"I see. Well, they still must miss you," Nancy said as Allie found a knife and a cutting board.
"Nope," Allie replied. "I haven’t seen or spoken to them in almost ten years."
Nancy sniffed and turned back to the dinner preparations. Allie took off the fake engagement ring and started chopping vegetables.
"You’re a guest. You don’t have to do that," Nancy said.
Allie ignored her and continued chopping.
She stayed silent as Kate and Nancy talked about the dinner, various people around New Cardiff, and Brandy’s upcoming wedding.
"She wanted me to be her maid of honor. As if," Kate said. "I can’t believe she’s marrying Fernando."
"Fernando was Kate’s old beau," Nancy said to Allie as she wiped her hands and came over to inspect her work. "Very nicely chopped," she told her. "Do you like to cook?"
"I used to work as a line cook," Allie explained. "It was my first job when I went to Les DesChamps. Then I switched to bartending since it pays much better. College is expensive."
"Oh, you’re in college."
"Yes, I'm working my way through slowly, but I’m almost done."
Allie helped prepare the appetizers, and then she helped Stefan cart everything out to the parlor.
"Would anyone like a drink?" Nancy asked.
"I can do it." Allie took the bottles from her. "Bartender, remember?" She pointed to a pitcher. "I premade a mix for a cocktail, or I can make you something special," she announced to the group.
An older woman was there. Allie assumed she was Kate’s grandmother.
"Well, doesn’t this all look wonderful?" she said, inspecting the offerings.
Carter grabbed a plate full of appetizers and held out his cup for some of the cocktail. Allie put an ice cube in his glass.
"How did you make the ice so clear?" he asked.
"It’s easy," Allie replied. "You just need a small, cheap cooler and fill it with water and stick it in the freezer for an hour or so until the top layer of water freezes. Something in the way the ice freezes because it's in an insulated container keeps the air bubbles out, and you have clear ice."
"Pretty impressive," Grant said as Allie poured him some of the special cocktail. He drank a generous amount. "Hey, this is really tasty!"
"Don’t go overboard," Kate told him then took his glass and sipped. "This is really good! What’s in it?"
"It's an apricot sour," Kate said. "It's a variation on a whisky sour. They’re a big thing in the South. They go well with oysters."
"And she makes drinks too! The perfect woman!" Harris said, coming into the room. He looked as if he had been drinking all afternoon.
Allie poured him a generous amount of the mix but only added a small amount of whisky.
"Sit down," she ordered him and brought him something to eat along with his drink.
"This is all you're going to have," she told him, "so enjoy that drink."
He smiled at her. She was used to dealing with drunks, but all things considered, Harris wasn't all that bad.
After cocktails and appetizers, they all went into the dining room for dinner. Nancy had decorated the table with candles, garlands of fall leaves, colorful pumpkins and squashes, as well as richly colored fruit like pomegranates.
"The table looks beautiful, Nancy," Jack said.
"Yes, it's really lovely," Grant said.
