Caught in the Frame (Ponderosa Pines Cozy Mystery Series Book 3) by ReGina Welling (novel24 .TXT) 📕

Chapter 5

The restaurant dining room looked entirely different in the harsh light of morning. Empty of guests—other than the three women ensconced at a table dressed with flawless white linen—the vast space echoed with quiet. Breakfast was served in another banquet room, buffet-style. As always, a team of servers and attendants milled around wherever Lila went, some more obtrusively than others.

Even Antoine, whose list of responsibilities bordered on myriad status, skulked nearby whenever he had the time. The only person in the group who dared give Lila the side-eye was the wedding planner employed by the management whom Lila had cut out of the proceedings with surgical precision. Brides often brought in outside help, but rarely planned their own nuptials. Lila’s insistence on doing so was a slap in the face.

Considering the speed with which she was putting this whole thing together, Chloe was amazed to see no trace of impatience or stress in her mother’s behavior. She simply moved from one laborious task to the next, confident in her decisions down to the most minute detail.

Who are you, and what have you done with my mother? If proximity to Javier brought out this calm and collected persona, Chloe might have to change her mind about him. Clearly, he’d found some way to soothe the beast—something no one else had ever come close to doing. Chloe considered the idea, briefly. On second thought, it can’t last. Maybe she should start up a bet with EV over how long it would take for Lila to melt down.

One of the impeccably starched and pressed waiters delivered a platter of appetizer options to the center of the table with a flourish. EV reached for a mini tart that looked like a quiche, but turned out to be filled with goat cheese and zucchini. Not exactly breakfast fare, it was, nevertheless, delicious.

“Try one of these,” she handed one to Chloe, who rolled her eyes heavenward in appreciation at the first bite.

“Yum. Mom, you have to serve these. They’re amazing.”

Lila tasted, hummed with pleasure, and made a note on the pad provided her by the chef.

Fifteen bites later, the appetizer menu expanded to include pan seared steak in lettuce cups; toasted brioche with creme fraiche and caviar; bacon-wrapped oysters; and crostini with a variety of toppings. It took another hour to sample their way through all of the entree and side options.

Some quick, albeit approximate, math told Chloe this much food would feed far more people than were expected to attend the wedding.

“Mom, the entire castle staff is going to be taking home leftovers if you order all that. How many people did you say RSVP’d?”

Lila stared blankly at Chloe for a moment before responding. “What difference does that make, Dear? We want people to have choices, don’t we? After all, our guests are coming from all over the world.” She tilted her head slightly to one side, the gesture a mimic of Chloe’s own expression. “Oh, for crying out…Antoine? Come here a moment!” The little man nearly hopped over a table in his haste to do Lila’s bidding. “Can you ensure that the leftover food from the wedding will get eaten by someone, and not thrown away?”

“Of course, Miss Lila—” He was cut short by Lila’s impatient sigh, and without another glance at the simpering man, she turned back to Chloe.

“Happy, daughter of mine?” Lila’s raised right eyebrow indicated that anything other than confirmation would not be tolerated.

“Fine, fine, do whatever you want. Your guests’ high cholesterol is all on you, though. Speaking of—when we’re done here, I’d say we’d all better hit the gym.” Chloe rubbed her stomach and stifled a yawn.

“After this, we’re going to choose place settings and party favors,” Lila reminded, exasperation filling her voice at her daughter’s obvious unfamiliarity with the itinerary she had emailed to Chloe and EV just this morning. “Cake tasting tomorrow. Ring any bells?”

“And a partridge in a pear tree…” Chloe sung under her breath, just loud enough to force a poorly-stifled giggle from EV.

* * *

After a day spent in the backwash of Lila’s wake as she barreled through her list, EV thought if she saw one more china pattern—and for the love of tiny pickles, what difference did it make if the edge pattern on one white-on-white plate was a quarter inch wider than another—she might just toss something. Maybe her cookies, or maybe the china. Or maybe Lila herself.

Several times during the day, her phone had signaled incoming texts. Each time she pulled it out to check, Lila ordered her to put it away. To keep peace, she humored the bride-to-be, but not without a silent, narrow-eyed look of protest.

Owing to a town-wide commitment to honor any and all forms of religious and secular observations, Ponderosa Pines put on a Yule celebration incorporating a diversity of symbols—without rhyme, reason, or the least nod toward political correctness. Santa and his sleigh topping the manger scene was probably the least offensive mixing of traditions, but their hearts were in the right place, and it was all meant in the spirit of love and acceptance.

Now that she finally had a minute to look, she found a series of texts from Allegra. Expecting multiple requests for putting out fires, EV was pleasantly surprised to see images and terse descriptions of everything moving along exactly as laid out in her notes. With a low whistle, she called Chloe over to check it out.

“Allegra’s got the Yule under control, take a look.”

“Is that Lottie setting up Rudolph? Check out the look on her face. She’s not happy.”

“There’s an email here from her as well,” EV grinned. “It’s a very restrained tirade. I’ve decided not to respond.” She did, however, shoot off a missive complimenting Allegra on her organizational skills. The woman had untapped depths, of that EV was now certain.

Chapter 6

Spread like a deflated balloon over a lounge chair, EV never