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Dougal frowned as though he didn’t quite believe her. Although, she had to admit, finding her asleep probably didn’t help to instill confidence.
“What about the band? Did you liaise with them? Do they have everything they need for tomorrow night?”
“They’re all set for tomorrow, and they’re looking forward to it.” They’d booked a local folk band to perform Christmas songs. It wasn’t as though U2 was coming. The band’s main concern was that they’d get their drinks for free.
“What about the karaoke for Saturday night? Is that ready?”
Agnes stared at him, wondering if it was a trick question. There was a stage in the corner of the pub, and the karaoke machine had been loaded with Christmas songs. What else was there to do?
“Yes,” she said. “It’s all under control.”
“Did you do a sound check and make sure the microphone is working properly, like I asked?”
“The mic is great. The speakers are working at peak performance. It’s all completely fine.” She slid her hands into her lap and dug her nails into her palms. To stop herself from screaming.
“Good, good.” Dougal stroked his Santa beard. “And the kitchen hasn’t had any trouble with the menu?”
Why was he asking her this? He must have passed the kitchen on the way to her office.
“No,” she said, keeping her voice even. “No trouble. They’ve got the special festive finger food ready to go, and I’ve had Bernadette print up some menus for the bar. We’ll roll them out tomorrow afternoon.”
“What about the prizes for the raffle?”
“All wrapped and numbered.”
“Did you remember to appoint someone to handle the raffle table?”
“Bernadette’s going to do it.”
As she spoke, Dougal’s brow became increasingly furrowed. Any minute now, his eyes would disappear under his bushy white eyebrows, never to be seen again.
“The Christmas trees in the pub and the hotel lobby need more sparkly lights,” he said.
“Okay.” If she dug her nails any deeper into her palms, they’d poke out around her knuckles.
“Shouldn’t you be taking notes?”
Honestly, would he even notice if she screamed? “I think I can remember sparkly lights.”
“Aye, well, we’ll see.” Dougal tugged down his damn waistcoat, which was a pink tartan today. Where did he get these things? Did he have a bunch of elves secreted in the basement making them for him?
“We’ve got a staff meeting tomorrow morning, after breakfast. We’ll hand out the Christmas hats and jumpers then so the staff can wear them for the rest of the day,” he said.
Agnes froze. Jumpers?
“Agnes, did you hear me?” He looked like a shark who’d scented blood in the water. “You do have the items we need, don’t you?”
Clearing her throat, she pointed to the box in the corner of her office that contained the Christmas hats. “Of course,” she said. “It’s all under control.”
Only it wasn’t, because there were no Christmas jumpers. In fact, this was the first time Dougal had even mentioned them. Hats and headbands, yes. Tinsel and Christmas music, yes. Freaking Christmas jumpers? No!
“Okay, then.” He paused long enough to make her wonder if he’d fallen asleep on his feet. “Good job,” he said at last.
She bet that stuck in his throat. “Thanks.”
“I’ll go check the bar. We’re doing a stocktake to establish exactly how much liquor has gone missing over the past year.”
“Once you have more information, hopefully we can narrow down who’s been stealing. On the subject of the thefts, I just had an email from Benson Security.” She didn’t mention Logan, because the email had come from Lake—and she was trying not to think about Logan. That only led to crying like a baby. “The background checks are back and the staff were cleared, meaning they’re no longer on the suspect list.”
