Chapter Nineteen #2
Walking through the doorway, Rachel was surprised at how different White Hall Estate felt.
Granted, there were now towering flower arrangements in the foyer, and music coming from the ballroom, but it was more than that.
Watching guests milling around and the wait staff circulating, she was amazed at the change in the energy. It felt alive.
Walking through the foyer, they stopped to accept a glass of champagne from a server. Once he moved off, she reminded her sister, “Cal said a drink and some appetizers are fine; he’ll adjust on his end. But we’ll have dinner with him.”
Trace came scuttling out of the ballroom and was soon engaged in an intense discussion with a person from the catering company. Rachel hadn’t realized she was staring, until Jess said, “Wow. Who is that having the hissy fit?”
Rachel bit back a laugh. Trace was tossing her hands around an awful lot. “That’s Trace, the event planner I’ve told you about.”
Just then, Trace planted her hands on her hips, and said rather loudly, “I’m not the one who has to fix it.” Spinning on her heel, she stormed away.
“Yeah,” Jess drawled. “She shouldn’t be working events.”
After all of her interactions with Trace, Rachel to concur, but it seemed a little quick to judge. “What makes you say that?” she asked. “I mean, besides the issues I told you about.”
“Well, there are those, and they weren’t insignificant.”
Rachel agreed. Jess wasn’t wrong. But was there something else that Jess was seeing? “That the only reason?”
“No,” Jess responded slowly, her head tilted thoughtfully.
“Perhaps she’s having an off evening, and she’d not normally this frazzled,” she continued.
“But events are, by their very nature, stressful. No matter how meticulous the planning and preparation, things will go sideways. It’s about adjusting and pivoting to fix problems. And it’s all on you, so if something goes wrong, it’s a very public mistake.
Even if it’s the fault of someone else in the chain, the buck stops with you in that moment.
“From what you’ve told me, she just doesn’t seem to have the temperament for it.
I’m not saying you can’t be agitated and get angry.
That happens. You just need to handle high stress times without losing your cool with staff, vendors, or clients.
All eyes are on you, and that’s not the time to let emotions take charge. ”
“That makes sense,” Rachel said, moving into the ballroom.
Jess sipped her champagne before she added. “When I first moved back, I didn’t even apply to any event positions. I wasn’t in the right frame of mind to handle that much pressure alone.”
Rachel hid her shock as guilt twisted her stomach. Her sister normally didn’t talk about her time with Chris, or the fallout from leaving. To avoid making an issue out of it, she just said, “Smart.”
But Jess’ words kicked off a flood of memories. Following the death of her parents, Rachel struggled, cried, and grieved alone. She was crushed by the weight of everything. The joint wake and funeral. The police and the investigation. The endless court days and meetings with lawyers. All alone.
She certainly hadn’t been in the right headspace to cope with the weight of it by herself.
Rachel gulped the last of her champagne, surveying the ballroom. “You’re lucky you had that option,” she said, her tone frosty.
She hadn’t meant to say anything, but found herself unable to stop once she started. “There’s nothing worse than facing a mountain of pressure alone.”
Jess scowled. “Rachel…”
Not letting her sister finish, Rachel turned to an approaching server. As she placed her glass on his tray, she noticed her hand trembling. Why her emotional roller coaster chose now to hit another corkscrew was beyond her. Obviously, she had some feelings to work through, but now was not the time.
Grabbing a full glass, she drew a steadying breath before turning to Jess.
“Rachel…” Jess started again.
“No,” Rachel waved her sister off. “Don’t mind me. Let’s focus on having a nice evening and checking out the rest of the venue.”
Jess appeared to be about to argue, but Rachel started moving through the crowd back toward the foyer.
Just before leaving the ballroom, they stopped to sample a passed appetizer of goat cheese stuffed dates. Rachel groaned when she bit into it, making Jess laugh.
Rachel chuckled in response. She couldn’t help herself.
It was seriously good. If it was wrong for food to soothe her frazzled soul, she refused to be right.
Rachel turned back to the server and grabbed two more from the tray.
When she handed one to Jess, the two shared a big smile.
Sometimes excellent food was the answer.
Jess said, “Yeah, that’s good. Amazing even. A little sticky, but worth it for that flavor explosion.
“If Cal wants that five-year plan he created to actually succeed, he needs to seriously look at his event planner position,” Jess continued.
“The distillery is great, but in addition to distillery specific events he wants to expand the type of events held at this venue. His plan is aggressive, but doable from an event standpoint provided he has a good team.”
“What?” she asked as she examined Rachel’s face.
“What?” Rachel repeated, her voice pitched a little too high. At her sister’s continued glare, Rachel shrugged her shoulder. “It’s nothing.”
“Save us both the time and just spit it out,” Jess huffed. “What aren’t you saying?”
Sighing, she complied. “Cal still doesn’t know I took his plan.”
“What? Why not?”
“I meant to tell him right away, and had a chance last night, but then I didn’t and now… now I missed the moment.”
“Well, that’s just dumb,” Jess stated.
“Not my best work, I’ll give you that.” Rachel agreed.
“I’m just so embarrassed at this point and afraid of what he’ll think.
” Shaking her head, she tried to steer the conversation to other things.
“I thought his proposal for the distillery was aggressive as well. Although,” she paused.
“I did some research into the industry and his numbers and projections look solid.”
“That’s good. So maybe it’s the most effective way to save this place,” Jess replied as they walked out into the foyer.
Rachel frowned at Jess’ comment. A server interrupted her thoughts. “Meatball parm skewer?” Rotating his tray, he showed a row of delicate puff squares, “And these are beef wellington bites.” Rachel snagged one of each, leaning back so Jess could grab samples.
Rachel took a bite of the beef wellington, her eyes rolling back. The flavor burst in her mouth, silky smooth and deeply delicious. She would have preferred them to be a tad bit hotter, but she knew keeping the temperature on passed small bites was near impossible.
“Why is the distillery a no?” Jess asked.
No such luck distracting her sister with food. When she was curious about something, she was like a dog with a bone.
“It’s just not a viable option,” she replied.
“You lost me there.”
“I can’t present the distillery in my report,” Rachel replied, her annoyance clear.
“Why ever not?” Jess demanded.
“It’s not what the client wants,” she replied sharply. “My marching orders from my clients and my boss are clear. They want market breakdowns and projections on the three options they’re considering. That is my directive.”
“That’s crap.” Jess snorted.
Rachel struggled, knowing she should defend the position because that was her job and her responsibility, but when Jess was right, she was right. “Yeah,” she finally agreed. “It is crap.”
She was about to add more, but she spotted Cal making his way over to them. “Please, Jess,” she asked. “Don’t mention anything about the plan or the distillery, okay? I’ll figure out a way to mention it. I just don’t want to do that tonight.”
“Sure,” Jess said, catching sight of Cal. “I won’t say anything about that. But I will say, holy hotness! You didn’t tell me he was so attractive!”
“Shhhh,” Rachel hissed, her face flushing red. She hadn’t mentioned it because she knew her sister would read into it. Glancing over at Jess, she noticed her older sister examining her. Rachel’s cheeks felt like they were on fire.
“You like him,” Jess said with obvious glee.
“I work with him,” Rachel retorted. “Now, drop it,” she whispered as Cal reached them.
“Hello ladies,” Cal said.
Rachel watched as his gaze roamed across her. For a moment she thought she saw desire flash in his eyes, but she convinced herself it was wishful thinking. She was relieved, but also disappointed when he shifted his attention to Jess.
“And you must be the infamous, Jess.” He shook her hand, his smile warm. “I’m very grateful for you saving my bacon on more than one occasion.”
Jess laughed. “My pleasure. This is quite the setup you have here.” She tilted her head toward the ballroom.
“Thank you,” he replied, looking around with pride. “Why don’t I finish giving you the tour, and afterward we can grab some dinner.”
Jess turned to Rachel, her eyes gleaming with excitement.
“That’s perfect, Cal.” Rachel added with a smile. Her sister’s enjoyment was just infectious.
Before they’d even taken a few steps, Jess started rapid firing questions to Cal about the event, rental versus ownership on event supplies, the historical significance of the property, even lighting choices in the ballroom.
Seeing the shock on Cal’s face, Rachel laughed. She doubted Cal was prepared enough for a thorough Jess interrogation. Her sister was nothing if not passionate. And it raised her spirits to see Jess come alive again.