Page 31 of Trouble Walked In

“Trust me, I’m not either.” Lizzie let the door shut behind them and followed her sister down the hall.

Della caught up to Mark and Carter halfway to the kitchen. She hooked arms with them, and her usual bounce returned in full force, a blatant attempt to get into character before she faced Renic. “Hanging lights is a lot better than scrubbing toilets.”

Mark’s shoulders stiffened, but Carter’s chest puffed up. Carter seemed to enjoy Della’s company, while Mark always acted slightly irritated by her. He was slow to warm up, but intensely loyal once he did.

Della glanced back over her shoulder at Lizzie. “Are we doing more tomorrow? I think they’d look fantastic on the path to Lookout Point.”

Lizzie smiled. “Maybe. Not sure we have enough left. Even if we do, tomorrow is the day we spruce.”

“Spruce? Is that some kind of air freshener?” Della asked. She glanced at Lizzie for confirmation.

Carter shook his head. “She means clean. The day before the day before is always a cleaning day.”

Lizzie nodded. “Top to bottom. Every nook and cranny and toilet.”

Della groaned. “I just did that. I’ve scrubbed so many toilets my nose turned brown.”

Lizzie waved her objection away. “You did the teardown clean. Now it’s the spruce-up clean. After that, it’s the final makeready. A full day of decorating and polishing and perfecting. Setting up the chairs and the bar, getting the buffet ready. It has to be perfect.”

“You’re not serious.” Della gaped at her, then at Mark and Carter. “She’s not serious.”

Mark barked a laugh. “She’s deadly serious. Wait until she calls for battle stations. You’ll wish you were scrubbing toilets, princess.”

Lizzie beamed at her sister’s incredulous face. “We’ll go over all that later. Go on. Dinner’s ready.”

The three younger people continued while Lizzie paused to text Jordanna.Dinner’s ready. Come on over.

A second later, Jordanna replied.Gonna b late. Client crisis.

“Worse than this one?” Lizzie put her phone away and followed the others to the kitchen.

“Renic,” Carrie said. “Meet my nephew Mark Tetrick, and his younger brother, Carter. Boys, this is Jackson Renic. He’s the one producing Della’s new album.”

Lizzie stopped at the door. Renic had come to dinner. She’d meant to tell him to get his own food, but now she couldn’t remember if she’d actually said those words out loud.

“Nice to meet you,” Renic said. “Hello, Della. Good to see you.”

“Hey, Renic.” Della raised her eyebrows at Lizzie. “Lizzie said you were staying but she didn’t tell me you were coming to dinner.”

Lizzie shot Renic a dirty look. “There was no need since he wasn’t invited.”

“There’s the Southern hospitality I’ve been waiting for.” Renic teased.

Carrie patted Lizzie on the shoulder and gave her a disapproving look. “I invited him. It’s my kitchen, and I feed anybody who’s hungry. That okay with you?”

“Of course,” Lizzie said through gritted teeth. She leaned close to her sister’s ear and whispered, “Don’t sit near him.”

“Wasn’t planning on it,” Della whispered back.

Carter stepped in between Renic and Lizzie. He stared theolder man down with territorial passion. “You want me to get him out of here, Lizzie?”

Carrie hit his shoulder. “Don’t be rude. Wash up and then get the salad out of the fridge. Mark, you get the wine.”

Lizzie stared at Renic. Words tumbled through her brain but refused to come out of her mouth. He was invading family dinner night. He didn’t belong here. He wasn’t family. He was never going tobefamily. She was about to tell him exactly that when Carrie waved to get her attention.

“Lizzie? Can you get the plates, please?” Carrie flashed her a knowing look. “Della, grab the silverware.”

They all busied themselves with the tasks Carrie had given them, except for Renic, who sat on his stool like a smug, self-satisfied toad. Lizzie plopped a plate down in front of him a little too hard, then had to suppress the flash of guilt she felt at mistreating Carrie’s dinnerware.

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