Page 16 of Two Hearts' Subterfuge

But following Aylin’s advice, Desiree didn’t give Lara a chance to respond.

“Don’t you look fabulous?” Desiree exclaimed. “I can sure see the resemblance between you and your mom. You’re not going to need much makeup for the stage. Lara, you’ve got great skin, don’t you?”

Momentarily bowled over, Lara’s jaw dropped open as Marc pulled his guitar from the case while Desiree opened the traveling makeup kit she’d brought along.

Continuing to subtly prevent Lara from talking, Aylin asked, “What do you think of her hair, Dez?”

“Perfect,” Desiree admitted, nodding her approval. “I’m beginning to think that there’s not much that my little sister isn’t good at.”

“I can’t carry a tune, remember? All of you are so talented. As soon as Desiree’s finished with your makeup, Marc is going to play his guitar and practice with you, Lara,” Aylin said, turning to Marc. “What would you like her to sing, Marc?”

“Lara,” Marc said. “It’s nice to meet you. I really love the quality of your voice.White Christmassounded great, but I think thatThe Christmas Songwould make a more fitting debut of your voice because of that breathy quality you can feed into the lyrics.”

“You do know the words, don’t you? That was one that you sang for me earlier,” Aylin observed.

Desiree had sprayed a thin layer of foundation on Lara’s face, adding a little color to her cheekbones. “What do you think, Aylin?”

“I like it,” Aylin agreed, nodding. “What are you going to do with her eyes? I think that a pretty shade of green and a deep violet liner and mascara would really play them up, don’t you?”

Desiree grinned, giving her a soft elbow in the ribs. “I can’t believe you’re telling me what to do. I love it. Perfect. And let’s go with purple berry lips.”

“Lara says that we should be able to choose jewelry for her in the dressing rooms. A lot of jewelry is being auctioned off, so they like the performers to wear it for display.” Aylin pursed her lips. “Lara, why don’t you use the hotel phone and call the dressing room to let them know you have a friend who’s goingto be taking your place and helping them out since you’ll be performing.”

Before Lara had a chance to answer, possibly in protest, Desiree continued where Aylin left off.

“I’m finished Lara. I’m going to have you stand and look at yourself in the full-length mirror while you make your call, since I see that the hotel phone is over on that wall,” Desiree observed, frowning as she reached for Lara’s hand, pulling her to her feet. “We still need some shoes for Lara, Aylin.”

Lara was looking dazed.

“What size shoe do you wear, Lara? Your feet look pretty small. I noticed a really great pair of dark coppery platforms mixed in with Rene’s rentals along with a matching purse,” Aylin said, not waiting for an answer.

Returning with the shoes and purse, Aylin bent down, slipping each of the shoes onto Lara’s feet. “They fit like they were made for you.”

“Perfect,” Desiree said once again, grinning as Marc sat, strumming his guitar.

“Close your eyes, Lara,” Aylin ordered, walking her toward the mirror. After reaching for the hotel phone receiver and asking the receptionist to connect them to the dressing room, she handed the phone over to Lara, ordering, “Open your eyes.”

Lara gasped as she stared at herself in the mirror, the phone receiver in her hand.

“Hello? Hello?” Someone was yelling through the receiver.

“Hi, sorry. Joanie—is that you? This is Lara. I’ve got something I’ve got to do this afternoon, but a friend of mine is going to take my place. I promise you’ll like her. I’ll come along with her and introduce you,” Lara said, sounding incredibly happy as she looked herself over from head to toe.

“Okay, ladies. Let’s practice,” Marc called out from behind them, where he’d been strumming away the entire time.

Chapter Nine

Since Joanie had reassured him that she would contact him once she met Lara’s friend, Ben finally took some time to stroll through the crowd once he was through working with the auctioneer.

Despite the snow that had fallen early this morning, there was a record turnout this year. Amazingly, they’d never cancelled the event despite numerous years of less than ideal winter weather raging through northwest Wisconsin.

All day long he’d been searching the crowd for a glimpse of the girl he’d seen through the window yesterday. If only he’d recognized any of the people in the boutique besides Rene. Rene was one of Mom’s closest friends and if Ben had asked about the girl, Rene would have undoubtedly said something to Mom. Ben needed to have a few secrets from his parents. Sometimes he felt like an open book.

He could tell that some of his friends were surprised at the fact that he wasn’t wearing a quirky tux, one of his trademarks. Of course, only a few of the guys he hung out with were herethis late in the day since they were approaching the dinner hour and the formal banquet, so they weren’t even wearing suits. It was an unspoken rule that the family would all dress formally as representatives of the Inn. Tonight’s entertainment as well as the secondary auction would now be televised locally as well as live-streamed on the internet, like it had been the entire day.

Mom was onstage right now, performing. Ben stood back in the corner for a while just watching as she lit up the stage. She sure didn’t look like a grandmother, he thought, smiling widely as his phone suddenly vibrated.

‘Lara is here with her friend. She’s so sweet,’texted Joanie. ‘I just wanted to warn you, your family is in for a surprise. Be sure that both your mom and dad as well as Eve are all watching the final afternoon performance.’

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