Page 33 of The Main Event

“Oh, get with the 2020s, Mom,” Betsy drawled. “Barbie can be different things to different people.” She looked to me for confirmation. “Tell her.”

Oh, crap. This was the last position I wanted to be in. “Barbie can be for anybody,” I said perfunctorily.

“But a feminist? How do you even know what that word means?” Caroline asked. “You’d better never let your grandmother hear that word come out of your mouth. She’ll have a stroke.”

Betsy rolled her eyes. “Can you believe what I have to put up with?” she asked me.

“You don’t like feminists, right?” Caroline pressed, clearly talking to me. “I mean … they’re freaky.”

I couldn’t lie to the woman. Not about something like this. “Actually, feminist is my second favorite F-word,” I replied without thinking.

Jax, who I had been spending as little time as possible with, stopped walking behind the mother-and-daughter team and gave me a long look.

“It’s her party,” Caroline said finally. “If she wants a Barbie party … at sixteen …who am I to judge?”

Her tone told me she was judging plenty. “Do you want the bronze, silver, gold, or platinum package?” I asked, hoping to move things along.

Jax had done whatever business he was doing behind the bar and was moving toward my table. Great. If he sat down next to me, I was afraid my loins were going to catch fire. There was something about the man that made me feel tingly in all the wrong places. Or maybe they were the right places. He just wasn’t the right man.

No, he definitely wasn’t the right man.

“What’s the difference?” Caroline asked. “Other than price I mean.”

“Well, the amount of staff is different,” I replied. “Here’s a price sheet.” I slid it in front of her and did my best to appear friendly when Jax sat down at the table with us without invitation.

Caroline didn’t seem as interested in the price sheet once Jax sat down. “Hello.” She practically purred the single word.

“Hello.” Jax’s smile was amiable. “I’m Jax Hunter. I’m the owner of the Hunter Hotel.”

“Oh, you’re the grandson,” Caroline said. “I read the news story about you inheriting the hotel. They’re saying you’re going to do some renovations.”

“That’s the plan,” Jax confirmed. “It will be an ongoing process. For your purposes, however, the ballroom has already been renovated.”

“Oh, I’m aware.” Caroline couldn’t stop batting her eyelashes at Jax, which had my eyes internally rolling. “Which package do you think we should get?” She tapped the price sheet to get Jax to look.

“Oh, well, I actually don’t know.” Jax came across as charming when he wasn’t even trying. “Honestly, I’m not all thatup on the party planning aspects of the business. That’s why I sat down. I want to learn more about it. Daisy here is our expert.”

“And what do you think?” Caroline was a lot less warm with me when she pointed her gaze in my direction.

“I think that Betsy comes from a smaller school, and between friends and parents we’re talking about two hundred people,” I replied. “I don’t see where the platinum plan will help her all that much. I would pick between the silver and gold.”

“Will you be around at the party?” Caroline asked Jax.

He looked caught off guard. “Oh, well… I think that’s a definite possibility.”

“Then the gold sounds good to me.” Caroline was beaming when she turned to me yet again.

“We can definitely make that work,” I said. “The party is two months from now. I’m going to put together a checklist and have you decide on a couple things. We’re talking napkins, table settings, balloons, and the like. Once we do that, we will ask for a deposit.”

“Betsy’s father will be paying the deposit,” Caroline supplied. “He said it was the least he and his new wife, Little Miss Double Ds, could do since they only see Betsy once a month.”

I pressed my lips together and flicked my eyes to Jax to see how he felt about the situation. He didn’t say anything, though. Again, this was my domain. “That’s fine,” I said. “I’ll need your contact information as well as his. Before we can move forward, if he’s the one footing the bill, he’ll need to sign a contract. I can have it sent over to him via email.”

“Whatever.” Caroline waved her hand. “He’ll pay it. He likes to pretend he’s involved in Betsy’s life, and the only way he knows to follow through is by throwing money at a problem.”

When I glanced at Betsy, I found the girl looking sad and downtrodden. I couldn’t help feeling sorry for her. “We’ll figureout the logistics,” I said. “It will be a great Barbie party. We’ll make sure that Betsy has everything she could possibly want.”

Betsy sent me a grateful smile. “Can we do something with the Kens, too?” she asked. “You know, for the boys.”

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