"Man, I wish I had a ton of brothers," Sebastian said. "I want to find a wife and have a ton of kids."
He better not be implying Penny. She is taken.
"Harrogate's the place to do it!" Penny said with a laugh.
"No kidding!" he said.
37
Penny
"Where are the adult beverages?" Ida asked.
"Do not drink a lot, Grandma," Olivia chastised. "You’re supposed to be manning the haunted tiny house. You can’t be falling-over drunk."
I left them to bicker. More people were arriving. It was mainly families with school-aged kids. The moms all looked appreciatively at Garrett.
"I'm going to assume the Mr. Darcy outfit was your doing?" one young mom asked.
"I mean, I felt like we were all owed it," I said, handing her a drink.
"Nicely done," she said, toasting me.
* * *
I spentthe next few hours making sure the kids weren’t wandering off into the woods, that no one was feeding the chickens candy corn, and that no one dipped anything other than apples in the caramel. Albert the pig was a huge hit with the kids. He ate so much, I was sure he gained another fifty pounds. Baxter the pony reveled in his celebrity status. There was a line of people who wanted to plop their babies on his back and take a picture. The pony handled it all with aplomb.
Hunter stalked around, seeming to disappear and reappear like a vampire as soon as one of his teenaged brothers tried to sneak any alcohol. He lightly shook Isaac and Bruno, plucking the drinks out of their hands. "Here are trash bags. If you have time to drink, you have time to clean."
Hazel passed me, carrying a huge tray of more desserts. I followed to give her a hand in setting out the cupcakes.
"I thought I should keep the food simple," she said, "since the partygoers skew younger. I also made boozy tiramisu for the adults. It looks like a graveyard a little bit, doesn't it?" she asked, holding a clear plastic cup out to me.
"So good," I said through a mouthful. "I can't believe there are so many kids here. It looks like the entire school showed up."
Hundreds of kids in costumes raced around the grounds. I truly had a sense of just how big the Svenssons’ estate was when I saw all the people out in the backyard with plenty of room for games and running around.
"The haunted house is a huge hit," Hazel said.
The kids at the party lined up and went into the tiny house a handful at a time. There was lots of screaming, but as soon as kids were tossed out, they ran back into line to do it all over again.
"Edna and Ida are giving stellar performances as creepy witches," she said.
"The parents sure appreciate the drinks," I said, motioning to a group of moms and dads on the terrace, sipping Halloween-themed drinks like Bloody Marys, poison-apple cocktails, and black-devil martinis. Sebastian was in the group, chatting with several of the other parents about the school quality.
"I think Ida does, too," Garrett said, approaching us with a cocktail in each hand. He handed one to me and one to Hazel. "Ida claims she's taking a break from her role as a witch. Edna is manning the haunted tiny house." I looked over. Ida and the twins were off to the periphery. Ida was tipping a flask into her drink.
"She better not get too drunk," Hazel muttered, heading over to the old woman.
"You did a good job," Garrett said. "Thank you. I appreciate someone who can plan complicated events."
"That’s me! Party planner extraordinaire," I quipped.
"Party planning is a tough skill," Garrett said.
I laughed, feeling a little self-conscious, especially since once he found out about the article—and I was sure he would—this was all going to come crashing down around me.
"I need to grab something from the kitchen," I muttered, hurrying inside.
