“It’s Saralisa, and my surname is Baldwin-Forlani.Theymade me drop the Forlani, but I think it’s time I dropped the Baldwin instead.”
Brooke held up her hand for a high five. “Go you.”
“So, if you’re taking up dancing again, does that mean you’ll join the burlesque workshop?” Addy wanted to know. “Brie will be out of town, Darla’s a no, and we need to have at least six people.”
“Why not?” Time to live dangerously.
“Darla did offer to help with the outfits,” Paulo said. “I’m going to have sequins everywhere.”
“Everywhere?” Blue snorted. “Sounds painful. I’ll stick with sportswear.”
“Party pooper.”
“Have you thought any more about work?” Brie asked. “There’s definitely going to be a gap in the market for an event coordinator around here soon. Your cousins are messing up every job they work on.”
“Where did you hear that?”
I’d barely spoken with the Baldwins in a month. Parker checked in every couple of days, but the twins were avoiding me and EJ had just made a sarcastic comment about me treating The Lookout like a hotel.
“From Nico. He hears things. They organised a party in Coquille last week, and the host’s wife went into anaphylactic shock because they didn’t take her peanut allergy seriously.”
The smugness I’d been feeling vanished, replaced by horror. “Was she okay?”
“Luckily, she had an EpiPen. Nico says LKB will probably get sued, so it’s a good thing you’re out of there, but if you’re thinking of getting back into events, then I’d like to hire you.”
“You’dlike to hire me?”
“Just for a small thing—Kiki’s birthday party. It’s four months away, but I want to make it special.”
“Uh, sure. Sure, I’d love to help. Do you have any ideas for a theme?”
“This month, she loves cats and ice skating. We’re hoping the new house will be finished by then, so maybe we could do something in the grounds? That would be easier from a security perspective.”
“Depending on your budget, a synthetic skating rink might be possible? With, uh, cat costumes?”
Brie laughed. “Why don’t we catch up over coffee during the week?”
“I’d love to.”
Paulo clapped his hands together. “Isn’t this fabulous? We should drink to Sara’s new events company. What are you going to call it?”
“I’m not—”
“What about Aardvark Events? That way, you’ll always be at the top of the listing.”
Blue shook her head. “That’s dumb.”
“Okay, fine, let’s go hipster. Avocado Events.”
“Honestly, I’m still not sure I’ll be starting a full-fledged events company myself. Garrett…Garrett offered to find me a job. Not necessarily one that I’ll love, but one that would pay enough for me to claim my inheritance by the deadline.”
Brooke held up her glass in a toast. “That’s awesome! To Sara’s new job and sticking it to the Baldwins.”
“I haven’t decided if I’ll take it yet.”
“Why wouldn’t you?”
“Because I’d be tying my entire life to his, and…and if our relationship doesn’t work out, I’d lose everything again.”