I exchanged looks with David. And he nodded with a silly grin on his face as he said, “Sounds like what we were looking for.”
“Now, let me take you to our Silverheels Room. I think it would be perfect for your wedding reception.” We walked down the hall and he opened another set of double doors.
“Ah,” David said, “this is perfect.”
I smiled up at him. Clark turned to us. “Would you like to see your complimentary honeymoon suite?”
I shook my head, but David said, “Oh yes, we’re quite interested.” He draped an arm across my shoulder. “Aren’t we, dear?”
I had no choice but to nod as I meekly followed the men down to the suite. Clark opened the door to a masterpiece of a suite, rich with designer couches, desks, flat-screen TVs, a liquor cabinet, and a wide open door to a master bedroom glowing in lavenders and mauve. David made a beeline through the master bedroom door and sat down on the bed. Clark followed him, and I trailed behind. David patted a spot beside him. “Try it, dear.”
“Oh, I, ah . . .” I looked at Clark, who said, “You two make yourselves at home. I’ll step down to my office and wait for you there. You know the way, don’t you, Donna?”
“Yes, I do.”
Clark discreetly closed the door behind him.
David lay back on the bed. “I think I like undercover work.”
I turned and kicked at his foot. “Cut it out, you knucklehead. Let’s get down to Clark’s office.”
David laughed as he stood and followed me to the door. “Your wish is my command.”
Soon we were sitting in front of Clark’s desk, looking over the pricy contract.
Zow!
I looked at David, then looked at Clark. “Do you mind if we take a minute alone?”
“Sure. I need to run to the restaurant to check on an employee matter. I’ll be right back.”
As soon as he left his office, I stood and stared at his desk and noticed a paper only partially covered by his telephone.
“So, it’s Clark we’re investigating,” David said. “But aren’t you performing an illegal search?”
“Not if I find something out in the open that gives me probable cause. Say, what’s this?” I leaned closer to peer at the paper listing female employees, complete with special notations.
David walked around the desk and looked over my shoulder.
“What did you find?” He read the hand-jotted words beside LaRita Jones’s name. “Excellent in bed?” He looked up at me, concerned. “You say this guy goes to our church?”
“Not for long.” I pulled out my camera from my purse and began snapping pictures of the document. David went and stood by the door then whispered, “Donna, better wrap it up. I think he’s coming.”
Quickly, David and I slipped into our chairs just as Clark opened the door. I pushed my camera into my purse and smiled as if nothing had happened. I looked up with all innocence. “Do you mind if we take these contracts home and study them, then I can call you with my questions.”
“Sure, if I can’t trust a deputy, who can I trust?”
David and I stood to go, and Clark shook David’s hand and mine. He said, “I’m looking forward to your call.”
Half an hour later, as we neared Summit View, David asked, “So,
do you take all your first dates to honeymoon suites?”
“You’re the first. But what about you? Do you bounce on the bed with everyone you go out with?”
David shook his head. “Believe it or not, I’m an old-fashioned
guy. What about you?”
Before I could stop myself, I blurted, “I’m . . . I’m celibate.”
After a stunned silence, David grinned. “Ah, I see.”
I frowned and studied my hands, which I’d folded into my lap. “Yeah, and I’m guessing that’s a deal breaker for you.”
“Well, Donna, I’m not looking for a party girl. I’m looking for someone I can build a life with. So, actually, it’s nice to hear you’ve been celibate.”
I felt my face burn. “Well, ah, we all have a past.”
David slowly nodded. “Let’s think of the future and—”
So help me, I snapped. “I just can’t be pressured, David, I
can’t.”
David looked surprised. “Well, since I played your fiancé tonight, you can’t blame me for merging our undercover assignment with
a little wishful thinking.”
“Take a reality check. I’m only getting to know you. I’m not ready to think of the future with you or anyone else, for that matter.”
“Fair enough.” David pulled onto my street. “Maybe, though, we need to try another date. Just to see where this thing is going in the short term.”
I leaned back into my seat and stared up at the mountains glowing beneath the starlight. “Okay, you were a good sport tonight.” I smiled. “And I had a good time.”
He pulled into my driveway and wiggled his eyebrows. “Good enough for a good-night kiss?”
So help me if I didn’t say, “Why don’t you step under the porch
light with me and find out?”
Moments later, he did. When he wrapped his arms around me, our lips touched, and my heart stirred in a way I hadn’t expected. Our lips lingered before I could push away. “Good night, David.”
“Good night, Deputy. And you’re a good kisser.”
I smiled shyly. “Then that makes two of us.” I slipped inside my front door, my heart hammering. I shut the door and leaned against it, almost in a panic. I had to slow this situation down.
I looked out the kitchen window as David pulled out of my driveway.
Oh Lord, what am I getting myself into? This will never work. It can’t. Besides, Velvet will never forgive me.
Chopping onions is always a great smoke screen for a good cry. At least, that’s what my mama always said, and today, it was certainly true.
I laid down my knife and wiped away the gathering dampness with the back of my hand, careful not to rub onion juice into my eyes.
How is it that everything in my life is so out of control?
I hopped off my stool and went to rinse my hands in my large stainless steel sink while my eyes continued to water, not so much from the pungent onion but from an overflow of heartaches.
Maybe I was crying because Lizzie, the mother of our little bride, had accused me of sabotaging her daughter’s wedding dress. (How could I have known Esther was butting in where she shouldn’t?)
Or, maybe it was because I missed Henry. How could he have left me for a church mission trip at a time like this? Not only did I desperately need his help, he had unwittingly left me alone to face a lovesick Clark.
I blotted my eyes with a tissue and turned to look at the clock on the wall.
Or maybe it was because not one of the Potluckers had shown up to help me. Here it was, 10:00 a.m., the day before the shower, and I was the only one preparing for our big day.
I understood that Goldie and Donna had to work, and of course, I couldn’t expect Lizzie to help, being the mother of the bride and all. But where were Vonnie and Evie? They’d promised to come and lend a hand first thing this morning.
When the phone rang, I felt a pang of hope. I put on my headset and picked up. “Potluck Catering.”
“Well, if it isn’t Lisa Leann.”
I put my hands on my hips. “Clark, I asked you not to call me.” “This is a business call,” Clark said, as if he was teasing me. “I’m calling to confirm our meeting tonight.”
I picked up my knife and continued to chop onions. “What meeting?”
“Didn’t Beverly tell you? The three of us are going to do a walkthrough of your event about 7:00 tonight. We’ll go over everything, just to make sure we can pull off this bridal shower without a hitch.”
I sighed loudly. “Beverly did not inform me of these plans. Can the two of you make do without me?”
“Oh, I’m afraid not. Since you’re the outside caterer, I will definitely have to go over some codes and regulations concerning both the city of Breckenridge as well as the hotel, you know, to make sure everything’s in order.”
“Okay. I’ll be there.”
I hung up before he could say more. What’s next?
“Hello?” a voice called from the front of my wedding shop. I called back, “Evie, is that you? I’m back here in the kitchen.”
Evie came in, tugging off her beige coat before hanging it on the coatrack. She was dressed in a pair of jeans and a fuchsia sweatshirt. She pushed up her sleeves, ready to get to work. “Goodness, where is everyone?” she asked, walking to the sink to wash up.
“It’s only you and me, and hopefully Vonnie. Tomorrow, we’ll have the whole gang, minus Lizzie.”
Evie laughed. “We’ll excuse Lizzie, just this once.”
Vonnie stuck her head in the back door. “Sorry I’m late, I had a heck of a time getting Mother squared away for the day.”
“Oh, Vonnie, I’m just glad you made it,” I said, watching as she too slipped out of her coat then popped one of my pink aprons over her head before tying the sash in the small of her back. I went to the refrigerator and pulled out my ball of cheese dough I’d placed in a large ceramic bowl and topped with plastic wrap. I placed the bowl on the workstation next to my king-sized roll of wax paper and a stack of baking sheets. I nodded toward Vonnie. “Why don’t you wash up?”
But instead of turning toward the sink, she blocked my path. “Why Lisa Leann, have you been crying?”
I pointed to my large bowl of chopped onions I’d been preparing for the salmon mousse. “No, no, it’s only the onions.”
Vonnie looked at me carefully, as if trying to read the thoughts behind my eyes. “There’s something more, something you’re not telling me. What’s wrong, Lisa Leann?”
Evie walked toward me, looking concerned as she tied on her apron, looping the extra sash around her middle. I shook my head and forced a laugh. “Oh, I’m fine.” I took a deep breath. “I’ll admit I’m feeling the stress, especially without Henry here to help me.”
Vonnie turned to wash her hands in the sink while Evie continued to stare. “Where is Henry?”
I tried to be stoic. “Mission trip to Mexico. It’s with the youth of our former church in the Woodlands.”
I could tell my performance hadn’t convinced the girls. “Are you sure nothing else is wrong?” Evie asked.
I began to busy myself by rolling out two long lengths of wax paper and dividing the dough in half.
“Honestly? I’m missing Mandy and the baby. I found out she had a baby shower, and no one even told me about it till after the fact.”
Vonnie, who had just finished drying her hands on a paper towel, turned and hugged me. “It must be tough to be so far from your grandbaby.”
I simply nodded and sniffed my nose as I tried to gain a new level of calm. Evie said, “Okay, Lisa Leann, we’re yours for the day. Show us what you want us to do.”
Within minutes I began demonstrating the cheese stick making procedure by rolling a small piece of dough between my hands and into a long, thin strip. I twisted the strip for a decorative flair and placed it on one of the cookie sheets. After my demonstration, the girls got to work, and I returned to my chopping job, now slicing bok choy into tiny strips for the spring rolls.
I was glad to have help, as long as we could avoid the topic of my personal life. Soon, though, I had changed the subject, directing Evie to tell us more about life as a newlywed.
“It is so different from life as a single,” she’d said with a shy smile. “Now I have to always consider Vernon in my every decision. I mean, I used to be the center of my world, and now my focus has shifted to Vernon.”
“That’s really the secret to marital happiness,” Vonnie agreed as she twisted a small cylinder of dough. “To focus on the one whom God has given you to be your soul mate.”
“I always thought the so-called ‘soul mate’ thing was a myth.”
Vonnie laughed. “Not every couple is as happy as Fred and me. Of course, we’ve had our rough times, like recently, when my longlost son showed up on our doorstep. But I’ve always believed it’s possible to change a normal marriage into an exceptional marriage, just by being a loving spouse. Of course, that philosophy won’t work in every situation, but it will help most.”
“Is that your secret?” Evie asked Vonnie. “Is that how you and
Fred have lasted all these years?”
“Pretty much,” Vonnie said. She turned to me and asked, “How about you, Lisa Leann? How have you managed to stay so close
to Henry?”
I was now chopping sugar peas into skinny strips as I admitted, “Actually, my marriage hasn’t always been healthy. You know, Henry was so engrossed in his work at Exxon, and I was always so busy with church and my club activities. That’s why we decided to leave Texas and take early retirement. We agreed we needed to
concentrate on each other.”
Evie raised an eyebrow. “How’s that working?”
I felt heat tingle my cheeks. “Well, great. That is, except for this
week with Henry out of the country and all.”
“When does he come back?” Vonnie asked.
“I pick him up at DIA Monday.”
The afternoon flew by as I continued to feel emotionally stronger. It helped to be busy and it helped to have my friends around me. We spent the day stirring, chopping, laughing, and baking as we told funny stories on each other as well as ourselves. I also treated the girls to a lovely lunch of grilled chicken sandwiches and frozen grapes, plus we got to sample the first of our cheese sticks, all toasty from the oven. As the five o’clock hour approached, I was surprised at how much we’d accomplished: the cheese sticks were baked and bagged as were the pumpernickel crisps, the salmon mousse had been poured into large fish molds and refrigerated, the spring rolls had been stuffed and wrapped and now lined my baking pans, ready to be baked fresh tomorrow afternoon, so we could keep them warm in our portable warming ovens for the party. Plus we’d wrapped our scallops in prosciutto. Earlier, I’d pulled the tiny petit fours out of the freezer to thaw. They looked like adorable ivory and chocolate
gift boxes, all tied in ribbons of silver icing.
“What time should we get here tomorrow?” Vonnie asked.
I began to brew a fresh pot of coffee in my coffeemaker, and I set a few of our petit fours on a serving plate for the girls to sample. “Things are really coming together,” I said. “All we have left is the chocolate fountain and the crimini mushrooms, plus moving and
set up. Which, believe me, will be a chore.”