Page 50 of Tiffanie

Tiffanie peered up at Edmund’s portrait and said, “Thank you for warning everyone.”

Essie cocked her head as if she were listening to someone. After a few seconds, she reported, “He says you’re welcome. And that you’re not to scare him to death again.”

“Scare him to death?” Tiffanie repeated, turning to meet Essie’s gaze. The two women laughed. How could a ghost be afraid of dying—twice!

“And Marmalade!” Essie said as the big tomcat strolled out of her office. “Do you remember him running over to rub along your shins? He stopped you from walking closer to my desk. If you’d advanced a few more steps, you would have crashed down on the corner of this wooden atrocity. I bet you would have hit your head.”

“The minutes right before I passed out are pretty foggy. Thank you, Marmalade, for protecting me,” Tiffanie said to the cat and received another round of cat caresses on her legs. She leaned over to return the cat’s affection with some face scratches.

“Come sit down now. Are you sure you’re ready to dive in?” Essie asked, searching her face.

“So ready. Put me to work.”

The women worked on the final placement of the vendors who had applied to participate in the event. When they leaned back in their chairs an hour later, both breathed a sigh of relief. Some changes would happen closer to the event, but for now, Tiffanie could focus on enhancing the ballroom to showcase the talents on display.

“That was a chore!” Essie said. “Thank goodness you grew up here and have an insider’s view of the local feuds to make sure the wrong people aren’t wrestling in the aisles.”

“Most of the residents get along great. But that row of pie bakers is cutthroat. Especially Millie and Pete. They’ve both competed so frequently against each other for the top pie award at the state fair that they have to hire baking experts from outside our town to judge that event. The last time, a riot broke out on Main Street in front of The Pie Hole restaurant when the owner judged Millie’s caramel apple pie superior to Pete’s Dutch apple pie. Pete’s fans held a grudge for two months at least before forgiving the owner of the Pie Hole. They’ll never agree to judge pies in the future.”

“Oh, my God. An actual riot?”

“They arrested Millie’s supporters and threw them in the neighboring town’s jail for their safety. The police held everyone for eight hours to cool down and then all of them had to pay for the damage,” Tiffanie said.

“And I got a spanking,” Essie muttered.

“What did you do?”

“I promised I wouldn’t add more events to next month’s calendar.”

“And you did,” Tiffanie guessed.

“Simply a small bridge competition. The ballroom will be a great place for them to gather and play cards. Bridge is a snooty game, right? They’ll all attend in their Sunday best with great manners.”

“Oh, they’ll come dressed to be seen,” Tiffanie said. Should she clue Essie in that there’d been an even bigger riot when the group heard allegations of cheating at the last tournament? Essie was going to flip when she shared that they wanted to come to Ferguson’s Folly because the community center banned them for life.

Essie looked toward the door of her office and seemed to listen to someone in the foyer. She turned slowly to meet Tiffanie’s gaze. “My ass is toast, isn’t it?”

Tiffanie nodded. “Esther knew?”

“She used to be a regular. The fanciest hotel downtown kicked the bridge crew out of the ballroom after a skirmish there. Then they moved after that to the community center. I’m going to need security.”

“Probably,” Tiffanie said, feeling bad for her friend.

“That’s it. I’m not accepting anything before I run the event past everyone.”

“You’ll learn all the wackiness of this town soon enough,” Tiffanie said. “But I’ll always tell you the truth.”

“Thanks. I’m going to order another cushion for this office chair now.”

Tiffanie could only laugh at the resignation in her friend’s voice. One part of her was regretful that Phineas hadn’t spanked her yet. She knew why. She hadn’t been healthy enough.

Right then, she decided she was going to do whatever she could to regain her strength. She deserved to experience everything. Tiffanie mentally rolled her eyes at herself. Who gets fired up to get ready for spankings?

She wanted to try everything with her Daddy. Resolved, she picked up her water bottle that Phineas had insisted she drink two of during the day while he was at work. After taking a long drink, she ran over her calendar to see what else she and Essie needed to discuss.

“I think we’re in good shape for the events this month. Anything you want to concentrate on?” Tiffanie asked Essie.

“I need the two of you to focus on some taste-testing. You got that lady’s retirement party. The hostess said she loves cookies. Chocolate, especially,” Sara said, appearing in the doorway with a large tray of cookies and a couple of ice-cold glasses of milk. She set the goodies down on Essie’s desk.