The Kitchen Witch (22 page)
"We could make a berry pie and call it Old Gooseberry Pie," she suggested.
"I don't know; I make a hell of a pumpkin cheesecake."
"
Ooooh
, that sounds yummy, but I'd want to decorate it with a chocolate icing web, and licorice spiders, and give it a spookier name."
"Spider cheesecake, it is."
"Dad you should carve a hundred pumpkins and put candles in '
em
for Mel's show."
Logan groaned.
The following day, Gardner loved the candlelit jack-o'-lantern idea. Fortunately, he ordered them
precarved
.
Melody's Halloween ratings hit an all-time high for the station, and clips from the show got picked up by one of the broadcast biggies for a national pre-Halloween news segment. That's when stations, other than their own affiliates, began to show a great deal of frantic, last-minute interest in carrying Melody's Thanksgiving show.
As a result, Gardner held an after-work "social" in his office, with waiters serving champagne to half the staff and crew. 'To Melody," he said after calling for silence and raising his glass. "Without your style, your showmanship, spells, and sex appeal, we would never have gone this far this fast." He raised his glass higher. 'To Melody
Seabright
, our own winning Kitchen Witch."
Tiffany walked out.
SALEM by the Sea, a lavish, Friday night, dinner dance extravaganza sponsored by WHCH TV, and held just before Halloween, had become a world-class event, with tickets coveted by broadcasting "names" from New York to Montreal. Salem hotel rooms, already at a premium as Halloween approached, sold out the night of the ball. Because Salem's Kitchen Witch, a hot new property, would attend this year, ball tickets sold out earlier than usual. Though Melody laughed the whole thing off, Logan retained a great deal of awed respect for anyone or anything in the business that created a buzz this loud.
Peabody called an impromptu meeting in his office early on the morning of the ball. Logan and Melody took the stairs, after a mutual, though silent, decision that stairs were safer than elevators. "I've got a nagging in my gut," Logan said as they climbed. "Something ugly is brewing in
Witchtown
."
Melody scoffed. "If I were shark bait, I'd have a paranoid gut-ache, too."
Logan climbed faster, but Melody kept up. "I'm guess-
ing
Max plans to make the most of his marketing dollar tonight." She hesitated at the door when she saw Tiffany holding court.
Logan placed a hand at her back,
both propelling
and guiding her inside, offering an unspoken bit of protection as well, and he could almost see Tiffany's hackles rise as he did. He hadn't called after their date. She must realize that she held less appeal for him than he did for her, which is probably what made her so mad.
"Come in, come in," Max said, rubbing his hands together. "Coffee,
Kilgarven
?
And what about our little star?"
Peabody took Melody's arm and steered her toward the coffee, apparently so his daughter could approach him, Logan thought, because Tiffany came over as if she'd been expecting the opportunity.
Aware he was the center of attention, Max poured a cup of coffee for Melody and took a sip of his own. "I guess you'd all like to know why I called this meeting. The fact is. Marketing thinks we'd be stupid if we didn't use the Halloween ball as an opportunity to promote
The Kitchen Witch
show, and I agree."
Melody gave Logan an "I told you so" nod. He raised his cup in a silent salute, to which Tiffany frowned.
"Since the national news picked up
The Kitchen Witch
," Peabody continued, "Mel's a hot property, and we want to take advantage of that That's why I plan to escort our star myself tonight. Logan, you can take Tiffany, and Gardner you can take… whoever.
Any questions?"
Melody caught Logan's stunned expression and Tiffany's satisfied grin. "I think it's pretty clear," she said, slipping her arm through Max's and smiling up at him. "It's a work night, after all, which means the station buys my dress, right?"
"You know, I hadn't thought about that," Max said. "But you're right, since we'll be making a promo out of it" He gave his daughter a look and turned back to Melody.
"Whatever you want, Mel."
Melody grinned and made for the door. "Is that it, Max?
Anything else?
Will you be picking me up or sending the limo?"
"I'll come for you in the limo," he said. "
sharp."
"I'll be ready."
LOGAN caught up to her outside their office. "I thought you already bought your dress."
"I ordered it, but I haven't paid for it. If little Miss I-want-my-way is going to manipulate us through Daddy, then she can damned well pay for it."
"Wow, you're catching on to life in the television world pretty quick."
"Quicker than you think, buster."
"Hey, don't
lay
this on me."
"Who else should I
lay
it on? You're the one who went out with her in the first place."
Logan stepped back at her ire. "Are you jealous?"
"Screw you."
"Melody
Seabright
, jealous.
I'll be damned."
"Melody
Seabright
is pissed," she said without thinking.
Logan raised a chiding brow. "Temper…"
"Go to hell," she said as she left him standing
mere
.
BECAUSE Shane slept all the way to his grandmother and Chester's place, after day care that afternoon, the atmosphere inside the car hung thick, icy, and dead silent.
"Look," Logan said to Melody after they dropped Shane off. "I'm sorry you're pissed at me, but I really wanted to take you to the ball, not Tiffany."
"Max obviously thinks you and Tiffany are perfect for each other, so go for it. He'd make a mighty generous father-in-law."
It bothered Logan that he'd once thought the same thing. Worse, he'd thought Tiffany would make a more stable mother than Melody, when
really,
there wasn't much stability between them. For Logan's money, though, Jessie had been right in the first place. Melody was a nurturer, even though she thought differently. "I've decided I won't be thinking about in-laws for some time yet, if I ever do."
"Tiffany isn't going to be too happy about that."
"Tiffany has no say in the matter."
"I suppose Max doesn't either? Don't look now, but it almost seems like… if you don't screw Tiffany, you're screwing the boss, not that Max would think so, but Tiffany might."
"Thanks, just what I needed to hear. Son of a—" Logan shook his head. "I sure wish you'd stop being pissed at me. I wanted to dance with you tonight. I still want to."
"I might not want to dance with you."
"Okay, let me be frank for a change. More than I want to dance with you, I want to hold you in my arms, damn it."
Melody's heart skipped. "Oh."
"Is that all you can say?"
"Oh boy?"
Logan parked in the driveway, got out, and slammed his door, but he swore when Melody got out before he could open her door for her. Ticked, he allowed her to precede him to the landing,
then
he ran upstairs without a word.
THREE hours later, about ten minutes before Max planned to pick her up in the limo. Melody heard Logan leave. He knocked on her door on his way out, but she didn't answer. She had chosen her knockout, sea green gown with pleasing him in mind, idiot that she was. But now that he was escorting Tiffany, she wanted him to get the full effect in the surroundings she'd dressed to complement—beneath the shimmering opalescent glow of a dozen crystal chandeliers. He might think she was still mad, of course, but let him stew for a while longer; she'd disabuse him of the notion soon enough.
SALEM by the Sea represented a whimsical, watery fantasy of a teal green ocean, enhanced by colorful coral sculptures, fairy-lights that mimicked water bubbles, and a wall of tropical fish in colors so bright, they seemed
fake
, except for the way they swam through their aquatic world.
Melody had looked over the plans and talked to the set decorators assigned the job of creating the aqua vista. Then she chose a gown designed to accentuate the fantasy—a straight-fitted, low-cut, strapless confection with
pearles
-cent opaque sequins over pale teal that mimicked the shimmering illusion of a mermaid beneath the sea.
Max about had a heart attack when she opened her door to him.
"Melody, you take my breath away," he said, though she knew that nothing touched him beyond money and power, and that however she appeared, however possessive he seemed, it was because she reflected well on the station, its ratings, and his bottom line.
When they arrived at the ball, Gardner greeted them and followed them like a toady. "What did you do to your hair, Mel?" he asked. "It looks as amazing as the rest of you."
"Melody always looks amazing," Max said. "Tonight she simply looks enchantingly amazing."
"I'm glad you think so, Max, because Lily and Dwayne, from Makeup and Hairdressing, made house calls." Dwayne had contained and tamed her buoyant hair with an opaque, luminescent sea green ribbon woven around and through her natural waves. Then he'd pulled the shimmering mane forward to cover a breast and patted it into place until she'd had to move his hand away. He said she looked like her hair was being shaped by the movement of the sea. "I told them to send you the bills."
Peabody squeezed her hand on his arm. "You're worth every penny."
Melody hoped Logan would think so, too.
She had been told that most attendees would wear classic black evening wear, men and women alike, and when she entered the ballroom on Peabody's arm, she saw that few had strayed from tradition. She didn't blame them for conforming, but that was not her style. As a child, when she saw how easy it would be to disappear altogether, she knew that to survive, she must be visible.
"You look as if you belong to this magic world," Max whispered near her ear, almost like a lover.
That's when Logan and Tiffany walked in.
Although it was difficult to tell which of them seemed more taken aback by the sight of her and Max in intimate conversation, Melody couldn't help but realize that all their attention was focused her way.
Logan looked as if he might like to devour or beat her.
Tiffany seemed bent on… murder, either because Melody had played up to Daddy, or because she'd stolen Logan's regard.
Either way, Melody thought with a smile, who cared?
Chapter Seventeen
IGNORING Melody, Tiffany kissed her father. She had broken with classic black as well, to gain Logan's attention, no doubt, which is no more than Melody had done, of course, but Tiffany had worn red.
Too bad that with her coloring, red
tnade
her look as if she were ill.
Logan took Melody's hand and brought it to his lips, while his gaze captured hers and she read a great deal of promise in the sea blue depths of his eyes.
"Witch," Tiffany said, almost, but not quite, beneath her breath.
"Our very own,"' Max said with a cautioning smile.
"Shark," Melody said, in the same low biting manner.
Tiffany stiffened, and Logan began to cough.
"Over there," Melody said. "In the aquarium, isn't that a shark?"
Max grinned, patted Melody's hand on his arm, and led her toward the pressroom, as if to steer her from harm's way. Melody did not miss the warning look he gave his daughter before they left.
The minute Mel entered the
pressroom,
cameras started rolling, lights flashing, and reporters shooting questions, three at a time. When someone asked how old she'd been when she first started cooking, Melody laughed while panic rose inside her, until Logan stepped up, took her arm, and introduced himself as her producer. "I hardly remember Melody when she wasn't cooking," he said.
Disaster averted. Whew.
For the rest of the interview, Logan fed the reporters the information he wanted them to have, diverting questions she shouldn't answer toward himself.
Later, as Logan led her from the pressroom and back toward the ballroom, Melody wondered where he'd chained Tiffany, because Daddy's girl would never have let go long enough for him to come to her aid with any incentive less than a sturdy lock.
Everyone else had deserted her by then, even Max… everyone but Logan. "That was exhausting," Melody said. "Thanks for the rescue. You're a regular knight in shining armor."
"Tarnished armor, you mean. I'm sorry I lost my cool earlier. Did I get a chance to tell you how incredible you—"
"There you are, darling," Tiffany said, coming up to them and threading a possessive arm through Logan's. "I wondered where you'd gone off to. Melody, dear, I'd like you to meet Brian Westmoreland. Brian, this is Melody
Seabright
, our very own Kitchen Witch, and Logan
Kilgar-ven
, my producer at WHCH. Brian produces our evening news in Albany," she told Melody.
Melody extended her hand toward Brian with a smile, but he pulled her into an embrace and kissed her cheek. "Mel and I are old friends," he told Tiffany… which, Melody thought, was a bit of a stretch, since they'd met exactly once, on the day she was hired, though not as great a stretch as Tiffany's solo ownership of the station.
"Dance with me," Brian said, sweeping Melody onto the dance floor and making her laugh. "You do realize," he said, as they began to waltz, "that you're the most beautiful woman in the room, the whole of
"But not
Westmoreland blushed.
"I think Miss Peabody would take exception to your statement," Mel said with a laugh, though she enjoyed his compliments and his fascinating stories of life in TV news. After their dance, they went out to the balcony for a leisurely drink.