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I groan and point at both of them. “Enough. Zip it. I might be off my game with her, but I’ll figure it out. No meddling.”
They both look like they want to say something else, but I do the sign forzip it,drilling them looks that show I mean it, and Zac sighs.
“Oh, all right,” Pappy says. “Fornow.”
“I never thought you’d be the boring, cantankerous,humorlessone out of the two of us,” Zac mutters.
“At least I’m the cute one,” I tell him.
He shrugs. “Looks like I’m still the one getting laid more.”
I crack up and so does he. “I’m glad you’re here,” I tell him.
Scarlett and Autumn reach us, and Scarlett looks a bit shell-shocked.
“Are you okay?” I ask her as we walk inside.
“Yeah,” she says, nodding. She places her hands on her cheeks and takes a deep breath. “Yes.”
The hostess takes us to a big round table near the back, and there are eyes on us the entire walk there. Several people greet Scarlett along the way, some smiling and waving at her from across the room. A few say hello to me too. And then they see Zac and it’s obvious when recognition hits them.
Ivy sits between Autumn and me and Scarlett on the other side of me. Ivy immediately opens the package of crayons and starts coloring the bunnies snow skiing on her menu. While we’re looking at our menus, a blonde petite lady comes to the table, bending to hug Scarlett from behind.
“Hi, Sally,” Scarlett says. “I’ve been meaning to call you. It involves your dog food.” She laughs. “But first…I’ll let you do what you came over here to do. This is Sally, everyone. She’s the owner of this amazing place.”
“Aw, thank you, Scarlett. This girl is the sweetest,” Sally says to the rest of us and then gives a little wave in greeting.
Ivy looks up from her coloring, so I start interpreting.
“Hi, everyone. Welcome to The Pink Ski. Jamison, it’s always good to see you.”
I smile at her. “Good to see you too, Sally.” I introduce her to everyone and fumble a little bit with signing, glancing down at Ivy to make a face.
OUT PRACTICE,Ivy teases, signing it for me only.
We all laugh and I glance at Scarlett as I sign, “She’s giving me grief for being out of practice.”
“Guess you’ll have to get your practice in while you teachme,” she says.
Ivy’s eyes light up when I sign that and she peers around me to grin at Scarlett, nodding excitedly.
“Sorry, Sally, we’re easily distracted,” Zac says. “Your restaurant is beautiful. Jamison has been bragging about your food.”
Sally puts her hand on her heart and gushes. “It is such an honor to have you here. Big fan of yours.Hugefan. Congratulations on that Super Bowl win. It was an amazing game. And an amazing season.”
“Thank you so much,” Zac says, grinning. He’s such a natural with all this.
“And your write-up in the lastArchitectural Digestwas phenomenal,” Sally tells Autumn. Her fingertips move to her lips and then spread wide. “Chef’s kiss. Actually, I think I’ve seen every single one of your spreads in there over the years.”
“Oh, wow, thank you,” Autumn says. “I’m still pinching myself that this is my life.”
Sally shakes her head, a bit starstruck. She snaps herself out of it though, before it can get weird, and I’m glad. I’ve had some intense experiences with Zac where the fans just couldn’t keep it together and I’m glad that so far, it seems like the people in Landmark will be a nice balance.
“I’ll get water right out. Shall I bring out a couple bottles of wine? A cocktail for anyone? Soft drink for you, sweetheart? Aren’t you darling.”
Ivy’s eyes get wide when I signSODAand she smiles sweetly at Sally.
“Thank you,” she says.
