Countdown To A Kiss (A New Year's Eve Anthology) Page 18
***
Those words rang inside Duncan’s head when he got his first glimpse of Annabelle that night.
He stood in the cold, outside on the grand porch of Henderson Country Club. He was purposely early. He thought it would be prudent to re-introduce himself to Annabelle without a large crowd around. Given that he was not, actually, Officer Friendly, or an officer at all—and that he’d given her a hard time and a three hundred dollar ticket this afternoon in order to win a bet—her reaction may not be in keeping with the impeccable manners she was known for.
And, feeling the tightness in his chest, he knew he deserved whatever penalty she dished out. He only hoped she didn’t have him thrown out of the party before he could coax her into giving Duncan James, attorney at law, a chance.
He swore he saw snowflakes drifting around him as he stared through the side panel windows of the double front doors of the club. The round foyer appeared to be lit in gold, giving warmth to the scene before him. Annabelle Devine took his breath away. Literally. He stood motionless, not sure if he was conjuring up a character from Homer’s Odyssey, because the gown Annabelle wore was straight out of Greek lore. Her silhouette displayed a graceful bare shoulder and arm and sheer flowing white fabric cascading to the ground. Her long red hair had been twisted up on her head in a sexy mess he hoped to get a chance to touch. Sooner rather than later.
There was a small crowd in front of Annabelle. Several younger women, all dressed in white ball gowns, stood in various stages of attention, but all were focused on what Annabelle was saying. She was animated, using her hands to direct her protégés. Behind them, proud parents stood, half listening, half talking amongst themselves. Eventually, the girls held their hands out for inspection. Given a nod, they pulled on their elbow-length gloves, except for one. After a brief discussion, Annabelle nodded and the one girl moved to hand her gloves to the coat check attendant behind Annabelle.
When she returned to the group, Annabelle gathered the girls tightly together and whispered for their ears only. To Duncan, it seemed like a football huddle, a secret game plan for the evening being discussed and agreed on. And then, in one happy moment, laughter erupted from all and the group disbanded, moving about in all directions.
Annabelle watched them go. Beaming, he noticed, like a proud momma. “The Keeper of the Debutantes,” he whispered. He heard movement behind him and turned to find Brooks Bennett’s parents coming up the porch steps.
“Mr. and Mrs. Bennett,” Duncan addressed them, reaching out his hand in greeting.
Mr. Bennett took it and shook it sharply. “Well, I’ll be. Duncan James. How are you, son?”
“I’m doing fine, Mr. Bennett. Thank you. Mrs. Bennett, you look lovely, as ever.” He leaned in to kiss her cheek.
“Oh, I always love having you boys around.” She tapped his cheek. “Are you here for the party?”
“I am.
“Well, good. You have a place to stay overnight? I don’t want you driving back to Raleigh after drinking in here.”
“I’m staying out at Brooks’s place.”
“In that mess?” Mrs. Bennett cried. “You come stay at our house.”
“Well, thanks for the invitation, but don’t you have Lewis staying there?”
“We do, but we have plenty of room. In fact, I don’t know why Brooks insists on staying at his place while it’s under construction. He could move right back into his old room and at least be comfortable while he’s fixin’ that place up.”
Duncan smiled at being given the perfect opportunity to set Brooks up. “Sounds like the smart plan to me. I don’t know what he’s thinking.”
“Exactly. So we’ll see you both later tonight.”
“Come on, woman,” Mr. Bennett said, placing a hand under her arm and steering her toward the door. He looked back at Duncan and winked. “If we miss you tonight, be sure to stop by for our Rose Bowl party tomorrow.”
“I’m looking forward to it.”
He stood another moment before following the Bennetts through the door. It was eight o’clock and cars were starting to stream into the circular drive. If Duncan didn’t want a crowd when he first spoke to Annabelle, he’d better git-r-done.