Page 13 of Serious Cowboy
To sayCallie felt impressed by the setup Lindsey Duncan’s company provided was a vast understatement. She’d fully expected the party planner to send one or two of her staff ahead to throw some streamers and balloons up, make the food presentation, and then come moseying in when the party was in process. Callie had also expected fairly minimal decorations.
But that wasn’t what she got.
Sure, there were definitely streamers, balloons, and food, but each of those items had been given a custom-made touch. Before she’d formally set a date for the party, Beth from Sensational Shindigs had reached out to Callie again to find out her nieces and nephew’s names, their favorite type of cake and ice cream, and their favorite colors.
Callie hadn’t thought a thing of this. She’d figured the planners would use this information in a general way to make certain nothing they provided was disliked by the kids. Or maybe to give the company the slightest bit of direction, so they didn’t go off-track.
But Callie needn’t have worried about them going off-track at all. Because this business knew exactly what they were doing.
Once she’d decided to throw a little party for her nieces and nephew and some of their friends she’d turned all the details over to Lindsey Duncan’s company. She’d seen the party planner storefront in town the day Zeke had showed her around town. She made a mental note to keep the company in mind for the winter party she wanted to have for the kids.
Doing fun things with her nieces and nephews now that they lived in the same town was a priority for her now. Being most favored aunt was important, but only because it made them happy. And she loved to see them laughing and joyful.
Sensational Shindigs showed up with three separate batches of cupcakes in a different color. Green for Brian. Pink for Sallie. Purple for Kimmie. The groups of cupcakes each had the kids’ names spelled out, as well, so that each child could feel celebrated and special all at the same time.
In an hour’s time, Lindsey and her team had her little home transformed into a children’s fantasy wonderland. There were temporary but huge appliques of gnomes, mushrooms, fairies, and giants covering the walls of her combo living and dining room area.
Glimmering silver stars and snowflakes hung every few inches across the surface of her ceiling. Swirls of rainbow lights flew about the room catching the metallic reflections of the other decorations, including the foil-like tablecloths.
Callie had busied herself in her room getting ready having no idea how quickly and completely her home would be morphedinto this otherworldly realm. She’d stood there at the threshold of her kitchen simply staring at it all, stunned.
“Lindsey,” she gushed, knowing her eyes must be bulging out of her head, but she didn’t care. For the price she’d paid, this was phenomenal. “You never said you were miracle workers.”
“We aren’t,” Lindsey’s smile definitely reached her eyes, though. “We just have lots of practice. And I happen to have the best crew in the world.”
“You do. You seriously do. I don’t think I could’ve done all this if I had twelve hours, much less one.”
“This is why we never work by ourselves.” Lindsey took in the environment there in the room and seemed pleased. “We appreciate you hiring us, and if you’re willing to give us a good review and refer your friends and family, that would help us a lot.”
“Of course,” Callie exclaimed. How could she not? “I’d be happy to. And I run into tons of people who could use your services at my brother’s office where I work.”
“The pediatrician, right?”
“That’s right.”
“I believe my sisters-in-law take their kids to Dr. Blum.”
“I wonder if I’ve seen them and not known who they were,” Callie considered. “I’ve only been the office manager there for a few months.”
They chatted about some of the people they didn’t realize they had in common for several minutes before Tim arrived with his three little tikes in tow. Brian, Sallie, and Kimmie had each beenallowed to bring along a friend, so the number of children had doubled. The noise caused by their united squeals of delight was enough to make Callie feel like she was back at work.
It was amazing the decibel levels six kids under the age of ten could reach.
Beth provided games to keep them all occupied, which was a good thing once they ate the cake and ice cream due to the amount of sugar zipping through their systems. Ah, to have the energy of a child. Callie had always thought herself high-energy until she started dealing with kids on a daily basis.
Now, she knew her energy couldn’t possibly compete with theirs. Not even when sick, sometimes.
When her nieces and nephews and their friends were engaged in their activities, Callie took the opportunity to chat with Lindsey.
“What’s it like living on a big cattle ranch?”
“Different from how I grew up. I was always a city girl before I met Bryce. It was his mom hiring me to throw her husband a birthday party that set all those wheels in motion. Being out here…” She laughed softly under her breath as she shook her head. There must be story there. “Let’s just say it’s been interesting.”
“I bet.” Callie cleared her throat, not wanting to be too obvious about what she was about to do. “I hear it’s pretty big, the Duncan Ranch.”
“Oh, it is. Lots of moving parts. But Bryce and his brothers do their best to maintain as much of a family atmosphere with the ranch hands and other employees as possible.”
“Speaking of your employees, I’ve recently met your feed manager, Zeke Knight.”