At the Drop of a Hat (24 page)

I gave him a small smile and rested my head on his shoulder. What I didn't tell him or let him see in my gaze was that when Mariska's hands were closing off my airway and I was losing consciousness, my one thought had been that I desperately wanted to see Harry again.

As I breathed in the calming bay rum scent of him, I let one tear trickle out of my eye. Just one because I was so grateful that he was here, holding me close.

The ferret won. My dreamy blue-eyed boy lost
The
Great British Bake Off
and now I was forced to make dinner for all of my friends. “Catastrophe” was not a descriptive enough word for how bad this was going to be. Adding to the pressure, of course, was the fact that our social circle had expanded quite a bit to include Alistair, Ariana and Stephen, as we were celebrating Ariana's release and their upcoming wedding. Oh, and Fee didn't have class tonight so of course she was invited, too.

Nine people! I was supposed to make a multicourse dinner for nine people. I wondered if there was a flight out of London that evening and how I could manage to be on it.

I was standing in the market, feeling like crying, when a woman waved to me from the produce section. I forced my tears back as it was probably a customer and I didn't want to shame the shop by being known as the weepy milliner.

“Scarlett, dear, how are you?” the woman asked as she joined me in front of the cheese case.

She had ash-blond hair that hung loose about her face and she was dressed in jeans and a wool coat. I had no idea who she was.

“It's Jean,” she said, “from Mad Mariska's.”

“Oh.” I looked at her again. “Oh, wow, I didn't recognize you. You look amazing.”

She wrinkled her nose. “Housekeeper uniforms and severe hairdos are very stifling.”

“So you've left that career behind?” I asked.

“Yes, after Mariska was arrested, I realized I never wanted to work for one like her again,” she said. “So I've opened up my own catering company.”

“You don't say,” I said. And then it hit me like a bolt of lightning, as all the best ideas do, and I asked her, “Do you have a job already lined up for tonight?”

“No,” she said. “I'm still building my client base.”

“Well, I think I might be able to help with that,” I said. Together we made our way through the shop as I proposed my plan to Jean.

*   *   *

A table set for nine was a tight squeeze in the main room of our flat, but I managed it. I had pulled out all the stops and had linen tablecloths, fresh-cut flowers and Mim's best china, crystal and flatware all sparkly and shiny.

I had managed to sneak Jean in the front of the shop while Viv and Fee worked in the back. She had spent the afternoon cooking up a storm in our flat, while I pretended to mind the store and run upstairs occasionally to check on “my dinner.”

When Viv and Fee went to change, I snuck Jean out the back. The meal smelled delicious and I doubled her fee for working so hard on such short notice. Honestly, I would have quadrupled it if she'd let me. She didn't.

Before she left, she gave me the last bit of instructions. I was sure I could handle them. I raced up to my room and threw on the dress I had put aside for the evening. It was a red Nicole Miller sheath that ended just above my knees. I was wearing it with a pair of silver high-heeled sandals. I had put up my auburn hair in a French twist, leaving a thick strand loose that framed the right side of my face. I touched up my makeup and I was good to go.

I hurried downstairs to find Viv and Fee already entertaining Nick and Andre. I was relieved that no one was wearing the same dress as me—yes, it had happened before.

“Scarlett, dinner smells amazing,” Nick said as he kissed my cheek and handed me a big bouquet of yellow and orange dahlias. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

I gave a careless shrug. “Thanks but I think I've got it.”

Andre handed me a bottle of wine and kissed my cheek as well. “If I didn't know better, I'd say you've been holding out on us.”

“Me?” I asked as I put a hand over my heart, the picture of innocence. “Don't be silly. I think it's just a matter of putting your mind to something.”

“Well, I'm ready to put my fork to it,” Nick joked, and I laughed.

Viv led them into the sitting room, and I hurried into the kitchen to check on things. I picked up the bib apron that used to be Mim's, but was now more of a decoration that hung on the wall beside the refrigerator, and pulled it over my head. This at least made me feel like a cook.

Jean had left most everything warming but she'd been very clear that I had to serve dinner shortly after everyone arrived; otherwise the roast beef would dry out. She had offered to do the dishes but I had insisted she leave them. That way no one could accuse me of ordering takeout and just reheating.

I was just tossing the salad like she had instructed when Harrison, Alistair, Stephen and Ariana walked into the room. Ariana was holding Stephen's hand and beaming up at him. They were getting married at the end of the week and they both looked as though they couldn't wait.

As soon as Stephen handed over his bottle of wine and Harrison and Alistair offered up a triple-layer chocolate cake, Viv grabbed Ariana by the hand and dragged her into her bedroom. Fee and I followed.

“Sorry, fellas, girl time,” I said. “Harry, would you make sure everyone has a drink?”

“It's Harrison,” he corrected me, but the corner of his mouth was turned up in a half smile. “Sure thing.”

Once the bedroom door was shut, Viv held out a hatbox to Ariana. She gasped and clutched it close.

“Is it done?” she asked.

Viv nodded and Ariana put it on the bed to pull the lid off. She unpacked it from its nest of tissue paper, and a soft sigh escaped her lips. The discolored and torn parts had been replaced and the hat looked as glorious as it had on the day Ariana's mother had worn it in her own wedding.

“Let's see how it fits,” Viv said. She moved to stand behind Ariana and helped her put it on her head.

Ariana walked to the tall standing mirror in the corner, and she put her hand to her throat as if trying to hold back the tears as she looked at her reflection.

“It's perfect,” she said. “Thank you.”

Viv gave her a wide warm smile. I knew the moment Viv caught the scent of lily of the valley that seemed to slowly seep into the room because her gaze met mine and tears were shining in her eyes.

“Here, let's see it all unfurled, yeah?” Fee asked and she spread the embroidered train out behind Ariana. It was gorgeous.

“You did a great job,” I said to Viv.

“I had a lot to work with,” she said.

The scent that reminded us so much of Mim flared and then began to dissipate.

“She approved,” I said to Viv.

“I hope so,” she said. She looked a bit forlorn and I wondered at it.

Wearing a pale blue chemise that shimmered when she walked and having her hair done in a half-up, half-down style, Viv had an almost otherworldly beauty about her. Then again, maybe that was just the distance I always felt with her these days. It made me sad and frustrated even as I tried to give her some space. I couldn't help but wonder why Viv seemed to be shutting me and everyone else out.

I almost started to grill her, but I didn't want to spoil the evening. Fee and Ariana were checking out the hat from all angles and Ariana looked so happy that it was impossible to stay in a bad mood.

A knock sounded on the door and then Harrison's voice called through the thick wood, “Ginger, not to alarm you, but there's a buzzer going off in the kitchen.”

“Dinner!” I cried. “Box it up, girls.”

I slipped through the door and back into the main room. Harrison was the only one there as the other men had gone into the sitting room to watch some sporting event on television.

“Would you call everyone to dinner?” I asked him.

He didn't say anything, just stared at me.

“What?” I asked.

“Nothing,” he said. Then he gave me a slow smile that had wickedness in every dimple. “Just taking it all in. You're like a domesticated wild animal in that apron.”

“Be careful, Harry, I still have claws,” I said.

He laughed. “I'm counting on it.”

He turned and left the room and I blew out a breath. The man could seduce the common sense right out of a girl if she let him. Luckily, I was made of sterner stuff or so I kept telling myself.

Once everyone was seated, Viv helped me haul the dishes out to the table and bus them as needed. She sat at one end of the long table with Alistair on one side of her and Nick on the other. I sat on the other with Harrison on one side and Andre on the other. Stephen and Ariana squeezed in between Alistair and Harrison while Fee sat across from them. It was definitely snug but no one seemed to mind. As far as hostessing went, thank goodness Viv and I had dined at Nick and Andre's often enough to know what we were doing.

We got through the soup and salad course. Jean's roasted vegetable soup with walnut and sage pesto wowed them, but yes, I was happy to take the praise.

Then it was potted shrimps with pickled cucumber. Amazing. Everyone had their own little casserole dish and I was pleased to see them all scraped clean.

Andre and Nick were in rare form entertaining everyone with their latest bits of gossip. Ariana and Stephen talked about their upcoming wedding, to which we'd all been invited. And Alistair updated everyone on Mariska's arrest. Her partner, Jarrett, had been able to work out a deal for testifying against her. Although she had nothing to do with Russo's death, she had hampered the investigation, let an innocent woman be wrongly accused and had assaulted me. She was definitely going to be doing some time. I put my hand to my throat, remembering the feel of her fingers cutting off my air, and I knew I didn't feel sorry for her, not even a little.

Lastly, we settled in for the roast beef with individual Yorkshire puddings and rosemary roasted potatoes. Again, I basked in the compliments. A girl could really get used to this, let me tell you.

I began to clear away the last of the dishes and the others went back to the sitting room. Harrison stayed behind to help me. Once the table was cleared, he set to making tea and coffee.

“So how are you feeling, Ginger?” he asked.

“I'm fine,” I said. “You heard the doctor at the A&E; no permanent damage was done.”

“I was thinking more along the lines of how you're feeling right now,” he said. He gestured to the kitchen's piles of dishes. “This must have taken you most of the day.”

“Yes, it was quite an undertaking,” I said. Then I grinned at him. “But when I lose a bet, I pay up.”

He turned away from the teapot, which was steeping, and the coffeepot, which was brewing. He stepped closer to me but I refused to back up.

He looked down at me, and his green eyes sparked with mischief. “How is Jean by the way?”

“She's go—” I sucked in a breath. “How did you know?”

“I came by earlier to tell you that you didn't have to go through with it,” he said. “I was worried it was too much for you after . . .”

His voice trailed off and his fingers traced the place on my neck where the bruises from Mariska's fingers had finally faded. His touch almost made me lose my power of speech but I cleared my throat and forged on.

“You saw me sneak her in, didn't you?”

“Yes,” he said. Then he laughed. “Very clever.”

“Are you going to tell the others?” I asked. I really hated to lose my kitchen cred so fast. I knew full well that with my lack of culinary prowess, time would out me soon enough.

He considered me for a moment. “Well, I might be persuaded to work out an alternate payment on the wager.”

“Oh,” I said. He was staring at my mouth, and I felt my ears start to ring as my blood pressure spiked. I think he intended to kiss me, and there was not a single part of me that was against this payment option.

“I'm sorry, Alistair, but I can't,” Viv said.

It took all of my brain capacity to look away from Harrison to where Viv had just stormed into the room. Alistair was right behind her, looking bewildered.

“It's just dinner, Viv,” he said. “I'm not asking for a lifetime commitment here. But I know what I felt when I kissed you and I know you felt it, too.”