Saltwater Secrets - Amelia Addler Page 0,22
“They don’t stand a chance.”
Chapter 8
On the morning of Jade’s fundraiser, Margie woke up before her alarm; she was too nervous and excited to sleep. She crept out of bed, leaving Hank snoring in his normal way. She didn’t know why she was trying to be quiet – even with literal hammering on the walls, he wouldn’t wake up. It was a good thing, most of the time, and especially today.
She got dressed, ate a piece of toast, and filled her travel mug with coffee before hopping into her car. Her first stop was the trolley company. The owner owed her a favor for a wedding last year, and Margie called it in for Jade’s fundraising party. She negotiated a very fair rate to transport guests to the barn – they even planned to pick people up in town and along the way.
It was one small way for Margie to contribute. Poor Jade was so worried that no one was going to show up, especially after seeing the party that Burke Development pulled off. Margie was determined to help in every way possible.
Everything was set for the trolleys, so her next stop was at the caterer. It was a company that often did weddings at the barn – Mary’s Bistro Catering – and they, too, were excited by the idea of Colby Smith’s land actually being used for the people of San Juan; they offered their food and services almost at cost for the event. Margie stopped by to drop off some containers that they’d forgotten at the barn a few weeks prior and Mary assured her that everything was on track. She even had plans for extra cold food in case more people showed up than originally expected.
Margie was satisfied with that and went back home to finish up some baking; she knew that Mary had desserts planned, but she wanted to be sure that there was no chance of running out.
The day prior, she spent about ten hours baking cakes, cookies, and four separate pies. Today she just had a few dozen more cookies planned – nothing major. She’d also ordered small, custom printed paper bags from one of her friends on the island. They read “Vote YES on Proposition 16 – Colby’s Farm!” The idea was for the party guests to fill them with cookies and treats – and hopefully, remember how to vote when the time came.
Once the cookies were cooling, she went out to the barn to help with setup. It’d been a while since she was so involved in an event, and she was loving every minute of it. It was energizing – and she wanted to make everything as perfect for Jade as possible. She cared about the project too, of course. But not as much as Jade seemed to care about it. She was spending almost all of her free time working on this and whatever was important to Jade was important to Margie.
The barn was bustling with activity. Jade was there setting up tables and decorations; Luke and Hank were positioning a large TV in the corner of the barn as Morgan tried to connect her laptop to it.
“Mom!” Jade hugged her when she arrived. “Chief Hank told me you’ve been running around all morning!”
“Isn’t he observant?” Margie said with a smile. “Don’t worry – the trolleys and food are all set. And I have a surprise for you.”
She pulled out one of the paper bags and handed it over; there were even a few of Jade’s favorite cookies inside for effect.
“This is so nice! Where did you get these?”
“I have my secrets,” she said with a smile. “Do you like it?”
“Yes, it’s adorable!”
“And I’ve made a few dozen extra cookies so there should be plenty to fill them with at the end of the night.”
Jade’s jaw dropped. “You didn’t have to do all of this. You’ve got to be exhausted, Mom.”
“I’m not some old lady who has to be kept inside,” Margie said. “It’s one thing if you don’t like it – you can tell me, but if you – ”
“I never called you an old lady,” Jade said, placing a hand on her shoulder. “And I love it, really. You’re the best, Mom.”
Margie smiled. “Good. I try. Okay, I’m going to get back to work. Let me know if you need anything.”
“Okay!”
It was nice to see Jade so excited. Margie didn’t have time to dawdle, though; she needed to finish setting up her centerpieces. She made them herself –