Ellie said to her best human friend. Viv wore an elegant long-sleeved wool dress the color of paprika. Smart and sexy, it showed off her mile-long legs and black, strappy Beverly Feldman shoes. “You have a ticket, so you’re legal. And you certainly look like you belong inside.”“Thanks for the compliment, but it’s just eight thirty. Are they open to the public yet?”“Hmm. I’m not sure but you might be right.” Ellie led the way, let Rudy water the small patch of lawn next to the walkway, and opened the door. Inside, chaos reigned. The caterers had added an extra table to the original they’d been using for the snack service and were piling it high with more substantial goodies. The dog pen was stationed closer in, so people had a broader walkway on the far side of the area, and the setup crew had squeezed two more chairs into the normal row.Gofers and assistants raced past, dodging each other as if they were equipped with built-in sonar. People pushing or carrying piles of shoe boxes, racks of clothes, armfuls of fabric, hats, wigs, just about everything a body could wear, flew by at warp speed.A tall, skeletal assistant with a cigarette hanging from her puffy pink lips slowed the parade when she spotted Rudy, who was sitting out of the line of traffic.
