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She had to sneak into her garage quickly, get the tree lights, clean the tables, and set it up with some plates and cutlery. And wine. Lots and lots of wine.
Since they weren’t going to have their welcome dinner as they previously planned in the town’s gym, and since the hall was going to be out of the question because they wanted to keep their stage a surprise, this was the next best thing.
“Bring everyone,” she repeated, frowning at what she was saying. The slippery thought slithered into her mind. She didn’t want to be alone with them. And Sir Lancelot was just not enough of a barrier for her.
Weird.
She was a people person through and through.
“I’m on it,” Jennifer said, then called outfoodto Tilly, who in turn said she was on it.
But how on earth were they going to practice their play with the judges around? And finish the set, the costumes, and everything else in between?
Maybe she should have just admitted to the judges that she had made a mistake, confusing a five for an eight, and that they weren’t prepared at all. Surely, she would be forgiven, but then, were they ever going to take her seriously?
No, the answer was no. When she realized her incompetence was going to reflect poorly on her and the town she governed, she caved and outright lied so blatantly that it was a wonder she didn’t go up in flames from the fire in her pants.
Tarnation.
Panic started to swirl in her stomach. How screwed were they screwed? Darnit, she needed a little more time. The stage wasn’t built yet. They still had to install the gold-plated dancer pole, which was being engraved with Celeste’s name to honor their star.
“Jenny, I need you to go to Thelma’s and get a supply of her special tea bags.”
Kalista could not believe she was going down that route. But it had to be done.
“Thelma’s tea?” Jennifer was shocked. “Kalista, now is not the time—”
“It’s not for me,” she rectified. “Please, just get it. I promised them they could see the stage we built tomorrow morning.”
“But we don’t have a stage, Mayor Kalista. Why did we promise them that?”
“Because I crumbled and laid down these massive ideas and I know I shouldn’t have. But that’s why I need the tea. I need time so Sid and JT can get things done in the morning so the play can go ahead by afternoon.”
“I’ll go to Thelma’s first thing now.”
“Thank you, Jenny. It’s either the tea or getting JT to knock them out until lunch time.”
Gosh she was turning into a mafia psycho. She really should have stopped talking completely if everything that was coming out of her mouth was a big fat lie. But wait, was it a lie or just a prediction of the future? Everything she said they had done they were actually still going to do.
How could it be a lie then? Still, she shouldn’t have promised them a viewing of a non-existent stage for a play that hadn’t once even practiced.
“We’re in this together, Major Kalista. I’ll get the tea.”
When she was done with Jennifer, she called Sid and JT and spoke to them both. After explaining the situation — also having to tell them it wasn’t her secret lover visiting—the men promised they would work all night to get the stage done.
Two more calls later, one to Celeste to tell her everything had been moved up, and then she spent another five minutes begging her friend to make an appearance at the backyard welcoming dinner or else everything was going to go to crap.
They needed to see Celeste and be keen to want to watch her dance. She also let her friend know she was staying at her house tonight because there was no way she was sleeping in her own bed with three billionaires in the guest bedrooms next to hers.
Her other call was to Mrs. Autumn and company to tell them that they needed the costumes by tomorrow night.
After disconnecting, she took a huge breath, a little hopeful that they might actually pull it off after all.
Okay then.
Now she just had to splash some water on her aching face and change her underwear before she faced them again. She had no business being wet; she reprimanded herself on the way to her bathroom.
But she couldn’t help the terrified and unquestionably loud shriek that fell from her mouth at the sight of her face in the mirror. Her face had swelled to nearly twice its size.
