and Dirk’s agent.”
Judith allowed her hand to be shaken by the pair.
Morris’s grip was feeble; Eugenia practically pulled
Judith’s arm out of the socket.
“We so wanted to stay here at your charming B&B,”
Eugenia boomed in a deep voice. She seemed more
than big; she towered over Judith’s five-foot-nine and
possessed a bust that could have triumphed in a headon collision with an armored car.
“There wasn’t room, I guess,” Morris said, then
cleared his throat. “Especially since my wife unexpectedly joined me on this trip.”
Judith assumed that his wife was the pioneer in the
sunbonnet and gingham dress. “I’m sure you’re enjoying the Cascadia,” she said. “It’s the most luxurious
hotel in the city.”
“It’s fine,” Morris said offhandedly. “The truth is,
my wife’s a real homebody. I was surprised that she
wanted to come along.”
Eugenia’s dark eyes were flashing around the room.
“Excuse me,” she said, “I must speak with Dirk. I
hardly recognized him in that doublet and the hat with
those swooping feathers.” With a click of the castanets
she held in one hand, the agent stalked across the room
to reach her prey.
Judith was left with Morris, who kept darting
glances at Bruno, sitting alone and forlorn on the sofa.
Sweetums, who must have come in when the Joneses
went out, had planted his orange-and-white body at the
producer’s feet. To Judith’s surprise, Bruno patted his
lap. To her amazement, the cat leaped up and allowed
himself to be petted. Maybe even Sweetums wanted to
get into the movies.
“I should speak to Bruno,” Morris murmured, removing his matador’s cap. He was short, spare, and
balding. “I simply don’t know what to say to him. Perhaps I’ll get a drink first.”
Judith watched Morris accept a hefty martini from
Cathy. The publicist then stood off to one side by the
door to the front parlor and gulped down his drink.
Cathy removed her panda head, slipped out from behind the bar, and approached Judith.
“I’m dying of heat prostration in this stupid suit,”
she declared, and in fact, her face was dripping with
perspiration. “I knew I should never have let my
mother order my costume. I intended to come as Pandora, not a panda.”
Judith couldn’t help but smile. “That would have
been more fetching in order to attract Ben Carmody.”
Cathy shook out her long, damp blond locks. “Another idea of Mom’s! I’m not even a Ben Carmody fan.
He always plays meanies.”
“Go home,” Judith urged. “Joe and I can take care of
the bar. I don’t think this party is going to last much
