Summer Girl

by Boeshaar, Andrea

  She raised a dubious brow. “Comedy, or Shakespearean tragedy?”

  Travis chuckled. “I think it’s a little of both. But hopefully none of us will die at the end.” He gave her a charming smile that made Jena’s face flush. “Say yes. Please? This deal’s important to my law firm.”

  Jena didn’t feel right about being part of such deception. But, on the other hand, she didn’t want to be the one responsible for his firm losing a big contract. Perhaps if she went along with this, she could somehow bring the truth to light, without publicly embarrassing Travis’s partner.

  “What’s the verdict, Jen?”

  Jen? She swallowed her surprise and continued her struggle with indecision.

  Unfortunately, he interpreted her silence as acquiescence and propelled her toward the stairs.

  “Bella’s tired,” he said in hushed tones. “This dinner won’t last long. It’ll be the easiest five hundred dollars you ever made.”

  “You don’t have to pay me.”

  “Of course I do.”

  “No, I wouldn’t feel right about it.”

  They reached the bottom stairs and strode to the living room.

  “We’ll discuss the matter later. . .Dear.”

  Jena’s jaw dropped in indignation; however, she managed a recovery before they made their entrance.

  “Well, here they are,” Craig Duncan said, standing from the delicately patterned green and mauve sofa on which he’d been sitting. “Hope everything’s okay, Trav.”

  Jena perceived the subtle warning in the older man’s tone, and she felt suddenly sorry for Travis. True, she hadn’t liked her boss much the day she first met him. But over the course of the last few days, it hadn’t been difficult to see that he adored his daughters, and much could be said for a guy who loved his kids as much as Travis Larson did his. It made Jena wish her father had been as doting.

  “Everything’s fine,” Jena shocked herself by replying. Then, seeing as she was on a roll, she decided to go for broke. “I hope I didn’t appear rude, but with Carly sick and all. . .”

  “Rude? Absolutely not!” Bella said from several feet away in the love seat beside her husband. “Your stepdaughter is more important than guests.”

  “I didn’t even realize she had a fever until just before Travis got home.”

  “No need to explain,” Bella insisted with a warm smile.

  Jena felt a pinch of guilt for duping the woman. For some reason, she rather liked Bella Minniati.

  “Now, who’s in your kitchen cooking?” Bella asked before taking a sip of her iced tea.

  “No one,” Craig blurted. “Jena is just a fabulous homemaker all the way around. Isn’t that right, Jena?”

  “Well, usually. . .yes,” she answered with an inward chuckle, thinking this acting stuff was kind of fun. But she had to laugh outright at the curious stare Travis gave her. Nevertheless, she saw an opportunity here for Star to get a summer job and chose to nab it. She turned to Bella. “I asked a friend to help me tonight. She’s a great cook and. . .well, she’d make a terrific caterer. So I said she could practice on us.”

  Craig Duncan nearly choked on his beverage.

  “But you won’t be sorry, I promise.”

  “I’m sure you’re right,” Bella said glancing at Craig, then back to Jena. “And it so happens that I’m holding a garden tea party next month, and I’m in need of a caterer. Perhaps your friend would be interested in the position.”

  “Yeah, maybe she would be. Would you like to meet her? I’m going into the kitchen right now to make sure everything’s ready. Want to come along?”

  “I’d love to.”

  “I’ll come along too,” said the petite older woman who had been sitting next to Craig. Wearing a red cotton short-sleeved sweater, white linen pants, and coordinating accent jewelry, her regal bearing made it known that she identified with society’s upper crust.

  “What do you want in the kitchen, Miriam?” Craig’s frosty, bushy brows almost touched the bridge of his nose as he frowned.

  “I’m going to need a caterer for Samantha’s bridal shower.”

  “Oh, right. I forgot about that.” Craig rolled his eyes and waved his wife on.

  Flanked by two obviously wealthy women, Jena refused to feel intimidated as they ambled to the kitchen. God wasn’t impressed by a person’s wealth; He saw the heart. . .and so did Jena, or at least she tried to.

  “I just adore blue and white kitchens,” Bella exclaimed as they entered the room. “Don’t you Miriam?” Before the woman could reply, Bella added, “Did you decorate this yourself, Jena?”

  “No, I didn’t. . .”

  Standing next to Star, she quickly changed the subject and made the introductions.

  “I mentioned that you were thinking of starting your own catering business, like we discussed this afternoon.” That wasn’t a lie, either. Jena had listened patiently to Star ramble on about wanting to run her own restaurant business someday and catering was sort of like a restaurant business. “Mrs. Duncan and Mrs. Minniati might be interested in hiring you this summer.”

  “Oh?” A light flickered in Star’s blue eyes as understanding set in. “Oh! Oh, yeah. . .my own catering business.”

  “Are you experienced?” Mrs. Duncan asked. “You look awfully young.”

  “I’m entering my junior year of college. I’m twenty-two. So, yeah, I’m young. But I do have experience.”

  Jena smiled as her friend rattled off all the school functions she helped cater at Whitewater, including two alumni balls.

  Bella Minniati looked impressed. “Do you work alone?”

  “Usually, but I can find help if the guest list is too large to manage myself.”

  “You seem quite capable. I’ll bet you could handle my garden tea party single-handedly.” Bella tipped her head, and her brown eyes darkened. “Let’s talk business. How much do you charge?”

  Jena glanced toward the entryway and saw that Travis had entered the room. With one hand on his hip, the other dangled next to his head as he leaned against the doorframe. He watched the transaction with interest.

  “Okay, I have to claim ignorance here,” Star said raising her hands as if in surrender. “I have no idea what caterers charge.” She extended her hand, indicating to Travis. “He’s paying me five hundred dollars for tonight.”

  “Five hundred dollars?” Bella looked aghast. “I can do better than that.” Turning to Travis, she said, “You cheapskate.”

  “Hey, now, didn’t you hear Jena?” He countered with a good-natured smirk. “Star’s practicing on us tonight.”

  Bella gave him a doubtful glare and turned back to Star. “Another catering service quoted me a price of close to twenty-five hundred. Will you do it for a thousand dollars plus expenses?”

  “Sure!”

  Jena grinned at Star’s enthusiasm before chancing a look at Travis. His expression said he found this entire incident quite amusing. His gaze eventually found hers, and he pushed himself off the side of the doorway and headed in Jena’s direction.

  “If we don’t get those steaks going,” he said, “Star will have to cook in the dark.”

  Jena gave him a nod. “Right.”

  Pivoting, she strode to the refrigerator, opened the door, and found the meat marinating on a baking sheet.

  “Oh, now, Jena, don’t go doing my job for me,” Star said, crossing the kitchen. “Mrs. Duncan, may I call you tomorrow so we can finish working out the details of your daughter’s shower?”

  “Of course, Dear. And, if this pans out, I have a friend who needs a caterer on the third of July at the yacht club.” The woman smiled. “You may need help with that one.”

  “No problem.” Star glanced at Jena. “Right?”

  “Right.”

  “Ah, wait a second here,” Travis cut in, giving Jena a pointed look. “We’re going to have to discuss this matter of you moonlighting as Star’s hired help. I don’t know if I—”

  “Oh, Travis, h
onestly!” Bella exclaimed with a laugh. “If it’s appearances you’re worried about, no one is going to care that your wife is helping her friend’s business get off the ground. I think it’s quite admirable. Star is working her way through school, and Jena wants to assist her.”

  Little does she know I’m working my way through college too.

  Travis’s gaze shifted between the two women, but it came to rest on Jena. She knew that he didn’t want anything to interfere with her job as his summer girl, but of course, Bella had been purposely misguided, and so she’d drawn another conclusion.

  As they stood there, regarding each other, Jena thought he appeared chagrined, and while she wanted to laugh, she instead put on her sweetest most wifely expression. . .whatever that was.

  “We’ll discuss it later. Not a problem. There are other people besides me who want to help Star out.”

  A slow smile spread across Bella’s face. “You’re a doll, Jena.” She turned to leave the kitchen but paused to give Travis a rap in his midsection. “She’s too good for you, Larson.”

  Travis narrowed his gaze, and once Bella was out of earshot, he said, “I can’t stand that woman.”

  “Really?” Jena lifted the seven-layer salad from the fridge. “That’s a shame. I like her.”

  “That’s because you’re a nice person so you think everyone is nice.” Travis came up behind her and took the rectangular glass pan out of her hands.

  “I didn’t think you were nice. . .at first.”

  Depositing the dish into its fitted serving basket, Travis shot her a curious glance. “We’ll have to discuss that later, too,” he said, carrying the salad to the dining room.

  Nine

  Jena hurried to set two more places at the table, one for herself and the other for Star. She suspected it wasn’t proper etiquette to have hired help eat with society’s upper echelons, but Jena figured that since she’d been coerced into this farce of playing Travis’s wife for the next couple of hours, she could invite whomever she pleased to dinner.

  Back in the kitchen, Star sliced the individual tenderloins into succulent strips so that there would be enough for everyone. She arranged the meat on a shiny silver meat platter, then carried it into the dining room. Jena followed.

  “We’re ready.”

  “Great.” Nervous flutters filled Jena’s stomach.

  Star frowned. “Are you sure you want me to eat in here? I feel kind of weird about it.”

  “How do you think I feel?”

  “What’s the next step up from weird?”

  “Mortified.”

  “Yeah, that too.”

  Jena found the quip amusing. “Please, Star? I’d feel more comfortable with you at the table.”

  “Sure.” A slow smile spread across the younger woman’s face. “Whatever you say. . .Mrs. Larson. Hey, maybe since you’re wife for the night, you ought to ask for the credit card.”

  “Oh, stop!”

  Star laughed.

  “Are we ready, ladies?” Travis asked, striding toward them with a purposeful expression. He lowered his voice. “I’d like to get this over with as soon as possible.”

  “Food’s on the table,” Jena said. “Call the guests in.”

  “No, I’d rather if you, being tonight’s, um, hostess, would direct the guests to the table.”

  “Oh. . .well, if you say so.” Jena gave her kinky strawberry-blond hair a self-conscious pat, although she felt glad she’d clipped it up off her perspiring neck.

  “You look great,” Travis muttered. “Just get them in here so they can eat and leave.”

  Something inside Jena wondered at the compliment. She looked great? Since when? Well, Travis was desperate. He’d most likely say anything so she would continue the acting.

  She walked into the living room, where she politely interrupted the amicable chitchat. “Dinner’s ready.”

  The guests ambled into the dining room, and once they were seated at the handsome cherry wood table, Travis reached for the plate of meat.

  “We should ask the Lord’s blessing. Travis, will you do the honors?” The words were out before Jena could stop them.

  Travis shot her a wondering look. “Um. . .sure.”

  To her left, the Minniatis initiated handholding while they prayed, and Jena fought her smiles over the sight of Travis clasping Joe and Craig’s hands. Funnier still was the perturbed expression on Craig’s aged face.

  They bowed their heads.

  “God is great. God is good,” Travis began. “Thank You, God, for this fud…Amen.”

  Bella collapsed against her husband’s arm, laughing. “Oh, that was precious, Trav. Now pray for real.”

  His expression said he had prayed “for real.” But to appease his guest of honor, he lowered his chin once more. Everyone followed suit.

  “Thank You, God, for this food. And, um, thank You for the hands that prepared this meal. . .”

  Star squeezed Jena’s hand. Jena squeezed back.

  “. . .Thank You for the good company here tonight. Bless us all. Amen.”

  Jena looked up as Travis reached for the meat platter again and passed it to his right.

  “Are you one of those people who gets nervous when he has to pray in front of others?” Bella asked.

  “Yeah,” Travis replied in a crisp tone. He watched as Mrs. Duncan helped herself to the seven-layer salad and passed it to her husband.

  “What about you, Jena?”

  “Oh, she loves to pray,” Star blurted.

  Abashed, Jena simply confirmed her friend’s statement with a tiny nod.

  “She taught my girls to pray,” Travis said, scooping salad onto his plate. Catching his blunder, he gazed across the table at Jena. “I mean our girls.”

  Jena felt her face begin to flame.

  “Why didn’t you teach them to pray?”

  Watching the exchange, Jena noted that Bella didn’t mean the question in a derogatory manner but asked it quite off-handedly as she sliced into her grilled beef.

  “I, um, found it very hard to pray ever since. . .well, since Meg died.” He passed the salad to Joe.

  “Meg? Who’s Meg?” Bella asked.

  “That’d be Travis’s sister,” Craig stated.

  “Meg was my wife,” Travis countered, sounding as though his shadowy jaw was clenched as he spoke.

  Craig laughed off his lie. “Oh, of course. Meg. Your wife. I’m terrible with names.”

  Bella looked aghast. “I’m. . .I’m so sorry Travis. I was under the impression you were divorced.”

  He shook his head. “Widowed.”

  “You’re so young. Our age.” Bella looked at her husband, then at Craig. “You said Travis was divorced.”

  “Me?” Craig appeared taken aback by the accusation. “I said no such thing.”

  “I beg your pardon,” Joe cut in, “but you did indeed say Travis was divorced. It was right after we arrived here tonight.”

  “Oh, well.” Craig waved his hand in the air, dismissing the issue. “I must have been thinking of my son. He’s divorced.”

  Jena saw Mrs. Duncan’s shocked expression, which she hid by staring down at her plate. Next Jena observed the Minniatis exchange curious glances, but all the while, her heart ached for Travis. Was he bitter with God for taking his beloved wife? Was he a Christian? Mrs. Barlow didn’t think so. She had mentioned the many times she attempted to tell Travis about the love of Christ, although the older woman had informed Jena that Meg had been a believer.

  “My humble apologies,” Craig said, looking in Travis’s direction before focusing on the Minniatis. “I’ve got a busy mind, and I meet so many people. Sometimes the names and faces just blur together.”

  “Perhaps you need your eyes checked. . .or your head examined.” Bella gave him a tight smile.

  Jena picked at her salad as the tension in the dining room mounted. Things weren’t going well, but it was Craig Duncan’s own fault for spouting off such lies tonight. Now Travis seemed c
ompletely disgusted, and Bella gave the impression of feeling just as aggravated.

  She turned to Jena. “Your friend said you liked to pray. Is that true?”

  “Yes. I’m a born-again Christian.” She set down her fork. “I’m not always as faithful as I want to be, but I do enjoy conversing with the Lord.”

  “I know what you mean.” The taut lines around Bella’s perfectly shaped lips relaxed. “I’m a Christian too. So is Joe.”

  He grinned.

  Jena smiled back.

  “Jena’s the one who led me to Christ,” Star said. “I went to her church’s Christmas program last year. At the end of the play, her pastor preached a short message about why we celebrate Christmas. It’s ’cause of Christ. If He hadn’t left Heaven and been born a man, there’d be no way for salvation and eternal life.”

  “Amen!” the Minniatis exclaimed in unison.

  “I was one of the trained counselors milling about during the invitation,” Jena further explained, recalling that snowy night, a week before Christmas. “I was matched with Star, and well, the rest is history.”

  “Now I’m like gum on Jena’s shoe. She can’t get rid of me.”

  “I’ll vouch for that,” Travis quipped.

  Jena tossed him a quelling glare. However, she couldn’t help a small grin. Then Star snorted with indignation, making things all the more funny.

  To Jena’s left, Bella laughed. “What church do you attend?”

  “Countryside Community Church in Menomonee Falls.”

  Bella brought her chin back. “Way out there?”

  Jena nodded out a reply.

  “Well, Joe and I go to Parkside Baptist. It’s not far from here. Would you and Travis like to join us this Sunday? Bring the girls,” she said, looking at Travis now. “We’ll all go out to lunch afterwards.”

  “Umm. . .”

  Jena caught his eye and tried to shake her head without being obvious. “I have nursery duty on Sunday.”

  Travis feigned disappointment. “Aw, too bad.”

  “Can’t you get out of it?” Bella persisted. “Trade Sundays with someone?”