Free For Better or Hearse by Laura Durham Page A

put this, Richard?”
    â€œRight back on the shelf where you found it.” Richard made a face as he reached around me for a cloth embroidered with tiny palm trees. “I’ve got it! We do a British Colonial theme with everything in beige and whites. We bring in tall palms to put in the tent, or better yet, we serve the dinner entirely outside on long narrow tables.”
    Pam nodded. “That does sound simpler. I think Bill would like beige and white.”
    â€œWe could still do some canopies outside for the cocktail hour.” Richard threw the embroidered cloth over the toile and then hurried to the other side of the room for a woven rattan base plate. He placed it on the table and dabbed his forehead with a white hemstitched napkin. “Instead of colored organza, though, we could do white panels of sheer fabric. They would flutter in the breeze and be divine.”
    Pam beamed at Richard. “I love the idea of dinner outside. But what about doing the tables in white, as well?”
    Richard’s face fell a bit, but he pulled a white crinkled fabric down and draped it on the growing stack of table linens. “Like that?”
    â€œPossibly, but what about this?” Pam made a bee-line for the cotton cloths at the far end of the wall and produced a white one. She removed the rattan plate and spread the new linen over the crinkled fabric. She pulled a white base plate and a standard issue wineglass from the display shelves to go on top.
    â€œWhite twill?” A bead of sweat crept down Richard’s forehead. “You want a plain cotton tablecloth at Evermay?”
    â€œI think it’s perfect,” Kate said. “It’s simple yet elegant.”
    Richard shot daggers at her. “Are we still doing the canopies draped in fabric at least?”
    â€œPossibly.” Pam slung her tote bag on her shoulder again. “I’ll have to see if Bill thinks it’s too much, though. He likes things simple, you know.”
    Richard patted his brow. “I’m beginning to get the picture. So we’re going with long tables of white twill with white plates and all-purpose glassware.”
    Kate fluttered her eyes at Richard. “Should I write that down for you?”
    He looked at her and tapped his temple. “It’s all in here.”
    â€œThis was easy.” Pam let out a breath, walking to the door. “Now all we have to do is pick a florist who can do simple arrangements to go with our look.”
    â€œNot a problem,” I said. I already had a minimalist designer in mind.
    Pam called over her shoulder. “We were thinking of all white flowers.”
    White flowers. Why wasn’t I surprised? And how much more could we discuss about all white flowers?
    Once the door shut, Richard moaned. “White, white,white, white. Remind me to wear sunglasses to this wedding.”
    â€œCome on Richard.” I patted him on the shoulder. “It sounds very classic and pretty.”
    â€œI know.” He pulled the crystal off the table and put it roughly back on the display shelf. “But the hot pink and mango tents were going to be stunning. Too bad ‘Possibly Pam’ is too timid to choose anything but white. I’ll have to find another client to use my genius on.”
    â€œI don’t think that would have fit at Evermay, anyway,” Kate said. “Call me crazy, but I don’t see camels at a stately Georgetown mansion.”
    â€œYou have no grand vision,” Richard snapped and began pulling the used linens off the display table.
    My cell phone chirped, and I dug it out of my purse. “Wedding Belles. This is Annabelle.” I heard muffled sobs on the other end of the phone. “Hello? Who is this?”
    â€œIt’s Darcy from the Fairmont.” A loud sniffle. “They took Georgia away.”
    â€œWhat do you mean? They fired her?” Kate and Richard stopped their bickering and looked at