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Hayden and Jonah shift on their ladders, each one tugging the banner in opposite directions above the ballroom doorway in the hotel lobby.
“She said left, dummy,” Jonah says.
“This is left,” Hayden replies. “Wait, left left or stage left?”
“Your left!” I reiterate.
They both slide the banner in the correct direction.
“There!” I say, giving a thumbs up. “Perfect. Lock it down.”
They fasten it to the wall before climbing down from the ladders. I take a few steps back to admire the handiwork and give the entire ballroom entryway one last check for perfection.
BOTSFORD FOR U.S. SENATE.
Jonah scratches his head through his thick navy-blue beanie. “Can I go see my wife now?” he asks.
Hayden rolls his eyes. “You just spent two weeks straight with her.”
“Yeah, well, I like her. And don’t even try to say our honeymoon period is more annoying than yours was with Penny.”
“What do you mean was?” Hayden straightens up, cocky as ever. “It’s still going.”
Jonah rolls his eyes. “Exactly.”
“Sure, you can go see Marla,” I say over them. As cute as their brotherly squabbles usually are, I don’t have time for them right now. “After you guys finish moving the boxes of napkins into the ballroom like I told you to. That’s right, I noticed you didn’t do it yet, and no, you can’t try to sneak off behind me, Hayden,” I say, whipping my head back as he makes an escape attempt.
Hayden stops with a scoff. “When did you become so bossy?”
“She’s not bossy,” I hear over my right shoulder. “She just knows what she wants.”
I spin around to find the lady herself admiring the entryway. I react the same way I always do every single time I’ve ever laid eyes on Fiona Botsford. I lock my knees. I push my glasses up the bridge of my nose. I bask in the eternal glow of grace and elegance while feeling horribly ugly and self-conscious about myself.
But in a good way.
“Hi, Fiona,” I say with a smile.
“Hey, Mom!” Hayden and Jonah say.
“Hello, Paige. Boys,” she adds for them.
Hayden steps forward. “What’s up? Be as detailed as possible.”
Fiona doesn’t fall for it. She points at the boxes and her sons take the hint. They shuffle over to the stack of boxes and load up their arms to carry as many inside at once as possible.
She stands beside me and crosses her arms as she admires the red, white, blue, and gold ballroom again. “This looks wonderful, Paige,” she tells me.
“Thank you, ma’am.”
“No, thank you. I’m sure you have better things to do than organize this.”
I wave a hand. “Eh, it’s my job.”
“I’m pretty sure it was Graham’s job.”
“Right. And part of my job is to make his job easier and seeing as how my options today were planning a party for you or helping Jen with the baby upstairs, I chose the party.”
“With the two babies downstairs,” she adds, a playful jab at Hayden and Jonah.
