As I waited for the signature drink, something called a Gem and Tonic, I spotted Summer, dressed in a satiny ruby-red dress with lantern sleeves and a plunge neckline, ahead of me in line.Shewas talking with someone who was almost a foot taller and was wearing a pleated gold dress.
“It’s weird, right?” the person said, her voice thin and high-pitched. I soon realized that this statuesque woman with the perfect figure was Jemma. Lovely.
“It has to be a coincidence.” Summer’s voice lowered. “That was twenty-something years ago. If the same thing was going to happen, it would’ve happened before now.”
“Or Dr. Bellingham may have been biding his time,” Jemma insisted. “I’ve been in this pageant long enough to know that I should keep an eye on him.”
I tilted toward them, trying to overhear their conversation.
Jemma shot me a look over her shoulder. “Oh, hi. Savilla’s friend, right?” Somehow she made even this simple question sound condescending.
“Uh… yeah,” I said, not wanting to explain my definition of friendship and how Savilla and I didn’t quite meet the requirements.
“Oh my goodness, you are gorgeous,” Summer said, wrapping me into a hug. She smelled sweet with a hint of peppermint, either from her milk of magnesia or tea bags, I assumed. “I wondered where you were.” She lowered her voice. “I found an officer who agreed to get your aunt’s supplies to her.”
“Supplies?” Jemma asked, narrowing her gaze at the two of us.
Summer drew a finger over her lips as if this was our little secret.
Jemma ignored the gesture and fixed her eyes on my outfit, examining me from head to toe and asking with a sharp edge, “Who picked that out for you?”
“My aunt,” I answered honestly, not needing to hide the fact that I couldn’t do any of this on my own. I didn’t care. I was more interested in thecoincidenceshe and Summer had been discussing, but just then their drinks were ready and someone tapped me on the shoulder. It was Lacy, wearing a flowing sunset-colored dress that swished at her ankles. She hadn’t dressed according to theme and I loved her for it.
“You look great,” I told her, realizing again how well suited my best friend was to run in a pageant. If only she could do this for me.
Lacy struck a pose before she grabbed champagne from a passing waiter and took a long swig.
I motioned to her glass. “Whoa. You okay there? You’re drinking on the job.”
“Sometimes a girl needs liquid sustenance to make it through an awful day at work.” She surveyed the room. “Besides, I’ve earned it. I’m already getting calls from reporters asking about Mr. Finch’s whereabouts. Someone in this organization already leaked it to the press.”
I sensed Jemma leaning into our conversation now. Even Summer’s ears perked up.
“Also, two of the tents didn’t show up for the Decades extravaganza, and I can’t find the boxes of legwarmers that we’re supposed to give away in the eighties.”
Not exactly the titillating details any of us had been awaiting.
I reached the front of the line and grabbed a couple of drinks from the bar. The Gem and Tonic was some sort of concoction layered in jewel tones. I took a small sip and stuck out my tongue against the combination of sweet, bitter, and sour. Jemma made a face as if she was disgusted with me, and Summer handed me a napkin so I could pat away the moisture on my lips.
Lacy, having finished her champagne, gulped her own. She hadn’t been a lightweight since her college years.
“Here, have mine,” I offered.
“Better not. But I want to. Believe me.”
The four of us took a few moments to absorb the forced festivities of the evening. No one had made it onto the dance floor, and though songs echoed from the piano, a sense of hesitation blanketed the room.
I realized that with these three women—Lacy, the event planner; Summer, the eager helper; Jemma, the long-time contestant—I had a trove of pageant knowledge standing right next to me.
“So, what exactly do y’all know about Dr. Bellingham?” I asked as my eyes wandered to where he stood in the curve of the piano. He was surrounded by young women in dresses of varying lengths and plunges. He had a hand on one woman’s back, an arm draped over another contestant’s shoulder, and if he’d had a third, I bet he’d be using it.
“He seems nice enough, but I’ve heard through the whisper network that he may be a little…” Summer stalled, unable to say something derogatory even about this man.
“Stay away unless it’s strategic,” Jemma said curtly. “That’s what I tell every newbie.” Despite her gruff demeanor, her advice sounded almost sisterly.
“When I started working here, DeeDee told me that he’s handsy. Hasn’t actually done anything, as far as I know, but he’s…” Lacy shivered. “I don’t know. Something’s off about him.”
“You said in his introduction today that he was a judge here in 2001?” I added, thinking about the conversation I’d interrupted between Summer and Jemma.
