AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I nodded.
“I’m the producer of Vacation Dream Homes. Tracie told me of your… unexpected arrival.”
“Good news travels fast.” I winced at the fake brightness in my voice.
“In Elmer, you have no idea. This place is a gossip superhighway.”
Great. My one-night stand shall live on in infamy forever.
“You live here?”
“Hell no. I’m in from LA. Came for the party and to shoot for the ‘Where Are They Now’ episode. The fans love Wilson and Cami, by far our most popular story line of the season.”
“Really? My brother.” He hated being in front of the camera.
She and I shuffled forward with the rest of the line a few steps closer to the food.
“The shot of him in the dunk tank getting kissed by Cami is gold. It’s got millions of replays on YouTube. You want to go into a diabetic coma, go read the comments—people love love. And a happy ever after is not something I can deliver often with a reality real estate show.”
“Are they leveraging their social media fame at all?” My marketing brain was already gearing up to tap into this well of potential wine drinkers.
“Does a Blue Star Instagram count?” Kate shrugged like she’d already talked to them about this and gotten nowhere.
“Barely.”
“The one capitalizing on it is the mayor. Amaryllis set up an online store selling Elmer, Texas merch. She is donating the profits to the city arts foundation. And I’d bet she is making a tidy profit.”
I laughed; the cowboys explained the woman I saw when I first arrived welcoming everyone to the party was the mayor of Elmer and Cameron’s grandmother, Amaryllis Graves. Based on a few of the stories the ranch hands told me about her, I’d say the mayor’s Elmer merch website was very on-brand.
“I knew I was going to like the mayor the moment I saw her,” I told Kate.
“She is one of a kind. Ask your brother about bunco.”
That had to be a great story.
The smells of smoked brisket and fresh bread were making me drool. I couldn’t wait to grab a plate of BBQ; there were only a handful of people between me and dinner.
“I’m going to be working with Blue Star Wines on branding, and we’re planning to open a tasting room too. Would Vacation Dream Homes be interested in filming any of that?” It was a long shot, but you missed every shot you didn’t take.
“If you can give me something that’s more exciting than wine snobs swishing grape juice, I’ll send a crew out. We can do another update or at least something on the website and YouTube. Production wraps up the first week of September, so that’s your deadline. Next season hasn’t gotten the green light from the network yet.”
“I can’t believe that. I checked the ratings. The show is so successful.”
“The continuing storyline concept is brilliant in first runs but has drawbacks. It’s expensive to produce, and in syndication, it’s not as desirable.” Kate shrugged and passed me a bundle of plasticware. I gave her a plate.
We took positions on opposite sides of the food line and worked our way down, filling our plates. I was hungry, but this was gluttony—old school style. I piled mac and cheese on my plate next to creamed corn and coleslaw with pecans in it. Next came dry-rubbed smoked meat: brisket, turkey, ribs, and sausage. I took some of each. A BBQ in Texas was no place to be a vegetarian.
Kate and I met back up at the condiment station. BBQ sauces in three different flavors, bread and butter pickles, and fresh baked bread.
“I think I’m having a food-induced orgasm, and I’ve not even had a bite,” I told Kate as a server cut the fresh loaf and placed a thick, buttered slice on my plate.
“Texans eat well.” Kate held up two fingers to the woman with the bread knife and held out her plate. “Follow me. We’ll grab beers, and then I’ve got a great place to watch the fireworks.”
She hadn’t been lying about her perfect spot.
I kicked off my shoes and climbed up behind her to the top of the platform her camera crew had used earlier. The vantage point put us high above the crowds and gave us room to spread out and enjoy our feast. The brisket was out of this world. Smoky and spicy with fat that dripped down your fingers. The mac and cheese was better than my mom’s.
I’d eaten in most of the award-winning restaurants in Chicago and was hard-pressed to think of a meal I’d enjoyed more than this.
