PREPARATIONS FOR THE party took precedence over everything.
Tyler was responsible for the lighting and he had Jess helping him, holding ladders and directing him while he twisted lights into trees and along the overhanging roof of the renovated boathouse. He turned the air blue as he fiddled with bulbs, but he arranged everything as Élise instructed.
Guests using the trails around the lake stopped to watch and offer congratulations, all caught up in the excitement of the official opening. Everyone staying at the resort was invited and Élise felt a buzz of triumph that finally her dream would become reality.
The Boathouse Café would be good for Snow Crystal. Good for business.
She hadn’t let Jackson down. She hadn’t let the O’Neils down.
The newly laid deck was now home to stylish tables and chairs and she’d added large earthenware pots crammed full of colorful blooms she’d been nurturing herself.
Tables inside had been moved together to form a buffet table while still leaving room for a small dance floor.
“It’s going to be great.” Taking a quick break with Élise, Kayla watched Tyler work. “Subtle, perfect romantic lighting. You’ve done an amazing job, Élise. You’ve thought of everything. Don’t forget to think of yourself and leave yourself time to change.”
“I have half an hour at six. It will have to be enough.” She couldn’t afford more than that. She’d spent her morning moving backward and forward between the large kitchens in the main restaurant and the Boathouse. Almost all her team were focused on preparations for the party and she was more than happy with the way things were working out. Elizabeth had been wonderful as always. “I need to ask Sean to drop those tools back to Zach. I can’t store them any longer.”
“Sean’s gone back to Boston. He left before dawn. I can ask Jackson to do it. He has to go out later, anyway.”
Sean had gone back to Boston?
He’d left?
Happiness drained out of her, leaving her feeling shockingly empty.
She didn’t know what upset her most. The fact he’d left without telling her, or the depth of her disappointment. And mingled in with those disturbing emotions was frustration that Sean had left without sorting things out with his grandfather.
Kayla glanced at her watch. “Brenna is coming to our place at six to get ready so that she doesn’t have to go back to the village. I’m going to try and persuade her to wear my red dress, otherwise she’ll turn up in the same black one she always wears when she’s forced to dress up.”
“Black is very elegant. I am wearing black.”
“Nothing wrong with black, but Tyler has seen her in that dress a hundred times and I thought I’d shake things up a bit, just to make sure he notices her. Why don’t you join us? We can all get ready together.”
They’d want to talk about Sean and she couldn’t face it.
“I can’t, but thank you. I need to be back here to supervise the last-minute preparations. The timing of the food has to be just right. We have a mixture of hot and cold appetizers and a choice of cocktails.”
She’d been planning this party for months and not once had she expected Sean to be there, so why did she suddenly feel as if the evening had lost its gloss?
She was tired, that was all. The buildup to the opening had exhausted her.
She’d be fine once it was over and running the Boathouse became part of her routine.
“The band are setting up at seven, I can deal with them. Guests arrive from seven-thirty.” Kayla frowned up at the sky. “The sky looks a bit ominous. Do you think it’s going to rain?”
“I really hope not, but if it does we’ll just have to move the whole thing indoors. We’ll be tight for space, but it will be fine.”
She tried to push Sean out of her mind, for once grateful she was busy.
* * *
BY THE TIME Élise stripped off her clothes and stepped under a cooling shower in Heron Lodge, she was wishing she could just lie down and go to bed, but she still had to supervise final preparations for the food as well as making polite conversation.
Normally, she enjoyed that part. She loved talking to guests in the restaurant, discovering their likes and dislikes and who they were.
Tonight, she wasn’t in the mood for making polite small talk.
Irritated with herself, Élise dried her hair quickly, applied her makeup and pulled on a black dress she’d bought on a trip to New York to visit Kayla. It was high at the neck and low at the back and the skirt swung to midthigh. Knowing she’d be on her feet all night and walking a lot, she slid her feet into a pair of ballet flats and pulled a single silver bangle onto her wrist.