As they pulled up in front of the house, Lori groaned. “Oh, my. I didn’t really think ahead. We’ve gotta carry that whole thing in without the help of Muscle-Woman!”
“It won’t be so bad. I can get a lot of the pieces myself. I’ll just need you to help with the longer ones.”
“I am gonna have to admit defeat here. Can’t you have a friend come over and help real quick? I’ll order pizza for both of you!”
“I’ll call Cody. He’ll do anything for pizza.” Tommy texted his friend while Lori called Sorrentino’s. She ordered two large pizzas, one pepperoni and one deluxe. Worth every penny.
“Cody will be here in just a few minutes. His mom is working late and he was gonna have to eat leftovers. This is his lucky day,” Tommy said. Lori filled in the time by carrying in all the loose cushions and placing them on the far side of the conversation pit. She looked around the room. In the corner was the giant ’70s monstrosity of a tree, nicely decorated with the vintage ornaments she’d found in the basement. The mantel was graced with a mirror she’d found in another basement box. The carpeting had been professionally cleaned and she’d taken all the funky paintings off the walls, cleaned them up, and re-hung them. She’d even stocked the little corner bar; she had a selection of wines, hard liquors and mixers all lined up, plus all the glassware. She only needed to fill an ice bucket and cut up all the little fruits for garnish. Ashley from The Clipper was going to handle most of that, though. The doorbell rang and Tommy let Cody in.
“Far out,” Cody said.
“I know, it’s awesome,” Tommy said. He pointed to the conversation pit. “We gotta get everything set up down there.” The two boys were able to set up the sectional pretty quickly. They had just finished the job when the pizza arrived. Theresa again; what a coincidence, Lori thought. Not. She directed Theresa into the dining room, since it was obvious that the girl was in no hurry to get to her next delivery. She overheard Cody’s voice, “Your aunt is cool, man.” And Tommy’s response, “I know.”
“Conversation pit looks awesome, guys,” Lori said. “Thank you! Enjoy your pizza!” She took one piece and carried it off to the kitchen, letting the kids have some space. She wandered through her house, casting a critical eye everywhere. It looked good. She and Tommy had done a great job of cleaning, fixing and decorating. She didn’t see anything undone. It was a good feeling. Tomorrow after work she would transform herself into a ’70s babe and hope for a party just as good — if not quite as wild — as the ones the house had at one time been known for.
The next day wasn’t especially busy, for which she was grateful. No big accidents, no terribly sick people, nothing out of the ordinary. She found time for a quick talk with the nurse who was getting her advanced practice degree in emergency medicine and had just about decided that was the program she’d enroll in. Finally, her shift was over and she hurried to the grocery store where she’d pre-ordered several trays of appetizers and cookies. She had already laid out her chosen outfit: White go-go boots. A lime green mini dress that was probably last worn by some lady now of retirement age who hadn’t apparently cleaned out her closet for a few decades. She showered and put on her makeup — instead of her usual look, she put on some false eyelashes and copied the makeup style on a website dedicated to all things ’70s. She was glad she’d been growing out her hair, and tied a colorful headband in place. It matched the green eye shadow she liberally applied over her upper lids. She stepped into the boots and surveyed herself in a full-length mirror. “Wow,” she said out loud to herself. Would she even recognize herself if she didn’t know better? She looked entirely different.
She checked the time. Ashley was coming early to set up the bar, and she had just enough time to set out all the goodies on the buffet in the dining room. She had never thought of herself as much of a hostess, but she thought her display looked positively Pinterest-worthy. The doorbell rang — it was Ashley. She was just wearing jeans and a sweater but had straightened her long hair, parted it in the middle and put a flower behind her left ear in a nod toward the occasion.
“Wow, this is amazing!” Ashley said. “I have passed this house a thousand times and I had no idea it was like this in here. Cool!”
“Thanks,” Lori said. “I’ve been working on it. That’s why you haven’t seen me at The Clipper lately. I’ve been busting my butt on this place.”
“You look amazing. Like something out of a movie! Where did you get the clothes?”
Lori did a little twirl. “From a thrift store! The whole thing cost me like seven bucks!”
“Now I’m wishing I’d gone out and found different clothes. My mom probably has something in the back of her closet I could have borrowed. She never throws anything out.”
“Your hair looks perfect, though. I almost thought about getting a really long wig, but I was afraid it would drive me nuts.”
The doorbell rang again. It was Harriet, holding a slow cooker full of her little cocktail wieners. Like Ashley, she’d placed a flower behind her hair, though she was wearing her gray curls in their usual style. Lori greeted her warmly and invited her in, and they found an outlet to plug in the slow cooker.
“I wasn’t positive until just now, but I’ve been here before,” Harriet confided. “A long, long time ago, when I was a young nurse. Wildest party I’ve ever attended, I must say! And the place has hardly changed at all!”
“Oh, wow, that’s crazy!” Lori said. “You were here, back in the day? This place had a reputation, I’m told.”
“Judging from the one party I attended, I’d say its reputation was entirely justified!”
“You’ll have to tell me all about it later,” Lori said, and excused herself to answer the door again.
After that, everybody seemed to arrive all at once, and Lori was busy inviting people in and accepting their compliments on her house. Many of her fellow nurses were in attendance, thanks to Tiana volunteering to work a rare night shift so more of them could take the night off.
Finally, her friend Molly and her husband, David, arrived, along with their doula, Julie. She was a pleasant-looking young woman with very long red hair wearing a daisy-chain crown. She was one of those women who carried a little extra weight with such confidence that it flattered her. Molly made the introductions. “I’m so glad for you two to meet,” Molly said, indicating Julie and Lori. “Julie is working on her nursing degree and is then going to continue on and become a nurse-midwife. And Julie, Lori is thinking of getting an advanced nursing degree, too, so you guys have lots in common.”
“Nice to meet you, Julie. We’ll talk later,” Lori said. “Molly, I have some juices and sparkling water and soda and stuff you can drink at the bar. Ash is bartending for me tonight. Help yourself!” The doorbell was ringing once again, and this time it was Caroline and Johnny, and Johnny’s dad.
“Welcome to my groovy home!” Lori said.
“This is my dad, John Sr.,” Johnny said.
“Just John,” his dad said. “Say, I’ve been to this house before. Long time ago. This was a happening party house when I was a young man.”
“Seriously?” Lori said. “That makes two people who have said that tonight! One of my co-workers said the same thing. She’s over there by the Christmas tree — Harriet. I work with her in the ER.”
John’s face froze. “Harriet is here?” His eyes scanned the room and his gaze settled on Harriet, who was chatting with Julie and Molly. “I will be damned.” He wordlessly made a beeline straight for Harriet, as Caroline, Johnny and Lori watched. They saw Harriet’s eyes widen in shock as John approached. She looked like she was going to drop her drink. The two just looked at each other, and then they edged off in a corner and began an animated but obviously private conversation. Lori and Caroline and Johnny looked at each other. “There would seem to be some unfinished business between those two,” Johnny said.
“There would indeed,” Caroline said. “I can’t tell if they are happy or horrified to see each other.”
“I guess we’ll find out eventually,” Lori said. “Damn. I’d like to be a fly on the wall in that corner.”
The doorbell rang again. It was, at last, Jake. Lori had been wondering if he had developed cold feet. But here he was, a six-pack of beer in each hand.
“As promised, I’ve brought the tacky cheap beer,” he said. He wasn’t wearing a suit tonight and few of his real estate clients would have recognized him. He wore loud pants with vertical stripes and a nice wide tie that clashed with the rest of his outfit. If his hair were just a little longer, he could have stepped off a ’70s album cover. There was something else about him — oh, yes. He wore a mustache and sideburns, apparently fake, but it all looked absolutely authentic.
“Look at you!” Lori said.
“No, look at you,” he said. “Wow. We make a great pair tonight,” he said.
“If I kiss you, will it dislodge that thing on your face?”
“I hope not. A friend who does a lot of local theater did it for me,” he said.
“I feel like I need to pull out a doobie and pass it around,” she said. “Just kidding, but wow.”
“Well, if you did, it wouldn’t be the first one smoked in here, I’m betting.”
And then Catarina arrived, and everybody stopped what they were doing to stare at her. She was wearing a peasant dress and a scarf, from under which long, black curls cascaded down her back. She wore large gold hoops in her ears and she carried her violin. She looked beautiful and exotic and like a ’70s gypsy princess. Lori could hardly believe this was the same woman who could single-handedly muscle around Lori’s heavy furniture.
“You look amazing!” Lori said. “And you brought your violin! That’s awesome. You’re going to play for us?”
“If you like,” Catarina said. “I practiced a few ’70s songs but I mostly know folk music that my father taught me.” She put the violin under her chin and played a few notes of something Lori had never heard before.
“Turn off the music!” Lori called out to Tommy, who along with Theresa had taken over picking the music from a list Lori had provided. It stopped with a sudden halt and Catarina began to play. Molly and David reached for each other and began dancing, and then so did Caroline and Johnny. And Tommy and Theresa, and several other couples. She didn’t see Harriet and John anywhere, but Jake reached out for her hand and they began dancing as well. Nobody really knew how to dance to this music — everyone had a different interpretation of it. Catarina played two numbers, then bowed to general applause. Lori was pleased. Her first party was off to a great start.
“Now turn on those Beatles again!” Catarina said. “The violinist wants a drink!” Everyone laughed and Catarina carefully placed her instrument on the mantel before heading to the bar for a glass of wine.
Jake cracked open a beer and Lori had Ashley pour a glass of wine for her. She didn’t want to get too drunk but she did want to enjoy herself.
Molly tapped on her glass of cranberry juice. “I’d like to make a toast!” she said. “Lori is my best friend and I just want to say, congratulations! You’ve done great things with this house! Thank you for inviting us all to see it!”
“Thank you!” Lori called out. “And thank you all for coming tonight! I can’t promise that this party is going to live up to the reputation this place had back in the day, but I can promise that there are lots of groovy things to eat and drink and I hope you all have a good time. And if you like the giant round gold sofa, you should know that violinist and upholsterer Catarina Loveridge does excellent work!” Everyone laughed.
“Are you giving tours?” Julie asked. “Molly has told me so much about this place.”
“Sure,” Lori said. She took Julie and several others around the house, saving her bedroom for last.
“And this is the piece de resistance,” she said dramatically, before opening the bedroom door and turning on the disco light. And then she shrieked, because there was a couple having a hot and heavy make out session on the bed. Harriet and John!
Lori quickly slammed the door. “Nothing to see here, folks! End of the tour!” She stood in front of the door, blushing. Several people had seen what made Lori close the door so quickly, and were quietly tittering as they walked back down the hallway. Seconds later, Harriet and John sheepishly came out of the room. Harriet was blushing harder than Lori.
“I am so sorry!” an obviously mortified Harriet whispered to Lori. John didn’t look the least bit embarrassed. He looked like the cat that had swallowed the canary.
“It’s cool,” Lori said. “I didn’t mean to, uh, interrupt.”
“This party isn’t that different from back in the day,” John said. “Must be something about this house that brings it out in people.”
“I gather there’s a good story here,” Lori said. “But you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”
Harriet and John were holding hands. They didn’t seem to be able to stop touching each other. “Let’s just say that’s not the first we’ve seen of that disco ball,” John said.
“Long story short, we met at a party here back in the day,” Harriet said. “We dated, but we had a misunderstanding and never saw each other again.”
“Now the misunderstanding is all cleared up,” John said.
“So I see,” Lori said. “Well, I need to get back downstairs. But I can’t promise nobody is going to want to see the famous disco ball bedroom again, so just be forewarned.”
“No, I think we’ll come back downstairs,” Harriet said. “I want John to try my little, uh, my cocktail wieners.”
“I’m going to leave a big joke untold,” Lori said, and escaped back downstairs, where she lost no time in whispering to Jake what had just happened. He thought it was funny.
“Those two? They’re pushing 70 if they’re a day! And they’re the ones you catch making out in your bedroom? Not Tommy and his girl? I’d have thought they were the ones you’d have to look out for.”
“It’s never the ones you think,” Lori said. “I can’t wait to hear the whole story. Or at least the PG version of it. I bet it’s a doozy.”
“But they had a misunderstanding, and they didn’t see each other for years, and now, apparently, they are back together,” Jake said. “You know what I’m thinking.”
“I do,” Lori said. Jake leaned over and kissed her, deeply. “I am glad our misunderstanding got cleared up without waiting a few decades,” he said.
“Yeah, and ironically, because of Harriet,” Lori said.
“Or maybe not so ironically,” Jake said.
“Yeah.”
They went back downstairs, where the party seemed to be heating up. Lori offered to take over bartending for a while to give Ashley some time to enjoy the party. “I’m more than qualified, with all the time I’ve watched you mix drinks,” she told her. “Go have some fun for a while. That young guy in the corner is a nurse. He’s single,” she said. Ashley didn’t need to be urged on. “Back in just a bit,” she said. Lori smiled to see she headed right over to talk up the nurse.
Lori was kept busy pouring drinks and answering questions about the house for a while. Jake stood by her side, trying to interest people in the beer he’d brought, but he had few takers. Julie said she’d try one. She took one sip and wrinkled up her nose. “I probably should have stuck to wine,” she said. “But maybe it will grow on me.” She and Lori talked briefly about Molly’s pregnancy. “In strictly clinical terms, she looks like she’s about to pop!” Lori said.
“I know!” Julie said. “She still has a little time to go, but I’m expecting to get a call in the middle of the night pretty soon.”
“You stay with moms the whole labor?”
“Yeah, generally. I don’t do anything medical. Just massage her, remind her to pee, explain anything that comes up that she needs more information on, offer encouragement, that kind of thing. I tend to spend a lot of time reassuring the dads. Molly’s had three kids but this is David’s first time out.
He seems cool about it, though.”
“They’re cool people,” Lori said.
“Why does she call him Pirate Man?” Julie asked.
“That is a long story,” Lori answered. “I’ll tell you when there are fewer people around.”
“Having a good time?” Jake asked her.
“I am,” she said. “This bartender needs another drink. I put my glass of wine down somewhere before I drank more than a few sips.” She poured a glass of Cabernet for herself but had to put it down to mix up a gin and tonic for Caroline.
“This is groovy,” Caroline said. Her face was flushed and Lori guessed this wasn’t her first drink. Or her second.
“If you have too much to drink, you can crash here,” Lori said. “I don’t want anybody to drive if they’ve had too much. Spread the word about that. I can see that my co-workers are well on their way to being wasted.” Two of her nurse colleagues were dancing on the coffee table in the middle of the conversation pit. She certainly hoped they didn’t fall off and break their ankles.
“No problem. Johnny isn’t drinking tonight,” Caroline said. “So I can indulge.” She took a big gulp of her drink, as if to illustrate.
“Any more house tours?” Ashley asked. “Caroline, you can bartend for a bit, right?”
“Sure! Go tour!” Caroline said. Lori loudly announced she was giving another tour to anybody who was interested. Several people wanted to see the rest of the house. Molly and David joined the tour.
“I know I’ve seen it, but not since you’ve done all this work,” Molly said. “And I wanna see this famous bedroom now that you’ve got it all put together.”
“Tommy really did a lot for me,” Lori said. “He helped me transform the place.”
Lori pointed out the various features in the house. Everyone oohed and ahhed at the intensely orange downstairs bathroom. “I kept the ceramic fish,” Lori said. “My grandma had some just like this in her bathroom.” She explained what was original to the house and what she’d changed — which wasn’t much. “Mostly I just cleaned and painted,” she said. “And I had the sofa reupholstered. I might change things later, but for now I want to just keep it like it is.”
Kiss & Tell (Small-Town Secrets-Fairview Series Book 2) Page 13