Venus in Blu Jeans by Meg Benjamin

Author:Meg Benjamin
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub, pdf
Published: 2011-08-02T09:27:52+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

Long after everyone else had left, Docia sat with Cal, Allie, Wonder, Janie, Lee and Ken, eating leftover cheese and drinking the last of the wine.

“It really was a great party, Docia,” Janie mused. “I mean, apart from the fact you’re donating all that money on top of paying for the party and all.” Her brow furrowed. “Is that going to be a problem? I mean are you going to have to close down the shop or anything?”

Docia sighed. She’d managed not to think about the TABC for the past hour. “No, Janie, it’s not a problem. If I need to, I’ll get a loan. We should make out all right.”

“I’m donating my end of things,” Allie murmured. “The bread’s on me.”

“Count us in on that.” Lee nodded. “At least as far as the sausage and stuff. I don’t think the restaurant could afford to spring for the wine.” He shook his head. “Who do you think made the complaint? It’s so stupid. Why would anybody try to close the party down when everybody was enjoying themselves?”

“They did enjoy themselves, didn’t they?” A warm little glow began in Docia’s stomach. Of course, the fact that Cal had his arm around her shoulders might have something to do with that.

“Aw, hell, we all know who did it.” Wonder poured the last of some sauvignon blanc into his glass, then turned to grimace at Docia. “It had to be Margaret angels-are-my-middle-name Hastings. As to why, you’d need to ask her shrink.”

“Oh, we also know why.” Allie frowned. “Liddy Brenner is her freakin’ festival and she’s not sharing it with anybody, particularly not you. It’s just spite.”

The warm little glow diminished to a spark. Docia leaned down to pick up a couple of crumpled napkins at her feet. She really didn’t want to think about Margaret Hastings just then. In fact, she didn’t want to think about much of anything except the way Cal’s face had looked when he’d swept her out for the last waltz of the night. “I don’t understand any of this. I hardly know Margaret Hastings—I don’t think I’ve ever said more than a few words to her.”

“You played it just right, honey.” Ken reached out to pat her hand with a sympathetic smile. “Brilliant PR, if I do say so myself. You’ll come out of this smelling like a rose—trust me.”

“She already smells like a rose,” Cal murmured, “in all the right places.”

Docia didn’t think anyone else heard him—her cheeks heated up anyway.

Lee shook his head. “The real question is, what are we going to do about all of this? I’d love to see you challenge Margaret Hastings to a showdown at high noon, but she’d probably find a way to weasel out of it. Like saying the noon sun was bad for her skin.”

“Why should Docia do anything?” Cal’s voice was quiet. “She took care of the problem. Just let it be.”

Docia’s glow began to rekindle again. She turned to look at him. In the dim moonlight filling her backyard, his face was dark, sculpted by shadows.

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