That Man of Mine (26 page)

N
aturally, it would rain.
The past six years the
Spring Into Summer
festival had seen glorious weather, but this was Florida, which meant they were way overdue for a rain out. Thank goodness the 10K run wasn't affected. Runners were runners and a little rain couldn't stop them, so that phase of the festival was going smoothly.

Then, somewhere in the middle of all that rain and traffic and festival goers grumbling about the weather, something occurred to Mimi. While the rain was certainly a nuisance, maybe…just
maybe
it was really a blessing in disguise. Because if it continued to pour like this, they'd
have
to call off the outdoor concert.

She could see herself now, standing on the sodden stage, her sad face on. “
I'm sorry but with all this rain, Fatback Bubba and the Rattlesnakes simply can't go on. They have electronic equipment, you see, and we can't take the risk they might electrocute themselves
…”

It would be a hard sell, but it just might work. Otherwise, she had no idea what she'd do. She went to see Harry Tuba yesterday asking him (no,
begging
him) to play the festival, but he'd laughed in her face. He knew he was a last minute resort and he told her his “pride” wouldn't allow him to be used in that way.

The festival committee met under the main tent area for an impromptu pow-wow.

Bettina and Sherry (and Tofu) all wore matching yellow raincoats and Wendy was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. “What are we going to do, Mimi? I mean, Miss Becky's Little Tappers can't go on the stage with all this rain. The poor darlin's will slip and fall!”

“Exactly,” Mimi said, trying to comfort Wendy (without seeming too happy about the rain). “We certainly don't want anyone to get hurt. I'm afraid we might have to think about canceling
all
our acts. ”

“
Canceling
? Are you serious?” Bettina said. Instead of her usual spot in Bettina's handbag, Tofu was being carted around in a little pink sequined pet carrier strapped around Bettina's chest. Between that and the miniature doggie raincoat, all you could see were her beady eyes. And her sharp little white teeth, which were presently being bared at Mimi. Too bad she didn't have any more of those bacon biscuits. “We can't cancel Fatback Bubba!”

“What choice do we have?” Wendy said. “It's pouring out there.”

“This is a disaster,” Doreen said. “It's like someone or something is against us.”

Someone was against them, all right. Two
someones
as a matter of fact. Only Mimi couldn't prove that Bruce and Doug had conspired to make her look bad. Plus, there was her own involvement to be considered. She wondered if Bettina knew the check Doug had promised her had fallen through. If she did, she wasn't letting on in any way that Mimi could see.

“I say we relax and not get too worked up yet,” Viola said. “It's only ten in the morning and this is Florida, which means the rain will more than likely blow over by this afternoon and all will be well.”

“True,” Doreen said.

They all turned to look at Bettina. “Viola's right. The rain is definitely going to let up.”

“I agree!” Sherry said.

“Yes! I agree as well,” Wendy added hastily.

Good grief
. It was the Pollyanna brigade at work.

They all set their watches to meet back up in two hours, then scattered to the ends of the festival to take care of their respective responsibilities.

Mimi was on her way to make another phone call to Harry Tuba to ask him to reconsider performing tonight (yes, she had no pride left whatsoever), when she ran into Zeke. Normally, he would have participated in this morning's run, but he was part of the pro-bono security team, for which Mimi was grateful. She'd only seen him once since that night she'd gone to the cabin. He'd come over to pick up Cameron for a game and had been chillingly polite. It had taken everything Mimi had to not throw herself in his arms.

Today he seemed all business. Dressed in his police uniform and looking every inch the cop. He smiled at everyone he came across and if you didn't know any better, you'd think he hadn't a care in the world.

“Hey,” he said. “How's everything going?”

By everything, she knew he meant the festival. “All right.”

He frowned. “What's wrong?”

The temptation to tell him exactly what was wrong was overwhelming. But there was nothing Zeke could do about the band. If she told him now he would only get angry at Doug and think she was foolish. He'd find out tonight, along with the rest of the town, what a loser she was.

“Nothing,” she said.

“Well, if it isn't Whispering Bay's number one power couple,” came an unwelcome voice from behind. Mimi whipped around to find Doug grinning (or rather sneering) at them. Zeke hadn't trusted Doug from the start. Why hadn't she listened to him?

“Wentworth,” Zeke said tightly.

“Wow. This weather sure is something. I really hope it doesn't interfere with the concert tonight,” Doug said.

He sounded innocent enough, but Mimi knew better. Good thing she didn't have a weapon handy…

“The rain will probably blow over by this afternoon,” Zeke said. “After all, this is Florida.”

“So true!” Doug said with false cheerfulness. “I know I'm looking forward to hearing Fatback Bubba tonight.” He turned to Mimi. “How about you?”

Mimi grit her teeth. “Of course. Isn't everyone?”

Zeke waited till Doug walked away to mutter under his breath. “What a dick.”

“Yeah.”

He snapped his head around to look at her. “I thought you liked the guy.”

Mimi didn't trust herself to say anything without raising Zeke's suspicions, so she just shrugged. She wanted to stay to talk to him but she really needed to make that call to Harry Tuba.

“I need to go check on something,” she said. “And in case I haven't already said this a thousand times, thanks for all your help. The department has been great, volunteering and all.”

“Sure.” She sensed that he wanted to say something else, but held back.

As luck would have it, by mid-morning, the rain had tamped down to a light drizzle (
damn it
) and a couple of hours later the sun came out full force.

Cameron was walking the festival grounds with Henry, both of them with their dogs in tow. Henry's little dachshund-Chihuahua mix, Hector, and Toby were semi-friends (except when one of them tried to sniff the other one's butt, then the sparks began to fly).

Even Claire was at the festival. Since their “talk” the other night, their relationship had reverted back to their awkward mother-daughter exchanges of before. Not that Mimi regretted confronting Claire. Momma was right. Her only regret would have been if she'd played ostrich and buried her head in the ground. Eventually, Claire would come around. Or at least, Mimi hoped she would.

The booths were all doing slow but steady business, and the entertainment stage had dried out enough that it was now currently besieged by a bevy of little tappers
and
little ballerinas. Everyone kept stopping her to congratulate her on what a success the whole thing was. Too bad it was all going to explode in her face. Luckily (
ha!
) Harry Tuba took pity on her. That, and the promise of a two-thousand dollar check had convinced him to “swallow his pride” and perform tonight. It was better than nothing, she supposed. At least the Gray Flamingos liked Harry Tuba. Most of them, anyway.

At four p.m., the committee met for one last time before the scheduled concert.

“I told you this weather would clear up!” Viola said.

Wendy pulled out her planner. “So, I have the volunteers ready to rope off the big grassy area in front of the stage. I figure it will hold around five hundred people. That's five hundred tickets at twenty-five dollars a pop, which ensures we'll break even with the band. And maybe we can fit even more.” Her eyes twinkled. “I have a big surprise, too! I managed to get that sweet Rusty and a couple of other police officers to go to a rental place in Destin to get one of those portable dance floors.”

“That's brilliant!” Bettina squealed. Tofu barked in agreement.

“I know it wasn't in our budget, and it was crazy expensive to get on such short notice, but when the sun came out I took it as a sign and I just
had
to do it. So I put it on my credit card.”

“You shouldn't have,” Mimi said, trying her hardest not to faint.

“Oh, don't worry! I know the festival committee will pay me back. Every single person I've run into today says they can't wait to hear Fatback Bubba. Did you know they're going on tour with Billy Brenton?
That's
how good they are! The ticket sales will cover the band and the food and drink booths are going to make a killing, which means,
we'll
make a killing. This festival is going to do go down in Whispering Bay history!”

It was going to go down in history, all right.

Everyone began talking at once. All happy and excited. Mimi should confess this instant. Except, if she did, then everyone on the committee would be forced to keep her secret. Announcing right now that Fatback Bubba and the Rattlesnakes would be replaced by Harry Tuba would be the kiss of death. The festival would fizzle faster than a wet firecracker and all those vendors and businesses would be out a few hours' worth of revenue, which could make the difference between turning a profit or not.

 No. She'd have to wait till just before they were scheduled to start selling tickets to make the announcement. Of course, no one would pay twenty-five bucks to see Harry Tuba, so they'd have to let everyone in for free. Maybe the festival would clear enough from the refreshment booths for the two grand she'd promised him. If not, then she was going to have to pay him out of her own pocket. Wouldn't Zeke just love that?

*~*~*

Z
eke took a good
look at the backstage area to make sure everything was secure for the concert tonight. Electrical outlets had been brought in for the band's equipment and there was a small trailer to the left where they could hang out until they went on stage. He supposed the band would bring their own people for set up. His job was strictly to make sure everyone stayed on their best behavior. So far, the festival had been going smoothly. Mimi had done a great job and he was proud of her.

He could see how stressed out she was, though. In just a few more hours the festival would be over and that particular load would be lifted. But there was still the wedding, and all the worrying she was doing over Claire to get through. He hadn't exactly done anything to help matters. Not when he'd been a total dick to her that night at the cabin. She'd asked him to come back home and he'd thrown it in her face. What was wrong with him? Mimi was right. He'd never dealt with Sam Grant's desertion. It was like a sore that had never healed and was now infecting the rest of his life.

He went to the ticket booth and talked to the volunteer in charge. Tickets were going to be sold on a strictly cash basis, which made it a security risk for sure. Zeke had arranged for Rusty to be present in the booth at all times. He wasn't too worried, though. In the history of the festival the worst thing that had ever happened was a traffic jam or a drunk or two having to be escorted off the festival grounds. But it only made sense to be careful.

Allie and Tom were eating turkey legs and checking out the arts and crafts booths. “Can you believe that by this time next week I'm going to be Mrs. Tom Donalan?” she gushed. She reached up and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

“It can't be too soon for me,” Donalan said, in an obvious ploy to score points with Allie. The guy was unbelievable. Still. His sister did look happy. As long as she stayed that way, then Zeke wouldn't have a problem with the guy. Maybe Mimi was right and Zeke should reach out. Try to be friends.

“Let's grab a beer this week,” Zeke said to Tom.

“I'd like that.”

Zeke nodded. “I'll give you a call.”

“
Aw
,” Allie said, linking an arm around both men so that she was in between them. “My two favorite guys in the whole world are making a date. Isn't that sweet?”

Zeke ruffled her hair, making her squeak. “Don't be a wiseacre.”

She laughed and took off to look at napkins or doilies or something like that. The good natured way Tom followed her scored him another point in Zeke's book. 

Zeke paused a moment to watch his sister as she weaved in and out of the booths. Allie had a big heart. If she found out Sam Grant was trying to contact her and that Zeke had known all along, she would not be happy with him. But the real kicker was this half-sibling thing. Mimi was right. Allie would want to know about that. Maybe after the wedding, or better yet, after she and Tom came back from their honeymoon, he'd approach her on the subject. See what she thought.