Free Killer Getaway by Amy Korman Page A

love this town? So overpriced!” added his colleague, Tom Colkett.
    â€œIs Holly here?” asked Tim hopefully. The Colketts had designed many an overpriced party for Holly.
    â€œShe sure is,” I told him. “I’m staying with her, as a matter of fact. She’s over at The Breakers at a workout class right now.”
    â€œThat’s where we’re staying,” Tom told us. “What a hotel! And I’m guessing you’re down here with Sophie,” he added to Joe. “She’s adorable. We can’t wait to get back up north to work on her new house with you.”
    â€œYeah, that’ll be great,” said Joe, who was clearly as puzzled as I was to see the Colketts. “Are you guys here on a, uh, vacation?” asked Joe.
    â€œI’d call it more of a working trip,” Tom told him. “We’re helping Gianni with the renovation. Although, since we’re staying at The Breakers and not paying a dime, and we’ll be starring on the show about this makeover, it’s not exactly hardship labor!”
    â€œYou made up with Gianni?” I asked, shocked.
    The previous spring, during a testy dispute over a bill at Gianni’s Bryn Mawr restaurant, the Colketts had been verbally excoriated by Gianni, who’d gone so far as to lob a rock-­hard piece of preserved fruit at Tim Colkett. It had taken the unlucky florist weeks to regain his full hearing. The Colketts had been understandably terrified of Gianni and had only agreed to work with him again if they could deal with Jessica, who’d still been the chef’s girlfriend at the time.
    â€œWe had to make up with Gianni when he offered us this job,” Tom said, looking somewhat embarrassed. “I mean, our business in Bryn Mawr is dead in January. No one’s even ordering flowers.”
    â€œYou know our policy,” Tim reminded me. “We love any customer, as long as they’re rich. And Gianni is currently spending like, well, your friend Holly. He hasn’t disputed a single bill. And trust me, finding full-­size jacaranda trees for this place hasn’t been exactly cheap!”
    â€œI understand,” I nodded. “It’s hard to pass up work in Florida when there’s nothing going on at home.” How is Gianni affording all this? I wondered as a truck pulled up and the drivers unlocked the rear door, then began trundling out kitchen equipment. “Do you know who his investors are?” I asked the Colketts.
    â€œEr, not really,” said Tim. “I mean, we hear rumors, but who really knows!”
    â€œI’ve gotten some design work down here myself,” Joe said, faux modestly. “With the tobacco heiress Adelia Earle. It’ll probably end up in Elle Decor , which of course isn’t as mainstream as HGTV.”
    â€œGianni Mare’s theme is one hundred percent blue and white!” explained Tim. “Our concept. That Sienna didn’t have a single idea. So we brought in some Chinese export porcelain and helped her match paint colors and come up with a theme for the banquettes and the window treatments. The banquettes are a superb cerulean color piped with bright white and then the curtains are the reverse! All the plates and barware are blue and white, and the ceiling is being hand painted as a trompe l’oeil. The floor, of course, is a blue and white chevron. They’re priming the walls as we speak.”
    â€œIt’s gorgeous,” nodded Tom. “It’s like you’ve died and woken up in an antique urn. Well, actually I guess you could die and end up in an urn, but you know what I mean.”
    Joe looked devastated. I knew he would immediately shit-­can his blue-­and-­white concept for Adelia Earle’s pavilion. He’d never want to do the same theme that the Colketts and Sienna Blunt had dreamed up for Gianni Mare.
    â€œSo, will you two be at the opening?” Tim asked me.