Josie would have really preferred to meet with Regina in the morning. A night’s rest would have gone a long way toward getting her some clarity. As it was, when she arrived at Regina’s house, she had to admit that she was somewhat unsettled and nervous.
How bad could it be? she asked herself. If this interview—she couldn’t think of it as anything else—actually went badly, she’d be no worse off than she was now, right? And if she managed to impress the woman, she would at least wind up landing the gig. And who knew? If that happened, she knew that she could very well go on to become Regina’s backup caterer if not her actual go-to caterer. From the little bit she had picked up from Ruth, Regina Mackenzie threw these fundraising parties all the time.
Regina’s house was breathtaking, Josie thought as she approached the large colonial building’s front door. Throwing her shoulders back, she rang the doorbell.
The sound of chimes echoed back to her, but the door remained closed. It took a second attempt on her part before the door finally opened. When it did, Josie found herself looking at a thin, young woman who looked to be about five foot five and around twenty-five years of age. The young woman looked at her quizzically.
Josie cleared her throat. “I’m not sure if I’m at the right address,” she said, trying to explain her presence. “I’m looking for Regina Mackenzie.”
“You’re at the right address,” the stranger confirmed, opening the front door further to admit Josie. “Regina Mackenzie is my aunt,” she said. “I’m Elise Mackenzie. You’re the caterer, right? We’ll probably be working together. My aunt likes me to keep track of things when she’s throwing one of her fundraisers. She throws a lot of fundraisers,” Elise added as she ushered Josie inside, “so it’s easy for her to get all those details confused.
“She’s waiting for you. Come with me,” Elise urged. Turning, she led the way back to her aunt’s office.
Stopping before a closed ornate mahogany door, Elise knocked lightly then walked in. She glanced over her shoulder, beckoning for Josie to follow.
“Aunt Regina, this is the caterer you’ve been waiting to meet,” Elise said. The next moment, the young woman promptly melted into the background.
Josie took that as her cue. Extending her hand toward the stately, well-dressed woman, she began to introduce herself. “Hello, I’m—”
“Josie Whitaker, yes, I know,” Regina said, nodding in acknowledgment. Gesturing to the chair in front of her desk, Regina instructed, “Take a seat.”
Josie did as she was told, as did, she noticed, Regina’s niece. The latter sat on the edge of her seat, looking for all the world as if she couldn’t get comfortable anywhere.
As for Regina, the woman appeared to look exactly as she had envisioned her, Josie thought. She was stylishly dressed, looking very regal. Regina had a take-charge manner about her that seemed to fill the room she was in. Josie had a feeling it was like that in every room the woman walked into.
Not knowing what to expect, Josie waited for the woman to speak first and take charge of their meeting. She didn’t have long to wait.
“You have a very good record,” Regina said as she leaned forward.
Josie looked slightly taken aback. “How would you know that?” She hadn’t given the woman a résumé or anything.
“I have my connections,” Regina told her loftily. “But I noticed that you have only catered small parties. My one question to you is can you handle a soiree for over a hundred people?”
The thought did create butterflies in Josie’s stomach, but she managed to confidently answer, “No problem.”
Regina nodded her approval. “Confidence, I like that. Elise can connect you with all the suppliers you’re going to need for this. Just give her a list.”
Turning, the woman looked at her niece. “Elise, give Ms. Whitaker the guest list and fill her in on my guests’ preferences.” Regina leaned back in her chair, her piercing gaze fixed on Josie’s face. “I pride myself on how well these things go and especially on how much money I am always able to raise. I’m assuming this will be no different,” the woman said with confidence. “Anything you need,” she told Josie, waving a hand toward her niece, “just let Elise know.”
Josie nodded. “I appreciate that.”
“This has to go off like clockwork,” Regina informed her new caterer. “The soiree is set for Saturday at three o’clock. Anything else?” the woman asked as she rose to her feet.
It was now or never, Josie thought. Taking a breath, she pressed her lips together then started talking. “You have a wonderful reputation as a fundraiser, Ms. Mackenzie...” Josie began.
Regina arched a quizzical eyebrow. “Yes?” she asked expectantly.
Josie jumped in with both feet. “I also put time in at the Furever Paws Animal Rescue.”
Regina nodded regally. “I am aware of that. I like to know exactly who I am hiring,” she told the younger woman. She wasn’t bragging, she was stating a simple fact.
It was the lead in that Josie was looking for. “Then you’re probably aware of the fact that the shelter has been taking in more than its share of strays lately. Funds are being stretched to the limit,” Josie told the woman. “Beyond the limit, actually.”
Regina nodded, knowing where this was leading. “And you find yourself in need of a fundraiser,” the woman concluded.
“Yes, I—” Again, Josie wasn’t able to get any further.
“Say no more,” Regina instructed. “I’ll see what I can do,” the woman promised. “In the meantime,” she went on, “I expect you to take care of this catering assignment for me. No mishaps,” she warned.
She was being given notice that if anything did go wrong, that would be her signal to leave town. And it would certainly be the end of any fundraising hopes for the shelter. “Consider it done,” Josie promised.
Regina nodded. “I do.”
Whether the woman was paying her a compliment or putting her on notice, Josie had no idea. Maybe this was just a simple proposition of one hand washing the other, she thought.
Mentally, she reached for the soap.
For the next three days, Josie focused her attention almost exclusively on making the preparations for the soiree. Even though Regina Mackenzie had volunteered her niece to take care of all the shopping, Josie preferred to take care of all of that herself. It wasn’t a matter of pride, it was a matter of being able to keep track of everything that was going on, as well as stay within the budget Regina had given her for the event.
This way, if she found that she didn’t like the products she was looking for in the stores, she could instantly get substitutes or even change the menu.
“But my aunt Regina told me you needed help,” Elise protested when she checked in with Josie and the latter had gently turned her away, telling the young woman that she was taking care of getting everything that was needed.
Josie took a closer look at Elise. The brunette seemed incredibly efficient to her, but she also thought that Elise looked extremely exhausted. More so than someone her age should look, she decided.
It was obvious that Elise’s aunt was very demanding of the girl’s time as well as her energy. Josie could see that all of this was getting to the young woman.
“What I need, Elise,” Josie told her gently, “is for you to take a few deep breaths and not have a nervous breakdown.” While they didn’t look particularly similar, Josie was reminded of her daughter, pushing herself to the limit in college. She made a mental note to call Hannah and check in, maybe convince her to take breaks and get some sleep every now and then.
Did Elise not have anyone in her life to remind her of those things? She was not about to hint that the young woman’s aunt was driving her toward this breakdown. If nothing else, that was not the right way to solicit Regina’s help for the shelter. But she didn’t want Elise to drop from exhaustion either.
Without another word, Josie decided to make sure that she was the one who picked up the slack.
Working hard to please this new client, Josie confidently felt that she had everything under control as far as the food went. What she was lacking, however, was the proper space to prepare it all.
Worried, she kept the matter to herself.
However, Declan, of all people, picked up on the fact that Josie was obviously worried about something.
Not someone who danced around issues, he came right out and asked her. “Something wrong?”
Josie didn’t want the man thinking of her as a complainer. She was grateful to his mother for helping her get the work. But it all depended on her being able to prepare everything on time, and that looked as if it might not be happening.
Quite frankly, she had no experience with anything of this scale. The smaller events she’d handled up to now had meant that she could manage the cooking in her own kitchen and transport the food in her own car. But that wouldn’t make sense here. Her brother’s kitchen wasn’t big enough to cook for over a hundred people. For the first time since she had gotten into the catering business, Josie actually felt overwhelmed.
“You’re not talking,” Declan observed when she didn’t answer him. On his way out, he had stopped dead now and was staring at her.
Josie looked up at him blankly.
Declan pressed on. “I asked you if there was something wrong. Your face definitely says yes, so are you going to tell me what it is or are you going to make me have to guess?” he asked. The next moment, he came up with his own answer. “Is this about your catering job? Is it too much for you?” he wanted to know.
“No,” Josie denied then amended, “Well, not exactly.”
It seemed that he was on the right track, Declan thought. “Then what, exactly?” he persisted.
She might as well tell him. Most likely, he was going to think that she was just complaining, Josie thought. But she couldn’t very well avoid answering his question.
“My brother’s kitchen isn’t big enough for me to do this properly,” she told him. “I’d have to cook the food in shifts, which means that it’s not all going to be ready—or warm—at the same time.”
Declan nodded. He could see how that might be a problem. He came up with a solution. “How do you feel about using my kitchen?”
“Your kitchen?” she echoed, turning the thought over in her head. The size was right, but she would have never been bold enough to ask him to use his kitchen.
“Sure,” he answered. “You must have noticed how big it is. I like elbow room when I’m cooking,” Declan told her. “That way, I can spread out if I want to. My mom cooks these days,” he went on to tell her, “but when her arthritis starts to act up, I’m the one who handles the meals.
“So,” he said, coming back to his question since Josie still hadn’t given him an answer, “Do you want to use my kitchen or not?”
She was not about to continue second-guessing him. She was just going to assume that he actually meant what he was saying.
“I would love to take you up on your generous offer,” Josie told Declan.
“Good,” he pronounced, nodding his head. “And, along with the kitchen, I’m throwing in not just one extra set of hands, but two.”
“Two?” Josie questioned uncertainly.
“Two,” he repeated. “Shannon might not be able to cook like a pro—although she can manage a few things, and you know from the bake sale adventure that she can follow your directions—but she’s very good when it comes to carrying trays and serving what’s on those trays as well,” Declan told her.
“Serving?” she repeated, not sure he meant what she thought he did.
“Sure. The way I see it,” Declan explained, “you’re going to need help in carting all this food over to where this party is being held, not to mention that you’re going to need to have all this food properly laid out and served once you get there with it.”
“And you’re willing to help with all this?” she couldn’t help asking. This was a side of him she’d only caught glimpses of before. Underneath all that brusque exterior, there was definitely a softer, kinder man. Just as she’d always thought.
“Well, you managed to get my niece to act like a human being, which in turn made my mother very happy. So, the way I see it, I owe you for that. Offering you my kitchen, as well as my able body, is the best way I know how to pay you back, since you’re too busy these days for riding lessons,” Declan told her.
The smile on her face, Declan noted, seemed to light up the whole area.
“I’ll take it,” Josie happily told him.
“Good,” he replied. “Because that’s about all I’ve got to offer. Right now, being in between breeding season, I’m pretty much tapped out monetarily,” he told her drolly.
Josie looked at him for a long moment, recalling the kiss they had shared at the lake. That definitely was not all he had to offer, she thought. Not with those lips.
Josie abruptly stopped herself before her thoughts took off even more than they already had. She knew thinking like that was only going to lead to complications.
Things hadn’t changed, she reminded herself. She was still six years older than Declan, which meant that she was still too old for him, couldn’t give him the future he deserved.
But knowing that didn’t change the way he could heat her blood practically to the boiling point just by putting his lips on hers.
“So,” he was saying, “you just need to tell me when you’re going to need my kitchen and when you want Shannon and me to help bring the cooked food to its destination.”
Coming out of her trance, Josie nodded. “I appreciate this,” she told him.
He just waved away her words.
Although she worked practically around the clock from then on—preparing as much of the food for the soiree in advance as possible—as with any party, there was always something she had overlooked, something else that needed to be prepared.
In this case, Regina had made a last-minute request for a certain entrée to be prepared because of a special guest who’d agreed to attend at the last minute.
About to check on a few things before they were due to take the food over to Regina’s house, Declan saw Josie moving around the kitchen as if she were trying to do two things at once.
It was like watching a lightning-fast Ping-Pong match.
“You forget to make something?” he guessed.
“I didn’t forget. There was a last-minute request from Regina—a dish that’s a favorite of a special guest,” Josie told him. “Now it’s up to me to make up over a hundred servings of it.”
“You have the recipe?” he asked her, curious.
“That, fortunately, I do have. It’s for ten servings so I just need to multiply it by twelve so that it yields over a hundred and twenty servings—in less than an hour,” she told him.
Declan nodded. “Doable,” he told her.
“How? Do you have a magic wand in your pocket?” she asked, setting out baking trays on the kitchen table in a flash of optimism.
“Better than that.” He held up his hands. “I have ten fingers. Now, let me see the recipe and let’s get moving.”
“You’re going to help?” she asked him, stunned.
“You’re going to stand there and waste time?” he countered, waiting for her to get moving.
Her eyes met his as her smile spread. “Nope, not me,” she answered. “Okay, let’s get this show on the road,” she told him.
Drawn by the sound of their voices, Shannon made her way over to the kitchen table. “Can I help?” she wanted to know.
Right now, Josie would be willing to let Champ help if the dog had had hands instead of paws.
“I can take directions really well,” Shannon reminded the woman she idolized. “Just tell me what you want me to do and I’ll do it,” she promised.
“Good enough for me,” Josie replied.
Opening the refrigerator, she pulled out the packages of extra-large shrimp she had purchased at the last minute and set them on the side of the sink. “Let’s get started,” she declared.