The House on Prytania (Royal Street #2)(28)
Author: Karen White
“Ooh—maybe it’s haunted,” she said with enthusiasm. “That could make some great social media posts. We can ask Mimi to lend us some of her Frozen Charlotte dolls to decorate with during the renovation. How cool would that be?”
I kept my grin in place, avoiding looking at Beau. “That’s certainly an option. We’ll talk about it later.” I stepped back from the truck as Sunny started rolling up her window. Beau called out through the narrowing crack, “Let me know when you’re ready to tackle the interstate, Nola. I’m ready when you are.”
The window closed, and I had to mouth, When hell freezes over.
I let myself into the apartment, listening to laughter from upstairs and aware of the absent scent of food cooking in the kitchen. I’d begun to salivate like Pavlov’s dogs whenever I climbed the stairs to our apartment at the end of the day. It wasn’t that I expected Jolene to make dinner or bake something for me every day, but she always did. Obviously, something was horribly wrong.
I ran up the rest of the stairs and flung open the door, panting from the exertion. Jolene and Jaxson sat in front of her open laptop on the couch, the only two fixtures in the room that weren’t bedecked in purple, gold, and green Mardi Gras colors. Even Mardi wore a tricolor jester collar that had along its pointed edges bells that jangled as he bounced over to say hello to me before promptly rolling onto his back to show his belly.
“Was I abducted by aliens and skipped a few months? Last time I checked, it was still October.”
Jolene stood and smoothed her hands on her skinny jeans. As she approached I stared, taking in the ballet flats and her messy bun. The only way I recognized her was by her full face of makeup and her flaming red hair. And her smile as she approached me.
“Who are you and what have you done with Jolene? The Jolene I know doesn’t own jeans. Or flats.”
Jolene hugged me. “You’re such a silly goose. Still the same Jolene, I promise.” Jaxson stood, wearing jeans, too, and tennis shoes, but the starched collar on his golf shirt told me that he hadn’t also been abducted.
“I asked Jolene for some remodeling advice for my apartment, and instead she took a day off from work and spent it with my landlord and me, going over how to do some upgrades while being sensitive to the historic elements of the property. She also gave me free advice on redecorating my own apartment. Carly has been meaning to redo it for a while now, but she’s always so busy. I’m a guy, but even I was getting tired of the frat-house décor. And I knew Jolene had a great eye just from seeing what she’s done to this apartment.”
“Please don’t tell me that she re-created the Wizard of Oz set.” I said that as a joke, but I wasn’t completely sure until Jolene laughed.
“Very funny. To be honest, I considered it, because anything would be better than what’s there now. I just about near fainted when I saw the beanbag chairs and the milk-crate furniture. It’s just wrong for a grown man to be living that way.” Jolene beamed. “I’m just happy I could help out a friend.” Her voice sounded a little more high-pitched than usual, but Jaxson didn’t appear to notice.
“She wouldn’t let me pay her, or even reimburse her for a bedside lamp and an extra throw pillow she had and claims she wasn’t using. I declined to have it monogrammed, although she would have done that, too, if I’d said yes.”
“Nothing’s safe,” I said. “Just look at Mardi.”
Mardi looked up at the sound of his name, and we all admired his rugby-striped sweater with MLT monogrammed on the back.
Jaxson grinned. “I’ll be sure not to stand still long enough. Anyway, I thought I’d thank her by taking her out to dinner, but first she asked if I could help her with some of the ‘Welcome to New Orleans’ décor for your family’s visit.”
I walked toward the dining room, admiring Jolene’s use of foil streamers hanging from the doorways and the impressive amount of confetti sprinkled on top of the furniture.
“We also had balloons,” Jolene said. “The kind with all those glittery sparkles, but Mardi got rid of them quicker than a hiccup, so I figured we’d skip them for now. There will also be a king cake I’ve already ordered from Randazzo’s, and pralines from Aunt Sally’s. Those are the only things I won’t be personally making.”
“Jolene.” My eyes felt warm and watery. “This is the nicest thing. You didn’t have to do this. I think it’s already enough that you’re allowing my little sister to move in for a week and you even seem excited about it.”
“Oh, I am! I’ve even got a little surprise for her.”
“Is it monogrammed?” Jaxson asked.
Jolene’s smile faltered. “No, it’s not. I didn’t even think about it.” She brightened. “But thank goodness it’s not too late.”
“Thank goodness.” I reached up and twirled a bouquet of feathers and masks hanging from the ceiling light fixture and tied with an extravagant bow of purple velvet ribbon sprinkled with what appeared to be hand-sewn gold and green sequins. Turning back to Jolene, I said, “I’m sorry I missed the filming today at the house. I meant to be there to demonstrate the authentic way to patch plaster walls, but Beau dragged me away to look at a house on Esplanade for his new venture.”
Jolene and Jaxson shared a glance as Jolene retrieved the laptop from the coffee table. “Actually, that’s what we were laughing at when you came in. I brought Mardi with me to the house because I just can’t take that abandoned look he gives me every time I leave him by himself, and Thibaut and Jorge used him in their act! Mardi is quite the acrobat and enjoyed showing off his skills. I only just posted it, and we already have over one thousand views. Here—come look.”
She placed the laptop on top of a gold-and-green-striped linen tablecloth on the dining table. I’d been so distracted by the streamers and glitter that I only just then finally caught sight of the centerpiece. I stifled a small scream as I remembered the last time Jolene had gotten creative with a centerpiece and how the fright had taken five years off my life.
“I told her we should warn you first, but we weren’t expecting you so soon,” Jaxson said.
“Don’t you just love it?” Jolene said.
While my heart slowed to a normal rate, I examined the disembodied, oversized Barbie doll head in the middle of the table, the golden blond hair piled high in a mass of curls, colorful jewels, and glitter, all tucked beneath a tall crown of heavy gold filigree with a clear stone the size of a child’s fist in the center. Over her eyes, Barbie wore a glittering mask of purple satin embroidered with the words WELCOME TRENHOLM FAMILY! in green lettering around the top and bottom.