Devil in Texas
individual containers of butter Sean brought in from the fridge. They piled them neatly on white side dishes to accompany the passing of the rolls.
Liza then scattered the rest of the yellow rose petals around the buffet area and
added two votives there.
Excited by her resourcefulness, she turned to her new friend and asked, “What do
you think?”
His eyes grew wide. “Looks a hell of a lot better than anything else I’ve seen in this room. Really, the ladies’ll be blown away.”
“Great!” As she patted herself on the back—and hoped that the effort would be a
good reflection on Jess in the Junior League’s mind—Sean burst her bubble.
“What about the orchids?”
“Oh shit!” She’d totally forgotten about them! She glanced at her watch, discovering
she had less than fifteen minutes before the women would arrive.
Where Jess was, she didn’t know.
“Okay,” Liza said, thinking quickly. “Do me a huge favor and set the glasses on the
table at each place setting, fill them with ice and pour the tea. I’ll figure out where to put the orchids.”
“Say,” he said, a thought occurring to him. “There are a few bottles of sparkling
cider in the fridge from Marta and Jake Olson’s fiftieth anniversary party. How about I pour it into some cups and serve it to the ladies as they come in through the front?
That’ll give you time to finish up back here.”
Liza still had boxes to dispose of and orchids to place.
“Fantastic idea!” she beamed, resisting the urge to hug her partner in crime. “You
are the absolute best assistant party planner.”
He grinned sheepishly. “It’s been fun helping you. It’s usually pretty boring around
here.” He didn’t wait for a reply. His cheeks flushed pink and he turned quickly and
vanished into the hallway. Liza smiled, wondering if Sean had developed a little crush on her.
He certainly was a great kid. And if she spent a few more hours with him, she’d
know everyone by name in this town, along with their birthday and anniversary dates.
But, no time to dwell on that. She still had work to do. Using books and
knickknacks to create varying heights on which to set the potted orchids, she
strategically placed them around the room. Three in the far corner, two on the buffet table, four in the front corner that was just a wide gaping hole desperate to be filled.
One in the center of the table, between the modified floral centerpieces. That left her with two more.
Liza frowned. No more available surface space and the corners were covered. Her
eyes shifted from one pot to the other as she held one in each hand. Then she heard a frantic voice in the hallway and her gaze lifted to the doorway.
The doorway! Of course!
151
Calista Fox
The dingy gray door opened inward, so she could place a pot on either side of the
outer frame, creating a lovely visual, inviting the ladies inside.
After placing them, she quickly gathered up the boxes and all the tools she’d used
to transform the room and was just heading out the back to the van when Jess called out to her.
“Oh, Liza!” she said in a high-pitched voice Liza had not heard from her before.
“I’m so sorry! My gosh! Service went longer than usual and then everyone was so
chatty afterward and I just couldn’t find an appropriate break in the conversation to slip away and—oh!”
She must’ve caught a flicker of candlelight in the corner of her eye because she
turned abruptly and stared into the room, where Sean had just finished filling the tea glasses.
“What have you done?”
Liza’s stomach dropped to her knees. “Um, I just thought I’d spruce things up a
bit.” Her teeth clamped down on her lower lip in nervous anticipation.
Fuck. She hadn’t thought to ask Jess or Sean about whether there was some sort of tradition in regards to the way things were set up for the Junior League.
Had she just ruined their entire luncheon?
Her gaze shifted to Sean, who was grinning from ear to ear. “Looks awesome,
doesn’t it, Mrs. Mills? And she totally did it in, like, less than an hour.”
Liza held her breath, awaiting Jess’ response. Fearing the worst.
Jess stepped into the room and surveyed it. Meanwhile, Sean slipped out in order to
set up the sparkling cider service, as they’d agreed upon.
“Please tell me you don’t hate it,” Liza said.
Jess whirled back to face her, her eyes lit up with excitement. “Are you kidding
me?” She clasped her hands together at her chest and exclaimed, “It’s absolutely
breathtaking!”
“Oh thank God!” Liza said with a heavy sigh. Her stomach returned to its
appropriate place. She could breathe again. “‘Cause you had me going there for a
minute.”
“You did all of this?” Jess asked, her voice now full of astonishment and awe.
“I had help. Sean is great. Very level-headed and resourceful.”
“Liza,” she breathed. She stepped forward and gently gripped Liza’s shoulders,
because her hands were full. “The ladies are going to love this. Really, they’ll be beside themselves that you went to so much trouble for them. They’ll feel like queens for the day!”
“Well, I don’t know about that,” she said with a shrug.
Jess practically glowed with enthusiasm. “Way above and beyond, Liza! I mean,
this is just…so perfect!”
152
Devil in Texas
Then she frowned and Liza’s heart sank again. “What’s wrong?”
“I don’t have a camera.” She made a tsking sound and added, “Darn it. We should have a photo of this for our album. Clearly you have party planning skills… We could
add that to the business!”
As her brain seemed to go into overdrive, Liza grinned. She and Jess were kindred
spirits.
“I bet Sean has a camera on his cell phone,” Liza offered. He seemed like a hip kid.
“I bet you’re right!”
And then, suddenly, the hallway was filled with women’s voices and Liza had to
pull away from Jess to dispose of the boxes. “When should I come back to break all this down?”
“Don’t go yet!” Jess exclaimed. Grabbing a box, she added, “Let’s take these out to
the van. Then I want you to meet the ladies.”
“Oh well.” Liza hedged. “I’m not exactly dressed for that.” She glanced down at her
white T-shirt and gray, wide-legged jersey pants and sandals. She didn’t miss the