The Chesapeake Diaries Series 7-Book Bundle: Coming HOme, Home Again, Almost Home, Hometown Girl, Home for the Summer, The Long Way Home, At the River's Edge (73 page)

“We sure are. Anything else I can get for you?”

“No. I’ll leave you to your customers.”

“I’ll see you later, then.”

Dallas took her bags and went out the door, but hadn’t gotten as far as her car when one of the women from Bling followed her out and asked for an autograph, which Dallas gave. She walked a little faster to her car and got in before she was stopped again. Seeing her face on the front of the tabloid earlier in the day had reminded her that as good as the people of St. Dennis had been about shielding her from unnecessary intrusion, the tourists had no such loyalty.

She and Berry had time for a light dinner with Cody before getting ready for the cocktail party. It was almost seven when Grant rang the doorbell to drop off Paige.

“Wow. Look at you!” Grant wolf-whistled when
Berry opened the door. “You look … like an A-list super-star, Miss B.”

“Flattery will get you anywhere, Grant.” Berry smiled.

“She does look fabulous, doesn’t she?” Dallas came down the steps.

“She does.” Grant’s face lit up as she walked toward him. “And you look … you look …”

“You look real pretty, Dallas,” Paige chimed in.

“Thank you, Paige.”

“Real pretty.” Grant smiled. “I couldn’t have said it better myself.”

“You didn’t.” Paige punched him playfully on the arm. “Where’s Cody?”

“He’s on the back porch, waiting for you. Maybe you could bring him in so we could go over last-minute instructions,” Dallas told her. “This is the first time he’s had a babysitter since we arrived in St. Dennis, and I think we need to lay some ground rules.”

“Okay.” Paige went off in search of her charge.

“We should all go together,” Grant said. “Since we’re all going to the same place. I’ll drop you off afterward and pick up Paige at the same time.” He turned to Berry. “That is, if you don’t mind riding in a Jeep to the Inn.”

“A Jeep?” Berry walked to the front door and craned her neck to look at his vehicle. “I don’t know that I’ve ever ridden in a Jeep. Let’s do it.”

“I’ll be back in a minute,” Dallas said. “I hear the kids in the kitchen.”

Dallas gave Paige and Cody the rundown: They and the dogs would stay in the house—doors locked—until the adults returned. No one in, no one
out. No opening the door for anyone for any reason. If anyone called for her or for Berry, she wasn’t to say that they weren’t at home, just that they were unavailable to take the call right at that moment. Dallas posted her cell-phone number on a sticky note on the refrigerator door, then returned to the front hall with both kids.

“I brought some books to read to Cody.” Paige opened the backpack she’d dropped near the door when she arrived and took out several books. “See?
Treasure Island. Pippi Longstocking
. I thought Cody might like stories about adventures.”

“He does. He’ll love both of those books. Good call, Paige.” Dallas picked up her bag from the hall table. “Call me if anything comes up. Anything at all.”

“Will do.” Paige adopted a very adult demeanor.

“And you know how to get me,” Grant told her as they were preparing to leave. “If you have to call—”

“Got it, Dad,” Paige said.

Dallas showed her how to lock the door, then followed Berry and Grant out to the car.

“Blue certainly is your color, Miss B,” Grant told her as he opened the front passenger’s-side door for her.

“Thank you, Grant. Fortunately I did have something to wear tonight. I’d completely forgotten until Dallas reminded me.” She paused. “I’d prefer the backseat, if you don’t mind, dear. I like to spread out a bit.”

“Whatever makes you happy.” Grant opened the back door and helped Berry into the seat.

Dallas got into the front seat and buckled her seat
belt. Grant slid behind the wheel and backed the car out of the drive onto River Road.

“This will all be blocked off on Saturday morning,” Berry said to no one in particular. “What a mess it will be in town.”

“What time does the parade begin?” Dallas turned in her seat to ask.

“Nine
A.M.
,” Berry replied. “It’s always such a fun thing. I didn’t go last year, but I’m looking forward to this one.”

“Why didn’t you go last year?”

Berry shrugged. “I guess I just didn’t feel up to it.”

“Were you sick and you didn’t tell me?” Dallas asked.

“Not sick. Just … oh, bored, perhaps. But not this year.” Berry smiled. “No time for boredom this time around.”

They arrived at the Inn at Sinclair’s Point and Grant turned the car over to the valet. With Berry on one arm and Dallas on the other, he led the women through the lobby and into the ballroom.

“Oh, it’s all been redecorated since the last time I was here!” Dallas exclaimed. “It’s beautiful.”

“Glad you approve.” Miss Grace appeared and kissed each of them on the cheek. “Daniel had the entire Inn redone several years ago, right before he lost his wife. I keep telling him it might be time to redo a little here and there, but that boy of mine is a stubborn cuss.”

“He’s also a very busy cuss.” Daniel Sinclair approached the group, one arm outstretched to hug Berry, the other to shake Grant’s hand. “And this is Dallas. Good to have you back with us again.”

“It’s good to be here, thank you, Daniel,” Dallas replied.

“The party has already started, so please go on in, have a glass of wine and some hors d’oeuvres.”

The threesome did exactly that. They enjoyed the hors d’oeuvres while they chatted with neighbors and old friends. Dallas met many of Berry’s contemporaries and former classmates of Grant’s, many of whom swore they’d known her “back then,” but she had no memory of all but one or two. The evening’s finale—the naming of the parade’s grand marshal—was announced with much fanfare by the mayor, accompanied by the president of the town council and the county’s district attorney.

“Attention, everyone. May I have your attention please?” Mayor Christina Forbes stood on the podium, a microphone in her hand. “The moment I know you’ve all been waiting for is here. As you know, the grand marshal is selected by the Committee for St. Dennis, composed of the members of the town council—and of course, me—along with the president of the Chamber of Commerce and the chief of police. The selection has to be unanimous, and I can tell you there have been years when we’ve had to vote over and over and over and … well, you get the idea.”

Laughter from the audience.

“This year, however, we nailed it on the first vote. I’m so pleased to announce that, by unanimous vote, the grand marshal of the 2010 Discover St. Dennis parade is … Beryl Eberle!”

Applause erupted from every corner of the room.

“Oh, for the love of all that’s holy …” Berry’s hand flew to her mouth. “Is that woman serious?”

“Miss B, you know the rules.” Grant leaned over her shoulder. “If elected, you must serve. There is no saying no when it comes to leading the parade.”

A momentarily flustered Berry was led to the podium and handed the microphone. She took a moment to collect herself, then said, “This was totally unexpected, but I know it’s a great honor. I’m delighted. Thank you all for this privilege. I promise to fulfill my duty to the best of my ability, and to wave royally”—she demonstrated—“and will toss candy to the children on
both
sides of the car along the parade route.”

There was light laughter, then applause once again as Berry returned the microphone to Christina.

Berry was handed a glass of wine and was congratulated with pats on the back and fond smiles as she made her way back to Dallas and Grant.

“Well, there’ll be no skipping the parade this year,” Dallas told her.

“Give me five more minutes to be gracious, then we are out of here,” Berry whispered. “I will need my beauty rest tonight and tomorrow night if I’m to be up at the very crack of Saturday. Hmm. What shall I wear? I expect it will be hot … of course, a hat; that goes without saying. One with a wide brim. And perhaps a dress of a very lightweight fabric. Something gauzy. And sleeveless, of course. Thank God, I still have the arms for it …”

Twenty minutes later, in the car on the way back to the house, Dallas asked, “So what’s the deal for Saturday? What exactly does the grand marshal do?”

“I ride in a convertible—top down, of course, otherwise, why bother with a convertible?—the very first car in the parade. I wave grandly, I throw sweets, I smile. I’m photographed for posterity. I give the signal to start the boat races, and I … well, there may be another little thing or two. I’m sure someone will tell me.”

“I’m sure you’ll be very good at all that,” Grant noted.

“Please, dear. I’ve played several queens in the past. I have the royal demeanor down pat.”

“I thought the title was grand marshal, not grand empress,” Dallas said.

“Same thing.” Berry waved a hand. “I’m sure a wee bit of drama is to be expected of me.”

“And I’m sure you’ll deliver, Berry,” Dallas murmured, and Grant smiled.

The entire downstairs was lit up when they arrived at Berry’s, lights on in each room.

“Hi, Mom,” Cody greeted them at the front door excitedly. “We’ve had so much fun! Paige and I have been reading. She let me read some of the pages and helped me with the words. Look, Mom! Pirates buried a treasure on this island!”

An animated Fleur gaily danced around the group in the front hall.

“I remember reading that book a long time ago.” Dallas ran a hand through her son’s hair. “There might still be a copy in the library here.”

“Can we find it?”

“We’ll look for it in the morning.” Dallas held out her wrist and pointed to her watch. “Way past the bedtime, bud.”

“I know, but we were having so much fun reading.” Cody wrapped his arms around Paige. “Paige is the best reader ever. Even better than the library lady.”

Paige smiled and hugged him.

“Well, we all have things to do tomorrow. Paige has dogs to walk, Dallas has work on her screenplay, I have animals to tend to, Cody has story hour, and Miss B has to get her glorious self ready for Saturday.” Grant took his daughter by the arm.

Dallas paid Paige for babysitting and everyone said their good nights. Dallas accompanied the departing father and daughter outside.

“I have a couple of surgeries lined up for tomorrow, and another for tomorrow evening, so I’m pretty much MIA until Saturday morning,” Grant told Dallas.

She stood at the foot of the front porch steps. Ahead, in the dark, Paige ambled to the car.

“I do have to work on my screenplay, you were spot-on there.” Dallas nodded. “Especially since I suspect Saturday will be spent in town, watching herself wave to the peons as she travels through the heart of St. Dennis.”

Grant laughed softly. “She’ll be fabulous.”

“She always is,” Dallas agreed.

“Dad, the mosquitoes are getting me,” Paige whined.

He raised Dallas’s hands to his lips and pressed a kiss in each palm. “I’ll be over on Saturday to walk down to the parade route with you and Cody.”

She nodded. “I’ll see you then.”

She stood with her arms folded over her chest, and watched the car disappear behind the trees that lined River Road. After the taillights disappeared around the bend, she went back inside to close up the house for the night and tuck her son into bed.

“I wish I had better news, but so far, no one’s been interested in this deal unless you and Berry star in the film together,” Norma told Dallas on Friday morning. “Personally, I feel it’s a form of blackmail to get you and Berry in the same film, which of course would be box office dynamite.”

Dallas sighed. “We’ve gone over this.”

“Yes, we have. And I respect the fact that you’ve made up your mind, and believe me, I’ve been very supportive of that decision at each of these meetings. Frankly, the feeling that I’m getting is that everyone thinks you’re holding out for astronomical bucks and a huge percentage to do the film.”

“That’s nonsense.”

“That’s Hollywood,” Norma corrected her. “But not to despair. I have another meeting in about an hour, another at four this afternoon, and another tomorrow morning—actually, that’s a lunch meeting. So we just need to wait and see. Personally, I think these people are all crazy because the film is going to be a blockbuster and everyone who’s passed it by is going to be kicking themselves in the ass later.”

“Well, let’s see what your other meetings bring. Thanks, Norma. I hope you have some good news soon.”

“So do I.” Norma hung up, and Dallas began to pace.

She wasn’t at all surprised that the studio and production people Norma had met with believed that Dallas was holding out. Games were played every hour of every day. It was part of the business, though definitely not her favorite part. She’d long since grown tired of it.

“So far, two girls and one boy,” Grant greeted her when he called a little while later.

“What are you talking about?”

“I’m talking about the litter of Great Danes I’m delivering. Three pups so far. Two of one, one of the other. All brindles. Cute as can be.”

“Do you usually assist at deliveries?”

“Not as a general rule, but her owner brought her in this morning because she was—get this—‘acting strangely.’ She was looking for a place to have her pups, but they didn’t recognize the behavior until she started delivering in the waiting room out front. And how’s your day going?”

“I spoke with my lawyer earlier. No one’s feeling the love for
Pretty Maids
unless Berry and I are in it.”

“Sounds like a form of extortion to me.”

“That’s what Norma and I think, too. I may end up having to put my money where my mouth is, but we’ll see. I’m just going to keep working on the screenplay.”

“Atta girl. Don’t let the bastards get you down.”

“How’s everything else going for you today?” She
walked to the window and looked out. Berry had just returned from the library with Cody and they were walking across the lawn, a much-animated Cody telling something to Berry, who was smiling broadly.

“All right. Surgery day. I just popped into the kitchen to grab some lunch.”

“I hope you washed your hands.”