Page 136 of Falling for the Enemy

Astrid cradled a woven basket to her chest. “We brought the favors, of course.”

Jocelyn’s eye twitched. “I already made the favors.”

“But do yours have crystals?” Astrid lifted a fistful of little muslin pouches knotted with hemp string. “Rose quartz for the heart chakra, plus a sprig of dried sage for cleansing. One for every guest.”

They were catastrophically off-theme for a nautical shower, but Jocelyn had bigger fish to fry—as soon as she found some that were fresh. “They’re beautiful. Set them over there, and I’ll see that the guests get them. Thank you both so much.”

“Do you smell something?” Bodhi asked.

“Where, dear?” Astrid scanned the restaurant as servers draped the tables in white linens. “Oh, I do smell something, now that you mention it. A bit like a medieval brothel. Jocelyn, did you know it stinks like rotten fish in here?

“Yes.” Realizing who she was dealing with, she shifted course. “I’ll show you where the table is so you can drop the favors off and go before the smell clings to your clothes.”

The second Jocelyn spoke the warning, she realized she wasn’t immune and would reek by the time the guests showed up. She made a mental note to grab some backup clothes as well on her next trip home.

Steering them toward the corner, she tucked the crystals beside her own carefully built little tackle-box favors, then turned straight into Paige, who’d materialized with an armful of signs.

“Where do you want the easel and WELCOME BABY sign? I also have the LITTLE CATCH mini picks to go in the food. Should I leave them on that long table or is that for the gifts?”

“Jocelyn, where do you want the balloon arch?” Simon interrupted.

“That’s the buffet table,” she told Paige.

“You want it above the buffet?” Simon asked.

“No, I want the LITTLE CATCH banner there and the arch over there.”

“Oh,” Paige said, twisting her lips. “The buffet’s kind of long, so if you center it, there will be dead space on both ends, but if you hang it over the gifts, the presents will fill up the space.”

She already had a plan in her head and didn’t have time to rework her design. “Just center it. We’ll fill the ends with netting. The balloon arch goes over the gifts, because I want it in the background when we’re taking pictures of Grey and Wren opening presents.”

She prayed there would be food for the buffet by two-thirty.

Paige did as directed then headed on her way.

Jocelyn still needed to run home and grab the rest of the decorations. She found Simon in the back searching for a ladder. “I have to run home to pick up more boxes. I shouldn’t be long. When you’re done with the banner, can you hang the streamers over the archway?”

“On it!”

She found Richard on the phone, pacing out back. “Anyone answering?”

“The Fish Peddler in Rockport might have haddock, but they can’t deliver, and I can’t spare a body to drive an hour each way.”

“Fantastic.” She hauled the phone out of her back pocket. Still nothing from Soren. Firing off another text, she tried not to panic.

Soren!!!

The battery chirped the instant it sent, and her phone went black. “Son of a horse fucker!”

“Excuse me?” Richard asked, covering the phone.

“Nothing.” She’d charge the phone in the car on the drive back to her place. That should at least get her back to five percent.

Why wasn’t he answering? If she wasn’t already behind, she’d run to his house to make sure he wasn’t sick or anything. It wasn’t like him not to answer when he was the one always breathing down her neck about phone etiquette.

Driving home and back ate up more time than expected. It took Jocelyn twenty minutes just to get the car loaded, and then she needed to let Cordelia out, because her little princess was going to be home alone all day. By the time she got back to the restaurant, she was sweating from exertion and a full hour had almost passed.

As soon as she unloaded the car, she was dying of thirst.