Sarah added. “We coerced you into having this party. I can pop for a few cupcakes. Consider the refreshments a welcome gift from me and Ali. After all, Sage did your design work as a gift. That made us look bad.”
“You guys are wonderful.”
“We know.” Sarah flashed an impish smile and changed the subject. “Before everybody gets here … I’ve got gossip about Zach.”
Oh, dear. Savannah’s smile dimmed, and when the doorbell signaled another early arrival, she was glad for the distraction.
“Actually, not so much about Zach as about his new deputy. Have you guys met her?”
Savannah opened the door to the subject currently under discussion. “It’s Gabi Romano,” she said, raising her voice so that Sarah would take care with her words.
It proved to be a wasted effort, because Sarah turned and went full gossip on Gabi. “Gabi Romano! I was just talking about you. I’ve been dying to meet you. Sage and Nic and I are fangirls of Coach Romano. He was the object of our sexual fantasies—”
“Sarah!” Cam protested, scowling, as he walked through the room carrying a pound cake.
“Let me finish.” She turned back to Gabi, gave an impish wink, and added, “Until we met the loves of our lives. We were Colorado fans, of course, so we knew about Anthony. Gabe was the one who told us he had a twin who also coached basketball. We all felt so terrible for him when that team bus accident happened.
“Now tell us what it was like growing up with male gods. Two of them. Actually, I heard a rumor that you have a third brother who’s no slouch, either.”
Gabi snorted. “Don’t even get me started. I’m the only girl in my family, and growing up was like living in a gym—sweaty jocks everywhere you turned, literally and figuratively. Not to mention all the panties that ended up in my lingerie drawer. Panties that weren’t mine, mind you, but somehow ended up in the family wash. Women have been throwing their underwear at the Romano men for a long time.”
“Gotta admire that quality in a man,” Cam said.
Gabi wrinkled her nose. “It makes me question the intelligence of a legion of females.”
“A legion?” Cam asked. “Really?”
“I can understand it,” Nic said. “The coaches Romano are hawt.”
“Stop it,” Gabe interjected. “You’re giving me a complex. Didn’t we come early to help Savannah? Shouldn’t we get started?”
Savannah went along with the teasing. “That’s okay. I don’t mind hearing stories about Gabi’s sexy brothers.”
Gabi’s mouth twisted in a grin Savannah couldn’t quite read. “I could shock you, believe me. Better it wait for another time, I think. So, what can I do to help?”
Before Savannah knew it, Heavenscents was overflowing with people, conversation, and laughter. Jack Davenport kept champagne glasses filled from bottles he’d furnished from his wine cellar, while Mac Timberlake played waiter, passing around hors d’oeuvres. Nic Callahan and Sage Rafferty conducted a sales competition, though Celeste’s efforts put them both to shame. Savannah spent so much time answering questions and accepting praise that Sarah shooed her away from the cash register and took control of the financial end of the evening.
It was the most exciting evening Savannah could recall. At one point she looked around and saw Sarah and Ali and Celeste laughing, and she marveled that these women had helped her simply because they were good people and they wanted to do it. It made her feel—
She broke off the thought when Gabi pulled her aside. “Congratulations, Savannah. You’re a hit.”
“I know.” She couldn’t hold back her excitement. “Thank you so much for coming. Tonight has been just … wow. I don’t have words. It’s more than the money—though that part is wonderful, too—but all this … them …” She waved a hand toward her helpers. “They’ve welcomed me. They’ve made me one of them. I’ve never belonged like this before.”
“I’m glad for you, and I’m glad I could come. You don’t know how badly I wish I didn’t have to go to work now. I’d love nothing more than to sneak back to Nightingale Cottage with a bottle of Jack’s champagne and put one of these bath bombs I bought to good use.”
“Which ones did you buy?”
“I bought the Serenity Sampler, Bubbling Peace, Silver Strike Salts, and Lavender Mountain Melt. I figure that might last me a week.”
Savannah laughed. “From your mouth to my banker’s ears.”
After Gabi left, Savannah enjoyed a nice conversation with Jim Brand and his wife, Marsha, about the likely history of the