Free Deceit by Fayrene Preston Page B

was plastered to me. I had to get it off. I didn’t harm it, did I?”
    After a brief inspection of the gown, Sara shook her head. “The gown’s fine.” She began to fold the one-of-a-kind creation with tissue paper. “Clay’s been hell on wheels the last two days, hasn’t he?” she asked, darting a glance at Liana.
    “He’s just trying to do the best possible work he can.” Why was she defending him, she wondered as she reached for her jeans and a T-shirt. Clay had been almost unbearable to work with, pushing her and everyone else to the limit.
    With the breakneck speed she had learned backstage at runway shows, she threw on her clothes. She wanted to get away from SwanSea. Nothing had gone right since she had been here, but then in all fairness, she had only herself to blame, not SwanSea. She had let imagination and emotions rule, and as a result, she’d had control over almost nothing that had happened.
    She could pack up and go home, she thought for the one hundredth time, and as always, she discarded the idea. There was something keeping her here, and it was time to admit to herself that it was something that went beyond her feeling of responsibility for the assignment.
    The obvious answer was Richard, but unable to cope with the volatile repercussions of that particular idea, she rejected it. Suddenly the image of the small concrete burial house on that windswept hill came to her. How very odd, she thought. Was she losing her mind?
    “I can understand Clay trying to do a super job,” Sara was saying, “but nothing any of us has done has been good enough for him.”
    It was true, Liana reflected. Under normal circumstances, she could have coped, but these circumstances were anything but normal. The past two days had been hard on her, both physically and mentally. She had tried time after time to retreat into her mind, but all her usual blocking devices had proved useless. Too many hands had touched her. Too many people had stared.
    Today, it had reached the point that if Clay had told her to strike one more pose or to smile one more time, she would have cracked. As it was, she was hanging on to her composure by a thread.
    With cream and tissue, she wiped off every last bit of makeup, then quickly ran a brush through her hair.
    “Are you all right?” Sara asked abruptly.
    No, she thought. She was far from all right. “Of course. Why wouldn’t I be?”
    “It’s just that you’ve looked pretty frazzled since we’ve been here.”
    The younger girl seemed so solemn, Liana had to grin. “Are you afraid you’re going to have to step in for me?”
    Sara started. “Goodness no! I know what a professional you are. It would take something pretty awful to keep you from work.”
    Funny, Liana thought. Lately, she'd been thinking that it would take very little. The idea of retiring was becoming more and more desirable. “Well, don’t worry. I have every intention of finishing this shoot. Now I’d better be on my way. ”
    “Where are you going?”
    “Into town to visit Rosalyn.”
    “You saw her yesterday, too, didn’t you?”
    Liana nodded.
    “I’ve been meaning to get in to see her myself, but I’ve been so busy. Tell her hello for me, will you?”
    “Sure will.”
    The sun was setting as Liana walked briskly toward the parking lot. Over the years, she’d found that an engrossed expression and a purposeful stride would deter all but the most ardent of her admirers. And it almost worked.
    She was nearly to the rental car when she heard Richard ask, “You’re certainly in a hurry. Is there a fire somewhere?”
    Her heart leaped and an inconsequential thought fluttered through her head—she certainly couldn’t categorize Richard as one of her admirers.
    She turned and, as always, became momentarily helpless at the sight of him. They hadn’t spoken to or seen each other in two days, but she had known he was still at SwanSea. She had actually felt his presence. And feeling him without seeing