Total pages in book: 35
Estimated words: 33542 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 168(@200wpm)___ 134(@250wpm)___ 112(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 33542 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 168(@200wpm)___ 134(@250wpm)___ 112(@300wpm)
Kissing me on the nose, Lucas pushed off me and reached for my hand, pulling me up. “I need to get cleaned up. I have a meeting this morning.”
My mouth fell open. “You’re going to be late!”
“Knowing I’ll have the taste of you still on my tongue during the meeting will make it worth it.”
Laughing, I shook my head as I watched him clean himself off and then hand me a warm washcloth to do the same.
“No coffee then?”
“Nope, already drank a cup. Listen, I need to go. Dinner at your folks tonight?”
Groaning, I nodded. “Yes. Do you need to meet there, or can we drive together?”
“I’ll be home earlier. You?” he asked.
“I’ve got three meetings today with clients, but I’ll be finished up around one.”
He pulled me to him and kissed me. Lord, the man could kiss me senseless.
“I love you. See you later.”
As I attempted to remember how to think clearly after that kiss, I replied, “I love you too. See ya.”
Seeing as I was going to be late myself, I quickly got dressed, fixed my hair, and made a cup of coffee to go.
“I need this Christmas party to be the talk of the town,” Susan Althorp stated as we walked around the large event center she had rented.
I smiled and pulled out my notebook, where I kept all my notes for each client. “As per our previous conversations, the event is to raise money for the Boston Children’s Hospital, and you wanted it to be a fun, light-hearted event. I went ahead and drew up some sketches of the table design you approved, but I’d like for you to get a feel for what they’ll look like so if you want anything changed, we can do that ASAP.”
Susan grinned, took the drawing from me, and then gasped. “Oh, Hollie, you really are so very talented. I’ve never had an event planner give me anything like this before.”
I couldn’t help but feel a sense of pride as she stared down at the colored drawing.
“Thank you for your kind words. As you can see, I’ve kept it fun, with a few touches of glamor in there as well. The LED balloons are a simple touch, yet they give the room a more luminous feel. At the entrance of the room, tall Christmas tree balloons will greet your guests before they walk into a beautiful sea of reds, whites, and greens. Each table will have these handmade snowmen on them. Each hat will have the table number on it and will also serve as a candy cane holder. The plates will be made to look like snowmen, using a smaller salad plate as the head and the dinner plate as the body. Raisins for the eyes and buttons, and a small, felt carrot for the nose. The napkins will be folded like the top of the hat, with the knife being the rim. The fork and spoon are the arms.”
Sharon slowly shook her head. “That is the cutest thing I’ve ever seen.”
“You mentioned you love the grab-and-go charcuterie jars that I used at another party.”
“Yes! I love that idea.”
“So, I think we can do small little jars and fill them with a bit of fruit, nuts, a long pretzel with deli meat, and top it with a cheese wedge.”
“Love it!”
“The dessert bar will feature the large snowman cake sitting on a red sleigh. I was thinking some lighted trees, white and red, scattered throughout the desserts. All the plates will be white to showcase the colors of the desserts. I’d really like to use the cake as well as the desserts as a decoration focus.”
She nodded. “I love it!”
“The tables will all have white tablecloths and black napkins—which, again, are the hats for the snowmen. The dessert table will have red napkins as you requested.”
“Hollie, you are amazing. This is going to be the best charity dinner I’ve ever thrown!”
“Any changes?”
“No!” she gasped. “Do not change a thing!”
Laughing, I put my notebook back in my bag. “In that case, I will head on out to my next appointment. If you change your mind on anything or want to add something, please let me know as soon as possible. I’ll be there the morning of set-up, and you’ll have my cell phone if you need anything.”
Susan gave me a hug and stepped back. “Thank you again, Hollie. I couldn’t have done this without you.”
“It was my pleasure, Susan. Talk soon!”
I quickly called and checked my voice messages, then slipped into my car and headed to my next appointment. A front was moving in, and they were talking about a pretty good chance of snow, so I wanted to get everything taken care of before it started coming down.
“It would be a pity if I had to miss dinner at my folks tonight because of a storm!” I said to myself.