’ faces when they saw him there. Jaws dropped, they’d recovered nicely, no doubt surprised he wasn’t back at their house for Winnie’s New Year’s Eve party. He’d introduced Cari Lee to them—whom Mitch obviously already knew—and both were most gracious to her.

He’d been more than impressed that Cari Lee was a copywriter because females were few and far between in that occupation. But when he learned she was a “Beacon Hill society brat,” it all made sense because her uncle was on The Herald’s board of directors, something Beck wasn’t a bit comfortable with.