“What?”
“It doesn’t compute. My mother said the neighbors went away for Thanksgiving. There’s an extra car, and that assumes the other two are Kaylie’s and Kevin’s. Nobody mentioned anyone else coming.”
I shrugged. It was the holidays after all. Maybe a friend of my parents didn’t have anywhere to go for Thanksgiving. Or maybe the neighbors left their car. We pulled the boxes with the breads, some already cut and ready to be served, and some of each for my parents. I grabbed the pies and the flowers we’d stopped to get and took a deep breath.
The front door opened and Kaylie descended upon us, all smiles. Brett immediately commented on how much Kaylie and I looked alike. A little thinner and better dressed, her hair was a little shorter but it was obvious we were sisters. Kevin ambled out behind her. He was the redhead in our family, and while Kaylie and I had very thick hair, even in his thirties, Kevin sported the receding hairline to match my dad’s. I made introductions and we all went in.
My mom bustled to the front hall with a traditional turkey adorned apron. My dad followed right behind. I made introductions and waited for whomever else was there to appear.
“Did you get a new car, Mom?”
For a moment all the smiles faded and furtive glances passed between my family members. Everyone stared at my mother and my blood pressure increased.
“Oh, no dear. Are you asking about the Prius in the driveway?” With my nod, she continued, “Well, you must remember Darin Gallagher? I mentioned you were coming home and one thing led to another and I invited him to join us for dinner. He’s carving the turkey right now.”
As she finished her story, I saw Darin in the doorway to the kitchen. Darin still looked as attractive and outgoing as when we dated in high school. He started to come toward us holding the carving knife, then backed away. I wondered what my mother had told him or not told him. Awkward.
Introductions made, Brett brought up football and the four men bonded over past and upcoming games while they nibbled on the breads, cream cheese, and other snacks. Mom, Kaylie, and I managed to finish up the food preparation. Kaylie looked at me, expecting me to say something about Darin but I refrained. Nothing good would come of it.
Preparation done, we laid out the turkey, dressing, sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, tossed salad, and cranberry sauce. My mother seated Darin between Kaylie and me. Brett was on my left. Kevin was on the other side of the table with my parents. Rather than have an empty seat on one side, the three chairs were offset to the four on our side.
“Everything is delicious, Mrs. Hendley.”
“Oh, thank you, Brett. And please call me Lila.”
My father chimed in, “Yes, Lila, you’ve outdone yourself once again.”
With various noises of agreement, everyone focused on eating until mom piped up with “Darin have you told Kaylie about your new job?”
My tension melted away and I wanted to laugh out loud, but one look at Kaylie stopped me. She about choked as it dawned on her the fix-up was for her, not me. To Darin’s credit, he ignored Kaylie’s open mouth and big eyes.
“I gave my notice at Financial Plus last week. As of the first of the year, I’ll be VP at Valoria Stocks and Investments.”
“Isn’t that wonderful Kaylie. Darin will be living in the same city as you. I bet you can help him get settled in.” Mom nodded and stared at Kaylie. The clear message was of no argument.
“Don’t you worry, Mrs. Hendley, I’ll be fine. I would appreciate some suggestions on where to live though, Kaylie.”
“Now, Darin, you were going to call me Lila. Kaylie, are there any open units in Raptors Village where your townhouse is? It’s a very nice area Darin.”
Kaylie’s eyes widened and her mouth dropped yet again. I covered my mouth and coughed to cover my laugh. Neither of us pointed out mom had never been to Kaylie’s to know if it was a nice place or not.
“I’m not sure where I want to live yet and I’ll want to see a variety of options. I’ll need to check out the commute to the office. And, I’ll need to see about selling or leasing my house. Still working on all the details for the move.”
Kaylie relaxed a bit and Brett shifted the conversation to football. I was most surprised to find out my dad and Darin both played fantasy football. Brett and Darin helped us clean up while dad and Kevin went to check on the game. So like my memories of the holidays and my brother’s behavior.
Brett suggested a walk to help the dinner settle before dessert. Kaylie and I both agreed, and Darin joined us. Kaylie looked resigned to dealing with Darin and we all trooped out into the fresh air.
Walk, dessert, and goodbyes later, Brett and I were back at our hotel. Thanksgiving was behind us. The drive home and tickets to “A Christmas Carol” awaited us. I was pretty sure a phone call from Kaylie was in my future as well.
CHAPTER 26
Kim, Marty, Brett and I drove up to Altavista for dinner at Perky’s Restaurant, one of our favorites. We shared stories about Thanksgiving and had a few laughs about my mother’s attempt to fix up Kaylie with Darin.
“So how was your Thanksgiving?”
Marty nodded to Kim and she answered. “It was nice and cozy, and then it was stressful.”
“Yup, that about sums it up.”
I looked from Kim to Marty and back to Kim.
“Okay, so we had a nice quiet Thanksgiving meal, a couple glasses of wine, and turned on the television. Then Marty’s sister called. Hysterical and apologetic. Sam and Isaac both lit into her about the way she treated Marty.” She glanced at Marty and he finished the story.
“She begged me to come and bring Kim, so then we went there and – well, we ate again. It was tense but it’s done.” He nodded for emphasis.
“You heard the news right?”
Brett and I exchanged glances and shook our heads.
“I guess it was late Wednesday. Mendelson called to let me know. Adelaide’s attorney convinced her to plead guilty – he’s going to argue diminished capacity due to the botox and gastric procedures affecting her reasoning. So it’s really, truly over.”
We cheered and high-fived all around. There wasn’t much else to talk about. As we made our way to the theater, I asked if they knew who was playing the role of Scrooge. Marty explained how Adelaide’s statement cleared Jule of any involvement and Isaac insisted Jule play the part. Isaac was playing the ghosts of Marley.
The production went amazingly well given the circumstances of the past few weeks. Isaac and a few others presented Jule with flowers at the conclusion. His parents, Robyn and Sam, presented flowers to Isaac.
Mr. Hatheway and Honey Thompson took center stage and asked for a moment of silence. Hatheway’s speech was eloquent and he assured the audience and actors of continued support for the community theater. He then announced Gracie Meem would take over as Chair, with Jule Gorganz as the Production Director. His speech ended with an invitation to join him in a final round of applause for the cast.
We waited so Marty could see Isaac after the show and we finally got to meet him. He was very thankful and respectful, even though his initial surprise at seeing Brett flitted across his face. Melodie and the other students joined him and lots of introductions were made.
People milled around and although I spotted Al and Geoff, they didn’t join our little group. Jule Gorganz and Gracie Meem came over to talk to us. They wanted to know our thoughts – and everyone else’s – on what production to do next. Some options were Carousel, South Pacific, or Pirates of Penzance with a return to musicals. Whichever they chose, I had a feeling we’d be coming back to the Altavista Community Theater.
Author Note
I hope you enjoyed MURDER IN THE THEATER, the continuing romance of Sheridan and Brett, and the holiday theme. If this is your first taste of Cold Creek, you can see how their romance started in MURDER AT COLD CREEK COLLEGE, and how it has progressed through the other two books in the series – MURDER IN THE ARBORETUM and MURDER AT THE GRILL
. The fifth book in the series is in its infancy, but the initial thoughts for a title are very telling – A MURDER AND A WEDDING.
I’d love to hear from you – my readers! You can find me:
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Coming in Summer 2017 is Book#5 – watch for the cover reveal and teaser…
Christa Nardi
Murder in the Theater (Cold Creek Book 4) Page 15