Free A Piggly Wiggly Christmas by Robert Dalby Page A

to mind.
    “Have we both finally run dry?” Laurie said later over their coffee and crème brûlée.
    “Looks that way. I don’t see how we can satisfy Lady Roth if we deny her the spotlight she always craves. She’s like a veritable barracuda once she goes after something.”
    Suddenly, the spark that Laurie had needed this time around surfaced, and her eyes were flashing as she dramatically pointed her finger at Powell. “That’s it! What you just said! Say it again!”
    He put down his coffee cup and looked at her sideways. “Uh, I have no idea what I’m looking for.”
    “Never mind. I’ve got it now. You mentioned denying Lady Roth the spotlight. But that’s exactly what we shouldn’t do. We must let her have yet another fifteen minutes of fame.”
    He was squinting now. “I’m afraid I don’t understand. We inflict that voice on the general public?”
    “No, no, no. It was the word spotlight that gave me the idea about the same time I remembered the Christmas cards I’ve ordered for us this year. If we could convince Lady Roth to portray Susan B. Anthony during Mr. Choppy’s campaign, I know she’ll agree to what I have in mind,” Laurie explained further. “But I’d like for you to come along with Gaylie Girl and myself when we make our pitch. After all, we’re the three most compelling people she knows.”
    Powell listened intently as Laurie fed him all the minute details, nodding enthusiastically there at the end. “I don’t see why it wouldn’t work. It accomplishes everything in one fell swoop.”
    Laurie could hardly keep still, savoring the smugness that had enveloped her like a long, warm soak in the tub. “Lady Roth is about nothing if not getting as much attention as possible.”
    “Do you think we should use a special setting? Maybe invite her over here for one of your special dinners to really set the hook?”
    Laurie reviewed everything and shook her head emphatically. “No, I think a reservation at the Victorian Tea Room might be the better ploy. I don’t want to be distracted by slaving over a hot stove and putting things on the table at the last minute. I know I make cooking look like a breeze, but it’s a diligent and time-consuming affair. Plus, you know how I always manage to burn the bread. It’s my one failing over the years. I just turn my head for a second, and I’ve got carbon on my hands. No, let’s put the food and wine in Vester Morrow’s capable hands, and the three of us will triple-team Lady Roth with our irresistible words.”
    And with that, Laurie shot up from her chair and headed over to the phone.
    “Gaylie Girl is just going to fall out when she hears what we’ve come up with. Not to mention all that good news about the television coverage. I can’t see anything to stop us now. I predict our Caroling in The Square will be a smash success!”

Five
    O Broadway Star of Bethlehem

    V ester Morrow was in rare form as he continued to fawn over his most anticipated diners on this chilly November Saturday evening. The moment Laurie and Powell, Gaylie Girl and Lady Roth appeared at the door for their eight o’clock reservation at the Victorian Tea Room, his behavior had shifted into an even higher gear of fastidiousness. He had ushered them across the floor of chatting diners and tucked them away into a cozy, fern-potted corner with an enormous stained glass window for a backdrop. Now he intended to wait on them himself. Not even the most experienced of his waiters would do for this high-profile party of four. But first—a bit of seamless prying with no one the worse for wear.
    “It isn’t every night I have the privilege of hosting the Mayor’s wife, the town’s most elegant dancing couple, and, of course, the nonpareil Lady Roth at the same table,” the tuxedoed Vester was saying, swaying this way and that and gesturing broadly all the while. “And is our fabulous Mayor Dunbar so busy watching over our fair Second Creek that he couldn’t join