Page 50 of Sizzling Nights

Kelsey shrugged. "Oh, my dad wanted me to come in his place. He comes to this thing every year."

"Your dad? What does your dad do for a living?"

"Oh, he runs a paper company. He sells the cardboard boxes to PCK Meatpacking, and they ship their meat out in them. This is a big deal for him. He’s known Torin Terry for years, and they’re good friends. They golf and do all sorts of things together. So, one of us had to be here, and my dad is out of town, so he needed me to come in his place."

Theresa’s mind spun. She’d never heard Kelsey talk about her family. Actually, she thought she was from out of town.

"Okay… but with me off work for a while, aren’t you filling in at the Sandbar?"

Kelsey shrugged. "Margo’s filling in tonight, and she can handle it. And with this thing going on, a lot of people wouldn’t be at the Sandbar, so they didn’t expect a big crowd, even though it’s Saturday night."

Theresa swallowed. None of this seemed right.Then Kelsey spun around quickly.The drink in her hand went flying, splashing all over Theresa.

Theresa gasped. "Oh my God!"

Kelsey responded, "Oh! I’m so sorry! I’m so sorry!" Kelsey’s voice was high-pitched and panicked. "Here, let me help you, oh my God, let’s run to the bathroom, I can find some napkins to sop this up. I am so, so, so, so sorry!"

Theresa shook her head. "No, that’s okay. I don’t need to go to the bathroom."

She rushed over to the bar and asked for some napkins. The bartender handed her three cloth napkins, and she began dabbing the front of her dress, trying to soak up the mess and not pull a camera or microphone from its seated spot.

"Theresa, please," Kelsey pleaded. "Let’s go to the bathroom so I can wash some of this off. It’s going to stain your dress, it’s very beautiful, by the way." She took a breath. "I thought you were on personal leave for some reason?"

Theresa paused. She hadn't thought about an alibi if someone asked her what she was doing here. She certainly never expected to see Kelsey or anyone she knew.

"I am on personal leave, but this was an event I had to attend. But why are you here? This is all big-money people."

"I told you, my dad asked me to come. Why are you here?"

Theresa sighed."It was just something I had to do for a friend."

"What friend? What friend do you have that would have this kind of money?"

Theresa blew out a breath, exasperated. Usually, she was quicker at thinking on her feet. She told white lies all the time when she was in reporter mode. But this? It caught her off guard.

"Well, to be honest, I’m not sure that’s any of your business Kelsey. And I’m not sure why you’re asking me so many questions."

"I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to seem nosy or anything. I was just surprised to see you here."

"I’m surprised to see you as well."

Kelsey sighed. "Anyway, let’s go. Let’s get to the bathroom so I can help you wipe this up."

Theresa's exasperation came out in a huff."I don’t need help wiping this up. It’s fine. As soon as I get home, I’ll send my dress off to the dry cleaners. It’ll be fine."

Suddenly, Mitch appeared from nowhere."Hello there, Theresa. Do you need some help?"

She spun around, startled. Then she realized Gabby had probably told him she was being grilled.

"Mitch, thanks. Oh, Kelsey accidentally spilled a drink on my dress. We’re just trying to sop it up."

Kelsey shook her head. "I told her we needed to go to the bathroom to put some water on the stains, but she won’t come."

Mitch shook his head. "That’s okay. My housekeeper can help you get any stains out, if need be, and the dry cleaners will do a perfect job with it."

Kelsey huffed slightly. "I was just trying to help."

Mitch dismissed her quickly. "Yes, I can see the kind of help you were trying to offer. Theresa, how about we step into the hallway and finish mopping up this mess, so we’re not in the main ballroom?"

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