Alaine turned to leave. “And Chef, I’m looking forward to seeing a lot more of you soon.”
“Why don’t you come up to my office, and we can look at my schedule.” Major motioned Alaine out the door ahead of him.
Her charitable feelings toward Alaine Delacroix vanished, crushed under a block of ice. Meredith had been right. Major would never feel that way about her. Ward seemed to like her, though she couldn’t quite figure out why. But how long would that last before he met an Alaine of his own?
Chapter 11
“I’m happy you had time in your schedule to meet with me today.” Alaine Delacroix finished fiddling with her camera and settled into the guest chair facing Meredith’s desk.
“I’m pleased to be able to accommodate you.” Meredith clasped her hands atop her desk blotter and tried to force her shoulders to loosen up.
“Chef O’Hara had so many wonderful things to say about you when I interviewed him last week—I couldn’t wait to come talk to the miracle worker myself.”
“I’m sure he was exaggerating.” Meredith didn’t know why she always felt the need to deflect compliments rather than just say thank you and move on. “So I take it the interview with him went well?”
“Yes—I aired a twenty-minute segment on today’s show as a promo for his cooking segment starting in a couple of weeks. And it made a nice follow-up to the part of the interview I aired on the New Year’s Eve Masquerade Ball.”
In spite of herself, Meredith returned Alaine’s perfect smile. She seemed pretty genuine. Maybe Meredith was overreacting to the reporter’s presence and Major’s reaction to her. Of course, that shouldn’t matter anyway, since she was supposed to be getting over Major.
“Okay—ready?”
“As I’ll ever be.” Meredith rearranged her hands on her blotter. “Should I look at you or the camera?”
The cycloptic lens stared at her over Alaine’s shoulder. “Let’s just have a conversation, you and I. Don’t think of this as an interview, just think of me as ... as a potential client who’s curious about the event you’re working on right now.”
Laughter released some of Meredith’s nervousness. “I think I can do that.”
“Great. Let’s start with the history of the Hearts to HEARTS banquet. How did Boudreaux-Guidry Enterprises get involved with a charity to raise money for the cardiac care unit at University Hospital?”
“About five years ago, my father, Lawson Guidry, suffered a heart attack. He was taken first to Bonneterre General, where his condition was misdiagnosed as severe angina, and he was sent home.”
Meredith picked up a pen and was about to start twirling it between her fingers until the little red light on the camera caught her attention. She put the pen back down. “Later that night, he passed out during dinner. This time, he was taken to University Hospital and immediately admitted to the cardiac care unit. Dr. Warner personally treated him and attended the surgeon during Dad’s bypass surgery. After that, the Warners became like part of our family.”
“When Dr. Warner passed away a year later, my parents wanted to do something to honor him and decided the best way was to help raise money for his research foundation, HEARTS.”
“Is that an acronym?”
“It is: Heart-disease Education, Awareness, Research, Treatment, and Survival.” She grinned, pleased with herself for being able to say the whole thing without having to stop to remember what any of the elements were.
Alaine segued into questions about the actual nuts and bolts of planning the events. Meredith was only too happy to talk about what went into organizing an event like this, being sure to give her event planners and Corie plenty of credit for all of the work they did to help her.
After an hour, Alaine changed her line of questioning. “Tell me a little about yourself, Meredith. How long have you been in this job?”
“I’ve been the executive director of events and facilities for about six years. Before that, I was an event planner under Anne Hawthorne when she was head of the department.”
“Anne Hawthorne—the wedding planner?” Alaine clicked her tongue. “If only I’d known you last year, I might have gotten that interview with her I kept trying for.” She laughed. “So Anne Hawthorne worked here before she started Happy Endings, Inc. How long did you work for Anne?”
“About four years. I started working here as soon as I finished grad school.”
“Let me guess—MBA?” Alaine grinned.
Meredith shook her head, laughing. “No. Not even close. Art history. My dad wanted me to follow in his footsteps and get my degrees in business, but I chose to go the fine arts route instead.”
Alaine’s dark eyes glowed from deep within. “I can’t believe it! I started out as an art history major—then I took a journalism class for a liberal arts requirement, and I was hooked. But whenever I got a chance, I took art classes to fulfill elective hours.”
“What movement did you want to study?” Meredith leaned forward on her elbows, thrilled at the rare opportunity to talk to someone who knew something about art.
“Impressionists. I have Monet and Renoir and Pissaro lithographs all over my townhouse—and a few framed postcards I got at the Louvre several years ago.”
“Oh,” Meredith half sighed, half groaned. “I’ve always wanted to go to Europe and tour all the great art museums.”
“Have you at least been to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York?” Alaine seemed to forget the camera and her notepad, leaning toward Meredith in her interest.
“No. Closest I’ve been is the National Gallery of Art and the Hirshhorn in Washington, D.C. I’ve also been to the Art Institute of Chicago.”
“What’s your movement?”
“Art deco. Everything about the era—the art, the jewelry, the architecture. That’s why I jumped at the opportunity to buy a craftsman bungalow a few months ago—even though it did need a complete overhaul inside.”
“Really? I’d love to buy an old place and fix it up.” Alaine laughed and rolled her eyes. “Well, have my brother fix it up.”
“Your brother?”
“Tony. He’s a contractor.”
A tingle of interest tickled the back of Meredith’s neck. Even though she was pretty sure Ward would give her a reasonable offer, having another bid on the work might be good. “A contractor? Here in Bonneterre?”
“Yeah. He actually has his degree in architecture. But he decided he liked getting his hands dirty instead of sitting in an office drawing every day, so he became a contractor instead.” Alaine jerked her head then jumped up to turn the camera off. “Sorry. I’ll erase all of that personal stuff.”
“Not a problem.” Meredith stood and walked around to perch on the front edge of her desk while Alaine broke down the camera equipment. “What kind of construction work does your brother do?”
“Home remodeling. Hey, you know what?” Alaine stopped halfway through wrapping up the power cord. “You and Tony would have a lot in common. Would it be weird if...?”
“I’d love to meet him.”
“That’s great.” Alaine gave a little hop of excitement. “I don’t usually go around trying to set up the people I’m interviewing with one of my brothers, but I know the two of you would really hit it off.”
Meredith’s stomach dropped into her left knee. A setup?
“I could give him your phone number or e-mail address and have him get in touch with you.” Alaine crouched down to pack everything away in a black canvas bag. “If I can get another one of your business cards, I’ll tell him to e-mail you.” She caught the tip of her tongue between her teeth when she looked up and wrinkled her nose in a big grin at Meredith.
“I ... uh...” How did she expect to end her years of singleness if she passed up opportunities for dates, or get her house finished if she worried that every contractor might ask her out? She swallowed hard and handed Alaine another business card. “Okay.”