NOT What I Was Expecting

by Tallulah Anne Scott

  “I was afraid you’d say that. I know. I can’t cook much now, but someday I’ll be a wonderful cook,” I said with certainty.

  “You’ve had a vision, have you?” CeCe asked, smiling.

  “Ha, ha,” I responded evenly. “Seriously, it’s in the genes. I’m destined for culinary greatness. We both are. We come from a whole family of awesome cooks. However, I realize it’s probably expecting too much for it to kick in over the next few hours.”

  “The sisters will cook something for us to take. Why don’t you give them a call,” CeCe suggested.

  “It wouldn’t be the same as if I cooked it but better than a Bundt cake from the grocery store. Okay, I’ll call,” I decided.

  After I hung up with my mother I gave CeCe a tired look.

  “What?” she demanded.

  “They already heard about Luke’s uncle and put the food chain into action. He’s going to be inundated with casseroles,” I said.

  “Maybe we can take supplies for freezing all that food that’s showing up on his doorstep. That would be helpful,” CeCe suggested.

  “Genius!” I exclaimed. “We could add a bottle of wine for him and Fry to relax with while we pack and freeze. He’ll be able to live on the food chain for a month.”

  CeCe definitely had her brilliant moments. This was perfect. We could be genuinely helpful, plus it would give us something to do rather than sit around awkwardly trying to make conversation.

  We closed the shop at 7:00 p.m. and made a quick stop at the grocery store for supplies before we headed to Luke’s Uncle Barney’s house. I was thankful that I was wearing a black pencil skirt with a wide black belt, and a form fitting, white, short-sleeved sweater tucked into the skirt. The long black necklace and high-heeled black pumps gave it just the right amount of sophistication. At least I could walk in with a small amount of confidence about my appearance. I knew I’d need all the help I could get considering the fact that my brain turns to something the consistency of crawfish bisque whenever I see Luke.

  We pulled up to Uncle Barney’s large, two-story tan and hunter green Acadian style home. I loved the big porch that wrapped all the way around the house. When I buy a house, it’s going to have a porch like this.

  “I love this house,” said CeCe, once again mirroring my thoughts. “I’d paint it a happier color, though. Maybe –,” (I knew what was coming), “pink.”

  “You don’t say,” I replied, thinking of the pink glow that comes from her room. You can see it all the way down the hall. CeCe rang the bell, we heard footsteps, and then Fry opened the door.

  “Hello, ladies. Come on in.” I was happy to see Fry less subdued than he was this morning. He peeked inside the bag.

  “Beautiful,” he announced excitedly. “That’s perfect.”

  He saw the wine in my hand and said softly, “Manna from heaven. Luke’s in the kitchen. You two can go right through the dining room, this way. I’ve got the bag,” Fry directed after he relieved CeCe of her supply bag. He steered us toward the kitchen as he said, “Luke will be glad to see something hot coming in that isn’t in a casserole dish.”

  We walked into the black and white kitchen and found Luke trying to maneuver a large casserole dish into a tiny space in the fridge. Not gonna happen. The fridge was already overrun with dishes of every shape and size. Then I noticed the table, counter top, and stove top were also completely covered. Impressive. It seemed the food chain was even more generous than usual when murder was involved.

  Luke looked at us helplessly. “All this food is going to ruin. I’ll be run out of town.”

  “Not to worry. We came prepared,” CeCe said, placing the big bag on the floor.

  Luke looked confused.

  “Do you have an extra freezer?” I asked.

  “Yeah, Uncle Barney has a huge one in the garage,” Luke replied as he looked inside our bags.

  He began to laugh with relief as he realized what we’d brought.

  “Bless you,” he said, giving us each a quick hug.

  Wow, he’s so strong. I was hoping nobody saw that I was kind of flushed. Awkward.

  I turned and walked toward the window, looking out so my face was turned away from everybody.

  “Are those flowers in the back yard . . . ,” I asked to cover oh so casually my pink face and then – CRASH! My feet went out from under me, and I slammed onto the floor.

  Boy, I really got some height on that one. I should get extra points from the judges for both legs flying in different directions and the especially loud, slamming noise on my dismount. So much for looking sophisticated.

  “Are you okay?” Luke wanted to know as he rushed over to me. “I’m sorry! I forgot something spilled over the side of one of the dishes. I meant to wipe it up. Here, let me help you up.”

  Luke scooped me up off the floor like I weighed nothing and put me in a chair at the table. He squatted in front of me, looked into my eyes intently, and asked gently, “Are you all right?”

  “No worries,” I said weakly. “I think my liver broke my fall.”

  Luke looked down at the floor shaking his head. I could see his whole body shaking with laughter, but there was no noise.

  CeCe was smiling, but she was still concerned that I might have actually hurt myself.

  Luke finally looked up with a big grin on his face, “Well good for your liver, but I’ll feel better if you just rest for a few minutes to make sure you’re okay.”

  “I’m really fine, Luke. Besides there’s so much packing and freezing to do, we’d better get started,” I said hoping to divert his attention away from my clumsiness.

  CeCe jumped in, “Now don’t you worry about that. Fry and I will get started on it. Luke, why don’t you take her into the living room for a few minutes and make sure you don’t detect any brain damage. At least, you know, beyond the usual.”

  CeCe turned and yelled over her shoulder, “Fry, can you come here, please?”

  Fry appeared immediately. “Did you people drop something? I heard a big wump,” he inquired innocently.

  “That was Maggie hitting the deck. So I need you to help me freeze food while Luke takes her to the living room to shake it off,” CeCe explained.

  “At your service,” Fry said.

  Then he turned to me and asked, “How many toes am I holding up?”

  I looked down at his sandaled feet, and sure enough, his two pinkie toes were sticking straight up in the air. How did he do that?

  “Two,” I said in amazement.

  “She’s fine,” Fry concluded since his examination and diagnosis were completed. “But go ahead and take a minute. CeCe and I have got this.”

  I decided a soft chair sounded pretty good right about now. I was still feeling a little shaken and a lot embarrassed. Luke walked me into the tan and brown living room and eased me into a comfy chair. I was hoping he’d leave me to wallow in my humiliation, but instead he sat on the coffee table right in front of me.

  He still had that concerned look on his face when he said, “You still look a little unfocused. How are you feeling? Does anything hurt?”

  My ankle had a definite throb going on. I really wanted to sound all brave, unfazed by injury, and laughing in the face of pain, but the truth was my bobo hurt. Apparently, my inner struggle came to some kind of compromise, because the words that came out of my mouth were, “My right ankle hurts a little, but it’s no big deal. I’m sure it will be fine in a minute.”

  Luke reached down, picked up my foot, slid off the shoe, and gently propped my ankle on his knee. He started moving my foot around slowly saying, “Does that hurt? How about that? What about now?”

  “It doesn’t hurt any worse when you move it. It just hurts,” I said carefully, trying to make sure I didn’t whine.

  “That’s good. Probably just a sprain. Stay off it for a while, and you should be good as new.” Luke was gently rubbing my foot and ankle.

  I decided I’d give him a week to stop doing that – or maybe two w
eeks.

  For a moment, I was afraid I had said that out loud.

  Luke must have felt me stiffen in fear, because he said, “Sorry. Did I hurt you?”

  “No, no. It feels good.” I must have said that a little too dreamily, because the big smile on his face indicated he was very pleased with himself. Oops.

  The way he was looking at me I was afraid the next question could be embarrassing, but he asked, “Do you want to put some ice on your ankle?”

  “No, no. Please don’t go to any trouble. We came over here to take care of you, not for you to have to take care of me,” I said exasperated.

  Luke stopped rubbing my ankle and looked at me with the strangest look on his face.

  “Well,” he said, “it’s been a long time since anyone was interested in taking care of me.”

  I wasn’t sure what to say to that, but luckily, I was saved by the doorbell.

  Luke groaned, grabbed a cushion to put under my foot, and gently placed my foot on the coffee table. “Please, no more casseroles,” he said softly before he headed for the door. “We’ll be freezing food all night.”

  I swiveled in my chair to see who was at the door.

  It was Deputy Ben, and he didn’t have food. Whew, that was a relief.

  As he and Luke walked into the living room, Deputy Ben was saying, “So I just had some follow up questions and wanted to see if anything else turned up over here that might point us in a useful direction.”

  Deputy Ben gave me a polite nod, and then recognized me from our visit to his office.

  “Maggie Eastman, right? You were in my office with your sister Bebe, asking about a neighborhood watch program for your mother,” he said.

  “I was there with my cousin CeCe, yes,” I nodded. “Our mothers will be in touch with you about that.”

  I was smiling, but I wanted to ring his neck. Thank God CeCe didn’t hear that, the jerk.

  He turned his attention back to Luke. “So how long did you say you’ve been back in town?” Deputy Ben asked with his pencil poised on his pad.

  “Not long. About three months,” Luke answered.

  “Did Barney have any children or other close relatives?”

  “None that I’ve ever been aware of,” said Luke.

  “Uh-huh,” mumbled Deputy Ben.

  There was something weird about his tone. Where was he going with this?

  “Have you thought of anyone that would benefit from Barney’s death or had a grudge against him?” Deputy Ben asked with his ballpoint poised, ready to write down the answer.

  “No, nobody,” Luke responded. “I can’t imagine anybody being that angry with him. He seemed to get along with everyone.”

  “Yeah well, if we can figure out the motive, we can figure out who did it,” Deputy Ben pointed out. “So keep thinking.”

  CeCe and Fry walked out of the kitchen.

  “Oh, Deputy Ben, I didn’t know you were here,” CeCe gushed. “It’s so kind of you to come by and check on Luke.” She was batting her eyelashes so hard at Deputy Ben I was hoping she wouldn’t become airborne.

  “Hello, Ms. Bebe. It’s nice to see you again. Fry, always a pleasure,” Deputy Ben greeted everyone.

  CeCe was so busy fluttering over Deputy Ben that it took a few seconds for her to realize what he’d just called her, but when she did, she did not look happy.

  “Well, I guess that’s all I needed to know,” Deputy Ben said. “I’ll be in touch.”

  Luke walked him out and looked very sad when he came back.

  “They really don’t have a clue who did this or why. I feel like I should be able to help them figure it out, but I can’t even think straight,” Luke said.

  “Finding the killer is their job, not yours,” I said.

  “She’s right,” CeCe assured him. “Your only job is to mourn your Uncle Barney. If they’re too stupid to even remember someone’s name, there’s nothing you can do for them,” she added bitterly.

  Fry had also caught Deputy Ben’s blunder and said, smiling, “Don’t sweat it, sweetheart. His loss.”

  Luke was lost in thought and didn’t really seem to register any of it.

  “Let’s go gang up on this freezing project,” I said. “Luke must be exhausted, and we need to get out of his hair.”

  That suggestion seemed to snap him out of his brooding thoughts. “No, no,” he insisted. “I’m enjoying the company, but if you guys are feeling up to it, ganging up on the food sounds like a good idea. There’s just so much of it.”

  “My ankle is starting to ease off already. I’m really fine, so let’s get to it,” I said trying to sound brave and spunky.

  It took an hour and a half of diligent work, but we got it all packed away. The easy talking, laughing, and joking between the four of us was relaxing. I couldn’t help but notice how easily Luke fit in with the rest of us. Theoretically, he should have seemed like the outsider since CeCe, Fry, and I spend so much time together, but it wasn’t like that at all.

  As we were leaving Fry got a handshake, CeCe and I got quick hugs again, and we all got lots of thanks from Luke.

  On the drive home, CeCe looked over at me from the driver’s seat, “He’s pretty terrific, huh? You’re glowing.”

  “I am not,” I protested. “I’m sweaty. All that hard work, you know,”

  CeCe was still eyeing me, so I conceded with a sigh, “He could melt the icicles off the North Pole sign.”

  “Oh, yeah,” CeCe concurred.

  After a fitful night’s sleep, I woke up feeling groggy and unmotivated to get Friday started. I remembered Fry was opening the store this morning so that CeCe and I could pick up supplies before going to the maternity shop. If CeCe could handle the shopping by herself, I could drop by and check on Luke. I mean, someone should, don’t you think?

  Finally motivated, I catapulted out of bed and didn’t slow down until I’d completed my shower, teeth, face, and hair. I decided to go with a thin hunter green skirt, tight black sweater, and black pumps today.

  I stopped in the kitchen to pour some coffee and found CeCe looking all comfortable in her recliner. She had a cup of coffee in one hand, a book in the other, and Sassy Cat in residence on her lap.

  “Book Club tonight?” I asked.

  “No, I still have a couple of days to finish this, but I’m at a good part and don’t want to put it down. Tonight is my reading gig at Greener Pastures,” she reminded me.

  “Don’t you find it kind of sad?” I asked. “You know, how people send their elderly relatives to Greener Pastures? I know that’s where we put MeeMaw when we couldn’t take care of her anymore, but I never liked that name.”

  I was proud of CeCe for continuing her weekly visits to read to the elderly after MeeMaw had passed on to even greener pastures, but I enjoyed giving her a hard time.

  “I’m sure you are aware that they have one of the highest ratings and best reputations of any nursing home in this state. So lay off their name. The care is good. The name is lame. I would hate to see that reversed,” CeCe defended with her usual gusto.

  “You’re right, of course,” I responded, “as usual.” I decided to lay it on thick since I was about to ask her for a favor. “Hey, do you mind if I stick you with doing the supply run this morning?” I inquired, trying to sound all innocent and nonchalant. “I want to pick up some coffee and donuts and take them by Luke’s to see how he’s doing.”

  When CeCe lowered her book, she was grinning. “Sure, I could do that. Or, you could shop, and I could check on him?” she offered and then paused for my reaction.

  I gave her nothing but a blank stare.

  CeCe raised her book, pretended to continue reading for a moment, and then said from behind her book, “Fine. I’m going to be your Maid of Honor.”

  I decided to let it go, since I wanted to hit the road. As I stashed my coffee cup and grabbed my purse, I yelled, “Thanks, CeCe! I owe you one.”

  CHAPTER 7

  When I pulled into Luke’s driv
eway, the back of his dark blue SUV was standing open. As I parked my car in the back of the driveway and off to the side, Luke came through the front door. He walked toward his Kia Sportage but saw me or my car before he got there. He continued on to his SUV, tossed the duffel into the back as he passed, and turned toward me while I was getting out of my car with two cups of coffee and a bag of donuts. He smiled, and though I wasn’t sure if he was smiling because of me or the coffee and donuts, I chose to think it was moi. When he came closer, I could see the pain and fatigue in his eyes, which made me appreciate the effort it must have taken for that smile.

  “Morning, Maggie. You must be a mind reader, ‘cause I was just thinking about, uh, coffee,” Luke hesitated slightly when he indicated it was the java on his mind.

  “I thought fresh coffee and donuts might help jumpstart your day. I know you have all kinds of food that people brought, but . . . ,” I hesitated, feeling I was about to begin rambling and hoped he would save me from myself by interrupting.

  “Nah, this is great,” my hero exclaimed. “I could use a jumpstart today.”

  It was a fairly breezy October morning, and the golden leaves were rustling both in the trees and on the ground. That’s the only reason I can imagine why neither Luke nor I heard anything until it was too late. As I was handing Luke one of the cups of coffee, my knees buckled, and I almost hit the ground. It’s a minor issue, really no big deal, but I would like to point out that this time IT WASN’T MY FAULT! The back of my legs had just been plowed into by a very nicely dressed elderly woman riding side-saddle on one of those electric scooters.

  “Whoa - hoa!” Luke yelled when he caught the cup just as I let go, which saved the coffee I was trying to hand off. He did a momentary juggle thing, but managed to hold on without pouring its contents all over either of us.

  “Ho? Who’s a ho? This little girl here? Well if that doesn’t just take the cake. In my day, ho’s didn’t dress like that,” the little NASCAR scooter driver observed. “I guess now they’re all corporate ho’s, or something, huh?” she asked Luke.

  “No, no, Ms. Beulah. This is Maggie. She’s a friend who brought coffee and donuts,” Luke said loud enough for all the neighbors to hear. “Maggie, this is our neighbor Ms. Beulah,” Luke explained as he introduced my attacker.