Sconed to Death

by Lynn Cahoon

  When Shauna looked at him, questioning, he shrugged. “My mom was strict. Food was eaten in the dining room or kitchen. Nowhere else.”

  “Do you keep that same rule?” Cat asked. She wondered about household traditions and which ones continued through the generations.

  “Heck no. I’m a slob. You should see my apartment. My writing desk is filled with empty coffee cups and candy bar wrappers.” He grinned. “I just want to be mindful of your rules.”

  “Well, don’t be a total slob in the public rooms, but your room is your domain while you’re here.” Shauna started picking up the empty trays. “Just remember I’m your housekeeper too, so you have to be able to look me in the eye.”

  He grabbed another brownie. “I’m pretty sure I’m immune to guilt now, thanks to my mother, but I’ll keep it passable.”

  “I’m ready to fall into a story. The trip has just worn me out.” Colleen filled a cup with hot chocolate and followed Rick out. “Don’t think just because you get to the DVR first that you get to pick the movie.”

  Anne held back until they were gone. “You must think Bren’s rude, but she’s dealing with some things. She used to be fun and amazing. I’ve known her since high school. We both wanted to be writers someday. I used to think Bren could rule the world.”

  “She doesn’t have to be nice to me. I have thick skin. But thank you for your concern.” Cat nodded to the living room. “I have a feeling you’re going to have to be the deciding vote on what movie you watch.”

  “Being the peacemaker, it’s the bane of my existence.” Anne smiled as she grabbed a glass of water and strolled out of the room.

  Chapter Three

  Sunday morning was supposed to be a quiet time of reflection and rest. Instead, Cat was up at five and working with a frazzled Shauna to set up her mise en place for the day. The group’s breakfast was already set up out in the dining room as an egg casserole finished cooking in the oven. Shauna’s class didn’t start until ten, but she wanted to be prepared.

  “I know this is silly, but I really want to be prepped and ready at least an hour ahead,” Shauna announced for the third time since Cat had wandered in to get some coffee and had gotten stuck with chores.

  “I agree. But calm down. They all seem like nice people. I don’t think you’re going to have any rabble-rousers in your class.” Cat finished cutting the strawberries and held up the cup of sugar. “You want this in these?”

  “Yeah. I want them to have time to settle.” Shauna glanced around the perfect kitchen. “It is going to be okay, isn’t it?”

  “Most definitely.” Cat grabbed her coffee cup and took a long sip. Maybe they were done—if Shauna could just relax for a few minutes.

  Seth popped his head in the kitchen. “Hey, Cat? Can I see you for a minute?”

  She patted Shauna on the shoulder as she walked by. “Sit down, have a cup of coffee, and relax for a few minutes. Nothing bad is going to happen.”

  When she met Seth in the hallway, she reached up and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. “Thanks for rescuing me from that. Shauna’s a complete wreck.”

  “That’s not why I asked you to come out here. We have a visitor.” He put his arm around her and led her to the foyer. “Nate? This is my girlfriend, Cat Latimer. She runs the retreat.”

  “Cat, nice to meet you.” Nate, a short, pudgy man, had a surprisingly firm handshake. “Nate Hearst.”

  She smiled and glanced at Seth. “Are you two friends? I don’t believe I’ve seen you around town.”

  “Actually, Cat”—Seth threw a warning glance at Nate that clearly said, ‘let me explain first’—“Nate’s from the health department. He’s had a complaint about our kitchen.”

  “From one of the guests?” Cat felt floored. She started going through last month’s guest list. No one had mentioned anything about being unhappy. But she could have read the group wrong—it happened.

  “No, I believe it’s from one of the townspeople. It came in on our tip line. They don’t write down phone numbers, but I’m pretty sure I know what business complained.” Nate held out a sheet. “If I could just visit your kitchen, I’m sure we can clear this up quickly.”

  “Sure.” Cat took a step toward Shauna’s kitchen. Maybe she should warn her. Shauna would be incensed at the insult. Her kitchen was as professional and clean as it would be in a restaurant. “Maybe I should go talk to Shauna first.”

  “I can’t let you do that.” Nate reached for her arm and, all of a sudden, Seth stood between them. A look passed between the two men and Nate broke first. He held up his hands. “I still can’t let you warn her of my inspection.”

  “Okay, but if she bites your head off after you realize it must have been a prank call, you’re going to feel really foolish.” Cat pointed to the dining room. “That’s where we feed the guests. The drinks are all on ice to keep them cold. The baked goods are fresh each day and we go over the fruit on a daily basis to make sure nothing is getting too ripe. Hot dishes go on a hot plate right out of the oven. I tell you, we’re on top of food safety.”

  Nate stepped into the room and picked up a blueberry muffin. He broke it open and took a big whiff. Then he bit into it and sighed. “My mom made the best muffins, but these are even better.”

  Cat wanted to point out that if he thought they had health violations, it was stupid to eat something from the kitchen, but she realized the guy was just doing his job. And she didn’t have to make it harder on him. “I don’t understand. Why are you here on a Sunday?”

  He finished the muffin and wiped his mouth with a napkin. “I got the call on Friday but Seth’s bragged so much about Shauna’s cooking, I wanted to wait until I knew a retreat was in session.”

  “You’re not going to shut us down, are you?” Now Cat was confused. The guy seemed nice enough.

  “Not unless I find some pretty serious health issues in that kitchen you’re trying to keep me out of.” Nate nodded to the door. “Is that the way?”

  Cat glanced at Seth, who made go-ahead motions with his hands. She had to trust someone. She opened the door and showed Nate inside.

  Shauna sat at the table with her back to the door. “I don’t have time for this. Just grab your coffee and get out. I’m never going to be ready for this thing. I never should have agreed to do it. What was I thinking?”

  “Um, Shauna? Someone’s here you need to talk to.” Cat walked over and put a hand on her friend’s shoulder. “Now, there’s probably nothing wrong, but I want you to be calm, okay?”

  “What are you talking about?” Shauna spun around in her chair and frowned at Nate. “What are you doing here?”

  “Do you know each other?” Cat looked between Nate and Shauna. Maybe this was all a bad practical joke. Seth loved jokes.

  “He’s the guy I told you about from Bernie’s. He’s always trying to buy me a drink.” She turned back to her notebook, dismissing him. “I told you, I’m not dating right now. I’m in mourning.”

  “Over a jerk, from what I heard,” Nate muttered, but then held up a hand to stop the tirade. “I shouldn’t have said that. Besides, I’m not here on personal business. Although I do think you should reconsider my offer. One drink wouldn’t hurt anyone. You might find you like me. I’m a likeable guy.”

  “If you’re not here to talk to me, why are you here? I’ve got a class in less than ninety minutes.” Shauna walked over to the fridge to look inside for what Cat thought was the thirtieth time.

  “I’m with the health department. Someone called in a complaint about unhealthy conditions in your kitchen.”

  Shauna slammed the fridge door. “Are you freaking kidding me?”

  “Calm down. I didn’t say I believed them, but I have to investigate all complaints.” He glanced around the kitchen. “You’ve done a nice job updating this. Seth, I take it you did the remodel?”

  “I did.” Seth walked the guy around, showing him all the new appliances and upgraded electrical. “We got all the building permi
ts. There’s nothing out of code here.”

  Nate took out a thermometer and sat it in the fridge, then another one for the freezer. He started a timer on his watch, then made some notes on his clipboard. “I’ll take a sample of your drinking water, but if you’re on city water, you’ll be fine. The town replaced all these lines a couple of years ago. Replaced all those iron pipes. They were solid but tended to flake off into the drinking water.”

  Cat had walked over and stood by a visibly shaking Shauna. “We’ll get through this.”

  “This is Dee Dee’s fault, I know it.” Shauna lowered her voice so only Cat could hear. “That witch hates me.”

  Cat didn’t argue with her. Someone in town had a gripe with the retreat. Instead of focusing on that, she decided to lighten the mood. “You didn’t tell me Nate was so cute,” she whispered.

  The look Shauna gave her made Cat laugh and both men turned to look at them.

  Cat shook her head. “Private joke.”

  Nate removed the temperature gauges and wrote down the results. “Like I thought, no issues here. Sorry for the inconvenience. But maybe I could have another one of those muffins for the road?”

  Shauna didn’t move, so Cat went and got a plastic bag. She put two muffins and two cookies into the bag. “Thanks for making this less painful.”

  “It’s my job. I’ll see you in six months.” He started to walk with Seth out of the kitchen.

  Cat caught up with them. “Wait, why will you see us in six months?”

  “I have to do a follow-up visit. To make sure you don’t backslide.” He smiled and waved at Shauna. “And maybe you’ll be out of your mourning time by then.”

  After they left, Shauna sank into her chair at the table. “The man is so sure of himself. It’s infuriating.”

  Cat dumped out the coffee from her cup, which had gone cold while she’d dealt with Nate’s visit. She refilled her cup with fresh. “I don’t know. He seemed really nice. You should at least talk to him. He likes your cooking.”

  “Everyone likes my cooking. Doesn’t mean I have to date the entire male population of Aspen Hills.” She glanced at the wall clock. “I’m going upstairs to shower and change. When the timer goes off on the casserole, would you take it out to the dining room? The condiments are all already out on the sideboard.”

  “Sure. Are you okay?” Cat couldn’t identify the emotion that her friend was feeling. It wasn’t sadness.

  “I’m fine.” Shauna smiled. “I just need to compose myself before I have to be on for the writers’ group.”

  “Okay, but you’ll tell me if something’s wrong, right?”

  Shauna nodded. “Definitely.”

  Had Shauna ever directly lied to her? It was obvious that Shauna was dealing with something and Cat knew she wouldn’t tell anyone until Shauna figured out how she felt. Shauna’s knee-jerk response was to shut down. Which wasn’t a bad idea when you didn’t know what you wanted to say.

  The class started promptly at ten and Shauna was so in her element. Cat wanted to videotape the session, but she figured that would have changed the dynamics, and right now, the flow between Shauna and the writers felt perfect. Cat stood at the edge of the kitchen, wanting to be available in case Shauna needed something, but honestly, she could have been sitting at the kitchen desk and writing. Shauna was the perfect teacher.

  “When you want to cream your butter, make sure it’s not right out of the fridge.” Shauna held up a cube of butter. “You should be able to push a fingertip into the wrapping and keep the shape.”

  “Maybe that’s something we could use to find the killer in our books?” Colleen reached out to push her own finger on the paper-wrapped butter. “The killer left a fingerprint in the butter.”

  Rick wrote something down in his book. “It’s mine, I’ve claimed it.”

  “Doesn’t work that way and you know it.” Bren smiled at Shauna. “Don’t mind us; we’re just always trying to find new ways to kill people.”

  “And new ways to uncover the killer,” Anne added. “Sometimes that’s even harder. What can an amateur sleuth know that would have gotten by the police who are paid to investigate? And you can’t put your main character in jeopardy all the time. She, or he, has to be intelligent enough not to walk into the dark basement after hearing about the serial killer’s release.”

  “But we don’t do serial killers,” Rick added. He picked up his coffee. “It’s all very structured.”

  “Then it’s like a recipe.” Shauna tried to turn the conversation back to the class. She turned on the mixer to cream the butter and sugar. “We have two more dishes to make after this, but I want to get these muffins in the oven so we can have them for afternoon snacks.”

  “Does it matter what type of berry you put into the mix?” Anne chewed on the end of her pen.

  “You have to watch the water content, but no, you can put any kind of fruit in these.” Shauna held up a pint of huckleberries. “These are a regional berry. And only fresh for a few weeks out of the year. But you can freeze them, just like blueberries. Blackberries have bigger seeds, so they can be a problem.”

  Seth peeked into the doorway and waved at Cat to come out and join him. She caught Shauna’s gaze and pointed to the door. When her friend nodded, Cat knew the jitters had gone away. Just like she’d told her they would. She met Seth in the hallway. “Shauna’s a natural at this.”

  “I knew she would be,” he agreed. “Man, she was a bundle of nerves this morning when I came in for coffee.” He motioned toward the study. “Do you mind if we go in there? I don’t want Shauna to overhear.”

  “What’s going on?” Cat opened the door to Michael’s study, but then sat in one of the lounging chairs she’d set up for people to relax and read rather than behind the large desk.

  Seth perched on the other chair, his hands folded together in his lap. “Nate told me that he thinks it’s Dee Dee from the bakery who called him in. He says that Dee Dee and Kevin used to be an item before Shauna arrived on the scene and . . . well, you know what happened then.”

  “That’s crazy. Even if Kevin was still alive, Dee Dee was out of the picture.” Cat rubbed her face. “Shauna has enough to deal with right now. She doesn’t need another one of Kevin’s ex-girlfriends giving her grief.”

  Seth shrugged. “I get it. Nate gets it. But Dee Dee is apparently still hot about how she and Kevin broke up. Well, we were wondering if you wouldn’t mind going and talking to her to get her to stop calling in complaints.”

  “You think me going to talk to her will have any effect?” Cat shook her head. “I’ve got guests to deal with this week. I don’t have time to coddle some woman’s feelings.”

  He reached for her hand. “I know you’re good at this emotional, touchy-feely stuff. Nate’s tired of dealing with her constant harping. If you could get her to back off, he would be really grateful.”

  “And if I don’t get her to back off?” Cat wasn’t liking where this conversation was going. Not one bit.

  “Nate’s afraid he’ll have to actually cite us for some dumb regulation one of these days. He doesn’t want to be in that position.”

  Cat closed her eyes. Seth was right. The fewer times the health inspector came to your door, the less chance of him finding something that could possibly shut the retreat down for stupid reasons.

  “Fine, I’ll go talk to her.” She glanced at her watch. It was two. Shauna and the writers would be engaged until three thirty, so if she was going to get this task off her plate, she probably should go now.

  “I know you can handle this. Just spread some of your charm.” Seth pulled her to her feet. “Get it done and over with. Maybe you’ll get lucky.”

  “I’d be luckier if I could be upstairs in my room with my feet up reading a book.” She walked with him out to the foyer.

  “That was last Sunday. Today, you’re a career woman who needs to take care of a threat to your business.” He walked out with her and stopped at his truck. “I’m meet
ing Nate for beers down at Bernie’s. Call me and let me know how it goes.”

  He leaned down and kissed her.

  “Sure, you go have fun and let the girl handle the problems.” She squeezed his arm. “I’ll call you as soon as I’m walking back.”

  “You can do it.” Seth let out a war cry that made Cat laugh as she turned right to walk the few blocks to town and to the bakery.

  Chapter Four

  The walk to town was perfect. The trees were just starting to drop leaves and the crunch of dried leaves under her feet made her think about all things autumn. Chilly nights with a bonfire. Hot chocolate in the evening by the fire. More time to read. All these memories made her happy. By the time she arrived at the bakery’s front door, Cat had almost forgotten her unease at confronting Dee Dee. There were small café tables set around the front so patrons could sit and drink coffee or eat their baked goods on-site. Only one table was occupied. A man sat drinking coffee and reading his paper. He turned his head away from her when she walked up, probably not wanting to engage in conversation. Some people got to enjoy their quiet Sunday afternoon however they wanted. Instead, she was here playing nice and trying to calm down Dee Dee.

  Cat pushed open the bakery door and a bell rang over the doorway. The air smelled like yeast-filled treats mixed with the strong odor of coffee. Not a bad place to spend your day, all in all.

  “Can I help you?” Dee Dee Meyer came out of the back, wiping her hands on a towel. The smile fell off her face and her tone turned cold. “Oh, it’s you. Come to make trouble?”

  Cat crossed over the black-and-white tile floor directly to the counter. “Actually, the opposite. I’ve come to throw a truce flag. What is it going to take for us to be friends? Or at least stop sniping at each other.”

  Apparently, that honesty hadn’t been what Dee Dee had been expecting at all. She narrowed her eyes and considered Cat. Then she turned around and poured two cups of coffee. She set one cup in front of Cat. “You need something in this?”

  Cat shook her head and sat on the stool. “Nope. Black is fine.”