Recipe for Trouble

by Jackie Griffey

  "Connie," his eyes met hers with an appeal for understanding. "How she feels about Tim is none of your business. I thought they were favorably impressed with each other when they met, but it's none of my business either. So now you'll leave them alone, won't you?"

  Connie's eyes did not waver as the matchmaking equipment wheels between her ears turned, working on making up her mind. "No." It came out firmly and positively without a tremor.

  She picked up her purse and got up to leave, speaking her thoughts aloud. "Something's wrong there. There's definitely something wrong. Some hitch of some kind. I'll see you at home, it's time for me to start cooking if we plan to eat tonight."

  "Connie," he hurriedly got up and beat her to the door.

  "Oh, lighten up," she ordered. "I'm not going to be so preoccupied I'll poison you." She turned the door knob.

  He reached to push the door closed and put his arms around her, giving her a kiss. He laid his cheek against her hair, holding her close. "This one is the only love affair you need to worry about. Just remember that."

  He smiled down at her and bent to kiss the end of her nose. "You're the one who needs to lighten up."

  "Hum," she finally smiled up at him. "You do have a way of making a point. But I do have to go. And on the subject of cooking," Connie's mood brightened. "I'm going to get one of Mattie's cookbooks, the first one that everyone liked so well, for Missy and get Mattie to sign it for her."

  "Good idea, she'll like that. Hard to believe our little girl is a junior in college, isn't it?"

  "Maybe that's why I'm a frustrated matchmaker. I didn't get to look over a lot of possibilities for Missy. When she picked Casey out, she stuck with her decision." A sudden thought occurred to her, "Or maybe it was you who picked him out?"

  He shook his head. "I only approved. There's a big difference," he gently pointed out.

  "I'll stop by the flower shop a minute, since I'm this close. Aren't you going to ask me what's for dinner?"

  "Nah," Cas answered recklessly, "Surprise me!"

  * * *

  Miss Minnie and Miss Mayme were in the office with the phone speaker on so they could both talk to Mattie and Katie.

  "You're going to have to come and see our new kitchen," Mattie's voice insisted.

  Katie put in, "Mattie stayed right with the workmen, and it's just perfect, from the floor to the ceiling. You can see yourself in the polished cabinet doors!"

  "Katie picked out the flooring and curtains, she's the one who's good at decorating. And it does look nice, we're both pleased with it."

  "We look forward to seeing it. And by the way, you haven't seen our shop, either."

  "We'll do better at keeping in touch from now on," Mattie promised.

  "Are you still planning to go to the cabin next weekend?"

  "That's the plan. Katie is going to drive me up there and take the car back. I won't be needing it, and there's no point in her having to lease one to go to work."

  "Are you taking much with you?"

  "Just a few clothes, which Katie will take back with her to wash when she visits." She paused, probably picturing things she wanted to take. "But with only my portable typewriter and things I'll have to have, the car will be full."

  "That's why I'm asking. We bought a small van when we opened the shop. If you don't mind going on Sunday, we'll bring it to help you. It and the car should hold all you'll want to take."

  "Why, that would be wonderful! What do you think, Katie?"

  Mattie and Katie were both delighted with the offer of the van.

  "All right then, we'll see you bright and early Sunday morning. Say, around eight or nine o'clock?"

  Connie went on in as they finished talking.

  "I heard the door chimes." Miss Mayme chuckled when she saw Connie and pushed a chair toward her. "Come in and let us tell you everything we know, it won't take long,"

  Connie dutifully listened to their update on Mattie and Katie, glad they were so full of news she didn't have to comment.

  Miss Minnie expressed a few misgivings they hadn't thought of on the phone. "They will be taking Mattie's things up to the cabin Sunday. We want to help them so when she mentioned some of the things she's taking, we volunteered the van. But we haven't been all that close to them for the last few years. Before Mattie retired, all of us were working and didn't get together much. But unless my memory fails me, Mattie can be awfully cantankerous."

  "She still seems to be. But that's only because she's always been all business. She's good and kind hearted as she can be," Miss Mayme insisted.

  "She certainly has been good to Katie," Miss Minnie conceded. "And since she's not taking much, it shouldn't be much trouble to get her things up to the cabin for her."

  Miss Minnie stopped, staring at Connie, "Have you had some sort of epiphany? I can almost see a light bulb shining over your head like the ones in the comics."

  "I see it too," Miss Mayme claimed immediately. "And a Cat That Ate The Canary Grin too. Come to think of it. You seemed a little down when you came in. Are you not up to leaping tall buildings today? And what perked you up so fast? What is it? Come on, 'fess up!"

  "Which first? The light bulb or the downs? You'll have to be more specific." Connie teased, prolonging the suspense.

  "The downs, I guess. I like happy endings so let's get that out of the way."

  "All right. You know how pleased I was when Hannah and Tim finally met and seemed to like each other? Well, to make a long story short, they've hit some sort of snag."

  Miss Minnie and Miss Mayme shared a blank look. "A snag?"

  "What do you mean?"

  "The fireworks aren't there," Connie explained patiently. "I thought they liked each other. Even Cas thought so."

  Miss Minnie raised a skeptical eyebrow. "How do you know there aren't any fireworks?"

  Nobody seemed to notice the coffee had stopped perking.

  "I made an excuse to go by the library to see Hannah's reaction when Tim's name was mentioned. To see if she would light up like Christmas bulbs and ask questions about him the way he did about her the day I worked for him."

  "And she didn't seem to like him?" Miss Minnie said slowly, "That's strange."

  "Can't imagine anyone not liking Tim. Are you sure about that?" Miss Mayme was not convinced.

  "That's the strange part. It was just, it wasn't dislike," she shook her head. "It was just, there wasn't anything at all. Zip! She didn't light up and smile, like someone in love, or even infatuated, but she didn't say anything against him or anything that sounded the least bit negative, either."

  Connie leaned closer, making her point. "There was no reaction at all. I was so depressed I was about to turn in my matchmaker's license, when you two came up with this great idea!"

  "What?"

  "Yes, what great idea?" Miss Minnie asked uneasily.

  "When you take the van to help Mattie and Katie, Cas and I could go in his truck. We can ask Hannah and Tim to help us. Maybe working together will sort of break the ice and make them talk out whatever it is."

  Neither of them answered. She looked from one to the other, excited. "What do you think?"

  "Mattie said she's only taking a few things," Miss Minnie reminded her. "But knowing Mattie and having a van to use, I don't know?"

  "But if it's obvious, even in casual conversation, there's no interest there, between Tim and Hannah," Miss Mayme's disapproval could be heard in her voice "they may not want to be together."

  "Or it's possible, this trouble between them may not be something that can be talked out."

  "Well, we have till Sunday to think about it." She could see their disapproval. "I'll ask Cas and see what he thinks," Connie compromised.

  "Yes, ask Cas." The Anderson sisters were relieved to shift the burden to him.

  * * *

  Though she led up to it in such a typically devious way he knew something was up, when the question was finally put to him, Cas put his foot down so hard the kitchen echoed.r />
  After several minutes of verbal jousting, he was still adamant. None of Connie's arguments could shake his decision.

  "Suppose I just mention Tim might come along to help, nothing concrete, you know?"

  "You won't ask her? Only mention Tim might come along?"

  "That's all. Scout's honor," Connie saluted solemnly.

  "All right. But when you mention it, and mention it only once, if she doesn't get down on both knees and beg to go, you'll forget about it."

  "Well, all right." Her mouth turned down at the corners. "But you drive a hard bargain," she sighed.

  "That's me, Hard Bargain Larkin."

  * * *

  Later in the week, Connie called the flower shop and told the Anderson sisters her brilliant plan had flopped.

  "I didn't think Cas would go along quietly," Miss Minnie admitted. "Did you go by and mention to Hannah that Tim might be going?"

  "I mentioned it, but that didn't turn out right either. I never got a chance to imply it might be fun if she went along too since Tim might be going." Her voice fell flat. "The whole thing just never got off the ground."

  "What did she say that stopped all speculation dead in the water like that?"

  "She's going to visit a friend of hers in Fort Craig. She won't even be here." She sounded depressed as when she'd told them about the suspected snag. "So much for that. But I'm sure Cas will take the truck if you think you might need us."

  "No, we appreciate it, but they aren't expecting anything but the van. We never told them anything different, so don't worry about it. And don't worry about Hannah and Tim either. If it's Kismet as they say on Broadway, they'll find a way around whatever the snag is."

  Chapter 6

  "Everything's locked up except the side door," Jo Beth said as she left the library.

  Hannah nodded. "I'll do that, I'm nearly ready to go."

  After locking the side door and checking to make sure all the doors and windows were secure, Hannah went back and reached for the phone.

  "I don't know if Gina got the message I left or not," she worried.

  As if on cue, the phone rang as she touched it.

  "Pine County Library," Hannah answered promptly.

  "Hannah," Gina's voice sounded relieved. "I didn't know if I'd catch you or not. I got your message but it was too late to call on my lunch hour and this is the first chance I've had to get to a phone. Your message sounded like you're worried or something. Is there something wrong?"

  "No, not really wrong," Hannah hesitated.

  Gina smiled into the phone, picturing her friend. "You know you can't get by with that with me. Somebody else maybe, but not me. You're upset about something and it's important to you."

  "If I can get myself invited over this weekend, I'll tell you about it. You know how I dislike talking on the phone, especially about something important. I'm an eyeball to eyeball person. And it is something important to me."

  "Come on, then. You don't need an invitation."

  "Thanks. I'll come over Saturday morning and leave Sunday afternoon, unless you have plans?"

  "That's great. There is someone coming over Sunday but she's someone I want you to meet. You'll like her."

  "Is she like us?"

  "Yes, and no. She does see things sometimes, but not that often. There are other things too. Oh, just come on," Gina insisted. "We'll have a good time and we can talk."

  "All right, I'll see you Saturday."

  * * *

  Cas stirred his coffee as Connie told him about Hannah having plans for the weekend.

  "Now, aren't you glad you didn't go on and ask Tim and get yourself committed to a situation that would just be spinning your wheels?"

  "I guess so," she looked anything but glad.

  "Did Hannah say who she was going to visit in Fort Craig?"

  "No, but it's not a man. She referred to the friend as she, and said they'd been friends a long time."

  "And since it's a woman, and you being a dedicated matchmaker with a single-track mind, you promptly lost interest." Cas hid a knowing grin behind his cup.

  Connie laughed, recognizing herself in that description. "Yeah, that's about it, Sheriff."

  * * *

  Tim looked around the deserted office.

  "It's still not much after five o'clock, Fridayitis runs rampant in this place."

  He observed the deserted desks and a chair someone had pushed back to make a quick exit. A pleasant idea lit his face as his exploring eyes fell on a desk clock.

  "Maybe it's not too late to ask for a date for Saturday night. Nothing like trying."

  He went back to his own desk where he had put Hannah's home number in his phone list under the library's number. When no one answered at the library, he drummed his fingers on the desk and waited a little while to try the home number.

  Hannah was at home and heard the phone ring as she put leftovers into the microwave. She pushed the buttons to warm her dinner before moving to answer the call. When her fingers touched the phone, she saw Tim's face, expectant, wearing the slight smile that always made her heart leap in response.

  She drew back her hand and bowed her head. She took a deep breath and looked away from the phone, her face a study in pure misery. She listened to it ringing. Her fists were clenched at her side to keep them from reaching for the phone. The ringing finally stopped.

  * * *

  Sunday morning, Cas woke with a start. "What?" He opened his eyes and rubbed his hands across them before he realized it was the phone downstairs that had awakened him.

  Not waiting to put on slippers he hurried down to the kitchen to answer it, hoping it wasn't some awful local calamity to deal with.

  "I'm going to have to put my foot down about an extension upstairs." He grumbled, trying to warm one cold foot with the other.

  "Cas?" Miss Mayme's voice finished rousing him, "I'm sorry to wake you." Her voice had a slightly tinny sound, alerting him she was using the speaker in the flower shop office.

  "That's all right. What is it? Did you reconsider my offer to help you move Mattie's things?"

  "Yes, and I know this is unforgivably short notice. Katie just called, and Mattie got to thinking about all she wanted to take up to the cabin. She would like to take her word processor if we can manage to get it in so it would ride safely. She got it when she retired because she didn't want to get a computer, not yet anyway, and she has got used to using it. There's so many other things, I know Katie was embarrassed about it and at a loss what to do. I told her I'd call her back after Minnie and I looked at the van, so I haven't committed you to anything. I thought we'd see what you think of getting the word processor safely into the van no matter how much room it takes, using what space is left after that for her writing essentials and then maybe your truck for whatever else there is. That is, if you're still willing?"

  "Of course. We told you to call. It won't take us long to get our clothes on. We'll come by there so we can follow you. Call Katie back and tell her we'll be there as soon as we can. I hope she knows how to hook that word processor up, or whatever has to be done to it."

  "Surely she does, since she does all her writing on it. I wouldn't worry about that. And I think all Katie was worried about was how much Mattie decided she wanted to take," Miss Mayme assured him. "She didn't say a word about getting the thing hooked up, or online. But online is a computer thing, I think. Well, whatever they call it. You can see how much I know about it."

  "Don't worry. If we can't get all Mattie needs in a car, a van, and a truck, she'll just have to need a little less!" Miss Minnie's voice chimed in on a positive note. "And Cas, don't stop for coffee. We've got fresh coffee made here, and Danishes too."

  "We might as well go with our tummies full and enjoy ourselves." Miss Mayme's good humor was back, anticipating the Danishes.

  Fully awake now, Cas grinned. "My stomach is already sending out Sitting on Empty signals. See you in a little while."

  "Was that the Andersons?"
A drowsy voice asked.

  Connie stood in the kitchen door in her robe, a hair brush in her hand.

  "It was. Mattie wants to take her word processor, and they feel like it would be better to have more moving room than they need than not have enough. So we'll go with them and take the truck. You don't mind, do you?"

  "No, it will be fun. And I don't blame her for wanting her word processor to work on," she smiled, picturing Jill sitting at her keyboard in Dick Randolph's office.

  "It must be easy to get spoiled to one of those things and want it to work on. I'll get pretty while you shower."

  She hurried up to wash her face and brushed her teeth quickly before Cas could get into the shower and steam everything up as if the bathroom had been set down in the middle of a London fog.

  "I know I've got time to put on my going out face." Connie opened the drawer she kept her cosmetics in as Cas came in shedding his pajamas.

  "Cas would shower and shave on a desert island if he had the means." Before she finished her going out face, she wrinkled her nose at the soap scented mist already rising from the hot water, obscuring her image in the mirror.

  They were dressed and ready to leave in record time and both looked forward to the trip.

  There was no traffic on the road but them and Connie smiled to herself watching Cas look at every outlying place of business or warehouse they passed as if checking to see all was well.

  On their way into town they saw a jogger in the distance. Getting closer, they recognized Tim Carpenter and Cas sounded the horn as he pulled the truck over.

  "Where are you headed so early in the morning?" Tim panted, stretching his legs as he stood at the truck window looking in.

  "Going to help move some things for a friend who's renting a cabin out by the lake. She lives in Fort Craig."

  "Need some help? I'm available and dressed for it."

  "Do you by any chance know anything about hooking up a word processor?"

  "Not a lot, but maybe I could help."

  "Great. If you're serious about being available, hop in."

  Tim got in and got settled beside Connie. "I'm glad you came along, I was facing a boring day," he told them as he shut the door.