by Shaw, J. D.
He pushed a few dollars bills into a tip jar that was next to one of those festively decorated waving cat figurines. “I most certainly will.” He turned back to face Vivienne. “Did you hear that the man injured last night recovered fully and checked himself out this morning?
“Do they know who he was?” Vivienne asked.
“I didn’t hear any information about his identity.” Father William sighed. “I’m just happy to hear that he recovered.”
“It sounds like a miracle.” Vivienne commented.
“The Lord does work in mysterious ways.” Father William answered.
“Perhaps a bit convenient too?” Vivienne added.
Father William frowned. “I certainly hope that’s not the case.”
“Joshua and I wondered if maybe it was all some sort of publicity stunt to raise Pastor Kilpatrick’s profile in town.” Vivienne confessed. “Except they weren’t counting on a freak accident to happen.”
“Well, sometimes even the best intentions can go a little haywire.” Father William replied with the ease of a United Nations diplomat. “Seamus Kilpatrick is a very passionate servant of our Lord, even if his methods are a bit…unorthodox.”
“That’s one way to look at it.” Vivienne shrugged.
Father William spoke softly. “When I was doing hospital rounds, one of my parishioners who works as a volunteer told me they heard there was some sort of malfunction with his pacemaker. A short or something that interrupted his heart briefly.”
“Joshua did say that his heart wasn’t beating when he checked him.” Vivienne replied.
“He was in the emergency room a few hours and then returned home under Eunice’s care.” Father William’s face brightened. “So, thank God it wasn’t anything too serious.”
“That’s good, I suppose.” Vivienne felt conflicted about knowing Seamus was cleared to return to his disruptive tactics with the carnival.
“Now, now.” Father William gave her a little wink. “We all want the best in the end.”
“I can’t argue with that.” Vivienne smiled back.
“Despite what Pastor Kilpatrick said, I see new hope and goodness every day. Why tonight, I even have a meeting with a young man who is considering missionary work.”
He looked down at his wrist watch. “Which, if I don’t hurry I am going to be late for.”
“That’s okay. I have a dinner date with Joshua to get to as well and he’s also a stickler for being on time.”
“I still would like to talk to you about our plans. Can you swing by the church Saturday morning, say around ten?” He asked.
Vivienne nodded. “Sure.”
“Wonderful.” He dashed off with a wave. “I’ll see you then.”
“Order or pickup?” The young Asian woman asked from behind the counter.
“Pickup for Finch.” Vivienne placed her purse on the counter.
“Just one moment.” The woman disappeared through a set of double doors to the kitchen area.
The front door to the restaurant opened and Vivienne gasped as Suzette Powell stepped inside. Dressed in a long black coat and a dark purple winter hat, her heels clacked loudly on the floor as she hurried to the counter. It was not only unsettling to see Cayuga’s Cove’s most upscale caterer ordering takeout, it was almost unheard of. Sort of like running into Martha Stewart in line at Burger King. “Hello Suzette.”
Suzette looked up in surprise at being recognized. “Oh, hello Vivienne.”
Vivienne observed a coldness to her body language. “Picking up dinner too?”
Suzette nodded. “Yes.” She kept her head down.
“Is everything okay?” Vivienne asked.
Suzette shook her head. “No, it’s not.”
“Is there something I can help you with?” Vivienne asked.
“No, you can’t.” Suzette was quick to reply. She grimaced, fighting back tears that seemed just ready to flow at a moment’s notice. “It’s been a very bad day and I’m just not ready to even talk about it.”
Vivienne shrugged. “Whatever it is, I hope it gets better soon.”
Suzette pulled a tissue out from the pocket of her coat and blew her nose. “Is there a restroom in this place? I’ve never been here before.”
Vivienne pointed toward the restaurant area off to the side. “Yes. It’s to the left of the small water garden in the dining room.”
“Thank you.” Suzette rushed off in a hurry.
The young woman returned from the kitchen with a large plastic bag in her hands. “Imperial Feast, two spring rolls, and a large bowl of wonton soup?” She asked.
“Yes, that’s right.” Vivienne pulled her wallet out of her purse.
“Seventeen dollars please.” The woman opened the bag and dropped in a handful of duck and soy sauce packets.
Vivienne retrieved a twenty dollar bill from her wallet and handed it to the girl. “Keep the change.”
“Thank you and come again.” The girl smiled.
Vivienne grabbed the bag and was about to leave when she paused. “Excuse me, but the woman who just came in, did she have an order waiting?”
“I don’t know.”
“Her last name is Powell.” Vivienne added.
“Let me check.” The young girl disappeared into the kitchen for a moment and then returned. “Yes she has an order waiting.”
Vivienne set her purse back on the counter. “I know this may sound strange, but I’d like to pay for that.”
“You want to buy her order?” The girl asked with a slightly confused look on her face.
“I don’t want to take it. I just want to pay for it. She’s a friend and she seemed a little upset when she came in.” Vivienne pointed to the dining room area. “She just went to the restroom for a moment.”
“Oh, that’s okay then.” She walked over the register and pulled the order from the stack of papers. “Her order is twelve-fifty.”
Vivienne gave the exact change. “Thank you.” She hurried away, hoping that a little act of kindness might bring Suzette some comfort.
As she dashed into her car with the bag warm in her grip, she caught wind of the acrid burning smell again. A few moments later, the bag of warm Chinese food rapidly filled the car interior with the smell of sweet and sour chicken and spring rolls. Her stomach groaned a little, but she resisted the urge to snack on some of the crispy noodles on the drive home.
* * *
“The fire was contained without too much structural damage to her home, but the catering kitchen building was in pretty bad shape.” Joshua explained as they finished dinner. “Almost all of the equipment was destroyed.”
“Poor Suzette.” Vivienne now understood why Suzette had been such a wreck at Shanghai Sunset. Her home-based business, The Formal Affair Catering, was operated out of a large three car garage that Suzette’s husband had converted into a kitchen and business office several years ago. Although she had made a respectable profit from it each year, it had never quite lived up to her lofty goals when she first opened. Vivienne recalled how much Suzette admired Martha Stewart and the empire she created from a rural home in Connecticut. She had dreams of one day matching that, but apart from lots of weddings and retirement dinners, the business never exploded into something on a grander scale. There were no cookbook publication offers, no food magazine write-ups or reviews, no big network morning talk shows to demonstrate food preparation for. She was a small fish in a small pond. Despite her best efforts, it was going to remain that way for the foreseeable future.
“She’s lucky that the wind blew the flames away from their home.” Joshua added.
“That Dutch Colonial they live in is quite old.” Vivienne finished off the end piece of her spring roll. “Those places can go up fast.”
“Most importantly, no one was injured.” Joshua dipped some of the crispy noodles into some duck sauce and munched happily.
Vivienne gathered up the little cardboard containers the rice had come in and stuffed some of the empty
sauce packets inside. “Do they know how the fire started?”
“The fire department is conducting an investigation, but there wasn’t anything obvious that pointed to foul play.” Joshua leaned back in his chair and rubbed his full stomach. “Thank heavens for small favors.”
“Agreed.” Vivienne walked over to where he was sitting and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. “You smell like smoke.”
“Yeah, I was going to jump in the shower before bed.” He tipped his head back and looked up into her eyes. “Unless you want to play the hot fireman fantasy?”
She giggled and shook her head. “If you think that you’re crawling into my crisp, freshly washed Egyptian cotton sheets smelling like that, think again.”
He pulled her hands up to his lips and kissed them. “I guess not.”
She leaned forward and kissed him on the right cheek. “Why don’t you go jump into the shower and I’ll clean up down here?”
“Are you sure?” He asked.
“I’ll meet you upstairs in about fifteen minutes.” She purred softly. “I promise I’ll be prompt.”
He waggled his eyebrows at her. “You know I love dessert most of all.”
“I think I have something in mind that will satisfy.” She teased back.
Joshua had no sooner tromped upstairs when her cell phone rang. A quick glance at the caller display screen told her it was Kathy. Normally, she’d let her leave a voice mail, but after what had happened to Suzette she couldn’t wait to get more details. “Hello, my friend.” She spoke softly into the phone until the sound of the shower turning on told her she was safe to gossip at a normal voice level.
“Oh my God, did you hear about what happened to Suzette earlier?” Kathy asked.
“Yes. Joshua said they don’t suspect foul play.” Vivienne reassured her.
“That’s a relief.” Kathy sighed. “I was hoping we didn’t have an arsonist living in town now.”
“I’m sure it will turn out to be bad luck.” Vivienne sighed back. “There seems to be quite a bit of that going around here lately.”
“What do you mean?”
Vivienne gathered up the plates from the dining room and carried them into the kitchen, taking care not to trip as Tommy and Sammy Cat darted around her legs hoping to catch a fallen piece of sweet and sour chicken. “First Tristan and Nathaniel saying they’re going out of business, then that religious tantrum with Pastor Kilpatrick at the library, and now Suzette’s catering business catches fire.”
“I never really thought to string that all together like that, but you could be on to something.” Kathy agreed.
Vivienne set the plates down on the counter and opened her dishwasher. “I really don’t want to be on to something like that. I’ve got far too much to do this month.”
“Well, you do seem to have a knack for figuring out when something nefarious is going on in town.” Kathy replied.
“That’s just dumb luck.” Vivienne lied. She had wished many times that she could reveal to her best friend the real reason she was the center of all the strange things happening in Cayuga Cove. But, as she knew all too well, being a witch required her to maintain an oath of secrecy. She loaded the plates and drinking glasses and dropped a detergent tab into the holder, shutting the door with her hip.
“Well, so much for your competition in this town.”
Vivienne would have to wait for Joshua’s shower to finish before running the load. Her hot water tank simply wasn’t large enough to handle both. “I’m sure that they’re going to rebuild as soon as the insurance money comes in.”
“Do you think so? It’s not like her business was really booming.” Kathy said without much sympathy in her voice. “She’s raised her prices up so much lately.”
“And how did you know this?” Vivienne raised her voice in mock concern. “Have you been cheating on me?”
Kathy laughed. “I was simply doing what any good businesswoman would do. I shopped around and researched my options.”
“Good.” Vivienne walked back into the living room, shutting off lights as she passed through. “So, did she raise them ridiculously high?”
“Well, well, well.” Kathy teased back. “Look who wants to know what the competition is up to all of a sudden.”
Vivienne double checked that the dead bolt on the front door was locked and peeked out one of her front windows. “I’m simply doing what any good businesswoman would do.” The street outside was quiet and some tiny snowflakes, looking like diamond dust, swirled in the frigid night air.
“She was pricing herself right out of small jobs.” Kathy replied. “Corporate functions, they can handle that sort of thing. But as for small private events, I think people were skipping her and just going to the warehouse club to buy what they needed for much less.”
The shower turned off and the ceiling creaked overhead as Joshua walked around the bathroom. Vivienne switched off the last floor lamp in the living room and then dashed into the kitchen to turn on the dishwasher. “Maybe they’ll just take the money and put it in the bank?”
“Or move away.” Kathy added. “Property taxes are driving people out of the state.”
“That’s true.” Vivienne made her way back to the living room and climbed the stairs. “Listen, I need to get to bed because I have a bunch of king cakes to bake tomorrow morning for a certain jewelry party at the fabulous Trade Winds Clothier.”
“Can I pick them up around two?”
“Sure.” Vivienne replied as Joshua opened the door to the bathroom and a cloud of steam rolled into the hallway.
“All clean.” He grinned, wrapped in a large blue bath towel.
“I’ll see you then. Goodnight Kathy.” Vivienne ended the call and walked over to her handsome boyfriend. She ran her fingers through his thick chest hair, still wet from the shower and smelling of Irish Spring body wash. “Fancy meeting you here, Deputy.”
He took her free hand gently in his and led her into the bedroom. “No more business for the night.”
“Whatever you say.” She cooed back, setting her phone on the dresser. “I would never go against the advice of the town’s Deputy.”
* * *
When she awoke the next morning, Joshua had quietly left for work as he usually did, allowing her to sleep. As per his routine, she found a good morning message scrawled on the small white board on her refrigerator. ‘Fed the cats. Have a wonderful day. Love you, sweetie.’ As she poured herself a cup of coffee from the pot he had brewed an hour earlier, Tommy and Sammy curled around her legs and meowed. “Oh no, you aren’t getting a second breakfast from me today.”
They both followed her over to the kitchen table where Joshua had left the morning newspaper. There was a picture of Suzette’s burned down business and a story about the fire. Vivienne sat down and read the article, but as usual, there was nothing all that interesting to be learned. There was no foul play suspected, no victims killed tragically. The photograph was the most compelling part, with a nice action shot of orange flames leaping high into the air as a stream of water from the firefighters battled it down into submission.
The morning flew by at break-neck speed as she and Stephanie worked on getting the king cakes ready for Kathy’s jewelry party.
“I’m excited to see what she has to offer.” Stephanie dusted a handful of green sugar onto the frosted sweet bread, adding the final color to the purple and gold already in place.
“I saw a little preview of a ring. I would never have known it was a fake.” Vivienne loaded one of the finished cakes into a box and tied it up with twine.
“Not that I have many glamorous events to wear jewelry to between work and classes.” Stephanie handed her the next cake to box up.
“I’m not exactly a party girl here either.” Vivienne winked as she boxed the second cake and cut a piece of twine off the spool. “Still, it’s nice to flash a little sparkle with an everyday outfit. Especially when those tour buses start rolling into town this summer with visitor
s from New York and the Hamptons.”
“I agree.” Stephanie handed her the final cake and then walked over to the computer to close out the order. “There’s only one thing I’m not looking forward to at the party tomorrow night.”
“What’s that?”
“Alexis Warner is going to be there modeling some of the jewelry.” Stephanie rolled her eyes. “She’s been telling everyone on campus who would listen about it.”
“Well, the world does revolve around her.” Vivienne chuckled. Kathy had worked hard to get Alexis to model for her store ever since before Christmas. She spent a good amount of time at Clara’s, where Alexis waited tables part time, buttering her up with outrageously high tips for lackluster service. She was vapid, narcissistic, and always had a way of making people feel she was better than them in every way. Vivienne was surprised that Clara kept her on staff, but the obscene amount of men who packed the diner during her shifts couldn’t be argued with. The beautiful girl brought people in, made people notice. It really wasn’t much of a mystery why she was still employed.
Vivienne knew that Kathy had a love/hate relationship with Alexis from a business standpoint. Yes, whatever clothing she modeled looked amazing and enticed women to buy. But, she had become more and more demanding for higher pay and special perks with each new job that Kathy hired her for. The jewelry party was probably going to be their last endeavor together. Alexis didn’t know that yet, but Kathy was going to play hard ball with her to take her down a peg or two. Cayuga Cove was a small town, and there simply wasn’t room for two queen bees to hold court. Much like Elizabeth II, she was going to hold onto her crown for a very long time.
“She’s bringing someone along who is almost as self-centered as herself.” Stephanie revealed. “A guy from Florida that looks like he rolled off one of those trashy reality shows.”
“Really?” Vivienne perked up as she tied the last box shut. “I imagine that’s a train wreck waiting to happen.”
“That’s putting it mildly.” Stephanie continued. “His family has all kinds of money because they own a chain of high-end boutiques that caters to media socialites and society debutantes.