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Christmas Eve Ball (Part 3)

Greg continued greeting people and handing out place cards. The flow of new visitors began to slow down and he took a moment to wander away from the door. He saw the community laughing and sharing a wonderful time. It was a heartwarming sight and worth all of the planning and the wheeling and dealing it took to pull it off.

“Greg.” He felt an arm brush against his.

“Meghan?”

She looped her arm around his and gently turned him toward the door. “Look.”

“Wow.”

Aundrea and Phyllis were back and they were dazzling.

Aundrea’s flaxen hair flowed down over one shoulder to spill across the front of her glittering, golden dress. It hugged every curve and glistened from every taut contour. She had silk stockings with a subtle golden sheen to them. Her pumps were the same holly berry red as the sash that encircled her waist and crossed her chest to drape over her shoulder.

If Aundrea was a vision in gold, Phyllis was a striking pillar of blazing silver. Her long salt and pepper hair had taken on a sheen like burnished pewter. Her dress was a silvery gray cascade of silk that danced over her slim physique. Her stockings were a wintry silver-blue ending in steely gray velvet flats.

“Silver and gold.” Greg murmured. He felt an arm tighten around his and a head resting on his shoulder.

“Beautiful.”

“Yes, you are.” He turned to look into her warm brown eyes. “You should probably save me more than one dance.”

“You can count on it, Pastor.”

He was about to protest when she smiled up at him and tapped him on the nose with her finger and playfully strolled away. Greg could feel a blush rising in his cheeks when he turned back to check on other guests.

“What’s going on with you and Meghan there, Greg?”

“Phyllis, don’t you look spectacular?”

“Nice dodge, Pastor.”

“Let’s see.” Greg thumbed through his remaining place cards. “You’re at table eight.”

“Any word from Jeb?”

“You know? He seems to be the most popular person who’s not here. Nothing yet. Have a great evening, Phyl” He handed her a place card and walked over to the pastry display. “Aundrea, what are you doing?”

“I just wanted to freshen up this arrangement.”

“I’m thinking that the change in your attire says that you’re no longer responsible for the state of the pastries. You’re at table one. I believe they’re waiting for you to arrive so they can start eating. That is such a stunning dress, Aundrea. You’re going to knock their socks off. Let’s go find table number one.”

“Greg, have you heard from Jeb? I’m so worried about him.”

“He’s a very careful and capable man. I’m sure he’s simply taking his time on treacherous roads. I imagine he’s got to stop off at home to unhitch his trailer and everything.”

“Of course, you’re right. I’m just being silly.”

“Yes, that’s right. Let’s go have a seat and have some dinner. I’m sure he’ll be along a bit later.” Greg ushered her away from the pastry display. He heard her gasp as she took in the sight of the celebration. They walked to table one and he pulled out her chair. “There you go. You’ve done a fine job contributing to the party. Now it’s time to unwind and enjoy yourself for a while. I’m going to go get this party started.”

She took in the sights and greeted the people seated at her table as Greg strode out to the center of the dance floor. People began to settle down as he put on his headset.

“If you can hear me, say ‘Merry Christmas’.”

“MERRY CHRISTMAS!”

“Good, this thing is working. Thanks, Amy. Welcome, welcome, welcome to the 2020 Christmas Eve Ball. This is a wonderful turnout and I think you’re going to have a fantastic time tonight. People have gone all out to make this a very special occasion, so let’s give a big hand to everyone who helped to make this ball happen.”

He led the applause and pointed at various contributors around the room. “Thank you, thank you, thank you. Now, if everyone could take their seats, we’ll begin dinner service and Amy will set the musical mood for us.”

Greg returned to table one where he was not entirely surprised to find Meghan seated right next to him. The girl was relentless and she was beginning to wear him down. Even with all of his MC duties this evening, he suspected he was going to be more and more enchanted with her before the night was out. He could see the amused smirk on Aundrea’s face when Meghan took his hand as he said grace.

“So, Herb, how did you know just what to order from Aundrea’s bakery?”

“Haha, I didn’t. I simply told her I needed a first class spread for an important social event. She asked how many people we anticipated and that was that. What you see out there is all a product of her unique genius.”

She was shocked at first and a little embarrassed but Greg could see the joy bursting forth that Jeb had spoken of so often. He sincerely hoped Jeb would be able to make it back before everything wrapped up.

Once dinner was served and everyone had a chance to eat and converse, Greg patted Meghan’s freckled hand and got up to resume his duties.

“I hope everyone enjoyed their meals?”

Another round of applause was presented in answer.

“Fantastic, I enjoyed mine as well but we’re going to switch gears here and get started with some dancing. Let’s burn those Christmas dinner calories, folks. What do you say? Come on out on the dance floor and really start this celebration. Amy, would you do the honors?”

She gave him the thumbs up and cranked up some holiday rock and roll to stir folks from their seats. He kept an eye on things as the kitchen staff deftly cleared the tables. Meghan supervised the clean up and reset for dessert. While people danced, they’d eventually return to tables that had been done over in new place settings and, where needed, new linens. By the time this had all occurred, Amy had begun slowing down the mood.

Greg was standing amid the dancers watching the kitchen staff disappear into the back when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around, expecting Meghan. What he found was the biggest man with the loudest red suit he had ever seen. “This doesn’t happen often, but I’m speechless.”