An Officer and a Fortune by Nina Crespo

Author:Nina Crespo
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2021-02-11T14:24:59+00:00

Chapter Sixteen

Nicole walked out the side door near the back of Roja’s dining room that opened into the pool area. Warm sun and a hint of breeze created the perfect spring morning with a promise of an even better afternoon.

Mother Nature had given her blessing of good weather for the Give Back barbecue kicking off in a little over two hours.

The blue covering on the pool rippled as she walked past the tables shaded by blue and beige umbrellas that had replaced the lounge chairs—backup seating just in case they needed it.

Up ahead, the large, empty grassy space had been transformed. In the middle, round tables and chairs were arranged under a large white tent positioned in front of a stage. Food tents were positioned on either side: the smoked barbecue buffet on the right and the new summer menu preview buffet on the left.

Beverage stations, yard games and face painting for the kids, as well as a dessert station that would serve ice cream, cookies and Popsicles, were also spaced out in the area.

Under the barbecue tent, Mariana checked the propane tank on the large grill, preparing to cook hamburgers and hot dogs. Then she went to the smoker. As she opened it to rearrange sausages and chicken on the grate, smoke curled up in the air.

As Nicole walked toward the grass, Mariana gave a smile and a brief wave. Smoked barbecue was an art, and Mariana was an artist in that department. She’d mostly taken over the task of slow cooking the brisket since midnight in the kitchen’s electric smoker, and despite them having had a late night, she’d gotten up early to get a jump on grilling the rest of the meat.

Nicole walked under the summer menu tent, mentally mapping out what would go where on the buffet tables arranged in a U around the perimeter. They’d settled on three items to feature: rosemary chicken, seasoned flank steak tacos and cold mango shrimp skewers served over corn relish with a spicy puree, and a few of the sides her family had liked the most the night of the tasting.

Excitement and anxiety swirled the coffee and bagel she’d forced herself to eat earlier. Everything was in place and ready to go.

“Testing...one-two, testing.”

The deep, resonant voice of the person talking in the mic came through the speaker system.

Nicole looked to the stage and did a double take. Jay the hospitality trainee was at the mic. He’d apparently fixed the problem they were having with the sound setup for the live band.

Wow. He had a really nice voice. Why didn’t he speak that clearly in general?

As her gaze landed on the dance floor directly in front of the stage, Collin’s voice drifted in.

“But we need to take care of one more thing...”

Dance together. That’s what Collin had said they’d needed to do that day she’d stopped by his house and they’d shared a second unforgettable kiss. And since then she’d been watching line dancing videos and practicing in her living room.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.