“You know, I think I’m going to go now,” I said. “I have a lot of work to do.”
“So you’re really going to do this to me,” he called out, as I walked away. “You’re taking the job.”
“Yep,” I said over my shoulder.
I heard him sigh. “You’re not who I thought you were, Emaline.”
Finally. Something we could agree on. “No,” I told him. “I’m not.”
And then I was walking, towards that open door that looked out on the boardwalk. It was late afternoon, still sunny, and I could see ocean. Funny how now that I knew I didn’t have to make the ideal exit, this one came damn close anyway.
20
“EMALINE? WHERE DO you want us?”
I turned, looking over at all the activity before me. Finally, I located Robin, from Roberts Family Catering, standing by the back door, a dish wrapped in foil in her arms. “You can use the kitchen as a staging area,” I told her. “What we don’t have passed we’ll put on the big table up at the front.”
“Right,” she said, gesturing to the girl behind her, who was pulling a cooler. They started across the floor, into the increasing chaos: guys from Everything Island, setting up small tables and chairs, Morris stacking beer and wine by the bar, Benji unloading flowers we’d bought at Park Mart, and Daisy arranging them in every vase I’d been able to get my hands on.
“Do we have cups?” Morris called out to me.
“Didn’t I give them to you?”
He looked around. “Ummm . . .”
“Under the main table,” Benji called out as he passed, dwarfed by a huge bundle of lilies. “They were in the way.”
Morris bent down, locating them. “Thanks, dude.”
“You’re welcome. Be right back!”
And then, he was gone again, the only one truly running, although we probably all should have been. I looked at my watch. It was two thirty, which meant I had only about two and a half hours to somehow pull all this together. The crazy thing was, after all I’d already managed to accomplish in the last few days, I was thinking I might actually do it.
It was hard to say what was the biggest surprise about working for Ivy. Not that she was a hard-ass, or a demanding, exacting perfectionist. These things I already knew. What still caught me off guard was the last thing I would have expected: it was fun.
Sure, she’d snapped at me a few times. And if you even tried to talk to her in the morning before she had any coffee, you got what you deserved. But underneath the brittle exterior, there was this crackling, tangible energy, so different from anyone I’d ever been around. I’d long watched my mother, grandmother, and even Margo as they worked, taking lessons on how to deal with problems. But Ivy was like a brand-new master class. I wasn’t going to call it the Best Job Ever. I sure did like it, though.
“Watch the ceiling!” I heard her yell now, and turned to the other side of the Pavilion, where she was overseeing the guys we’d hired to hang the canvases. This was supposed to have been done the day before, but Theo and Clyde had been so indecisive about what to include we’d ended up cutting it way close. “I said high. Not as high as it could go, just go ahead and hit the ceiling.”
There was a clunk as the painting being hoisted, one of the plant close-ups, bumped the air duct again. “Whoops,” one of the guys said.
“Whoops,” she repeated flatly. Then she looked at me. “Tell me again this is somehow not going to be a total disaster.”
“Everything’s under control,” I replied. “Maybe you should let me take over. You still have to get ready so you can be here before anyone arrives, right?”
She looked up at the painting again, then the line of them already hung. “I’m still not sure how I’m going to schmooze this party and film at the same time.”
“You’re not,” I said. “That’s why we have Esther.”
“Who is a college film student,” she reminded me. “Not exactly an award-winning cinematographer.”
“You said yourself it was mostly going to be crowd shots and candids,” I pointed out. “You already got all the pieces and the interviews. This is just bonus.”
She didn’t look convinced. However, she was also not still clenching her jaw, which was progress. “Fine. I’m going to put on a black dress and say some Hail Marys.”
“Perfect. I’ll see you back here at four thirty sharp. And don’t smoke any cigarettes. You’ll just stink and hate yourself.”
“Yes, Mom,” she groaned, starting for the door.
As she left, I looked over to see Morris, who had watched this exchange, now looking at me. “What?” I asked.
He shook his head. “Nothing.”
I felt something bump me, hard, from behind, then turned to find myself looking down at a small, flowering shrub. “Sorry,” Benji said, his voice muffled by the leaves. “I can’t really see around this.”
I took it from him, placing it on a table behind me. “Safety first. Stick to the short stuff.”
“Got it,” he said, running back outside.
I smiled, watching him, as he approached the open door. Then I saw Theo, standing just inside, scanning the room as he took in all the bustle. I took a breath, then focused on my clipboard. Still, I could feel it when he spotted me.
To say things had been awkward between us for the last few days was an understatement. Ever since our argument and ensuing breakup in this same space, whenever we were forced to interact—which, because Clyde was crucial to both of our various tasks, was pretty often—the formality was palpable. It might have been the hottest month of summer, but with us in close quarters, the temperature dropped noticeably.