Embittered Ruby (32 page)

That’s it. Carmen was going to find out the truth about Leila. But it would have to wait until after the reception.

“Okay. Here’s how it’s going to work. You will each take one tray at a time. They each contain a mix of the offerings, some serving utensils, and plenty of napkins. All you have to do is mingle and offer the food to people until your tray is empty. When that happens, just return to the kitchen for a new one.” Carmen smiled. “Any questions?”

“Do we get a taste?” Bridget eyed the trays.

“Oh yes. You should definitely taste the item you’re serving so you can offer descriptions to guests or answer questions.”

Leila wasted no time in reaching for a chicken skewer and taking a bite. “This is amazing.” She grabbed a mushroom cap.

Kira mumbled around a mouthful of prime rib. “This is the best thing I’ve ever tasted.” She examined the tray. “I thought there were going to be five different items. I only see four.”

“That was the plan.” Carmen scoffed. “I ran out of money. It was either quality or quantity. I obviously went for the good stuff.”

“And I’m so glad you did.” Bridget devoured a lobster quiche.

“Okay. It’s time. Make sure you mingle, and get to everyone in the crowd. They should all have the opportunity to sample everything at least once.”

“What if someone wants more than one of something?”

“That’s totally fine. There will be some who pass completely and others who eat a dozen. It’ll all balance out. Running out is okay, too. These are appetizers, not the main course.”

“So what do we do when our trays are empty?” Bridget popped a mushroom in her mouth.

Hadn’t she been listening? “Just come on back here for a new one. I’ll keep checking back here, supervising the distribution to make sure the timing is right.” Carmen grinned. “All you need to do is meander through the people and offer them food. Easy enough, right?”

Carmen grabbed her tray and went through the swinging door into the decorated dining room. Find the bride. For where the bride is, there her daughter will be. And where Olivia is, Justin would be hovering. Besides, it would be proper to make sure the bride and groom got to hit the appetizers first.

Hoisting her tray above the heads of the mass of people, Carmen wrangled her way back to the bride’s table, where Ginny and Mark stood with their arms around each other. Ginny looked up at Mark; then he kissed her on the nose.

“Care for an hors d’oeuvre?” Carmen lowered the tray.

Ginny leaned over the tray, holding her ivory satin close to her body, and peered at the selection. “Oh my. These look fabulous. I’m going to take one of each.” She picked up a lobster quiche with french-manicured acrylics and set it on a napkin then reached for the slider.

Carmen searched the room. Where was Justin? Olivia stood talking with Tricia and Skye. Justin had disappeared. Carmen waited for Mark and Ginny to fill their napkins then hurried away to find her target.

Noise crackled through the speaker system. Apparently someone was trying to get the music to pipe into the dining room. Justin. Carmen set her tray down on a nearby table, filled a napkin with some food, hiked up her skirt so she could move easily, then took off for the media room.

Don’t run. Don’t draw attention. Move gracefully and quickly like a panther. Carmen arrived at her destination in a matter of moments.

Deep breath.
Don’t let him see you flustered
.

Pretend you just heard a good joke
. Carmen gave a little laugh and wiped at her eyes as she rounded the corner and entered the media room. There he stood, peering into a laptop screen with a media player open. Perfect. “Oh. You scared me. I didn’t know anyone was in here.” Carmen fanned herself.

Justin turned piercing blue eyes onto her face. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to frighten you…Carmen, is it?”

He remembered her name. Carmen wanted to squeal like the president of his fan club. She set down the bulging napkin and pretended to riffle through some papers on the desk.

“Are you looking for the music playlist, too? I can’t seem to find it anywhere.” Justin ran his fingers through his waves, pulling them back from his face for one blissful moment.

The bump to the right of the bridge of his nose gave away the childhood secret of a once-broken nose. Had it happened during sports? Or maybe a school-yard scuffle?

“Yeah. It seems to have disappeared.” Carmen shrugged. “Guess we’ll have to wing it.” Oh, the food. “Hey, want a snack?” She tipped her head toward the napkin. “They’re all yours if you want them.”

Justin’s eyes lit up. “I’m starving. Thanks so much.” He took a bite of the stuffed mushroom, and his eyebrows went sky high. “This is amazing. I don’t think I’ve ever tasted anything like this.” He raised a hand to cover his lips as he spoke through the food in his mouth.

“Thank you.” Nate loved her mushrooms, too. “I heard you want to be a chef. Is that true?” “I think so. It’s really competitive, but I’ll give it a try.” Carmen shrugged.

“I definitely think you should.” Well, it’s settled then.

“And then I want to know where your restaurant is so I can have more of these one day.”

“I’ll keep you posted.” Now or never. But how could she hurt Justin? He was such a good soul. But Carmen needed to look out for herself and not worry about Olivia. The girl had never even given her the time of day. “So, Justin. Can we talk for a minute?”

His eyes narrowed. “Sure.…What’s up?”

His hesitation gave Carmen pause. He was probably predisposed not to trust Carmen because of her background. She’d have to tread lightly. “This is kind of hard to say.…I’m a firm believer in just spitting out the bad stuff…like ripping off a Band-Aid.”

Justin smiled. “All evidence to the contrary.” His hair fell forward to cover his eye.

Swoon
. “Okay.” Deep breath. “I heard something the other day, and I thought you should know about it.” Act nervous. Justin needed to believe that it was difficult for Carmen to tell him the bad news. If she spoke confidently, he’d be more likely to question her motives.

“Okay. Can we try to get to the point? I’m kind of expected back.”

“It’s Olivia.”

Justin’s eyes narrowed. “Go on.”

“Well, I met these people at church, and apparently she’s been…uh…hooking up with one of the guys.” Carmen averted her eyes as though she were embarrassed. Was he buying it? If he did, then it would mean he didn’t trust Olivia deep down. If he didn’t trust her, then Olivia must have done something to make him doubt. If that was the case, then their relationship was already rocky, and Carmen was just giving it a little push.

“What are you talking about?” His eyes flamed.

Uh-oh. He sounded angry. “Look, don’t shoot the messenger. I’m just passing along information I think you should know.”

“This is quite an accusation. I don’t believe it for a minute. I’m going to need a name so I can have a few words with this jerk.”

Was that smoke coming from his ears? “I can’t give you a name. In fact, I don’t even know the dude. I’m just telling you what I heard.”

“Okay, I’m sorry I snapped at you. Thank you, I guess, for telling me this, however ridiculous it is. Just keep it to yourself, okay?”

“Of course I will.”
Just between you and me, baby
. Justin moved to leave the room, shaking his head. “Ridiculous.”

Had that been a statement or a question? “Hey, Justin, if you ever need to talk…”

I
will dance…for my King…,” the worship team belted. Rows and rows of teenagers began to gallop around the youth room like a herd of wild horses, shouting the words to the song. What were they doing?

“That’s it, you guys.” Justin spoke into the microphone as he strummed his guitar and the drums beat a raucous cadence. “Let go. Be undignified for God. Show the world, like King David did, you don’t care what people think.”

“…even more undignified than this.” The running teenagers shouted the words to the song.

Undignified? Well at least they got something right. Carmen couldn’t take it any longer. And while the herd was on the move, she was out of there.

Maneuvering among the mass of teens, Carmen scooted to the door and sneaked through just before the music trickled down to a ballad. Phew. Perfect timing.

Without a moment’s hesitation, she zipped over to the stairwell where she’d met up with those three her first week there. Maybe they wouldn’t be there, but it was worth a shot. Ah. The familiar smell reached her senses before the sound of their giggling did.

“Hey. Mind if I join you guys?”

“Hey look. It’s our buddy from Diamond Estates.” The apparent leader of the group scooted his superstretch, green skinny jeans over to make room for Carmen. “Have a seat.”

A girl with two pitch-black pigtails, thick black eyeliner, and bright-red lipstick moved over to make room. “I’m Kansas. Like the band.”

“I’m Carmen.” She looked at the two boys.

“I’m Billy. He’s my brother Sam.” Billy jerked his head back at the slouchy boy with the saggy jeans.

“Hey.”

He gave a nod toward Carmen.

Sam didn’t talk? Why so dark and unhappy?

“So why do you keep sneaking out of church?” The girl flipped her hair out of her eyes.

Kansas? Was that really her name? “I just can’t take it in there. I would never, ever jump around and wave my hands like they do. I don’t get it at all.” Were they going to share the marijuana with Carmen? Did she even want them to?

Billy nodded.

“I feel the same way.” Kansas rolled her eyes. “I can see acting like a crazed fan if you’re high at an epic rock concert. But church? Totally sober? No thanks. And it seems like they all want to outdo each other with how nutso they get.”

Kansas held the joint out to Carmen. “Want a hit off this?”

Yes. She wanted to feel normal even if only for a moment. “I don’t know. I could get in a lot of trouble.” But how much did she care?

“We could all get in trouble. Sometimes you just have to take some chances.” Billy bumped knuckles with Sam.

Carmen knew all about taking chances; she’d been the master of risk taking her whole life. But she would be in huge trouble just for sneaking out of church. Imagine if they caught her smoking dope. How bad would it be if she got caught leaving the youth room, hanging out with undesirables like those three,
and
smoking pot? Her time at Diamond Estates would likely be over—Ben might even call the cops. But maybe Carmen just didn’t care enough to stay out of trouble. Didn’t seem like life was all that different at Diamond Estates than anywhere else.

People were the same everywhere. She could keep rules, break rules, miss Nate, and hate herself all from the comforts of home. If Mom would let her. Carmen just didn’t sense any big life-changing epiphany about to come over her.

One hit couldn’t affect her too much, but it might be just enough. She pinched the stick between her thumb and forefinger and brought it to her lips. Sucking in the heady air, Carmen filled her lungs until they were on fire. She held the smoke for as long as she could stand it then released the air along with much of her tension.

Ahh. Carmen leaned her head back on the wall and closed her eyes as the waves of peace flooded her body. “Now that’s what I’m talking about.”

Everyone lost in a private experience, no one said a word until Carmen couldn’t stand the silence any longer. “So you two are brothers?”

Billy nodded. “He’s the baby.”

Sam slugged him in the arm.

“So your parents make you come to church?” Carmen took another drag as the marijuana came around the tight circle.

Billy chuckled. “Yeah. You could say that.”

What did he mean? Carmen shot a quizzical glance at Kansas.

“His dad’s the main pastor here.”

Their father? “Really? That must be weird.” Mommy and Daddy must be so proud.

“Yeah. Me and Sam are kind of stuck coming to church. But it doesn’t mean we have to like it.” Sam snorted. “Not for long.”

So he did speak. “What do you mean not for long?”

Kansas flashed a bright smile as she handed the joint to Billy. “We’re moving into an apartment together. All three of us.”

“Do your parents know?”

“We’re not telling them until we move out.”

“Um, yeah. I tried the same approach. It didn’t work all that well, just FYI.” Would things have gone very differently if Carmen had waited only a few more days to give her mom the time to get used to the idea of Carmen living with Nate? She’d have never been out on the street that night. She might never have been kidnapped by Marco. Diego might not have gotten hurt, at least that time or in her defense.

And she might still be with Nate. Pregnant with his baby. Planning a wedding.

Wasn’t marijuana supposed to put people in a good mood? Carmen needed to change the subject. “Are you and Billy dating?” She looked at Kansas.

Kansas coughed. “Me and Billy? That’s too funny. No, me and Sam are a thing. I don’t know if you call it dating.” She nudged Sam, and they both laughed. “Might be more of a friend with bennies kind of thing.”

Gross.

Billy nudged Carmen with his shoulder. “I’m right here. If you’re trying to ask me out, feel free. You don’t have to go through Kansas.”

“Ha. Like I could go out with anyone…let alone someone like you.” Or would want to. Cute and, according to his name brands and who his dad was, he was obviously rolling in the bank. But even so, that whole Hollister, metrosexual vibe was a bit out there for Carmen.

“They’d let you go out with me. Remember, I’m the PK.”

“Yeah, not gonna happen.” At least not now. But who knew what could happen if Justin shot her down.

The minutes rolled by, and the last thing Carmen wanted to do was go back to the church service, but she had no choice. “I have to go. Wish I could hang out with you guys, though. Maybe next week?”

“You still have my number?” Billy lifted his cell phone. “You might need it.”

“I’ve got it hidden away for safekeeping.” Never know.