“Don’t forget, Annie, we’re taking you to Universal Studios tomorrow,” Carleen said.
“Thank you so much,” I said. “She’d be bored stiff with us.” The next day, Pops and Carleen were entertaining Annie while Denis and I attended the wedding of Sammie Kittenplatt to Brewster Budgeon (of the Beverly Hills Budgeons). After Sammie’s fashion career crashed and burned (which coincided with the day I became her boss), her mother underwrote her new line of evening bags (called Simply Sammie) and arranged to marry her off to a model-actor-socialite who was very much of her world. We were invited, of course, since Denis and Sammie’s mother both served on the Carleen and Tex Panthollow Fashion Museum board. Rich people are very civilized that way.
“It’s our pleasure to take her,” Pops said. “We can’t get enough of the little pipsqueak.”
“Don’t call me a pipsqueak,” Annie said.
“Pipsqueak,” he whispered, with a twinkle in his eye.
The waiter came over to take our order. Pops insisted that the Ivy had “the best fried chicken anywhere, better even than Popeyes,” so everyone followed his recommendation.
“Will you want a leg or a breast?” I asked Denis.
He leaned over to kiss me. “I’ll have both.”
I giggled. “Oh, stop!”
“Holly, is that you?” someone said.
I looked up and saw a familiar face, but I wasn’t sure.
“Suzy. Suzy Hendrix,” she said.
“Oh, my God!” I shrieked. “Give me a hug. Suzy, this is my husband, Denis King. Denis, this is Suzy Hendrix. She represented my old boyfriend in entertainment matters and when he was arrested for, well…you remember.”
“I just moved to L.A.,” Suzy said. “I’m working for CAA.”
“Do you ever see Alessandro?”
“Yes, I just negotiated his appearance this fall on The Surreal Life with Carrot Top, the Snapple lady, and Robert Blake. It’s all he’s been able to get since the ‘incident,’” she said, making air quotes. “Such a pity.”
“Life isn’t always what one wants,” I mused.
Suzy waved at her friends, who were almost at the patio door. “Well, gotta run. Great to see you, Holly. Let’s do lunch sometime.”
I fell back into my seat, my eyes wide with disbelief. “Poor Alessandro, doing reality TV was his worst nightmare. Between the two of us, I got the happy ending.”
Denis leaned over and kissed my lips. “Honey, our happiness is only just beginning.”
My cell phone vibrated and I looked to see if it was the call I had been waiting for. It was Tanya. You’d think I would have fired her after all that happened between us, but I didn’t. The woman was a master fund-raiser and we needed someone with that talent. I made her assistant director of the museum and paid her the same salary as before (as long as she met her donation quotas). Over the past year, she’d lost her superiority complex and the Anna Wintour sunglasses. It was progress.
“Holly, I think we got it,” Tanya started. “Victoria’s Secret says they’re in for eight hundred thousand.”
“Good work,” I said. “This’ll be huge. And remember what I said about selling cotton candy underwear and chocolate corsets at the museum store. People love them.”
“Got it,” Tanya said. “Gus wants to talk with you. Something about the consultant’s report.” As soon as I took over the museum, I promoted Gus to head of security. Since taking the job, he had grown younger by the day. The violations I had gotten away with—borrowing clothes, traveling with inventory—highlighted just how vulnerable our collection was. We needed to tighten our procedures so that no one could ever commit the kinds of transgressions I had, at least not under my watch.
“Tell him to send an e-mail and I’ll get back to him later.”
“What did Tanya say?” Denis asked.
“It seems she got full funding for the History of Underwear show.”
Denis cocked his head thoughtfully. “So you were smart to keep her. I admit…”
I interrupted him mid-cock. “…That you married a brilliant museum directress,” I teased.
He leaned over and gave me kiss. I just love Denis’ scent. Kind of musky but slightly sweet—it’s his deodorant, very sexy and masculine.
“You should see yourself right now,” he whispered.
“What?”
“You’ve never looked lovelier.”
As I playfully tapped the cleft in his chin, I closed my eyes and gave thanks for the blessings I’d been given, for the wringers I’d endured, and for the dreams that had come true.
The End
Did you spot the Audrey Hepburn and
Cary Grant movie references?
THERE ARE MORE THAN 125 hidden (and not so hidden) references to Audrey Hepburn and Cary Grant movies in this novel. How many did you notice? If you want to see what they are, e-mail your request to the author at [email protected] and she will be happy to send you the list.
Holly Would Dream
About This Guide
The suggested questions are intended to help your reading group find new and interesting angles and topics for your discussion of Holly Would Dream. We hope that these ideas will enrich your conversation and increase your enjoyment of the book. Many fine books from Simon & Schuster feature reading group guides. For a complete listing, or to read the guides online, visit www.BookClubReader.com.
Questions for Discussion
The novel opens with the fairy tale beginning of “Once upon a time…” How is this story a fairy tale? What Audrey Hepburn movie does this opening pay homage to?
Holly Ross is a bright, ambitious career woman who seems to have it all. What do you think the attraction was
