[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
.Watching the chocolate melt in the double boiler was pretty mesmerizing in high definition, and it was also interesting to note that you should always turn off the heat before you stir in the vanilla.Craig’s kids had loved to cook at that age.“Bella,” my mother’s voice said in my ear.“Are you still there?”“Oh, sorry,” I said.“I don’t know.If I did that, they’d probably want some of the money back.”“You took money to watch them?”“Well,” I said.“It’s not like I had much of a choice.”“Bella,” my mother said.“Did you or did you not find two abandoned children?”My mother was such a social worker sometimes.“Never mind,” I said.“So, what else is new? Where were you last night?”“Out with a friend,” my mother said.“So, do we or do we not have a crisis here?”I walked over to the bar area.There was a nice, big fruit basket, so I helped myself to an apple.“Not,” I said.“Okay then.Wait, I have another call coming in.Listen, I’ll give you a call later, okay? Love you.”“Love you, too,” I said to dead air.I closed my phone.I sat on the edge of the bed and looked out the window.I ate my apple.The bridal suite had a great view of Marshbury harbor.It looked like everybody with a boat was heading out to enjoy this perfect late August day.I finished the apple and checked the clock radio beside the couch.The bride was probably walking down the aisle right about now.With luck, the wine hadn’t worn off yet, since it would be a shame to start dry heaving on the altar.I wondered if the groom really had strep throat.I wondered if he was wearing pants.I could feel myself just about to start strolling down memory lane to the foggy past of my wedding.I definitely didn’t want to go there, so I took a deep breath and shook it off.I looked out the window again, hoping to see some sign of the babysitter, not that I had any idea what she, or even he, might look like.The cooking show must have gone to a commercial, because the wild little kids ran into the room and started jumping on the bed and screaming at the top of their lungs.Still, no one banged on the door or called to complain.The bridal suite must be practically soundproof.I wondered if they advertised it that way.All that yelling was starting to give me a headache.I did some quick math and decided I’d stayed here long enough to have earned the extra cash.“Hey,” I said.“How about some makeup before we hit the road?”THE WILD LITTLE KIDS WERE buckled in the back of my Volkswagen bug, and I was driving really slowly, since I was pretty sure that technically they should still have been riding in car seats.I took a look at them in the rearview mirror.They weren’t exactly fit for a wedding reception in those striped polo shirts, but at least the makeup dressed them up a bit.They’d both giggled a lot when I airbrushed them, especially the little boy.I’d gone easy on the rest of the makeup though, so they wouldn’t turn out looking like those awful little beauty pageant kids.I took a left at the end of Front Street.The tricky part was that I didn’t actually know where the reception was.This might have been problematic in a town bigger than Marshbury, but there were only three possibilities, so I knew we’d find it eventually.Unless, of course, they’d gone out of town, but I wasn’t going to let myself think about that.I looked at the wild little kids in my rearview mirror.“How’re you doing back there?” I asked in that stupid voice even people who know better use when they’re talking to kids.Neither of them said anything.“Good to hear,” I said in the same voice.I banged a right on Beach Rose Road and headed for the yacht club.I pulled into the parking lot and drove right up next to the function room.I put the car into park, took out my keys, and kept one hand on the door.I stood on my tiptoes to look into the window.Nothing.“Five bucks says we’ll get it on the next try,” I said when I got back in the car.“Ten,” one of the wild little kids said.“Well, what do you know,” I said.“You’re verbal.”That got them screaming again.I rolled down my window, hoping some of the noise would escape.I thought about putting down the convertible top, since it was such a nice day, but I was afraid I might lose one of them if we hit a bump.I wanted to get rid of the wild little kids, but I also wanted to hang on to the money.They might want a partial refund for damaged children.We backtracked, then took a left onto Inner Harbor Lane.The parking lot at the Olde Marshbury Taverne was packed.“Bingo,” I said.“I win,” one of the wild little kids said behind me.I pulled the car as close as I could to the front entrance.I left my window open a crack for air circulation and locked the car carefully.Locking kids alone in a car was probably illegal, but in my defense, abandoning them at the wrong wedding most likely was, too.“Be right back,” I said.Almost the first person I saw was the matron of honor.“Excuse me,” I said.“But the babysitter never showed….”She looked over her shoulder.For a minute there, I thought she was going to make a run for it, but she turned back around again.“Two more hours,” she said.“How much?”Even I knew it would be bad for my self-esteem to head into Saturday night as a babysitter.“Sorry,” I said.She shook her head and followed me out to the car.The kids started screaming again when they saw her.The matron of honor didn’t thank me.I don’t think she even noticed the great complimentary makeup job I’d done on her wild little offspring.She just reached into my car and unbuckled them, then started dragging them into the reception.“You’re welcome,” I yelled after her.The door to the Olde Marshbury Taverne opened, and the father of the bride emerged.He was holding Precious straight out in front of him, and he had a pile of money tucked between one hand and the dog.He walked right over to me and said something about the Board of Health
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]