Winner Cake All

by Denise Swanson

  And although Dani was really nothing more than the college girls’ landlord and employer, their parents had entrusted her with their daughters and she felt a certain moral obligation to provide a good example. Her boarders weren’t allowed to have guys in their bedrooms, so Dani was unwilling to have a man in hers. Unless, of course, she could figure out a way to sneak him up there.

  Dani snickered softly at her thoughts. Girls or no girls, she and Spencer were far, far from that type of relationship anyway. She’d never been one to jump into bed with the men she dated and she certainly wasn’t about to start with Spencer. Even if the chemistry between them was hotter than a Fourth of July sparkler.

  “I’m sure you’re right.” Dani finally answered Ivy’s remark about her uncle.

  “Speaking of which…” Ivy had finished with the apples, poured herself a glass of milk, and returned to her stool. “What’s going on with you two?” She reopened the plastic containers of cookies. “I see Laz more than you see Uncle Spence and we’re only friends.”

  Dani watched Ivy shove another peanut butter cookie into her mouth and shook her head. It amazed Dani that someone with Ivy’s willowy figure could eat almost nonstop and not put on any weight.

  “We’re both busy adults.” Dani paused, distracted by Ivy as she snatched another cookie from the bowl, dunked it in her glass of milk, and moaned her appreciation. “While you and Laz can study together, your uncle and I have to do our work separately. It’s not as if I can ride around with him while he patrols or have him with me when I cook for my private clients.”

  “I suppose.” Ivy tilted her head. “But you have tomorrow night off, right?”

  “I do.” Dani pursed her lips. She’d been wondering if Spencer would make arrangements to see her. “Oh, crap!” Dani patted her pockets for her cell phone and frowned when she didn’t find it there.

  “What’s wrong?” Ivy used her tongue to rescue a crumb from the corner of her lips.

  Instead of answering, Dani grabbed her purse from the table and emptied it onto the counter, then hunted around the kitchen.

  “What are you looking for?” Ivy asked.

  “My cell phone.” Dani blew out a breath. “Your uncle called while I was with a client and I wasn’t able to answer, then I forgot all about it.” She checked her watch. “Shoot! That was nearly nine hours ago.”

  “Yikes!” Ivy twisted one of the bright-pink wisps of hair scattered among her long, blond strands. “I’m surprised Uncle Spence isn’t here beating down the door to make sure you’re okay.”

  “Most likely because he’s working,” Dani explained. “I think he said something about having to guard some pigs tonight. Can that be right?”

  “Yep.” Ivy giggled. “He probably meant Hamlet and Oinkphelia.”

  “You mean the college mascots?” Dani continued to search for her phone.

  “Yeah.” Ivy rolled her eyes. “Rumor has it there’s a contest among the Greeks to see which of their pledges can capture the mascots and display them at their house. The winning sorority or fraternity members get to be the guests of honor at a big luau.”

  “They aren’t going to roast the pigs, are they?” Although Dani wasn’t a vegetarian, the idea of using the pets as the main course horrified her.

  “Nah.” Ivy shook her head. “But I do believe Hamlet will be dressed for the occasion in a Hawaiian shirt while Oinkphelia will be wearing a grass skirt and coconut bra. And both will be featured in a video.”

  Both women laughed until they were gasping for air. They were still breathless when the kitchen door opened and Tippi Epstein swept in.

  Unlike Ivy, who wore plain Levis and a T-shirt with DON’T DRINK AND DERIVE printed across her chest, Tippi was smartly dressed in an off-shoulder plaid jacket with a black, twisted top and skinny jeans.

  The tiny brunette zeroed in on the cookie container and marched toward it as she said, “Caleb Boyd is a big creep McCreepster! I hate him and I never want to see him again!” She shot a finger at Dani. “If he comes to the door, do not let him into this house.”

  Tippi and Caleb were members of a pre-law fraternity and members of the same study group, but this sounded more like a boyfriend-girlfriend issue.

  “What happened?” Ivy demanded.

  “He asked Bryn to the Halloween dance.” Although Tippi was petite, her personality was anything but small, and she was used to getting her own way. “Just because guys have one, doesn’t mean they have to be one.”

  As Dani puzzled over whether the word Tippi was referring to was dick or asshole, Ivy snorted and Tippi’s lips briefly curled upward.

  “I didn’t know you two were anything more than friends,” Dani said cautiously.

  “I…I…”

  Tippi’s triangular face usually reminded Dani of a cute little kitten, but not tonight. Now she looked more like a ticked-off elf.

  “Thought it was more than that?” Ivy supplied, patting her friend’s arm.

  “Yeah.” Tippi crunched down on a cookie, chewed, and swallowed. Then her shoulders drooped and she said, “Between classes, studying, and the fraternity activities, we spend so much time together and he’s so nice to me, I just thought…” She trailed off.

  “I understand.” Ivy’s bright-blue eyes dimmed. “It’s hard to tell if they like you, like you, or just think of you as a pal.”

  Both girls looked at Dani, who threw up her hands and admitted, “I have no idea how to tell either.”

  They were all silent for a few seconds, then Ivy said, “Well, Caleb’s not the only fish in the sea.”

  “True.” Tippi’s olive complexion reddened and she added, “And it appears that I’m also not the only fisherman.”

  Before Dani could comment, the kitchen door opened again. This time it was Starr Fleming. The silver beads on the ends of her braids clanked as she stomped across the floor and joined her friends at the counter. Evidently her evening hadn’t gone any better than Ivy’s and Tippi’s.

  Dani thought about the study she’d just heard about on the news that said one out of every four Americans suffered from some sort of mental illness. Looking at her three boarders, she wondered if she was that one person. Voluntarily living with three drama-filled college girls had to be an indication of something about her personality. She’d been there, done that when she was in school. Did she really need a rerun of that soap opera?

  Chapter 4

  It took a couple of hours, as well as Dani’s entire stash of homemade pecan-caramel crunch ice cream and her last jar of gourmet dark chocolate hot fudge topping, but Ivy, Starr, and Tippi finally stopped moping about their love lives…at least temporarily.

  They’d put their bowls in the sink, said good night, and trooped up the stairs to their rooms. Once they were alone, the brooding probably started up again, but Dani was too tired to worry about it and resolved to deal with the problem in the morning.

  A few minutes later, as Dani cleaned up the kitchen, she could hear the water pipes knocking, indicating that the three girls had all turned on their showers at the same time. She cringed with each clang and reverberation.

  Most of the mansion had been renovated before she’d inherited it, but the plumber she’d hired to fix the leaky faucet in Ivy’s bathroom had told her that the whole place needed to be re-piped. He’d claimed that houses this old had galvanized pipes that were prone to burst and corrode as they aged. He’d warned her that it was a disaster waiting to happen and encouraged her to replace them. The sooner the better.

  Sadly, Dani just didn’t have the money right now to start such an expensive project. Not only would it cost her thousands of dollars, but her business would have to be severely limited for the entire length of time.

  Such an extensive refit would involve shutting down the lunch-to-go and catering arms of her company for the duration, leaving her personal chef jobs as her on
ly income, which was not an option right now. Even a week or two could be the difference between balanced books and ones in the red.

  Maybe next June, during the summer lull, she’d have saved enough to afford new plumbing. Either that, or she might have to work up the nerve to take out a home improvement loan.

  It wasn’t that she didn’t think she’d qualify. The mansion had been free of any kind of mortgage when she’d inherited it from her grandmother’s sorority sister, Mrs. Cook, and her credit score was excellent.

  It should be relatively easy to get financing, but the real issue was that Dani had never owed a dime in her life and hated the thought of going into debt now. Especially without a guaranteed salary to ensure she could make the monthly payments.

  Dani had used her savings and investments for her company’s startup expenses. She’d shelled out cash when she’d originally purchased her car—which she’d then traded in for the Chef-to-Go van. She wrote a check for the entire amount due on her Visa every month. And, with the girls’ rent, she was able to cover the taxes, insurance, and buy groceries for the household.

  True, it was a balancing act, but so far, she’d been able to keep all the plates spinning on their sticks. She shivered at the thought of having the financial obligation of a loan. The image of those dishes smashing to the ground terrified her.

  Still, she had to get the pipes fixed. Luckily, when Geraldine Cook had decided to open a bed-and-breakfast, she’d had the house rewired to bring it up to code. Too bad she’d passed away before she got to the plumbing.

  Dani grimaced at that. She should be grateful to the wonderful woman for naming her as her sole heir, not griping because the inheritance wasn’t perfect. Clearly, she was too tired to think straight.

  Yawning, Dani finished up in the kitchen and headed for the stairs. Thank goodness tomorrow was Saturday and she didn’t have to get up by 6:00 a.m. to start the lunch-to-go prep or cook the girls’ breakfast before they left for their eight o’clock classes.

  She was halfway up the steps when she jerked to a stop and ran back down to the main floor. When the girls had all begun crying on her shoulder, she’d forgotten all about her missing cell phone and Spencer’s call.

  He would be wondering what happened to her. She definitely needed to find her phone before she went to bed and let Spencer know she was okay. Otherwise, he’d be at her door as soon as he was off duty.

  Dani was kind of surprised that he hadn’t stopped by to check on her already. Unless she was working, he was used to her returning his messages immediately. His lack of reaction must mean he was still pigsitting the NU mascots.

  Now where had she last seen her phone?

  She paused at the foot of the staircase and tapped her chin. It had chimed during her meeting with Yvette and her wedding planner, which had been embarrassingly unprofessional, and Dani had shoved it out of sight beneath her leg. Had she seen it since then?

  Nope!

  Dani hurried down the hallway and into the parlor. Flipping on the switch for the chandelier, she blinked when the bright light blinded her. As soon as her eyes adjusted, she scanned the room.

  She blew out a relieved breath when she spotted her cell phone lying beneath the chair she’d been occupying. It must have slipped off the seat and fallen on the floor when she got up to escort her prospective clients into the foyer. She probably hadn’t heard it thud because of the thick Persian carpet.

  Thank goodness!

  She did not want to have to hunt it down. Swooping up the black rectangular device, Dani immediately swiped the screen, then punched in her code to listen to Spencer’s voicemail.

  “Hi! I thought you’d be done with your meeting by now, but it must be running long. I’ll have my phone with me at the surveillance so give me a call when you’re free. I have some great news.”

  Dani glanced at the time. It was past midnight.

  Thinking that Spencer might be home asleep and not wanting to wake him, she thumbed the text icon to answer him, but saw that he’d beat her to it.

  I nabbed a reservation at Reapers for Saturday night at 6:30. Hope you’re still free.

  Dani’s pulse sped up. The smiley faces sharing a single strand of spaghetti were adorable, and the Reapers Supper Club was known for its romantic atmosphere. Spencer was sending a definite message arranging for them to eat there. The vintage furnishings and 1940s music in its lounge were reputed to put couples in the mood for love.

  Her hand shook as she composed her reply.

  I’m still free and I wouldn’t miss dinner with you at Reapers for anything!

  Her finger hovered over the Send button. Was her response too much? Maybe she needed to include an emoji to lighten it up a little.

  She scrolled through her choices but didn’t see anything that said I’m eager for our date but not pathetically eager. Finally, she settled on a cat winking and after adding it to her message, she sent the text to Spencer.

  Instantly, she wished she could delete it and try again. Did he even like cats? He’d mentioned having a dog when he was a boy, but nothing about a cat.

  Crap! She was overthinking it. This is why she didn’t like dating. It screwed up her self-confidence and made her second-guess herself.

  As she climbed the stairs to her suite, she assured herself that her text had been fine. And by the time she had finished brushing her teeth, washing and moisturizing her face, and slipping into her nightshirt, she’d calmed down and was getting excited about spending time with Spencer without the threat of someone walking in on them and interrupting their conversation, which happened at the mansion on a regular basis.

  Then, just as she was climbing into bed, her gaze landed on the closet door.

  Shoot! It had been so long since she’d been out on a really important date. She didn’t have a thing to wear.

  * * *

  The next day, Dani awakened to the sound of her cell blaring the Jackson 5’s “I’ll Be There.” It was the ring tone she assigned to all her customers’ phone numbers and she groaned.

  Blinking awake, she checked the time and saw that it wasn’t even 8:00 a.m. yet. So much for her plan to sleep in and have a restful morning.

  Which of her clients was calling at such an early hour on a Saturday? Had Dani forgotten some breakfast event that she’d promised to work?

  She mentally ran through her schedule, but there was nothing on her agenda. No lunches-to-goes to prepare, no personal chef gigs, and no catering jobs she had to work. This was one of the rare days that she was entirely free from professional commitments.

  The third time the music played, she reached for the phone and saw the name of Yvette’s wedding planner. Hastily she sat up and, not wanting to sound half-asleep, cleared her throat before she answered.

  Then she swiped the icon and said in her best professional voice, “Chef-to-Go, Dani Sloan speaking.”

  “Vicki Troemel here.” A pleasant alto floated out of the cell phone’s speakers. “I hope this isn’t too early to phone you.”

  “Of course not. I’m an early riser.” Dani swung her legs over the side of the mattress and got to her feet. “But I am a little surprised to hear from you. Weren’t you traveling back to Chicago yesterday evening, or are you calling from there?”

  “No. I’m in Normalton. My original intent was to go home, but the meeting with Franklin and Yvette ran so long that I was afraid I’d fall asleep if I tried to drive up I-55 that time of night,” Vicki answered. “Good thing my mantra is to always be prepared and I keep a packed overnight bag in my trunk.”

  “That’s my motto too.” Dani was pretty darn sure the woman hadn’t called just to chat about their mutual preparedness so she asked, “What can I do for you?”

  “What I’m hoping you can do is tell me you’re free next Saturday.”

  “Why?” Dani asked gingerly.

  Sh
e somehow doubted that the wedding planner was asking about her schedule in order to hire her for her own use as a private chef. Although maybe she had another client in town that needed some catering.

  “Yvette and Franklin would like to move up their engagement celebration.” Vicki’s grim tone conveyed her feelings about the matter and they matched Dani’s.

  “How in the world do they expect that to happen?” Dani sank back down on the bed. “Forget all the components for the event, but the guests may not be willing to drop everything to attend the party.”

  “Most of the invitees are directly employed by Franklin, somehow owe their livelihood to him, or hope to get something from him in the future. And Yvette’s portion of the list is mostly those men’s wives and girlfriends.” Vicki chuckled. “They aren’t friends like you and I would have at our party.”

  “And when you have the amount of money that he controls, those kinds of people would miss their mother’s funeral to be at his event.” Dani filled in the blanks the wedding planner had left open. “Okay, forget the guests. How about the tent, lighting, furniture, music, and all the other accessories, along with the personnel needed to install them, available on such short notice?”

  “Yvette’s orders are that anything we can’t rent, I should just buy.” Vicki paused and added, “Plus the company we’re using has the contract to provide all of that kind of stuff to the Korn Kings’ training camp. Believe me, they will pull their equipment from another event before they’ll disappoint Franklin or his bride-to-be.”

  “Wow.” Dani whistled. “Well then, let me check my calendar. One sec.”

  She put the wedding planner on hold and pulled up her schedule. The upcoming week was relatively light. Just a birthday party on Sunday, Monday through Friday’s lunch-to-go bags, and one personal chef engagement. If she didn’t accept any other bookings for the next seven days and was able to get the food ordered within a couple of hours, she might be able to do it. But she’d need help.