Ben whispered “Thanks” in return. He knew his uncle was a thorn in my side, but he had Ray to thank for getting him a job at Calamity Jane Realty in the first place.
“What’s the second reason for an emergency team meeting this morning?” Mona asked.
“We need to come up with a game plan on how to put points on the board with our upcoming debut and soon-to-be television hit.”
I swallowed a big sigh, not nearly as in love as my boss was with this Paranormal Realty television hoopla. There were too many “what-ifs” swirling in my brain that ended with my Executioner career becoming front-page news in the Black Hills Trailblazer.
“Violet,” Jerry said, crossing his arms. “I saw that face you made.”
Shoot. There wasn’t enough makeup in my bathroom to conceal my unhappiness with my upcoming potential exposure to fame.
“Tell me what could be so bad about becoming a household name in western South Dakota,” Jerry pressed.
Everything! But I couldn’t say that in the face of all he’d done to help grow my career. While his methods made me want to run screaming into the hills most days, they were working and had landed me far more clients than the initial postcard I’d sent out last summer with a picture of me and my kids on it. It turned out that the only people who were interested in a “family-friendly” real estate agent were serial killers and ex-sperm donors. Go figure.
“Uhhh …” I tried to come up with a reason that Jerry couldn’t write off as me just having a crappy attitude. “Well, for one, I have two children in public school. Any negative reactions to the show could cause bullying.”
“She has a point,” Mona said, her brow furrowed along with mine. “Not all of us are gangbusters to have our faces on TV.”
Jerry’s mouth twisted. “Hmm. I hadn’t thought about that possible trickle-down effect. Tell you what, Violet. If your kids start to suffer because of this, let me know and I’ll see what I can do to help.”
Short of offering to pay for my kids to go to private school in another state, I wasn’t sure what he could do about that potential problem. “And,” I continued, “there is the issue of our competitors in the region reacting negatively.”
In other words, Tiffany once again would be eager to claw my eyes out for not only luring Doc away from her—though officially, they’d broken up before I came on the scene—but also for stealing even more of her potential clients with my Dolly Parton brand. Although I was nowhere near Dolly’s level of beauty and allure, Tiffany was so blinded by professional jealousy most days that she couldn’t see beyond her own perfect little nose and perky boobs.
“Competitors be damned.” Jerry’s eyes gleamed. “This is a game Calamity Jane Realty is playing to win.” He looked at Mona and Ben. “Does anyone else have concerns they want to share?”
“I don’t like being videotaped,” Mona said, her gaze challenging him.
A smile flitted over his face. “I know, Red. We’ve had this discussion before.”
Mona’s cheeks darkened at his heated look.
I had to wonder if their previous talk about being videotaped had been in or out of the bedroom. Jerry and Mona had a past that she refused to come clean about to date. However, I hadn’t given up badgering her yet. One of these days, Mona would crack and spill all of the good, juicy history between Jerry and her. Until then, she did a top-notch job of playing the cool, uninterested old flame. At least most of the time.
“Okay!” Jerry clapped his big hands together, making me flinch. “Let’s start throwing out some ideas for the premiere party late next week and more.” He focused on me. “I’ll start—Violet’s black eye has given me a fun idea.”
Uh-oh. I tried not to let my worry leak out from behind my fake smile.
“We’ll all dress up as ghouls.” He patted Mona’s arm. “You know, like that zombie makeup job you wore into the office while you were working on that play up at the Opera House. What was it called?”
“It was a musical called Better Off Dead,” she said, not doing a good job of holding her frown inside. “Jerry, isn’t it a little late to tell all of your guests that this will be a costume party?”
“Oh, they won’t be dressing up as ghouls, only the four of us. That will allow Violet to let her bruises show. Hell, she could add some gaping wounds and wear some of those rotted teeth, too, if she wants.”
Ben shrugged. “Personally, I’m game to dress ‘dead’ for the night. I’d rather wear torn clothing than a penguin suit.”
“What do you say, Violet?” Jerry turned back to me.
I’d say that Jerry had yet again flabbergasted me with how he could spin whatever bad news I brought to the table. Seeing as I was the reason behind the birth of his ghoulish idea, I didn’t feel comfortable objecting. “Well, since this black eye won’t be going away anytime soon, I’d say I’m automatically ‘in’ on this idea.”
The waitress stopped by a short time later with our food. As I chomped on thick, crispy bacon, we all pitched in with more ideas, concerns, and a few hopes about how we could make the most of the time and energy put into the upcoming Paranormal Realty exposure.
I’d just scarfed down my last bite of eggs when the blaring sound of sirens caught my ear. I turned and tried to see out the front windows, catching a glimpse of a Deadwood police SUV zooming past. Its red and blue lights were flashing as it headed
