Part 14 (2/2)
”Well, this is for valuable prizes,” Cecily said. ”And we'll have interview questions.”
”Like if they want world peace?” Samantha scoffed.
”Nothing so boring,” Cecily said with a grin.
”I don't know about this,” Samantha muttered. Although it didn't make any difference. Her sisters had turned into event bulldozers, plowing over her objections and concerns. Not that she had many when it came to the cla.s.sier events. It was only this stupid Mr. Dreamy contest she wasn't wild about.
”It'll be great,” Cecily a.s.sured her. ”Guys will have to tell us their favorite Sweet Dreams candy, so of course they'll buy lots to do research, and that's good for sales. Anyway, everyone's on board and this train is already down the track.”
”Well, you can let it go down the track without me,” Samantha said.
”I'm afraid we can't. Sweet Dreams is sponsoring this and you're the face of Sweet Dreams. By the way, Nia Walters wants to interview you for the paper. So you're not only getting sales out of the contest, you're getting free publicity.”
It was hard to argue with free publicity. Still, Samantha would rather have jumped naked into the icy Wenatchee River than judge this stupid contest. ”Who else is judging?” she asked grumpily.
”Mom and me.”
”Sounds like you have plenty of faces. You don't need mine. And what's Bailey doing?”
”Mistress of Ceremony, since she loves the spotlight. And yes, we do need you.”
”So is that it? I mean, shouldn't we have someone else?”
”I thought maybe Ca.s.s. She'd be unbiased.”
”Have you asked her?” Somehow, Samantha couldn't picture Ca.s.s going along with such silliness.
”I hoped you would,” Cecily said, careful not to meet Samantha's gaze.
”You little chicken.”
”Cluck, cluck,” replied her sister. ”Look at it this way. I've given you a chance to micromanage.”
They were at Sweet Dreams now, and before Samantha could come up with a comeback her sister had breezed into the gift shop to see if any men had stopped by for an entry form.
”We've already had six guys,” Heidi said.
”I knew this was going to be popular,” Cecily crowed.
Samantha decided to say nothing other than, ”I've got to get to work,” and escaped to her office.
”Don't forget to talk to Ca.s.s,” her sister called after her.
”Why me?” she grumbled.
The answer to that was easy. She was the oldest. She got to do the dirty work.
Later she found Ca.s.s and her daughter, Danielle, busy draping a necklace holder with necklaces and bracelets made of chocolate cookie hearts with pink icing.
”They're for the festival,” Ca.s.s said. ”What do you think?”
”I think they're adorable,” Samantha gushed. ”Who's the designer?” She didn't really need to ask. Danielle was beaming and Ca.s.s was looking like a proud mama.
”It was Dani's idea,” Ca.s.s said. ”Is she good or what?”
”Or what. You're an artiste,” Samantha told the girl.
”Try one,” Danielle urged.
They were almost too pretty to eat. Almost. Samantha bit into one and got sent straight to taste-bud heaven. ”These will sell like crazy,” she predicted.
”Especially with middle-grade girls,” Danielle said. ”If they go over well, then maybe Mom will sell them on the website,” she added, looking to her mother.
Ca.s.s nodded slowly. ”It's a possibility.”
”Could Luke help me figure out how to box them so they don't break?” Danielle asked Samantha.
”I'll send him over later today,” Samantha promised, happy to support a budding entrepreneur.
Two teenage girls entered the store in search of after-school sustenance and Danielle went to serve them.
”You have such a great daughter,” Samantha said.
”Yes, I do,” Ca.s.s agreed, looking at Dani with pride. ”I just wish her sister would stop driving me crazy,” she said, brows furrowing.
Amber, Ca.s.s's youngest child, was fourteen going on trouble. ”Willie's doing okay, though,” Samantha said in an attempt to help her look on the bright side. Between wrestling and football and Boy Scouts, her son had plenty of activities to keep himself out of mischief.
Ca.s.s gave a snort. ”Two out of three's not bad. Is that what you're saying?”
It had been. Lame. ”She'll come around. Cecily went through a phase where she drove our parents nuts and she came out of it.”
”I'm sure Amber will, too,” Ca.s.s said. ”It's either that or I'm going to kill her. I know, maybe I'll adopt her out. Would you like a fourteen-year-old?”
”In about twenty years,” Samantha quipped.
Ca.s.s shook her head. ”I love her dearly but sometimes... If only she didn't take after her father. She can be so surly. And stubborn.”
As far as Samantha could tell, that described most fourteen-year-old girls.
”And, of course, I'm the bad guy these days, getting on her about her grades, ruining her social life,” Ca.s.s continued, ”while he gets to look like a cross between Santa and Saint Christopher. Men,” she added in disgust.
Ca.s.s was obviously not feeling generous toward the opposite s.e.x right now. Maybe this wasn't the moment to ask if she wanted to help choose Icicle Falls' first Mr. Dreamy.
But Ca.s.s was always unhappy with her ex, so there'd probably be no good moment. ”Speaking of men, we need an impartial judge for our Mr. Dreamy contest. Cecily was hoping we could recruit you.”
”As long as none of them look like Mason I can be unbiased,” Ca.s.s said with a grin.
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