Chapter 1
Tessa Patrick had been super excited about the upcoming Halloween weekend.
She and her friends were attending the Masquerade Ball at the Double C Ranch, one of the most popular yearly events in the state.
The affair was by invitation only. The fiancée of one of Tessa’s friends had been gifted the invitations by a colleague who was the personal assistant of the event host.
The owner’s personal assistant greeted everyone at the welcome reception. He told them G. Cade Cumberland, the owner, had been delayed in returning from a business trip, but would be back in time for the ball.
“Have you ever seen G. Cade Cumberland?” Tessa asked her friend Elise as she handed her a glass of wine. Elise, Steve, her boyfriend, Ren and his fiancée Shondra, who was responsible for getting them the invite, stood together as they listened to other announcements for the weekend.
“No, I haven’t.”
“What about you Shondra?”
“He doesn’t have a social media presence. I’ve never met him in person, but I have spoken to him. A couple of times when I’ve called Jared, his PA, he surprised me when he answered.”
“He’s notoriously private. Can’t say that I blame him, though. He and his business partner have been pretty successful. Keeping people out of your business goes a long way in making that happen,” Ren added.
“True. But if his looks match his voice, he sounds like he might be fine and sexy,” Shondra commented, getting a laugh from Tessa and Elise and an eye roll from Steve.
“Which translates to the opposite, and may explain the whole privacy thing.” Ren was sure that was the case.
“What if it doesn’t? Better yet, what if he’s single, available, and looking for love?” Shondra asked. “I know some of the ladies here are wishing for that.”
“That’s a wish I wouldn’t mind coming true.” Tessa raised her glass and took a sip.
“I would love that for you, my friend.” Elise hoped after her recent breakup that Tessa might be able to meet someone new during the upcoming weekend.
“It’s Halloween. Who knows what type of magic might happen?” Shondra added.
“On that note, Steve, how about we go see what time the events start this evening?”
The women laughed as the men left their group.
Earlier in the month, when they’d all accepted the invitation, they had been a group of three couples.
A week later, Tessa and Jonathan, her boyfriend of three years, broke up when he fell in love with Fallon Wagner, who up until then had been one of her closest friends.
The two women had been roommates in college.
After too much partying and not paying enough attention to her grades, Fallon’s parents forced her to transfer to a local college under the threat of cutting her off financially.
She left reluctantly, but eventually did get her degree.
Fallon and Tessa kept in touch over the years.
Six months ago, Fallon accepted a new position and relocated to Barrington, Wisconsin, where Tessa lived.
Tessa and Jonathan had been having problems, but Tessa had assumed they were just going through a rough patch as couples sometimes did.
But then, she began to notice changes in Jonathan’s behavior.
When she confronted him about it, he told her the stress of work was getting to him.
Tessa was skeptical of his words but gave him the benefit of the doubt.
Her suspicions were confirmed a few weeks later when she was attending an art gallery opening with Elise and ran into Jonathan and Fallon. The two were pretty cozy until they spotted Tessa.
Elise quickly grabbed Tessa’s arm, taking her out the door to the nearest bar.
She ordered two shots of tequila and after they drank them, she asked Tessa what she wanted to do.
Elise had met Fallon after her move to Barrington.
The two women barely tolerated each other as Elise felt Fallon was shallow and jealous of her and Tessa’s friendship.
The next day, Jonathan and Fallon showed up at Tessa’s condo.
At first, he tried to convince her he’d been at the gallery with a client and just happened to run into Fallon.
When he saw she didn’t believe him, he attempted to gaslight her, telling her that Fallon had been concerned about Tessa because she sensed something was off with her and she wanted to talk with him about it.
Seeing that Tessa was not accepting that lie either, he finally told her the truth.
They had had fallen in love and were wracked with guilt, because neither had intended it to happen.
They also hadn’t been able to figure out how to tell her.
Tessa looked at both of them and wondered why she even let them in the door.
The only truthful thing they’d said since they’d arrived was “hello.” She told them both to leave.
Jonathan seemed surprised. He was probably expecting a more emotional response like me crying and begging him to stay.
After the breakup, Tessa decided that as much as she wanted to attend the masquerade ball, she was going to cancel.
She loved her friends, but didn’t really want to be the only one without a date.
Both Elise and Ren refused to let her get out of going and after a lot of persuading, they were finally able to convince her to go with them as she’d originally planned.