Page 49 of The Estate
“That’s some really obsessive love of pinball.”
“Absolutely,” Cal replied. They both moved aside as the delivery men rolled another console past. “Normally we would take deliveries on Wednesday or Thursday for a Friday night wedding. But since they wanted so many different machines andspecialty games, they had to rent from two different companies. It’s been a challenge to get everything scheduled.
"Although, starting on Tuesday ensures everything is here on time. We also had to hire an electrician who will make sure everything is set properly and has enough juice.”
“Why isn’t Trace overseeing it?”
Cal sighed, “Well, I do like to be hands on with these things as they’re somewhat unusual.”
“You mean you want to be the one in charge of the new element,” she said, smiling to let him know she was just poking fun.
“Maybe,” he answered with a grin. “And as you’ve seen, Trace can be a little forgetful about these things. Besides, if you want it done right, you have to do it yourself. Am I right?”
His remark hit a little too close to home, but she kept that reaction to herself. Wanting to hold on to the moment, she asked, “Pinball is a pretty specific request. Have you had other weddings where they requested something fun, weird, or different?”
“Oh sure,” Cal replied, looking up momentarily. “I think the oddest but most enjoyable request was bounce houses.” He looked at her with a huge smile.
“Bounce houses?”
“Yeah, it was this lovely couple. We had just really started booking events, and they were looking for a venue with accessible grounds because they wanted bounce houses.”
“Houses, as in multiple?”
“Yeah,” he laughed. “They had like ten of the damn things all over the property.”
“How many kids were coming to that wedding?”
“That’s the really fun part. There were barely any.” Seeing her incredulous look, he laughed. “Crazy right? But it worked…” One of the delivery people walked up, so Cal turned back and said, “Excuse me for a minute.”
He walked around the room, pointing at various spots, while the delivery person made notes. It appeared Cal had a certain placement in mind for each game. When he walked back, he indicated she should precede him from the room.
Cal steered her through the front door past the rental truck. He picked up the story as they walked across the lawn toward the back of the house. “The bride and groom, Sean and Samantha, married in the chapel. It was a pretty straightforward service.
"But during the cocktail hour, Samantha changed into pants, and then the two of them went nuts running through all the different inflatables. They’d warned their guests, so many of them joined in. They did that until the end of the night. Drinking, dancing, eating and jumping in bounce houses.”
“That’s insane,” she cried.
“It was,” he replied, adding, “Pretty magical too.”
“What else?” she prompted.
“Let me see,” he said. “Some of it is sort of standard, like horse and carriage or doves. But I will tell you I’ll never allow swans again.”
“That sounds like a story.”
“Oh, it is. I still get flashbacks when I see any sort of white bird.”
She giggled.Did she really just giggle?With a shake of her head, she replied, “You’ll have to tell me that story one day.” Sheclosed her mouth promptly, hoping he didn’t catch her slip. One day implied they’d actually see each other when this project was done. Fortunately, he didn’t seem to notice.
“It’ll take a few cocktails to pry that one out of me.”
“I do love a challenge.”
“Good luck,” he replied with a grin. “I’m more likely to share the story of the miniature horses we had before I disclose the tale about the swans.”
“No! Horses?”
“Miniature horses. They were actually cute. From a distance. A nice little distance, but they were fun. But the baby goats were better. The alpacas not so much.”
