The Hungry {Romance} Writer: Barbecue Beef Brisket

Welcome to the next installment of Christmas Eve at Pinckney House. Last week we left Zack Tremaine and Allison Pinckney, the hero and heroine of In Search of Truth (book 3 in the Amazon bestselling Deadly Force series), in the music room singing Christmas songs and about to serve dinner.

This week Allison is serving a do-ahead Barbecue Beef Brisket. Although she set up round dining tables in the conservatory–a glass-walled room decorated with Christmas trees and fairy lights–for an intimate feel, she’s still serving dinner buffet style in the dining room. With this number of people, it’s easier to let them eat and visit the bar and wander the house at will. The quartet, still in the dining room, can be heard in conservatory. And because the walls are mostly floor-to-ceiling windows, her guests have a perfect view of the garden decked out in colorful Christmas lights and her enormous poinsettias that love the more humid weather. It’s enchanting and beautiful and I’m wishing I was invited as well!

---

Allison Pinckney ~ “After everyone has gone through the buffet line and found a seat in the conservatory, Zack and I fill our own plates. I’ve decided to serve Barbecue Beef Brisket because it feeds a ton of people and is so delicious. Once we have our plates, we head into the conservatory. Zack immediately is pulled to a table with a few of the other single men including Detective Garza, Kells, and Vane.

Just as I set my place down to Samantha and Pete, I hear the doorbell and excuse myself. Since the staff is busy serving and cleaning, I hurry into the foyer and open the door. And I’m shocked to see Zack’s sister shivering on the porch.

“Emilie!” I pull her inside and give her a huge hug. “What are you doing here? I thought your flight from New Orleans was cancelled?”

She releases and hands me a gift with a red and gold bow while she takes off her coat. “My flight was cancelled but then Vivienne made a phone call….”

I laugh and, after handing her coat to a waiter, lead her into the dining room. “Of course Vivienne made a phone call. She owns her own plane, after all.”

Emilie brushes her dark brown hair off her shoulders and shakes her head. The blue sequins on her dress sparkle. “I should have realized Vivienne would take control of the situation, but–” Emilie nods to the present I’m still holding, “I really wanted to be here tonight. It’s the first Christmas Eve with my future sister-in-law–my future family–and I was not going to miss it.”

I make a mental note to thank Vivienne. “Well,” I say as we enter the dining room, “Zack is going to be so happy to see you.”

Emilie pauses in the doorway, takes a Christmas Cranberry Cocktail from a passing waiter, and stares at the decor. “Allison, the house looks incredible. It rivals Vivienne’s mansion in the Garden District.”

“Thank you. I have to admit, though, that the house has its own decorating budget that includes a decorator.”

Emilie laughs and takes my arm. “Before I eat, I want you to open your present.”

“Now?”

She nods and drags me to a pair of chairs near the Christmas tree. “Please.”

It takes me a moment to untie the elaborate bow but once I open the box I inhale sharply. “Emilie!”

She takes out the crystal tiara that had been tucked into mounds of tissue. “This belonged to my grandmother. For some reason, neither my mother nor Aunt Vivienne wore it. But I’ve always thought it was so beautiful and, if you like it, I’d be honored if you wore it when you wed my brother.”

I take it from her and the crystals throw prisms around the room. “It’s beautiful. I have no idea what I’m going to wear for the wedding–we haven’t even set a date yet–but I would love to wear the tiara.” I hug her again before putting it on my head. “What do you think?”

“I love–“

“Miss Allison!” Susan Ashton runs into the room, probably hiding from her sitter who spends more time upstairs on her phone than looking after an almost-eight-year old girl. “What is that?”

Once she stops in front of me, I take the tiara off and place it on her head. “I’m going to wear this on my wedding day.”

She smiles wide, showing off a missing tooth. “I can’t wait until your wedding!” With one hand holding the tiara on her head, she dances in front of the Christmas tree in time to the quartet nearby. “Do you need a flower girl?”

“Susan!” Maddie, Susan’s mother, enters the room and hurries over. “That’s not polite.”

Susan stops dancing, still holding the tiara on her head. “Why? Every bride needs a flower girl. And since most bridesmaids are between the ages of six and eight, I’m the perfect age.”

“Are you sure you’re forty instead of almost eight?” Emilie stands, takes Susan’s hand, and slowly twirls her around so the crystals catch the lights on the Christmas tree.

Susan giggles. “I’m not forty!”

“Well,” Zack says as he enters the room, “I think you’re sixty!”

Susan stops twirling, takes off the tiara, and hands it to Emilie. “I am not old. But I am the perfect age to be a flower girl.”

“Then,” Zack says as he kisses his sister on the cheek, “you shall be a flower girl.” He winks at me. “If it’s okay with Miss Allison, of course.”

I bend down to meet Susan’s serious gaze. “I would love it if you would be my flower girl.”

She kisses me on the cheek, says goodbye to the adults, and runs out of the room again, snagging some cookies from the table along the way. But as she enters the hallway, she runs straight into Alex Mitchell.

Without hesitating, he swings her up in his arms and says, “Want to sneak into the study? The cook is setting up the gingerbread houses.”

“Yes!” She wraps her arms around his neck and they disappear.

I glance at Maddie and am surprised to see her cheeks are flushed. Or maybe it’s too much Christmas Cranberry Punch.

As if knowing I’m watching, Maddie turns to Emilie and gives her a hug. “I’m so glad you’re here. And now that we have a headpiece, we can choose Allison’s dress.”

“How about we choose a date first.” Zack wraps his arm around my shoulder and kisses my head.

Now I feel a hot flush turning my face red. Since I’m not quite ready to set a date, I kiss his cheek and say, “Let’s tell Vivienne that Emilie has arrived so we can eat dinner.”

A few minutes later after all the introductions have been said, and hugs and kisses given, I find my plate and start eating. Although my dinner has gotten a bit cold, I don’t mind. I’m at a table with Emilie, Vivienne, and Samantha who are all snapping selfies and talking about Christmas shopping in New Orleans (apparently they are all natives). As I sip my Christmas Cranberry Punch, the quartet shifts from dinner music to dancing music. Within a minute, Zack pulls me up and draws me into a Christmas waltz.

“Thank you,” he whispers in my ear.

“For what?”

“For giving my friends and family what we haven’t had in a very long time.”

“A Christmas party?”

We pause in our dance because a noise is coming from the garden, near the gate that leads to the street. We move quickly to the French doors. Once we open them, we see a group of people holding candles and singing.

Susan appears next to me, out of breath, as if she ran through the house. “Carolers!”

All of my guests gather around as the carolers sing one song after another.

Zack, standing behind me, says softly, “You’ve haven’t just given up a party.” He kisses my head and adds, “You’ve given us a home. You’ve given us a miracle.”

---

---