Regina spotted Dani and waved her over. “Are you all ready to go?”
“Yes.” Dani nodded, then added, “As I mentioned, my servers aren’t old enough to handle liquor. But as per your request, I made two hundred lime, coconut, and rum Jell-O shots this morning. If you’ll come with me, I’d like to deliver them to you. And we’ll need a witness.”
Yesterday, when Regina had stopped by Dani’s house to add the shots to the catering contract, Dani had checked her identification. Once she’d been assured that the girl was twenty-one, Dani had outlined her conditions for making the drinks, which would ensure that she would not be held responsible if underage kids happened to get ahold of some of them.
“Fine.” Regina tossed her long, blond hair and trailed Dani through the kitchen, where she ordered Mrs. Carnet to follow them. The three women marched out the door to where the Chef-to-Go van was parked.
After placing four insulated chests containing ice and fifty shots each on a wheeled cart, Dani handed Regina an agreement stating that the client would assume responsibility and serve the drinks only to guests over twenty-one.
Regina scribbled her name, thrust the sheet of paper at Mrs. Carnet to add her signature as a witness, then tossed it at Dani, who carefully attached the rider to the original contract. As Dani locked the file in the glove compartment, Regina instructed Mrs. Carnet to take the boxes into the pool house and store them in that refrigerator.
Once the housekeeper had hurried away, Regina walked with Dani into the kitchen and, after looking at the wall clock, said, “The bartenders should be here any second. Mrs. C will take care of them. I’m heading upstairs to change. When my guests begin showing up, I expect you and your crew all to be out there serving the appetizers.”
“Certainly.” Dani turned to Ivy, Starr, and Tippi. “Okay, girls. Let’s get ready for battle.”
At first, people drifted in twos and threes, each selecting a lei from a table strategically stationed near the backyard’s gated entrance. But soon, larger and larger groups arrived and the flowered garlands began to be tossed out into the crowd like beads at Mardi Gras.
By the time the appetizers of grilled sweet potato fingers with curry dip, mini Polynesian chicken salad sandwiches, and shrimp-and-coconut nachos were eaten, and Dani opened the buffet, the place was full of people. Dani sent Ivy, Tippi, and Starr to change out of their work clothes and prepared to handle the hungry hoards by herself.
Between the conversations and the Hawaiian music, the noise level was earsplitting. Dani had asked Regina if there would be any problems with the neighbors and Regina had said that most of the owners of the houses nearest to the Bournes were away on vacation. Dani had briefly wondered if Regina chose the SummerPalooza date because of their absence, or if the neighbors booked their trips in anticipation of her party.
As the first few waves of people hit the buffet line, Dani kept a close eye on the food. She saw that the side dishes and the sweet-and-sour pork were holding up well, but the barbecued steak was disappearing much faster than she’d estimated. Good thing she had another fifty rib eyes marinating inside.
Dani hurried into the kitchen to grab the plastic bins of meat from the refrigerator. After putting the steaks on the nearby grills, she returned to her spot behind the buffet.
It seemed as if most of the party’s attendees were more acquaintances of Regina than real friends. However, every single guest approached Regina to pay their respects. It was almost like a scene from a Godfather movie. The young men and women did everything but kiss the large engagement ring on their hostess’s left hand.
When the feeding frenzy finally died down, Dani had a chance to study the guests, recognizing a few of her lunch-to-go regulars. Some attendees looked as if they weren’t sure if they were thrilled or scared out of their mind to be there.
One of Dani’s customers, a muscular young man who had informed her he was the star pitcher on the college’s baseball team, had his arm around a cute brunette wearing a bright-pink bikini top. He shouted over the music to a guy busy pawing his own date, “Damn straight, I’m good in bed.”
His buddy snorted and roared, “Yeah. You can stay there all day.”
The girls both giggled and Dani turned her attention to Regina’s inner circle. For the past week, Ivy had been chattering about them, and Dani was curious to see them for herself.
Regina’s clique had claimed the table nearest the buffet and thanks to Ivy’s briefing, Dani could identify them all. The young man Dani understood to be Regina’s fiancé, Laz Hunter, was tall, dark, and drunk. He’d turned his handsome nose up at Dani’s carefully prepared cuisine and had been silently pounding Jell-O shots since he sat down.
Bliss Armstrong, a tiny redhead with a dusting of cute freckles across her nose, was Regina’s BFF. She picked at her food and seemed bored. Bliss’s boyfriend, Vance King, was one of NU’s starting football players. According to Ivy, rumor had it that he was hoping to make the NFL draft but probably wasn’t quite good enough. Although Vance had filled his plate three times, he was also knocking back bottles of beer as if he owned stock in Anheuser-Busch.
Dani wrinkled her brow as she observed Vance’s repeated attempts to pull Regina away from the group. Granted, the girl was beyond beautiful and only wearing a coconut shell bra and bikini bottom covered by a short grass skirt, but had Dani misunderstood Ivy as to
