No! This dinner party is happening now.

“No! Of course not. Do you eat takeout? I haven’t cooked. You like pizza?” Spencer said ushering her into his kitchen.

Danielle was relieved. She’d been so looking forward to dinner with Spencer. She’s dressed especially just for him. An extra tight high waisted green skirt as well as a pure white top. She’d come straight from work today and could barely breathe all day thanks to the dress.

“Amy!” Spencer called out for his daughter. He hadn’t told her they were having company tonight. The poor girl going shy at the unexpected company when she came into the kitchen. “Honey this Danielle from the bank. Danielle, this is my daughter Amy. I forgot to tell you we have some company coming over tonight to see the house and talk about getting the barn built.”

Amy didn’t know what to say about the surprise dinner party.

“Do you know where the takeaway menu is for Calabressi?” Spencer asked Amy.

“I think you keep them in your office in the draw,” Amy said speaking at last.

“Thanks. Did you want what you normally have?”

Amy nodded.

“I’ll give you another call when it arrives,” Spencer told her as she scurried away to escape the kitchen. “Want to help me look?” Spencer asked Danielle.

Danielle left the bottle of wine on the kitchen counter while she followed Spencer through the house to his study. She didn’t want to go looking through his draw while he hunted for the menu so just waited patiently for him to get organised.

Finding it they returned to the kitchen so that Spencer could ring through for delivery. When he was done, Danielle gave the bottle of wine to Spencer as she hadn’t had a chance to give it to him before.

“I have got the wine covered at least,” Danielle said, holding out the bottle for him.

“Thank you so much. At least one of us prepared right for tonight,” Spencer said accepting the offered bottle. “Would you like a glass now?”

“Are you having one with me?” Dani asked.

“After my last day, definitely!” Spencer told her as he pulled out a corkscrew and two glasses.

The wine was Danielle’s favourite. A lovely shiraz made by Stumbling Foxes. She always tried to keep a bottle in the house for special occasions but usually ended up drinking it. A dinner at Spencer’s house qualified as a special occasion in Danielle's opinion.

Spencer had just poured a glass and they’d taken a sip when he saw the lights on the Monaghan’s car pulling up. Spencer expecting them now at least. He led Danielle back out of the kitchen and his renovated farmhouse to where John was just pulling up on the gravelled driveway behind Danielle’s car.

Spencer waited until John had got out of the car and Massie was climbing out too before he broke the news about the forgotten dinner and the replacement pizzas being ordered.

“There’s been a slight change of plans for tonight,” Spencer told them, “I got into a bit of a car wreck yesterday in Cherryville and only just made it back to the house this evening. I’ve got pizzas on the way from Calabresi if that’s alright with you two?”

“Fine by me Spencer,” John agreed affably, “more time for talking if you don’t have to do the cooking.”

“And more time for drinking,” Massie agreed, holding up two six-packs of craft beer.

The dinner party was off to a good start. The Monaghan’s followed Spencer and Danielle back into the kitchen when Spencer put the rest of the beers in the fridge to stay cool. As much as John was raring to see what Spencer had down with the place, he thought it best to check out the location of the ruined barn while they still had the light.

Massie naturally gravitated back to Danielle as Spencer and John strode on ahead. Dani and Massie getting to know each other better having just met for the first time. Danielle explained that Spencer had invited her out to the farmhouse to check it out as well as make a group of it after she had shown an interest in his plans for the barn and his farm in general. The two women impressed by each other’s success and drive in business fields that were all too often dominated by men.

At the site of the barn, John had gone ahead and started taking a few measurements to give Spencer the closest possible quote for how much something he had planned would cost. They could still make out the outline of the old long gone building in the way the grass grew thicker where the insides of the stalls had once been. The lone gone wall signified by the shorter grass. John thought that the original dimensions of the barn would suit Spencer’s needs just fine and there would be no need to go any bigger. One thing he would like to do first and he was impressed by Spencer agreeing to it immediately despite the added cost, was have a crew come in and conduct a ground-penetrating radar survey just to make sure there was nothing under the ground that might cause them troubles later. No hidden basements or rotting timber which would cause the foundations to sink.

With the official reason for the visit over; Spencer, Danielle, John and Massie were able to relax from the business talk and get down to more enjoyable pastimes. Spencer was now able to show his guests around the almost finished farmhouse.