A Fool's Gold Christmas (Fool's Gold #9.5)(27)

She glanced at the script, all the while trying to imagine sharing dinner with the smooth-talking stranger. But instead of enjoying the visual, her brain replaced Gideon with Dante and then got all quivery. So much for the magic voice working on her sexually. Apparently she simply enjoyed it the way she enjoyed good music or latte. At least now she didn’t have to find out if he was single.

She smiled at him. “There are too many distractions for me to read this now. Can I get back to you?”

“Sure.” He glanced around. “You’ve got quite the party here.”

“I know. Patience and Charlie put out word that I needed help and look what happened.” She lowered her voice. “I’m not from here, so it’s kind of a surprise.”

“I know what you mean. I’ve only been in town for about two months and it’s not like anywhere else I’ve lived.”

“Big-city guy?” she asked.

He shrugged. “That works as well as any other description. I’m retired military, so I’ve been all over the world.”

“How did you find Fool’s Gold?”

“A buddy told me about it. I came for a weekend and ended up buying the radio stations.”

Melissa hurried over. “We’re putting on the glitter. Can you come tell us if it’s okay?”

“Sure.” Evie smiled at Gideon. “Nice to finally meet you.”

“You, too.”

She followed Melissa over to one of the sets. When she turned back, Gideon was gone.

Work continued. Just before ten, Morgan, the owner of Morgan’s Books and the man who played the famous Winter King, showed up with coffee and cupcakes for everyone. Evie introduced herself to the older man.

“I like what you’re doing,” he told her, his brown eyes kind as he spoke. “A few of the girls have stopped by to tell me about the changes you’re making in the show. They’re very excited.”

“I hope everyone enjoys the performance.”

“They will.” He nodded toward the throne. “The fur is a nice touch.”

“Fur?” She followed his gaze and saw her brothers had attached faux snow-leopard fur trim to the throne. “Excuse me,” she said to Morgan, then hurried the length of the hall.

“Fur?” she demanded when she reached the throne. “Are you serious?”

“Annabelle thought it would look nice,” Shane said, his tone warning. “She gave it to me and I put it on.”

“Fine.” Evie liked her sister-in-law to-be and wasn’t about to take on Shane over fur. “Any other surprises?”

“If we told you, they wouldn’t be surprises,” Clay said.

“Great.”

Patience appeared at her side, clipboard in hand. “We’re making great progress. With everyone drinking coffee and eating cupcakes, we should get a nice rush in productivity and have all the work done in another hour or so.”

This time yesterday Evie would have said there was no way the sets could be spruced up in less than four hours. But now, surrounded by thirty or forty people digging in and getting it done, she realized it was more than possible.

“Thank you,” Evie told her. “This wouldn’t have happened without you and Charlie helping me.”

“You’re wonderful with Lillie, so I figure we’re even. Oh, I forgot to tell you, we’re all confirmed for the costumes and the makeup and hair. You know that’s all provided, right? We have a fitting and make sure the girls are set with the clothes, then talk about hair and makeup.”

The throat tightness was back again as she remembered the feuding stylist sisters story. “Let me guess. A couple of the local salons team up to take care of hair and makeup?”

“Exactly.”

“Is this place even real?”

“Of course it is. I know it seems like we’re really nice, but the truth is we’re pretty nosy, and getting involved means we get the good gossip first.”

Evie laughed. “I think the motivations are more altruistic than that.”

“Which means we have you fooled.” Patience started to say something else, but despite her open mouth, she was silent.

“What?” Evie asked, turning to follow her gaze. All she saw was some older woman with white hair walking into the warehouse. “You know her?”

“That’s Mayor Marsha,” Patience said, her voice hushed.

“Okay. Is it bad she’s here?”

“No. She always comes to things like this. It’s just…” Patience pointed. “Look.”

Evie did and saw nothing out of the ordinary. “You’ve got to give me a clue.”

“Look at what she’s wearing!”

“Jeans and a cardigan over a turtleneck?”

“She’s in pants.”

“Uh-huh. You know women have been wearing pants out in public for maybe a hundred years.”

“Not Mayor Marsha. She always wears a suit with a skirt. OMG.”

Evie started to laugh. “You did not just say OMG.”

“It’s Mayor Marsha in jeans. It’s an OMG moment. I have to go call my mom. She’ll die when I tell her.”

Patience pulled her cell phone out of her jacket pocket and pushed a button. Evie shook her head and walked back toward the people working.