Page 92 of Cat Sloan is Swirling

“Thank you. Come in and I’ll show you around. Tara is?—”

“Right here, darlin’.” Tara met them in the foyer with a big smile. “Thanks for coming out.”

Lauren and Tara gave them a tour of their impressive home and Cat enjoyed the playful yet loving banter between them. It sounded a lot like she and Elena when they discussed different sections of books they were reading.

After Tara poured a glass of wine for each of them, they settled in the great room.

“Cory mentioned the beautiful views, but this is amazing,” Cat said.

“Thank you,” Tara said. “That’s what sold me on the place.” She looked over at Lauren, who sat in a chair next to her, and smiled. “That and the realtor.”

Lauren chuckled. “I’m glad you could come out early. We hope to get the business part of this meeting done so we can take in the sunset.”

“We’ve heard the sunset is quite a show from your dock,” Elena said.

“It is. We’re lucky it isn’t too cold today, so we should be able to enjoy it.”

“I wanted to thank you again for letting Your Next Great Read host your book signing,” Cat began. “We expect there will be a large crowd.”

“I’ve thought about that. We were wondering if there’s a way to keep everyone happy while they wait in line,” Lauren said.

“Cory and Vi have offered to provide some kind of refreshment while people wait,” Elena said.

“We’ve met Vi. Is she working with Cory?” Tara asked.

Cat and Elena exchanged a look. “She may as well be.” Cat chuckled. “She spends all her free time there.” As the words left her mouth she realized Elena did much the same with Cat at the bookstore.

Elena gave her a knowing smile. “When you find a place that makes you happy, you want to be there.”

“A place or someone?” Lauren asked.

“Both,” Cat and Elena said in unison.

Tara and Lauren laughed. They discussed the other details of the event while Elena and Lauren took notes.

“Oh, I almost forgot,” Tara said, getting up and walking over to the large island that separated the kitchen from the great room. She came back and handed each of them a copy of her memoir.

“I can’t wait to read this!” Cat said.

“Do you have a favorite part?” Elena asked, studying the table of contents.

“Meeting and falling in love with Lauren is always the best part to me,” Tara said.

“I kind of like that part, too.” Lauren grinned.

Tara and Lauren took turns giving them the highlights of the stories that made up the book.

“I knew that you and Krista started in Hollywood around the same time,” Cat said. “Times are different now and there’s not as much of a risk to coming out.”

“No, but it still can be risky,” Tara said.

“I wondered…” Elena trailed off.

“Go ahead,” Tara encouraged her. “You can ask me anything.”

“Do you think you and Krista would have stayed together if things were different back then?”

Tara smiled. “Nope. Krista was in love with Melanie and has been since they first met. If times were different they would’ve been together from the time Krista came to Hollywood.”

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