help…”
“Done!” Kaz the Assistant got right on it.
And I hurried over to the sign-in table to get the volunteers waiting there for Helen organized and working. While I was at it, I checked the dinner list for Beth Howell’s name. According to our guest list, she’d be there, and believe me, I was keeping an eye out for her. There was no sign of her yet. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to offer her an apology orwhether I was just looking for information on what happened the night before and why. I only knew that, as chair, my duty was to make sure no one had a bad experience at the conference. What had happened on the boat… Well, that was all about bad.
“So where’s the almighty guest of honor? Not here, waiting for everyone to bow and scrape to him?”
When he walked up to me grumbling, I knew Chase Cadell was perfectly serious. Which is why I had no choice but to act as if he was joking. “Oh, I’m sure Thad will be down in just a few minutes,” I said, and made sure I punctuated the statement with a laugh. “I have a feeling he likes to make grand entrances.”
“Humph.” Chase was dressed in a rumpled gray suit, and when he crossed his arms over his broad chest, the buttons on his white cotton shirt strained. “You know I love ya, Josie, but—”
“Yes, I know.” I made sure I kept my smile in place. “I would have been far better off inviting you to be our banquet speaker.”
“Damned straight.”
“And I would have loved listening to you. You know that’s true, too. But you, Chase, you do not own the Geronimo button.”
He scanned the area where our guests were gathering, and whatever he was going to say, he waved it away as inconsequential. “Bah! Never mind. See you later, Josie. Maybe in the bar after this whole fiasco is over.”
“You’re not joining us for dinner?”
He threw a look over my shoulder into the ballroom and the podium that had been set up for Thad, along with the video screen, where we’d get our first look at the Geronimo button. “You don’t think an old rattlesnake like me is goingto pass up food I already paid for, do you? But I’m not staying for Wyant’s talk. Geronimo button. Hah!”
By the time he walked away, Kaz was just returning. “Helen didn’t answer her phone,” he said. “You want me to—”
“There she is!” When the elevator doors whooshed open and Helen scurried out, what felt like the weight of the world lifted from my shoulders.
“Sorry!” Helen hurried past me with hardly a look. She was winded, and her cheeks were red. “Sorry, sorry, sorry! I fell asleep. Can you imagine? Went up to my room after the last session and fell sound asleep. By the time I woke up and got dressed and—”
“Not to worry!” Just like she would have done if our roles were reversed, I looped one arm through hers to force her to slow down and take a deep breath. “Everything is under control.”
“Oh, don’t tell me that.” She looked positively stricken. “If you do, I’ll think no one needs me.”
By the time Helen was settled at the table, where the other members of her committee had efficiently checked in the dinner guests, most everybody was already in the ballroom, and it would have been rude of me to wait outside, even if I was waiting for our guest of honor. Instead, I went into the ballroom and went from table to table, welcoming people and telling them how excited I was about the evening’s program. I did a last-minute sound check at the podium and then talked to the catering director to make sure the staff was ready to start serving and that the ice-cream cakes we’d ordered in the shape of buttons had arrived and looked perfect.
And Thad Wyant was still nowhere to be seen.
“You pacing from the front of the ballroom to the lobbyand looking worried isn’t helping things.” From out of nowhere, Kaz showed up at my side. “The salads are being served. You’re going to have to sit down.”
“But I—”
“I already
“Done!” Kaz the Assistant got right on it.
And I hurried over to the sign-in table to get the volunteers waiting there for Helen organized and working. While I was at it, I checked the dinner list for Beth Howell’s name. According to our guest list, she’d be there, and believe me, I was keeping an eye out for her. There was no sign of her yet. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to offer her an apology orwhether I was just looking for information on what happened the night before and why. I only knew that, as chair, my duty was to make sure no one had a bad experience at the conference. What had happened on the boat… Well, that was all about bad.
“So where’s the almighty guest of honor? Not here, waiting for everyone to bow and scrape to him?”
When he walked up to me grumbling, I knew Chase Cadell was perfectly serious. Which is why I had no choice but to act as if he was joking. “Oh, I’m sure Thad will be down in just a few minutes,” I said, and made sure I punctuated the statement with a laugh. “I have a feeling he likes to make grand entrances.”
“Humph.” Chase was dressed in a rumpled gray suit, and when he crossed his arms over his broad chest, the buttons on his white cotton shirt strained. “You know I love ya, Josie, but—”
“Yes, I know.” I made sure I kept my smile in place. “I would have been far better off inviting you to be our banquet speaker.”
“Damned straight.”
“And I would have loved listening to you. You know that’s true, too. But you, Chase, you do not own the Geronimo button.”
He scanned the area where our guests were gathering, and whatever he was going to say, he waved it away as inconsequential. “Bah! Never mind. See you later, Josie. Maybe in the bar after this whole fiasco is over.”
“You’re not joining us for dinner?”
He threw a look over my shoulder into the ballroom and the podium that had been set up for Thad, along with the video screen, where we’d get our first look at the Geronimo button. “You don’t think an old rattlesnake like me is goingto pass up food I already paid for, do you? But I’m not staying for Wyant’s talk. Geronimo button. Hah!”
By the time he walked away, Kaz was just returning. “Helen didn’t answer her phone,” he said. “You want me to—”
“There she is!” When the elevator doors whooshed open and Helen scurried out, what felt like the weight of the world lifted from my shoulders.
“Sorry!” Helen hurried past me with hardly a look. She was winded, and her cheeks were red. “Sorry, sorry, sorry! I fell asleep. Can you imagine? Went up to my room after the last session and fell sound asleep. By the time I woke up and got dressed and—”
“Not to worry!” Just like she would have done if our roles were reversed, I looped one arm through hers to force her to slow down and take a deep breath. “Everything is under control.”
“Oh, don’t tell me that.” She looked positively stricken. “If you do, I’ll think no one needs me.”
By the time Helen was settled at the table, where the other members of her committee had efficiently checked in the dinner guests, most everybody was already in the ballroom, and it would have been rude of me to wait outside, even if I was waiting for our guest of honor. Instead, I went into the ballroom and went from table to table, welcoming people and telling them how excited I was about the evening’s program. I did a last-minute sound check at the podium and then talked to the catering director to make sure the staff was ready to start serving and that the ice-cream cakes we’d ordered in the shape of buttons had arrived and looked perfect.
And Thad Wyant was still nowhere to be seen.
“You pacing from the front of the ballroom to the lobbyand looking worried isn’t helping things.” From out of nowhere, Kaz showed up at my side. “The salads are being served. You’re going to have to sit down.”
“But I—”
“I already
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