Shadow in Serenity

thirty-four


This reminds me of the restaurant where Ricky Ricardo used to sing in I Love Lucy reruns,” Carny said when they’d been seated at their table in what looked like an old-world opera house.

Logan admired the woman across from him rather than their surroundings. “Have I told you that Jason knew what he was doing when he picked out that dress for you?”

Feigning disgust, she looked at her watch. “Well, I’ve had it on for almost an hour now, and I haven’t had any proposals yet. This husband-hunting isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.” She shifted in her seat, as if uncomfortable with his admiration. “Changing the subject — I’ve been thinking about my parents, and their threat to come to Serenity. What if they actually do it? What if they try to horn their way into the plans for the park?”

He thought for a moment. “Well, no offense, Carny, but I don’t think they fit the profile of the kind of employees I had in mind.”

She seemed relieved. “And what if they were to invest a big hunk of money?”

He stared at her for another moment, realizing that a week ago he might have taken it. But that was before the park was legitimate … before he decided to turn his lies into truth. “I wouldn’t take it.”

A slow smile spread across her face. “Thank goodness.”

He frowned. “What do you mean?”

“I was testing you,” she said. “And miraculously, you passed.”

“Why? Your parents aren’t really coming?”

“Oh, they’re definitely talking about it.” She shifted in her seat. “You see, Brisco, even if the park is real, I’m still against it. I think it’ll change Serenity. But if it’s what the rest of the town wants, all I can do is try to make sure Serenity isn’t violated by it.”

“I realize that,” he said. “Which is why I’ve been thinking about a specific role for you in the park.”

“Oh, no. I don’t want anything to do with it.”

“You might want this,” he said. “I was thinking of making you the park commissioner. You could actually be in charge of maintaining the park’s integrity. Making sure you only have honest people working there, with only honest attractions, and that the park represents the best and cleanest … and sweetest aspects of Serenity.”

Her expression didn’t change noticeably. “That would make me a direct adversary of yours. As you built the park, I’d be second-guessing every step of it.”

“Aren’t we already? Frankly, I’m settling into the role.”

“You’ve got to be kidding. It would be like shooting yourself in the foot.”

“No, it would be like making sure I didn’t overlook anything. I’ll be busy, Carny, and things will get past me. I can’t think of anyone in the town who’d be better suited to sniffing out corruption. If I recommended you to the mayor, I’m sure he’d appoint you.”

She sat back and considered it. “But what about my airport?”

“That’s up to you,” he said. “You could keep running it, or turn it over to someone else to run. I’m not kidding about our expanding the airport. It’s got to be done.”

“That would take years and millions of dollars, Brisco. The kind of traffic you’re talking about would require a towered airport and longer runways.”

“Yours can already handle commercial-sized planes.”

“There’s a difference between a Learjet and a jetliner. And a difference between a municipal airport and a private one.”

“I’m just saying either you’ll upgrade it, or someone else will build one in another place, and they’ll be the ones to get rich. If I were you, I’d be the one to do it.”

“I’m not interested in being rich, Brisco. My parents have chased money all their lives, and it hasn’t gotten them anywhere.”

“I think you have stronger values, Carny. You could handle money, if you had it. You wouldn’t gamble it away on schemes and scams. And you’d have something to leave Jason.”

“I’m leaving Jason plenty,” she said. “Values, security, peace of mind, and memories of a happy childhood. Don’t you realize how valuable those things are?”

For a moment, his eyes grew serious, and he looked down at his food. “Actually, I do.”

She seemed to read his thoughts. “Me too,” she whispered.

The pianist started to play, lending an oddly romantic background to the conversation that had little to do with romance. “We’re so much alike, Carny. A lot more than you like to think.”

“I know.”

Their eyes locked in a startling merge of emotions. Finally, Logan whispered, “Will you dance with me? You look too pretty not to be seen on the dance floor.”

Her smile was more satisfying than all the scams he’d ever pulled off, and getting to his feet, he took her hand and pulled her with him.

He didn’t know the tune the pianist played, and it didn’t matter. As if she’d always been his partner, as if he’d learned to dance with her, they moved across the dance floor with grace and finesse.

In the anonymity among the other dancers, they weren’t adversaries at all, but two people aware of the locked chambers of each other’s soul. Two people who were reaching an understanding.

He looked down at her, stricken by how beautiful she was, how special, how delicate. But she was also tough, like him … a survivor. A striver. A reacher. There wasn’t much in Carny’s life that would stand in the way of her getting the kind of life she wanted. Not even Logan.

He didn’t know if it was the music or the way she felt in his arms that compelled him to lower his lips to hers, but before he knew it, they had stopped dancing and stood motionless in the center of the dance floor, and he was kissing her again.

Carny seemed to free-fall into that kiss.

The song ended as their kiss broke, and Logan led her back to their table. As hard as he tried to get through the rest of the meal with his thoughts intact, he found that it was too late.

He had fallen hard, and he wasn’t sure he would survive it.


Country music spilled from the club in the hotel when the cab brought them back.

“Do you like country music?” he asked.

She shrugged. “Sometimes. Do you?”

“Sometimes,” he chuckled. “I saw you two-stepping like a champ at the town dance, but truthfully, I would have pegged you for the Led Zeppelin type.” Taking her hand, he said, “Come on. Let’s go in.”

He pulled her into the club, and they took a table at the back and looked across the crowd of people to the singer on the stage, doing his own rendition of a Clint Black song.

“He’s pretty good,” Logan said.

Nodding, Carny scanned the faces in the crowd, the way she’d always done as a child in the carnival. Her gaze landed on a man just coming in the door, a man with a cowboy hat and sunglasses. For a moment, the glasses snagged her attention, and she wondered why anyone would wear shades into a dark nightclub.

He slipped into the shadows near their table and seemed to scan the place for an empty table. But she and Logan had gotten the last one.

Suddenly she recognized him. “Eric Hart.”

“No, that’s a Clint Black song,” Logan said.

“No, Brisco,” she whispered. “Right there. That guy in the glasses. It’s Eric Hart.”

Logan looked up, squinting in disbelief. “It looks like him, but it can’t be him. What would he be doing here all by himself? He’s one of the biggest stars in country music.”

“I don’t know, but it’s him. Look how he stands. Look at that tattoo on his hand. That’s Eric Hart! He’s looking for a place to sit.”

Before she knew it, Logan had shot out of his chair and was shaking hands with the star. She watched, astonished and a little embarrassed, as he pointed to their table, then came back with Eric.

Carny stood up as they reached the table. “Eric, I’d like you to meet Carny Sullivan. Carny, Eric Hart.”

“Nice to meet you, ma’am. I hope I’m not intruding. Logan invited me to sit with you.”

“Of course,” she said, shooting Logan an incredulous look. “Do you two know each other?”

Eric laughed. “No, but I’ve got a feeling Logan doesn’t meet too many strangers.” He leaned forward and, in a low voice, said, “I’m surprised y’all recognized me. I was hoping to be discreet.”

“Oh, we won’t call any attention to you,” she assured him as he motioned to the waitress to bring him a drink. “What brings you to town?”

“Concert tomorrow night,” he said. “I like to get to town early, just to relax before all the madness starts.”

The band launched into a cover of one of Eric’s tunes, “Dreamscape.” Chuckling, he glanced back at the band. “Hey, that singer’s better than I am.”

Carny and Logan laughed with him as the song played on.

An hour later, Logan and Eric were deep in a conversation about the park, and Carny realized with chagrin that Logan was making a sales pitch to the star. That riled her. It wasn’t right, violating the man’s privacy to hit on him for money.

“We’ve been looking for a star to name the park after. You know, kind of like Dollywood. You’re just the caliber we’re looking for.”

With a forced smile, Carny nudged Logan. Had he forgotten about Roland Thunder? Logan set his eyes on the ceiling and waved his hand as if creating a banner. “I can see it now. Hartland.”

“Hartland?” Carny repeated, resisting the urge to stick her finger down her throat.

But Eric didn’t seem to find the idea silly. “I like it,” he said. “An amusement park. Hmm. I never thought of that before. What kind of investment would I have to make?”

That’s it, Carny thought. Here’s where he nails him for the money.

“Well, that would be negotiable. The profit margin for you would be tremendous, because there would be licensing involved. The gift shops would be full of items related to Eric Hart and your better-known songs, and some of the rides could go along with your themes. It may work out that we don’t need any investment at all from you, if you agree to let us merchandise your name, in return for shares of the park.”

“Merchandising, huh?” Eric asked. “This is sounding better all the time. How long will you be in Houston?”

“We’ll be leaving the day after tomorrow,” Logan said.

“Perfect. Can you meet with my agent and me tomorrow? Say, ten o’clock?”

“Sure,” Logan said.

“I’m in the penthouse here.” Fishing through his hip pocket, he pulled out a card. “Here’s the phone number so you can get through. Call before you come up, and I’ll make sure you don’t have any trouble getting in.”

“All right,” Logan said, shaking Eric’s hand. He stood up, looking at Carny. “You ready to go, Carny?”

“Yeah, it’s getting late,” she said. “It was great meeting you, Eric.”

“You, too,” he said. “We might be seeing a lot more of each other.”

As they left the club and went inside and across the hotel, Carny gave Logan a curious look. “How about that?”

“Talk about being in the right place at the right time.” The elevator doors opened, and they stepped in. “Do you realize what it could do for us if we could get a commitment from him? The investors would be calling us!”

“I thought the investors were calling you. And what about Roland Thunder, and all that Thunder Road stuff? And the fact that the park would be bigger than Disney and put parks like Six Flags to shame?”

“Optimism,” Logan said. “Roland Thunder was always just a possibility; I may never have landed him. And now that I’ve met Eric, why not go with him? He’s a bird in the hand. I just never dreamed we’d have a shot at him.”

“Hartland,” she said as the doors opened. She stepped off. “Sounds a little corny, don’t you think?”

“Dollywood isn’t corny? Opryland isn’t corny? Even Disneyland is named after Walt Disney.”

They came to her door, and as she stuck her key card in the slot, he braced his hand above her head. She stopped and looked up at him.

When his lips grazed hers, she closed her eyes, her heart pounding out its erratic rhythm. Finally, she touched his chest and broke the contact of their lips. “You’re an interesting man, Logan Brisco.”

“Does that mean you’re interested?”

“It means I’m intrigued,” she whispered.

“Then surely you could let your guard down a little, just for tonight. Let me come in.”

“Oh, no,” she whispered. “The fact that I’m intrigued only makes me want to raise my guard higher.”

“You still don’t trust me?”

She smiled. “I think the problem is that I don’t really trust myself. You were right when you said that before, Logan. There’s too much at stake.”

Then, pressing another kiss on his jaw, she went in and closed the door behind her.