So far, I'd done three jobs with Wish since that first one, including a cocktail, a brunch, and a fiftieth-anniversary party. At each, there was one moment—an old man pinching my butt as I passed with scones; the moment Kristy and I collided and her tray bonked me in the nose, showering salmon and crudites down my shirt; the time when Bert had hit me with another gotcha, jumping out from behind a coat rack and sending the stacks of plates I was carrying, as well as my blood pressure, skyrocketing—when I wondered what in the world I'd been thinking taking this on. At the end of the night, though, when it was all over, I felt something strange, a weird calmness. Almost a peace. It was like those few hours of craziness relaxed something held tight in me, if only for a little while.
Most of all, though, it was fun. Even if I was still learning things, like to duck when Kristy yelled, "Incoming!" meaning she had to get something—a pack of napkins, some tongs, a tray—across a room so quickly that only throwing it would suffice, or never to stand in front of swinging doors, ever, as Bert always pushed them open with too much gusto, without taking into consideration that there might be anything on the other side. I learned that Delia hummed when she was nervous, usually "American Pie," and that Monica never got nervous at all, was in fact capable of eating shrimp or crab cakes, hardly bothered, when the rest of us were in total panic mode. And I learned that I could always count on Wes for a raised eyebrow, an under-the-breath sarcastic remark, or just a sympathetic look when I found myself in a bind: no matter where I was in the room, or what was happening, I could look over at the bar and feel that someone, at least, was on my side. It was the total opposite of how I felt at the library, or how I felt anywhere else, for that matter. Which was probably why I liked it.
But then, after the job was over and the van packed up to go home, after we'd stood around while Delia got paid, everyone laughing and trading stories about grabbers and gobblers and grandmas, the buzz of rushing around would wear off. As I'd begin to remember that I had to be at the library the next morning, I could feel myself starting to cross back to my real life, bit by bit.
"Macy," Kristy would say, as we put the last of the night's supplies back in Delia's garage, "you coming out with us tonight?"
She always extended the invitation, even though I said no every time. Which I appreciated. It's nice to have options, even if you can't take them.
"I can't," I'd tell her. "I'm busy."
"Okay," she'd say, shrugging. "Maybe next time."
It went like that, our own little routine, until one night when she squinted at me, curious. "What do you do every night, anyway?" she'd asked.
"Just, you know, stuff for school," I'd told her.
"Donneven," Monica said, shaking her head.
"I'm prepping for the SATs," I said, "and I work another job in the mornings."
Kristy rolled her eyes. "It's summertime" she told me. "I mean, I know you're a smarty-pants, but don't you ever take a break? Life is long, you know."
Maybe, I thought. Or maybe not. Out loud I said, "I just really, you know, have a lot of work to do."
"Okay," she'd said. "Have fun. Study for me, while you're at it. God knows I need it."
So while at home I was still fine-just-fine Macy, wiping up sink splatters immediately and ironing my clothes as soon as they got out of the dryer, the nights when I arrived home from catering, I was someone else, a girl with her hair mussed, a stained shirt, smelling of whatever had been spilled or smeared on me. It was like Cinderella in reverse: if I was a princess for my daylight hours, at night I let myself and my composure go, just until the stroke of midnight, when I turned back to princess again, just in time.
The ham disaster was, like all the others, eventually averted. Wes ran to the gourmet grocery where Delia was owed a favor, and Kristy and I just kept walking through with more appetizers, deflecting all queries about when dinner was being served with a bat of the eyelashes and a smile (her idea, of course). When the ham was finally served—forty-five minutes late—it was a hit, and everyone went home happy.
It was ten-thirty by the time I finally pulled into Wildflower Ridge, my headlights swinging across the town common and into our cul-de-sac, where I saw my house, my mailbox, everything as usual, and then something else.