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“She’s with Simon.” Coop turned around. Except Kelcie wasn’t standing next to Simon. Worry elbowed angst over things with Vivi aside. Kelcie was in no shape to be wandering around alone. “Simon, where did she go?”
“She said she needed a drink.” Simon looked up from his phone, scanning their surroundings.
“I see Xuri on the steps leading down to the pool,” Dotty said excitedly. She handed Coop her water glass. “I’m off for my modeling audition.” She turned, facing the chairs in the gazebo, both of which were empty. “Where’s my coat? I set it down right here.”
“Your ring.” Vivi paled, staring at the empty chairs.
Coop, Simon, and Vivi immediately mobilized and searched the area, including the bushes and grounds in a ten foot radius. But the coat had disappeared. Apparently, along with Kelcie.
The mass of attendees thickened, crowding around the pool where Xuri and an entourage of black-clad, ultra-thin models struck poses. The music faded away.
“Party people,” Xuri said in a loud, grating voice. “This is your chance to catch my attention.”
“Like anyone could dance in this throng.” Coop scoffed as the band began playing something that sounded like hip hop.
“I’m missing my audition.” Dotty looked like she might cry. “Xuri can’t see me without the coat, not in this crowd.”
“Here.” Coop removed his black suit jacket, plucking his cell phone free of the interior pocket. “You can do your dance audition for Xuri wearing my coat. We’ll clear you some space.”
The elderly woman eyed it with distaste.
“We can make this work.” Vivi took Coop’s jacket and helped her grandmother into it. She rolled up the sleeves and turned up the coat collar. “Summer women don’t give up.”
“You’re right. I’m going to make my way to Xuri and dance in her face.” Dotty fluffed her short gray hair. “Wish me luck.” She strutted off toward the other end of the pool with a hip-swaying attitude experienced runway models would envy.
“Hey!” Vivi pointed. “There’s her coat.”
Sure enough. A woman wearing Dotty’s coat weaved her way through the crowd toward Xuri, hood up so they couldn’t see her face. The rest of her body was hidden by Xuri’s audience.
Vivi darted off, heading for trouble with Coop at her high heels.
“Since when do you ride shotgun for damsels in distress?” Simon tried to walk at Coop’s shoulder. “Your interest in women doesn’t last beyond a date or two.”
“I’m not that guy anymore, Simon.” He was Chuck. Or Shakespeare.
Just a hardworking man that a hardworking woman needed.
Chapter Ten
A lie. A wicked lie.
The real Shakespeare would rail at her kissing cowboy’s deception.
Violet had no time to throw a fit or tell Cowboy/Chuck/Shakespeare/Coop what a rat turd he was for pretending to be something he wasn’t. She had to be her grandmother’s wingman and get her coat back before her grandmother’s priceless ring went permanently missing.
She jostled someone as she passed. “Sorry.” She kept moving, kept bumping into people, kept apologizing. She passed by four, five, ten people and whoever had Grandma Dotty’s coat on was still the same distance ahead of her.
The partiers made room for Xuri. The designer strutted down the steps toward the pool deck in ridiculously high, black platform pumps. Her dress was a collection of colorful ribbons sewn to a sheer, thigh-length sheath. She wore a black bowler cap over a blond wig and used a cane as a third leg to navigate through the crowd, tapping partiers with it to get them out of her way to the pool.
A few people were trying to audition, performing hip hop moves, dancing aggressively in tight quarters. Perhaps too aggressively. Someone got punched in the face and a fight erupted. A woman was shoved into a cluster of people, and they all went down like dominoes.
Forget saving Grandma Dotty’s ring, Violet had to save Grandma Dotty!
“I think Kelcie stole the coat,” Chuck, or whatever his name was, said from behind Vi.
“Whoever stole the coat will be sorry once my grandmother catches her. One time at Bergdorf’s, she got into a tug of war over the last pair of sandals on clearance.” Security had been called. “But you don’t need to worry about us. I’ll protect her.” If only she wasn’t still twenty feet away.
“We still need to talk after this is over.”
