A Nantucket Affair (Nantucket Beach Plum Cove #4)(32)

“Who went?”

“What do you mean?”

“Who went to Brandi’s? Was it the whole committee?”

“No, not the whole committee.” He shifted and reached in the refrigerator for a bottled water. He was evading her question and it was starting to seriously annoy her.

“Who else went besides you and Brandi?” she asked slowly.

There was a long silence. “No one. It was just us.”

“Okay. Why didn’t the others go?”

“Well, everything was covered in the last meeting, except for the project we’re working on. We needed to go over the catering and target list of people to invite.”

Sue raised her eyebrows. “The others didn’t need to be involved with that?”

“They were initially. This was just a fine-tuning and adjusting what we’d already decided on. I think Brandi was just excited to show off her new place. It is very nice.”

“Except for the plumbing issue.”

“Well, yeah. It was a good thing I was there, actually, as she didn’t know how to turn off the water after the toilet overflowed. I found the shutoff valve and tried to fix it, but it was beyond me, so she called a plumber. And then I realized the time and raced out of there.”

“Right. Well, you’d better jump in the shower, and get cleaned up.”





Curt came back downstairs twenty minutes later, dressed in the navy v-neck sweater she’d given him for Christmas with a white t-shirt underneath, his good jeans, and with only slightly damp hair. He was all smiles.

“So, what are we having?”

“What do you think?” As if she ever made anything else.

“Oh, right. Your salmon is great.” He fished a wine opener out of a drawer and opened a cupboard to get a wine glass. “Are you ready for a glass?”

Yes, she was most definitely ready. “Sure. Open the pinot noir, that should go well with the fish.”

Curt looked through their wine rack until he found the one he was looking for, opened the bottle and poured for both of them. Sue reached for one of the glasses and took a sip. It was a good wine, smooth and fruity and not too light like some pinot noirs tended to be.

Two minutes later there was a knock on the door. It was six sharp and Lisa and Rhett were right on time. She welcomed them in and poured a glass of wine for Lisa and an IPA beer for Rhett. Sue set out a dish with a circle of goat cheese in the middle, smothered with olive oil and fresh herbs.

“Oh, that looks good. Did you make it?” Lisa asked.

Sue laughed at the thought. “No, it came this way at the market.” She opened a box of crackers and added them to the plate. Lisa spread a little on a cracker and took a taste.

“That’s delicious. Rhett, try one of these.” She made him a cracker and he gave it a thumbs up and went back for another.

“Oh, tell me how you do your salmon. I keep meaning to try it myself.”

Sue squeezed a lemon over the salmon and added half a stick of butter to the pan, turned the heat on low and covered it.

“That’s it. Just lemon, butter and salmon. Cook on low for about twenty minutes and flip it halfway. Even I can’t screw it up.” She smiled and reached for a cracker to try the cheese.

A half hour later, they sat down to dinner. The salmon, as usual, was perfect. They all chatted easily as they ate.

“Sue tells me you guys are really busy,” Lisa commented to Curt. He lit up at the question.

“We are. Everyone is doing a great job. Brandi has been especially impressive. She keeps landing new business for us. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“She really has done a great job,” Sue agreed as she reached for more asparagus.

“And wait until you see what she has planned for A Nantucket Affair. It’s going to be the best year yet.”

“She’s on the committee with Curt,” Sue explained.

“Oh, right. That’s coming up in a few months,” Lisa said.

“It will be here before we know it. We still have a lot to do, but Brandi is so organized that it’s all going really smoothly.”

“She really sounds like something,” Rhett said.

“Oh, she is. We’re lucky to have her,” Curt gushed. Sue felt a rush of annoyance. Enough already about Brandi.

“So, on a different note, guess what I splurged on this week? It should be arriving in a few days.” Curt looked around the table, excited to share his news. Sue hadn’t a clue what he was talking about.

“What did you get?” She asked.

“Well, you know how I’ve been talking about getting a new car?” Curt had a perfectly good Honda CRX—a practical, small SUV. It was close to ten years old, but it didn’t have too many miles on it and ran perfectly.

“No, I don’t remember you mentioning wanting a new car, actually.”

“Maybe I mentioned to someone in the office, then.” Brandi, no doubt. “Anyway, I got a sweet deal and a candy apple red Mercedes convertible will soon be mine.”

Sue almost dropped her fork. Curt had never been into cars, especially not showy ones.

Rhett whistled. “That sounds like a beauty.” Sue knew that Rhett appreciated a nice car. He had a vintage Jaguar that he’d brought to the island for Daffodil Day, when he’d first arrived on the island. But a Mercedes! What was Curt thinking?