TALL DARK AND HUNGRY Page 0,68

worry about. Foremost in his mind was why Terri had gaped at him when he'd asked her to grab some cutlery and plates. That had him mystified.

In the kitchen, Terri was muttering to herself as she dragged plates out of the cupboard. "He called me honey." A grin was tugging at her lips. Homy. And she thought Bastien might have called her baby earlier, but she'd been so upset at the time, she couldn't be sure. Honey and baby. Baby and honey. Terms of endearment. Did he mean them? It was hard to say. Some people used those sorts of affec¬tionate terms on everyone from their dog to the cashier at the corner store.

She didn't think Bastien was one of those people.

"Honey." Terri savored the word as she collected cutlery, then placed the utensils on plates, and picked them up to rush back out to the living room. She hurried, because she didn't want to miss anything.

"It's Sylvia's Cuisine, then?" Terri glanced from Chris to Bastien, and each man nodded. Vincent had re¬turned earlier, but, unable to eat or really help out be¬cause of that, he had found himself bored just sitting about watching them. He'd retired halfway through the selection process.

"I'd say so," Bastien said.

"Me too," Chris agreed. "They had the best over¬all. Though, I still say that Bella-whatever's had the nicest casserole thingy."

"I didn't like that at all. And it's not even on the menu," Terri pointed out. "Heck, it isn't even on their invoice. I'm thinking they put it on the tray by accident."

"Yeah. They must have," Bastien agreed. "I didn't care for it myself. There was something in it that I just didn't take to."

"Well, I like it." Chris moved over to Bella's trolley and peered down at the food. "So, if neither of you do, can I have the rest?"

Terri dropped onto the couch with a laugh. "Be my guest."

Bastien grinned. "Yeah. Go on. Eat it. You earned it after helping with all this nonsense."

"Well, Vincent couldn't help. Besides, this was more fun than the flowers," C.K. pointed out, taking the whole dish of casserole off the trolley. He grabbed a spoon and scooped out a bite, murmuring with pleasure as he ate.

"Ugh. How can you eat that? It was awful. I can't even watch you." Terri made a face of disgust, and covered her eyes with the notepad she had been using to keep track of which trolley had the best-tasting dishes.

"I'll take it to my room so you don't have to," Chris said. "My leg is bothering me anyway. I'll go lie down and watch television while I eat. Good night."

"Good night," Bastien and Terri said in unison.

A moment passed, then Bastien lifted a corner of the notepad Terri still had over her face. "He's gone. It's safe to come out now."

Smiling, she lowered the notepad and sighed. "Well, at least that's done."

"Yeah." He settled back on the couch beside her, then turned his head to the side and said, "Do me a favor?"

"Hmm?" Terri glanced at him in question.

He grinned. "Don't ask what the next calamity will be. I've had enough of them for now, thanks. And it isn't even my wedding." He shook his head. "The wedding day itself better go off without a hitch after all this trouble." He laughed. "I don't know how Kate and Lucern have managed the last six months. I'm exhausted after only a week of problems."

"I know." Terri laughed, too. "It has been a bit stressful the last couple of days. When I booked vaca¬tion time off and flew out here, I really only expected to be holding Kate's hand and being supportive while helping with last minute details. I thought I might help out by running a few small errands or some¬thing. I did not expect to be handling the big stuff, like remaking all the Kleenex flowers for the cars and choosing new caterers."

Shaking her head, she sat up and leaned forward to peer into the Sylvia's Cuisine dessert drawer. They'd all had a bite from one of each of the three desserts that would be offered at the wedding, but that left the extra one of each untouched. Terri debated briefly, then chose the trifle. She grabbed a spoon and sank back onto the couch.

Bastien shook his head as he watched her scoop up the first spoonful. "I'm amazed that you can still eat. It seems like we've been doing nothing but that for hours."

"We have," she agreed with a laugh, taking