Holly’s boss was more high-strung than usual.
“I think the tables are too close together.” Nicole looked up at Holly, hesitation in her eyes. “Do you think they’re too close together?”
“No, I think it’s beautiful.” And she did. They’d spent two hours setting up the round rental tables and chairs, covering both with white organza that caught in the breeze. The tops were covered with pale yellow and white flowers with plenty of greenery. A table for the elaborate cake and decorations sat under the gazebo, along with a table next to it for Megan’s presents. Nicole Vandemeer had the perfect backyard for entertaining—a beautiful pool in the center, a two-tiered deck, and well-manicured landscaping with lots of shade. Nicole’s plan was simple elegance, and she’d achieved it. It was equal to any socialite shower, which was exactly what she was going for. “It’s very classy.”
Nicole clasped her hands together as she surveyed the backyard. “Thank you. I just hope Millie Leopold likes it.”
“And Megan.”
Her gaze jerked up. “Well, of course.” But Holly could see the guilt in her eyes. “I should go inside and see if the string quartet is here yet.” She wrung her hands. “They’re fifteen minutes late. The guests should be arriving and my son hasn’t even shown up to attend the bar.” She shook her head. “Doesn’t punctuality mean anything these days?”
A string quartet for a baby shower seemed like overkill, but it was Nicole. “I’ll double-check the draping on the posts where they are playing. It looked like one was working loose. And the bar’s all set up, so all he has to do is show up.” The bar also seemed like overkill, but Nicole insisted that the guests needed to be served fresh mimosas. The juice had to be freshly squeezed.
“Thank you.”
She disappeared into the house, and Holly walked around to the other side of the pool to check the temporary gazebo Nicole had erected. Seconds later, Megan emerged through the back door, walking toward her as she took everything in.
“It looks lovely, Holly,” Megan said as she stopped next to her. But she looked nervous, not that Holly blamed her.
Holly hadn’t known Megan very long. After Megan moved back to Kansas City she’d run into Holly often when visiting her mother’s office. Megan had invited Holly out to lunch, and the two women became fast friends. However, after the first two lunch dates, Nicole made it very clear she didn’t approve of her employee socializing with her daughter. Megan was willing to meet Holly on the sly, but Holly couldn’t do it. She hated lying. Even to her unreasonable boss.
She gave Megan a sympathetic look. “I know you would have preferred something much more casual.”
“This was my mother’s doing, not yours. Thanks for giving up your Saturday to come help.” She glanced over her shoulder, then back.
Holly looked down, feeling embarrassed over her earlier grumbling. “I’m happy to do it. Oh, and by the way, if your mother asks, I called you yesterday and made one last effort to find out the baby’s sex.”
“Thanks for helping me with that, too.”
“Anytime.”
Megan hesitated, looking like she wanted to say something, but then she lifted her hand to the silky bow at Holly’s neckline, straightening the length. “You look very pretty today.”
Holly looked down at her pale-green-and-white-polka-dot sleeveless dress. Was it too much? The full skirt allowed a breeze to cool her down, something important since she’d been outside for a few hours already. Thankfully, the late June day wasn’t too hot. “Thank you. But you’re the special guest. I’m supposed to stay in the background.” She waved to Megan’s pale blue dress. “And you look stunning. Pregnancy agrees with you.”
“I love being pregnant. I’m really happy.” But she sounded distracted as she glanced over her shoulder again.
Who was she looking for? “I can tell,” Holly said, surprised by the surge of envy that rose inside her.
Megan turned serious. “There’s something I have to warn you about.”
Holly chuckled. “That your mother is upset over the string quartet? I know.” Then she gave her a sly grin. “I’ll see if I can get them to play something contemporary to shake things up. Got any requests?”
“No. That’s not it. I did something maybe I shouldn’t have done.” Megan paused, then grabbed both of Holly’s hands, giving them a tiny shake as she stared deep into her eyes. “I just want you to know that you are a remarkable, beautiful woman. You deserve someone special. Insist he treats you right. And if he doesn’t, then that’s on him, not you, okay?”
Holly’s eyes widened. Was she wearing her shame from last night like a scarlet letter? But then, what did she have to feel guilty about, anyway?
Nicole poked her head out the back door. “Megan, I need you for a moment.”
Frustration washed over Megan’s face as she called out, “I’ll be there in a minute.”
“Now, darling.”
Megan looked torn, casting a glance back at her mother, then a guilty one at Holly. “Holly, I don’t know how to tell you—”
Holly’s phone rang in her dress pocket. “You go deal with your mother while I take this.”
“But I—”
As she pulled the phone out of her pocket, she saw the number of the retirement center appear on the screen. “Go. This might be about my grandmother. I need to get it.”
“Megan!” her mother shouted. “Now!”
Megan nodded, but she didn’t look happy to be walking away, which Holly attributed to concern. Megan knew about Holly’s grandmother and her deteriorating health, even though Holly had begged Megan not to tell her mother. Despite Megan’s protests, she worried Nicole would think her grandmother’s health would be too distracting for Holly to do her job well. Nicole Vandemeer abhorred any signs of weakness.
Megan looked over her shoulder, then back at Holly, her guilt palpable. “I really am sorry,” she mouthed as she walked away.
A ball of anxiety churned in Holly’s stomach, but Megan took off before Holly could ask what she was sorry for. Was Nicole upset with her? What had she done this time?
But she was more worried about the reason for the phone call. “Hello?”
“Holly?” her grandmother asked. “When are you picking me up?”
Holly blinked in surprise. Had she forgotten an appointment with her grandmother? “I’m sorry, Grandma. I’m helping my boss with her daughter’s baby shower.”
“Vickie’s daughter’s too young to have a baby.”
“Not my boss from the Marriott. My new boss.”
“What new boss? Did you get a new job and not tell me?”
Tears stung Holly’s eyes. “No, Grandma. I’ve had it for almost a year.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
The doctors had told her to mention the present, and if her grandmother got frustrated to let it go. There was no reasoning with her, but it also probably meant she hadn’t forgotten a prior arrangement. “Where were we supposed to go?”
“You said you wanted to see Swan Lake. I bought the tickets and everything, but I thought they were in my drawer…” Her voice faded. “Who stole my tickets?”
Holly wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes. Her grandmother had saved up to take her and Melanie to see Swan Lake when they were in middle school. “Gran, I’m going to ask the nurses to help you look.”
“What nurses?”
She swallowed the burning lump in her throat. The quartet was on their way toward her and she had to help them get set up or Nicole would be furious. “I’ll find someone to help you, okay?”
But her grandmother hung up on her first.
She called the nurses’ station to fill them in, and they assured Holly not to worry, that they would take of her grandmother.
Stuffing her phone into her pocket, she forced a smile as she greeted the quartet and showed them where they would spend the afternoon. As she watched them, she told herself that there was nothing she could do for her grandmother right now. If anything, Holly’s presence was usually more upsetting to her grandmother when she was having an episode. Holly had to trust the staff to take care of her.
But she was still an anxious mess. She needed to pull herself together.
Nicole emerged with a tray of appetizers, looking remarkably calm since the shower was about to start and her son hadn’t made an appearance yet. If push came to shove, Holly figured she could fill in at the bar.
Megan made a beeline to her mother and motioned to Holly. Nicole’s mouth pinched and she shook her head no. Megan grabbed her mother’s arm, looking like she was pleading.
What in the world was Megan doing?
Then she saw him.
Kevin stalked across the deck with a dark expression, heading straight toward the bar area set up at the end of the pool.
The blood rushed from her head to the bottom of her feet and she swayed, feeling light-headed.
Oh, God. No.
Kevin was Kevin Vandemeer? She’d slept with her boss’s son.
“Miss, are you all right?” the cellist asked in an anxious voice.
She placed her hand on her chest, sucking in a deep breath. “Yes. I’m fine.” But she felt anything but fine. She felt like she was going to throw up.
Megan was hurrying toward her, pure panic on her face. “Holly, let’s go inside.”
Holly looked into Megan’s eyes, putting things together. “Kevin’s your brother.”
She nodded, biting her bottom lip.
Then new horror washed through her. “Oh, my God. You know.” But she said it louder than she’d intended and the sound of crashing glass startled her. She and Megan turned their attention to the sound. Kevin was staring at her, his face pale, while champagne shot out of a bottle spinning around on the concrete patio.
“Oh!” Megan’s grandmother shouted from the deck. “You’ve added a fountain to the party.”
“Not now, Mother,” Nicole chided, stomping toward her son. “Kevin! What on earth is going on here?”
Megan grabbed Holly’s arm and tugged. “Let’s go inside.”
Libby joined them, looking confused, then she looked back and forth between the two. “Oh.”
“Libby,” Megan begged.
Libby gave her a push. “Yeah, I’ve got her—you deal with the fallout.”
Megan shot off toward her mother and brother, while Libby looped her arm through Holly’s. “I’m feeling a little light-headed from the heat. Will you help me inside?” Libby asked, fanning herself.
“Oh…sure…”
Kevin was walking around the table toward her, but Megan grabbed his arm and held him in place while Nicole went on a rant.
“This party could make or break my career, Kevin. Why are you just standing there? We have to clean this up before anyone sees the mess!”
Libby ushered Holly into the kitchen, then dropped her hold and went to the cabinet, pulling out a glass.
“I take it that you’re Kevin’s neighbor?”
Holly cringed, closing her eyes in hopes she could shut the world out. “You know, too?”
“That Kevin acted like an ass? Yeah.”
Her eyes shot open. “Oh, my God! He’s going around telling everyone? Does Nicole know?” A new anxiety steamrolled through her head and she fought to catch her breath. “Oh, God. I’m going to lose my job.”
Libby handed her a glass of ice water as she guided Holly to a bar stool at the kitchen island. “Whoa. Slow down. First of all, as far as I know, he’s not telling anyone. Megan and I found him outside and he was feeling like a first-class asshole. We pried it out of him. And, second, why on earth would Nicole fire you? You didn’t do anything wrong.”
“I slept with her son!”
“Obviously you didn’t know he was her son when you slept with him.”
“She won’t care.”
“Kevin’s a grown man who is in charge of his own life, who he sleeps with is his own business. Just like who you sleep with is yours.”
“She won’t see it that way.”
Libby frowned. “No, I suppose you’re right.”
Panic flooded through Holly’s veins. “She can’t find out. I can still fix this.” She got off the stool and headed to the door.
Libby pushed her back. “Where do you think you’re going?”
“To convince Kevin to keep this to himself.”
Libby shook her head. “Megan’s on damage control. Trust me, she can handle it. Just take a deep breath, then we’ll go back out when you feel ready.”
“Thanks.”
The doorbell rang and Holly started to get up. “Nicole said she was going to put up signs to go through the gate and straight to the backyard instead of through the house. I better make sure they’re up.”
“I’ll check. You just sit here for a moment.” The doorbell continued to ring repeatedly, and Libby groaned. “Oh, goody. It sounds like one of Nicole’s asshole friends is at the door.”
Holly couldn’t help grinning.
“If that grin means you agree that her friends are assholes, then I can see why Megan likes you so much.” Then she walked into the living room, leaving Holly alone.
Holly stood and moved to the bay window in the breakfast room, checking on what was going on in the backyard. Kevin was squatting next to the bartending table, Megan next to him. Nicole was waving her arms around, while Nicole’s mother stood next to them.
She only had to make it through the next two hours, and then she could run home to her boxed wine and her cousin’s dog. The damage was done. It wasn’t like it could get any worse.
“Of course I saw the sign,” a woman said behind her. “But I’m practically family.” Holly recognized that voice. She spun around to see Bethany, Nicole’s coffee date from the other day—the one wanting to discuss her wedding—standing next to an infuriated Libby. “I’m sure I have free rein of the house.”
“Anyone familiar with Nicole knows better than to disobey her signs.” Libby scowled with her hands on her hips, obviously not a fan of the pushy woman. “I’ve been best friends with Megan her entire life, and I’m pretty sure you and I haven’t met. How are you practically family?”
Bethany jutted her head back, obviously offended. “Why, I’m Kevin’s soon-to-be wife, of course.”
Sure enough, there on her left hand was a shiny diamond ring to prove it.