Warily, Cassie took a sip. It had a subtle, faintly sweet taste and it made her feel flushed with warmth right down to her fingertips.
"What's in it?" she asked, peering into her glass.
"Oh, this and that. It's-stimulating, isn't it?"
"Mmm." Cassie took another sip.
"And now," Faye smiled, "we can play Pizza Man."
There was a pause, then Cassie said, "Pizza Man?"
"Pizza Man He Delivers," Suzan said, and giggled.
"Otherwise known as watching guys make fools of themselves," Deborah said, grinning savagely. She might have gone on, but Faye interrupted.
"Let's not tell Cassie; let's just show her," she said. "Where's the phone?" Deborah handed her a cordless phone.
Suzan produced the yellow pages, and after a few moments of thumbing and scanning, read out a number.
Faye dialed. "Hello?" she said pleasantly. "I'd like to order a large pizza, with pepperoni, olives, and mushrooms." She gave her address and phone number. "That's right, New Salem," she said. "Can you tell me how long it will be? All right; thanks. 'Bye."
She hung up, looked at Suzan, and said, "Next."
And then, to Cassie's growing astonishment, she did it all over again.
Six times.
By the end of it, Faye had ordered seven large pizzas, all with the same toppings. Cassie, who was feeling somewhat dizzy from the smell of incense, wondered just how many people Faye was planning to feed.
"Who's coming to this party-the entire Mormon Tabernacle Choir?" she whispered to Suzan. Suzan dimpled.
"I hope not. It's not choirboys we're interested in."
"That's enough," said Faye. "Just wait, Cassie, and you'll see."
When the doorbell rang the first time, Faye, Suzan, and Deborah went into the parlor and looked through the window. Cassie followed and looked too. The porch light revealed a young man holding a greasy cardboard box.
"Hmm," said Faye. "Not bad. Not terrific, but not bad."
"I think he's fine," Suzan said. "Look at those shoulders. Let's take him."
With Cassie trailing behind, they all went into the hall.
"Well, hello," Faye said, opening the door. "Do you mind coming inside and putting it over here? I left my purse in the other room." As Cassie watched with widening eyes, they escorted the guy into the warmth of the luxurious, richly scented den. Cassie saw him blink, then saw a stupefied expression cross his face.
Deborah took the pizza from him. "You know," Faye said, biting the pen she had poised over a checkbook, "you look a little tired. Why don't you sit down? Are you thirsty?"
Suzan was pouring a glassful of the clear ruby liquid. She held it out to him with a smile. The delivery boy wet his lips, looking dazed.
Cassie could understand why. She thought there was probably no guy in the world who could resist Suzan, with her cloud of strawberry-gold hair and her low-cut blouse, holding out a crystal glass. Suzan leaned over a little farther as she offered it to him, and the guy took the drink.
Deborah and Faye exchanged knowing glances. "I'll go move his car around the side," Deborah murmured, and left.
"My name's Suzan," Suzan said to the guy, as she sank into the cushiony couch beside him. "What's yours?"
Deborah had barely returned when the doorbell rang again.
Chapter Ten
"Yuck," Deborah said, as they peered out the parlor window again. This delivery guy was skinny, with lank hair and acne.
Faye was already moving to the front door. "Pizza? We didn't order any pizza. I don't care who you called to confirm it, we don't want it." She shut the door in his face, and after a few minutes of hanging around the porch he went away.
As his delivery van was pulling out, another one pulled in. The tall, blond guy with the cardboard box kept looking behind him at the receding rival van as he walked to the door.
"Now this is more like it," Faye said.
When they brought the blond delivery guy into the den, Suzan and the muscular one were entangled on the couch. The pair disengaged themselves, the boy still looking foggy, and Faye poured the new guest a drink.
Within the next hour, the doorbell rang four more times and they collected two more delivery boys. Suzan divided her attention between the muscular one and a new one with high cheekbones who said he was part Native American. The other new one, who looked younger than the others and had soft-brown eyes, sat nervously next to Cassie.
"This is weird," he said, looking around the room, and taking another gulp from his glass. "This is so weird ... I don't know what I'm doing. I've got deliveries to make..." Then he said, "Gee, you're pretty."
Gee? thought Cassie. Gosh. Golly. Oh, my God. "Thanks," she said weakly, and glanced around the room for help.
None was forthcoming. Faye, looking sultry and exuding sensuality, was running one long crimson fingernail up and down the blond guy's sleeve. Suzan was sunk deep in the couch with an admirer on either side. Deborah was sitting on the arm of an overstuffed chair, eyes slitted and rather scornful.
"Can I put my arm around you?" the brown-eyed boy was asking hesitantly.
Boys aren't toys, Cassie thought. Even if this one did look like a teddy bear. Faye had brought these guys here to play with, and that was wrong... wasn't it? They didn't know what they were doing; they didn't have any choice.
"I just moved up here last summer from South Carolina," the boy was going on. "I had a girl back there... but now I'm so lonely ..."
Cassie knew the feeling. This was a nice guy, her age, and his brown eyes, though a little glassy, were appealing. She didn't scream when he put his arm around her, where it rested warmly and a little awkwardly around her shoulders.