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“Not quite.” I turned my phone around so that she could see it.
“What am I looking at? Other than the information I already know,” she said.
I pointed her attention to the hours the two places were open. The Black Key opened promptly at noon to start taking lunch reservations, while the entertainment place opened at five in the evening and didn’t close until midnight. If we were careful about the reservation times, I was almost positive we could find a way to make this work for both of their expressed wishes.
I said nothing as I let Maria work it out for herself.
“Oh! I see where you’re going. That’s brilliant, Mav!” she screamed excitedly.
“I was thinking we get a reservation for about four thirty. By the time the food comes out, it’ll probably be about five thirty, and we can hit the entertainment place no later than seven—before it gets super crowded,” I suggested.
Maria was so excited that she gave me a big hug. I hardly expected that. Then she backed away. “Thank you, Mav. I am so relieved,” she squealed. Now, before I let you go back out to enjoy the company of the rest of the party, what are the plans for the groomsmen’s tuxes?”
“We’re getting a fitting tomorrow, and everyone has their white shirts, baby pink ties, all of that. Oh, and yes, Caleb has his crimson bow tie. We just need to be sure all the vests and such fit,” I shared. “I had my final fitting before everyone else flew in because I’ve been here helping straighten out loose ends for three weeks.”
Maria nodded slowly, having calmed down from her earlier euphoria.
“And the bridesmaid dresses won’t be ready until Friday, so we don’t have to worry about that until we’ve finished decorating the venue,” she shared. “Well, that’s all I wanted to discuss. But thank you again for coming up with a solution to our party plans.”
I nodded. Then, I stood up and headed back out to the patio. Some in the group were eating hot dogs and in quiet conversations and others were playing a card game on the coffee table with lots of laughs and giggles. I took a seat on the couch.
“Want to join us, Mav?”
I glanced over at the cards they were using. It wasn’t poker or anything with a standard deck of cards. They were playing a game called Susssed?. I looked at the box and read, “A game of wacky choices.” You pick a card, read a question about what you would do in a given scenario, and select your answer from three choices. Then everyone has to guess if your answer is A, B, or C.
Well, this was one way to connect with friends or learn about new friends. I nodded that I would join in. These games could be quite fun and a way to even challenge oneself in rational or creative thought.
My first question was, “Which living room sounds best suited to me? The one that is:
A. Rustic & cozy
B. Old Hollywood Glamour
C. Ultra Modern”
That one was too easy. All of them knew I worked at a fishing lodge in northern Idaho, so of course, my answer would be “A,” and they all guessed it correctly.
The game continued with questions that were fun or thought-provoking, and they all involved lots of explanations and laughs.
Eventually, Maria and a couple of the other bridesmaids joined in, and it started making us laugh even louder.
Maria, in particular, was good at playing to a crowd of people she didn’t know very well. Her answers were as crazy as all get out, but she explained them in such a way that you really believed her choice. I don’t know how she did it, but she was still too much for me to handle.
Chapter four
Maria
On Monday, I decided to fix chicken parm that night for all the guys. Since most of the groomsmen were out getting their vests fitted, I was alone in the rented house with Maverick. With the dresses held up in alterations, I didn’t have anything else to do, and Stacey was checking the flowers against their ties for bouquets and boutonnieres. Maverick was currently downstairs looking through some things Caleb had sent him, the last time I had checked anyway. And that had been about five minutes ago.
That left me plenty of time to figure out how to set everything up in this kitchen to make chicken parm. Since none of the men had decided to use the oven for anything other than lasagna, I needed to know if there was a hot spot.
Instead of trying to bake all the chicken at once, I decided to make just one piece. It’d be a good lunch, and I wouldn’t waste a lot of food if this piece didn’t turn out well. Thankfully, there were two sheet pans in the kitchen. That was good if I was fixing dinner for the whole gang.
I put on some music and started to prep all my ingredients. Once I had the chicken coated in the egg wash and breadcrumbs, I stuck it on the sheet pan on top of a piece of aluminum foil. Made for easier clean up. The oven was still preheating, so I quickly washed my hands.
When the oven beeped at me, I put the chicken in and set the timer. Then, I sat down.
My feet were immediately thankful for this. The last day and a half since flying in had been nothing but running around to find what we needed and getting settled into this rented house. I pulled one of my feet into my lap and started to massage out the worst of the pain. I needed to be able to survive the week.
