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“We have what no other town has, my good people. We have Celeste Bradshaw, or, as she is known now,onlyby everyone in the whole wide world, just Celeste.”
If she had known that dropping Celeste’s name would invoke such utter silence from the group, she would have led with it. Celeste had that effect on people, even when she wasn’t in the room. It was uncanny.
“Hear me out,” Kalista continued. She had one chance to grab them before their attention fizzled and died out because just the mention of Celeste alone couldn’t keep them contained forever. She needed more, and she had more.
“We have nothing of note to show the judges as we stand now. Initially, it was supposed to be Tiny’s marmalades with a twist, but well... On this short notice, we can put together a production that would dazzle the judges and have them trip over themselves to give us the money and the trophy.
“And what’s even better is that we all get to play a part. We’ll get to show our togetherness and our commitment to the cause because everyone will have a part to play, and I mean everyone.” She paused and allowed her gaze to glide over them all.
“We’ll set up a magical stage right here in the town hall. We’ll have the choir, costumes, lighting, and Celeste ... Celeste will be our star because she’s danced for kings and princes and billionaires and presidents all over the world. She, as our centerpiece, can win this award for us with just one smile and one swing on her pole.” Kalista took a breath.
“We have three days to put together a rendition of Cinderella. We already have our costumes made from the show we did last year and the songs. But this time, we’re telling the story through dance, and again, we’ll all have a part to play, but Celeste will be our Cinderella on a pole.”
It was a great idea. They just needed to brush up their memories about the parts they played and relearn the songs, but three days of nonstop practice would make it perfect enough so that when the judges arrived, they’d be all set. Celeste could do a routine in her sleep; she was that much of a consummate professional. It was a perfect, perfect idea.
Sure, they could pull off the play themselves, but none of them were really any good at acting, and they were the first to admit that. But this was going to be epic on top of epic.
Still, she waited for a response from the members.
And waited some more.
Not even a squeak filtered through from her normally rowdy constituents.
She had already sold the idea to Celeste, whose arm she really had to twist into saying yes by playing on her conscience instead with: Don’t you want your hometown Bloomings Tide to win?
She and Celeste had gone to school together and had been best friends ever since. There wasn’t anything in the world Kalista wouldn’t do for Celeste, and the same applied the other way around.
Then, just on cue, the massive old doors of the town hall opened, and in stepped their national treasure in the flesh.
For all her world renown, and considering she got marriage proposals almost every day, Celeste was extremely reserved and shy and kept entirely to herself—extremely rarely was she spotted outside of her house when she returned to BT to rest, and then it was so brief that the residents thought they saw something ethereal instead.
It was Kalista who brought her groceries and coffee when she was in town to recuperate from her world travels. But of course, when she was swinging from her pole, she was magic in motion.
Everyone turned their heads to look at her as she floated toward Kalista, and she knew they were being doused in what she called her friend’s Celeste Effect.
Her strawberry-blonde hair flowed like a river of silk behind her. Her body moved like poetry, and that was just her natural walk. Stunning green eyes that were mysterious gemstones could make grown men cry in reverence. And when she smiled, flowers bloomed.
By the time she reached Kalista’s side, she had properly hypnotized every single one of the twenty-eight-member committee, man and woman alike. Men wanted to marry her, and women wanted to be her friend. Celeste was just that kind of person.
“Are they okay?” Celeste whispered, concerned.
“That’s just the Celeste Effect,” Kalista said softly, laughing.
Oh yes, they were so going to win the TITS award. Even without a grand production, all Kalista had to do was put Celeste on a stage in front of them, whoever the judges were, and she was guaranteed the trophy. She probably didn’t even have to dance; Celeste’s ambiance was that powerful, but dancing was what clinched the deal because she was astoundingly phenomenal.
“Thank you for doing this for me,” Kalista whispered. She knew she had asked a lot from her friend—not only to make a public appearance here at the meeting when she preferred to be a recluse when she was in town, but also to dance when Kalista asked her while she was on break.
“Well, you terrorized me into doing it,” Celeste whispered.
“And don’t you forget that,” Kalista said without missing a beat. “Bloomers. I present Celeste.”
An entranced standing ovation was exactly what Kalista expected. And even Henny didn’t laugh at the mention of the word Bloomers—he was too busy clapping his hands together in a wondrous daze.
A thousand times yes, no, five million times yes, they were going to win this award.
Chapter Three
They should have just taken brides of their own choosing and given them a triple wedding to arrange instead of having to deal with this fucking craziness.
