“I’m sorry I never got your name. What the hell are you doing in my parents’ kitchen? Party guests are supposed to be out there.”
“I’m the event planner you moron. I had to come up here and get another case of champagne before everyone got there. What are you doing in here and not out there? This is a joyous time for your family.”
“Yes it is but I need to shower and decompress. Been a long week and an even longer flight.”
“Well, I’ll leave you to it and get back down there. My name is Amie Benjamin by the way.”
“Aaron. Blake obviously.” I crack a hint of a smile as she does the same. I’m not sure who this girl is but she’s different than any of the girls I’ve met over the years. She reminds me of my sister. Speaking of sister, I had better get in gear and get back out there. Everyone’s going to know I was here and wonder where I went and send the search party after me.
************
That guy’s got one chip on his shoulder goodness. He acted like I was there to rob his family or something. I thought I was past all of that.
I head back towards the party and smile when I hear the laughter coming from within the big barn. I honestly wasn’t sure I could pull off turning this nasty old barn into a beautiful spot for a rustic wedding reception. Especially for a famous model. I used to want to be just like her before I figured out I wanted to plan parties. Leah had it all. Money, fame, handsome husband and then she just vanished. No one really knew why she was gone until her tell all interview came out. That was heartbreaking and from that moment on I decided maybe the spotlight wasn’t what I wanted.
Walking in the back door I see that everyone has gathered around the food table and ready to eat. “There are a lot of hungry people out there. Are you all ready for this? Put your game faces on and let’s do this.” I usher the first tray of food out and until the last one has come back empty, I don’t stop.
“That’s it folks. I want to thank you so much for your help today. Once the guests are all finished eating you can start clearing their plates. Then we can get back here cleaned up and you can go on to your hotel rooms.”
I don’t normally have enough of a staff to do such a big even so I had to hire people to come down from Tulsa to help. Paying them extra was a little rough on the bottom dollar but it was needed for this size of a party. If we pull this one off without a hitch, maybe Amelia will tell her friends and we’ll get hired again. Wouldn’t that be great? Sleeping in my car is getting old. I would love to be able to rent a house or apartment. That’s a long way in the future though. My old car needs some major work done to it before I can move on. Hopefully this job today will get me enough publicity that I don’t have to move on. I would really like to find a nice place to call home again.
“Amie, you did such an amazing job! Thank you. I will be recommending you to everyone I know.” Amelia says and hugs me after the bulk of the work’s been done.
“We’re almost all cleaned up and then the workers will go back to town. Is there anything else you might need?”
“No dear, but I would like you to come and meet my family.”
“Okay but are you sure that’s proper? I am just the hired help”
“Oh goodness you’re more than that! Come meet them all!”
***********
“MAYSEN! Oh my goodness Maysen it’s time. The baby’s coming. Oh my, the baby is coming!” We hear Audrey scream from across the room where she’s standing with Leah and Karlie. She’s looking down at her feet and we see a puddle underneath her. That baby is coming right now.
“Come on Audrey. Maysen. I’ll get you to the clinic. Can you hang on that long?” I ask my little sister as she begins to panic. I’m not sure she’s ready to have this baby yet. She looks so young and pretty tonight and I can’t wrap my head around her about to have a baby. That’s unreal.
“Yes, please hurry. Honey we came with Leah so I think it’s best to have Aaron take us. Don’t you?”
“Of course. Let’s go. I don’t care how we get there; I just want to get there. Our son can’t be born in a barn!” Maysen yells, picks up Audrey and hurries to my rental car. This just might be a stain they want to charge me for. I shrug and get inside ready for our quick trip to town.
“We’ll be fine Aud just breathe like they taught you in Lamaze.”
“What the hell do you know about Lamaze Aaron?” She cusses at me. She really is freaked out if she’s cussing at me. I smile thinking back to when she was four and we tried teaching her to say cuss words. Boy did we get a whooping for that!
“Whatever you’re smiling about you better stop and get me to a doctor!”
Third Time's a Charm- Book 3 of the Colvin Series Page 17