Ain't She Sweet (Seven Brides for Seven Mothers #2) - Whitney Dineen Page 0,71

paint the town red again. What do you say? Do you want to be my first new horse?” She winks.

“That’s an enormously flattering offer,” I tell her. “But another filly has caught my interest and I’m in the throes of wooing her.”

“Spill it, boy. I want all the details.” She puts a closed sign on her checkout line and signals the checker next to her that she’s taking a break.

After she steps out from behind her register, she hops up on the conveyor belt and flashes me some hand signs indicating I need to start talking. “Her name is Tara,” I tell her. “She’s the new pastry chef up at the lodge.”

Cheryl looks surprised. “Some scary looking guy was in here the other day asking questions about her. Your mom was here too, but she snuck out before I had a chance to ask her about it. What’s going on?”

I know Tara doesn’t want anyone to know who she is, but I suddenly feel the need to unburden myself. Everyone will know in a matter of days, anyway. I look around to make sure no one is nearby to overhear what I’m about to say. “Our pastry chef is Tara Heinz.”

Cheryl starts laughing. “Is Jason Momoa your new bellhop? Scarlett Johansson your new maid?”

“Very funny, but I’m telling you the truth. She got hired using the name Tara Delaney, so we didn’t know until recently.”

“That’s crazy! I mean, I knew Tara Heinz became a pastry chef, but what’s she doing here?”

“Hiding,” I say. “She wants a normal life and felt the only way to have that was to get out of LA and pretend to be someone else.”

Cheryl turns around and grabs a tabloid off the rack behind her. She flips it open while saying, “I can’t say that I blame her. The rags weren’t particularly nice to her when she broke up with Romaine Choate. Look at this …”

Romaine Choate Out for a Night on the Town

Megastar Romaine Choate has a new lady love. Former model and current spokeswoman for Shield It deodorant, Cash Cartwright, has been spotted tripping the light fantastic with Turnip Garden’s lead singer.

Unlike Tara Heinz, Cartwright appears to enjoy the media’s attention and stops to pose for pictures often. The new power couple, “Rash,” has been out and about every night this week from movie premieres to the opening of Sizzle, the hottest new club on the Sunset Strip.

One can only imagine how hard this must be for Tara given her previous rivalry with Cash. We cite the war that started between the two when Tara beat out Cash for the Candy Cool makeup campaign.

Insiders say Cartwright didn’t take the news well and set out to bad mouth Heinz as often as she could, going so far as to publicly decry her nemesis’ weight gain after Heinz left the business to become a pastry chef.

Looks like Cash has the last laugh though. Not only did she win the guy, but she just signed on as Candy Cool’s latest spokeswoman.

“Yuck. Those people are disgusting.”

“Yeah. You don’t think that guy looking for Tara was from the press do you?”

I shake my head. “He’s Romaine Choate’s manager.”

“What’s he doing in town?”

“I wish I knew. He claims to have some news for Tara, but she doesn’t want anything to do with him.”

Cheryl folds the paper and puts it back on the rack. “You can’t blame her. The guy gave me the creeps.”

“Cheryl, please don’t tell anyone about Tara, okay? I promised her Spartan was a good town and a safe place for her to be. I’m afraid if people make a big deal out of her being here, she’ll leave.”

My friend’s eyes open wide and a smile spreads across her face. “You’ve got it bad, huh?”

“Something like that,” I reply. The truth is, I thought Tara and I were on the same page about becoming a couple, but the last twenty-four hours have me wondering what’s going on in that head of hers.

“Is she the gal you made supper for the other night?” Cheryl asks.

I nod my head. “Yeah, but she’s kind of skittish after breaking up with Romaine.”

“Don’t sell yourself short, my friend. Any woman would be lucky to have you and I bet Tara knows that. Just give her some time.”

I wonder what Cheryl is going to make of the articles that come out in the Tattler. I should probably tell her now, but I really need to talk to Tara. I have to make sure I