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“Oh. Smart.” He grinned at me. “Honestly, I don’t know where I’d be without you.”
I chuckled. “Probably on a lot of wait lists for hotels downtown and on the way to a peptic ulcer.”
Cody bobbed his head from side to side. “Yeah. That sounds about right. That means you’ll help with the catering. Right? You wouldn’t want me to drop the ball now, would you?”
I shook my head. “I don’t think you would, but I’m happy to help. It’s fun. Especially since you’ve got a bigger event budget than I can imagine having. Tell me how that works, again, to spend all this money on fundraising?”
“Ugh. Don’t get me started. I don’t get it either, but apparently the big donors like to see and be seen, and it helps pry open their wallets.” Cody shrugged. “I don’t get it. Honestly, if I didn’t work for Ballentine and know how frugal we are in just about every area of our operation? I’m not sure I’d give, based on these big galas. It feels like a waste.”
“Have you talked to Mr. Ballentine about it?”
“I have. He gets it. Mostly feels the same way. But he also has comparisons for years when we haven’t done the two big events each year for whatever reason, and the level of giving is really a lot lower. And since we have a number of donors who sponsor tables, we make back most of our outlay before the fundraiser even happens.” Cody blew out a breath. “I’ve been digging through the files to try to understand, and it’s been eye opening.”
“Sounds like it.” I glanced around the empty bookstore. “We might as well go sit and be comfortable. I’ll get my tablet so we can look at the catering options I bookmarked. Did the venue have a list of preferred vendors? We should look at those first, and save some of the fees associated with using someone who’s not on their list.”
“I think it was one of the attachments. I’ll look.” Cody headed toward the comfy chairs, already pulling his phone out of his pocket.
I went back behind the register to get my tablet. I’d been looking at caterers off and on today. It was tricky, because it seemed like everyone and their cousin offered catering now. It would probably boil down to what sort of food they wanted to have. Carrying my tablet, I made my way to where Cody sat, and hesitated.
He patted the seat beside him.
It seemed like an almost absent-minded gesture. Definitely just friendly. Why was I so intent on looking for something more there? He didn’t think of me that way. He never had. Never would. I was just Austin’s little sister.
I sat next to him. “Did you find the list?”
He tilted his phone toward me then frowned. “Why don’t I forward the email to you, then you can open it on that and we can both see it more easily.”
“Smarty.”
He flashed a grin and my heart sped. Why? Why did I react like that to him? He was my brother’s friend. One of a group of them. I was basically their adopted little sister across the board. I shouldn’t be wondering what it would be like if he were to turn, take me in his arms, and kiss me.
But I was.
“Megan?”
I blinked. Uh-oh. I missed something. “Sorry. What did you say?”
He nodded toward the tablet. “Wanna see if the email came through?”
Email? Oh. Right. Preferred vendor list from the venue. Geesh. I quickly turned on the tablet and opened a browser so I could log into my email account. “Yep. Right there.”
“Great. Let’s take a look.”
I opened the email and scrolled to the attachments. “I’m guessing it’s this one, oh so cleverly labeled ‘preferred vendors.’”
“That’s the one.”
I tapped it and waited for it to load before scrolling down a bit to the actual list. “It’s nice that they include links.”
“Yeah.” Cody scooted closer and our legs touched. The heat from his body seeped into mine.
I swallowed and worked to keep my breathing steady. “Do you want to just start at the top and work our way down?”
“In a minute. Could you scroll to the ‘S’ section?”
I raised my eyebrows but did as he asked.
He pointed. “Season’s Bounty. That’s Jackson’s wife’s restaurant.”
