Smooth as Silk, page 12
He hesitated. “No. That would be unrealistic. It is Jules Perry. But I told them you and I have a working relationship, so I’m assisting Deb Carmichael.”
“You’ll be here?”
“Yes.”
“Sounds perfect.” She would have carried on without Alex, but the idea of a friendly face—or more accurately, voice—was a plus.
“There’s this one thing,” Alex said.
There always was, but that was fine, great even. She could do one thing. One thing was her specialty. Two, if need be.
“Anything. I’ll give her the dress.”
“No. You won’t. Jules Perry doesn’t need anybody to give her a dress. It’s against the show’s policy anyway, unless it’s one of those specials where the bride’s house burned down or she lost a limb in Afghanistan. You’ll charge Jules Perry what you’d charge anyone.”
“All right. What, then?”
“Robbie McTavish.”
“What?” And her hell-no day turned into hell fucking no.
“She knows Robbie. He played in some celebrity golf tournament with Reynolds. They like him.”
“Everybody does,” she said flatly.
“They—Jules and Reynolds—thought the video was funny—looked fun.”
“Oh, it was,” Hyacinth said. “So much fun. I especially liked the part where he spilled his ice cream on an eight-thousand-dollar Rayna Kwan dress. That didn’t make it on the video.”
“Too bad. That would have been hilarious.”
“Yes, so funny. I’m still laughing.”
Her tone must have said it all because Alex’s elation evaporated. “It’s a deal breaker, Hyacinth. It’s what she’s asked for.”
“But why?”
He sighed. “Why do stars do anything? But it works. It’s what the brass around here wants, too. The chemistry between you two is staggering.”
“There’s not any chemistry between us. We don’t even really like each other.”
“Debatable,” Alex said, “but not important. Can you be ready in time?”
“Yes. Absolutely. I’ll be ready whenever you say.”
“You decorate for Christmas, don’t you? Deb wants decorations.”
“Of course,” she said with more assurance than she felt. She did decorate—more or less, emphasis on less. In fact, she’d already done it. Fake wreath on the front door. The retro silver tree covered in tiaras, bridal jewelry, and sparkling belts. Christmas tree paper napkins with the champagne and cheese straws. The poinsettia Claire sent on the front counter. She would have to do more.
“Good. We’ll send someone the day before to check it out.” Just more wouldn’t do. It would have to be better.
“I’ll need to meet with Jules.”
“No,” Alex said adamantly. “No meeting.”
“It doesn’t have to be in person. We can Zoom or FaceTime. I need some idea of what she has in mind. I have preliminary meetings with all my brides.”
“Not this time. We don’t script and we want pure, organic interaction from beginning to end. It might take a while, but don’t worry. We’ll edit out the slow parts.”
She didn’t like the sound of that, but what could she say? “All right. I’m sure you know what you’re doing.”
“You can deliver Robbie McTavish, can’t you?”
“Yes,” she said with confidence she didn’t feel. “I can deliver him.”
“Good. Let’s talk about the particulars.”
* * *
When Robbie came out of practice, still running on hormones and adrenaline, he wanted food, sex, and a nap—not necessarily in that order. In fact, his preference would be sex, then food, then nap, but that wasn’t happening.
“Who wants to go to Hammer Time?” Logan Jensen asked. Luka, Miklos, Wingo, and Christophe made affirmative noises, while Able Killen begged off, saying he had a date later. Robbie was jealous that Able had that to look forward to—not that Robbie would have wanted to go out with Ariel. She was sweet, but about as spacey as they came.
“How about you, Scotty?” Logan waved his phone in the air. “I’m calling to tell them how many. You want to go?”
Robbie did not. He’d eaten his way through Hammer Time’s menu twice in the past three weeks and he was tired of it. But then again, it was easy.
“Sure. Count me in.”
Cold rain was coming down when he left the lobby of the iceplex. He looked at the sky, searching for signs of a tornado. They didn’t get tornadoes much in Scotland, but he’d seen what they could do since moving to the South, and he was scared to death of them. At least Hammer Time would be warm and predictable. Was there a basement? He’d have to ask.
He rounded the corner to the lot where his car was parked and stopped abruptly.
There, parked beside his silver Corvette, was one of those ridiculous toy cars—a Mini Cooper, school bus yellow with black stripes on the hood. And if he wasn’t mistaken, it was the same one that had been on Hyacinth’s parking pad when he’d dropped her off last night. It had to be her. Surely, there weren’t two people in Laurel Springs fool enough to buy a Hot Wheels car that wouldn’t hold a bag of groceries—especially one that color.
What was she doing here? He jogged over and looked in her window. She had her head leaned back, eyes closed. She looked pretty and, as long as her mouth was shut, nothing would come out of it that would hurt his feelings or disappoint him. If it hadn’t been raining, he might have looked at her longer, but it was. Lightning streaked across the sky, startling him.
“Hey!” He rapped on her window and her head jerked up. “Did you know you’re parked by my car?”
She rolled down her window. “Yes. Brad told me what you drive and when you were likely to get through with practice.”
“For somebody who was foaming at the mouth to get back to Trousseau, you don’t seem to be there.”
“No. The bride canceled her appointment. I want to talk to you.”
He’d figured out that much, but what about? Maybe she’d been thinking over the past few days and she’d come to apologize for the hateful things she’d said to him; maybe she’d say she was horrified that it sounded like she cared more about being on All Dressed in White than Evie and Jake.
Maybe she was thinking about that almost kiss and she wanted to wipe away the bad things that had happened after.
He could get on board with that. A little sorry went a long way with him, always had.
“Could you get in?” she asked.
He gave the car a once-over. “You’re kidding, right? My hockey bag is bigger than this Matchbox car.”
“Good thing you don’t have your hockey bag with you. Come on. Get in. You’re getting wet.” She came across with a smile and he liked that she cared that he was getting wet. “It’s got more leg room than it looks like.”
He hesitated, almost suggested they go to the coffee shop. Then it thundered and he ran around and folded himself into the tuna can on wheels.
Chapter Eleven
It was close quarters in the car. Robbie smelled like soap with a little underlying sweat.
It wasn’t unappealing.
“What is it you’re after, la—” He let his voice trail off. “Hyacinth.” This was the second time he’d almost called her lass after she’d told him not to, and he’d corrected himself both times. It made her sad. She remembered why she’d done it, but it seemed stupid now. Childish.
“Hyacinth?” He shifted in the seat, trying to get comfortable.
“Right. You’re friends with Jules Perry? And her fiancé? What’s his name?”
“Reynolds Fallon. Aye. I know them. More friendly acquaintances than friends like you’d call to get you out of jail—not that I’ve been in jail. But you never know. Pleasant folks.” He looked up, like he was reading something on the roof of the car. “I played in a golf tournament with Reynolds. He’s a fair golfer, but not as good as me. I won. Golf was invented in Scotland. A lot of people don’t know that. After golfing, we went out for sushi—which I didn’t want to do. Raw fish, you know. But Jules wanted to, and you know what? It wasn’t half bad. I had—”
Mother of pearl. Hyacinth snapped her fingers. “Robbie! You’ve gone down a bunny trail. Come back.”
“More like a sushi trail, but all right. What about them?”
“They’re getting married.”
He nodded. “Aye. I was invited, but I had to send my regrets. Too bad, I have a game. It would have been a right good time. I had my agent send a present.” It thundered and he looked at the sky. “Not sure what.” He looked heavenward again, totally distracted. For once, she didn’t mind because she was still trying to figure out how to proceed. She wasn’t used to asking for favors. But then he snapped back. “Did you come here to talk about Reynolds and Jules?”
“No.” But was that true? “Or yes, but not exactly.”
“Get on with it, woman. I’m hungry. The guys are waiting on me.”
He was telling her to get on with it? That was rich, but it probably wouldn’t do her cause any good to say so. “Sorry. I’ll be quick.”
He widened his eyes and inclined his head toward her, waiting.
“Here’s the thing. Jules’s designer leaked her wedding dress design to the press. She fired him. She’s coming to Trousseau to find a dress. And we’re going to be on All Dressed in White.”
“Fancy that.” He laughed and nodded. “Didn’t see that coming. Good on you. You’re getting what you want.”
“Almost. Maybe. Depending...” she said quietly.
“What’s that? Depending on what?”
“You.” She said it quickly.
“Me? What’s it to do with me?”
Okay. She’d said the hard part. She was good at recounting and explaining.
“They—she and Reynolds saw the video. They liked it. Jules decided if she couldn’t keep her dress a secret, she’d share it with the world. She called All Dressed in White. Or her people did. You know. Like your agent sent the gift.” She was headed down a bunny trail of her own. “Anyway. It needs to happen fast. In a little over a week. But the condition is you have to be on the show.”
His expression went from mildly interested to surprised to...something else, something she couldn’t read. He closed his eyes and laughed out loud, shaking his head.
“Let’s get this straight,” he said carefully. “The video that you hated so much, that you blamed me for, the one that was going to ruin your business, your future, your whole life, ended up getting you exactly what you want.”
It sounded so much worse than it was. “Well, yes. Depending. Like I said.”
He crossed his arms over his chest. “On me? Being willing to go on the show? To help you out? Tell me, Hyacinth. Where would this show take place?”
“Trousseau, of course.”
“Ah. Too bad.” He lightly punched his left palm with his right fist. “I won’t be able to help you out with that. Two reasons. The helping. Can’t do that. And I can’t go in your shop. You said so.”
She wanted to scream. He didn’t even care that she knew he was enjoying this.
“Okay, Robbie. I have that coming. And more. I admit it. Don’t make me beg.”
“I think I will. I think that’s exactly what I want you to do.” He narrowed his eyes.
She took a deep breath. “Robbie, please do this for me. It’s Wednesday, December sixth. It would all be over in about eight hours. They’re going to air the show the day of the wedding.”
He shook his head. “Got practice. And I fly out to LA that night.”
“It starts early. It would be done before you have to leave. And you always have practice. Couldn’t you be excused just once? Evans said Jake was excused Monday so they can go on their honeymoon.”
He shrugged. “I could ask, if I wanted. But I don’t. I like to practice.”
He was playing with her. They both knew it.
She sighed. “What’s it going to take?”
“Oh?” He feigned surprise. “You mean there could be something in it for me?”
“You’d be on TV.”
“Please.” He rolled his eyes. “I’m on TV all the time. You’re the one who cares about that.”
“Then why don’t you tell me what you want?” Though she couldn’t imagine anything she could do for him.
He sat for a full minute, thinking. Just when she thought he wasn’t going to answer, he held up one finger.
“First, I want to be absolved from ruining that dress.”
Relief washed over her. “Done. That’s easy. You don’t owe me a cent.”
“Not so fast.” He drummed his fingers on the dash. “I’m not talking about money. I’m paying for the frock. I take responsibility and I pay what I owe. No. I want you to let it go. Complete absolution. I don’t want to hear about it again. I don’t want to see you think about it. I damn sure don’t want you to whine about it to anybody else.” She’d never whined in her life, but she wasn’t in the position to say so. “All that comes after you admit it was an accident, that it could have happened to anybody.”
That was harder, but okay. “All right. Done.”
“Not by a long shot. Say it,” he demanded.
“Say what?”
“If you don’t know, I can’t help you.”
“You didn’t mean to do it. It could have happened to anyone.” What was it he was always saying to defend himself? “You meant well. You were only trying to help.” He nodded and looked somewhat pleased. She rushed on and added for good measure, “I’m partly to blame. I should have asked you to get rid of your ice cream as soon as you walked in. You would have done it.”
“I would have. All you had to do was be nice.” He smiled. “Brilliant. I’ll come by and pay for the dress; then it will be a closed subject.”
He’d said he would come in the shop. That was progress. “Yes. And I’m glad. I want it behind us.” She could taste the finish line.
He held up two fingers. “Number two.” Hell. Now there was a number two? And he had a long way to go before he ran out of fingers. “I want you to come to all of the Yellowhammer home games.”
“Why?” It slipped out before she thought.
“Does it matter? Maybe I want you to do something you don’t want to as penitence. Maybe I want to make a hockey fan out of you. Either way, that’s my price.”
“All right.” That was the only answer she could give. “I’ll start as soon as we get the taping of the show behind us.”
“You’ll start tomorrow,” he said.
She opened her mouth to argue, then closed it again. She had so much to do and she could already feel it bearing down on her, but she’d have to work it out.
Apparently, she hesitated too long. “Have it your own way.” He reached for the door handle. “See you around, Hyacinth.”
“Wait! All right. I’ll be there. Tomorrow, and every other home game for the rest of the season.” She’d get through it somehow. Maybe take some hand sewing to work on. “Are those all the terms of your blackmail?”
He opened his mouth and raised his eyebrows in mock surprise. “Oh, ho, ho. Blackmail, you say? Such an ugly word. Hmm. I don’t believe I will...”
And just then an ear-splitting siren screamed from his pocket and a look of pure terror came over Robbie’s face.
“There’s a tornado coming!” He fumbled in his pocket, brought out his phone, and promptly dropped it at Hyacinth’s feet.
“What? Tornado?” she said, reaching for his phone. “No.”
He dove for his phone in the same instant and their heads collided with a loud crack.
“Ouch!” Hyacinth rubbed her temple. “You hurt my head!”
“You’ve got bigger problems than that, woman, and so have I!” He fiddled with his phone. “Where is Daphne?”
“Daphne who?”
“A city...a town.”
“South Alabama. What’s wrong with you?”
“I told you! There’s a tornado.”
“No,” Hyacinth said. “There’s no severe weather predicted. I listen every morning.” Just then there was a flash of lightning, followed by a loud roar of thunder.
Wild-eyed, he pointed to the sky. “Isn’t that prediction enough? We need to get out of here. This tin can car can’t be a good thing. Worse than Dorothy’s house. Should we go in the rink?”
Something in her turned. He was truly petrified.
“Calm down, Robbie.” She spoke quietly and took his phone. “Let me see about this.”
“This is no time to calm down. I’ve seen pictures of what happens.”
She had the same weather app and hers hadn’t gone off. “Oh. Here’s the problem.”
“The problem is out there!” The lightning flashed again.
“You’ve got the settings all wrong,” she said. “You only need to be alerted if there’s a tornado watch in our area. You don’t need to know there’s a flash flood warning two hundred miles from here—which is what’s going on in Daphne.”
“I thought that was safer. If there’s a tornado watch, it’s too late.”
“No, it’s not. A tornado watch means conditions are right for a tornado to form. A tornado warning means there is a tornado, though it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s on the ground. A tornado emergency means get your bug-out bag and get the hell out of Dodge.”
He looked skeptical. “How do you know all that?”
“I’m a child of the South, raised on the god of all meteorologists, James Spann. Let’s see what he has to say.” She found what she was looking for on his phone and turned it so Robbie could see it. “Okay, look here at the radar, Robbie. The storm is coming in from Mississippi, moving east. A tornado could come out of it, but it looks like it’s turned and is going south of us. All we’re going to get is some rain and thunderstorms.”
