by Jenny Kales
Sands seemed to realize he’d struck a nerve. “I think we’ve had enough shop talk for one night. Let’s enjoy our dinners,” he said, gesturing to the food that was now being placed in front of them.
On such a warm day, Callie had opted for the cold leek-potato soup and a chicken baguette sandwich. Artfully diced fruit accompanied her dish. Well, Lisa certainly hadn’t let the food standards slip since she bought the place, Callie thought as she dug in. She realized that she was hungry. Soon, disturbing thoughts of murder faded as she sampled the food. Delicious!
Sands seemed to be enjoying his salmon and dill sauce. The two ate heartily as they discussed less toxic topics. Callie brought up Beats on the Bay and was surprised to hear Sands was gung-ho for the idea.
“Work is crazy, as you know,” he said. “But I may be able to pop down some evening, at least for a little while. I think it’s wonderful that Viv is helping out. She certainly never slows down.”
“Oh, but I didn’t tell you the best part: I’m providing refreshments. At Viv and Mrs. DeWitt’s request, of course.”
“Ah yes, Mrs. DeWitt. Well, she certainly is a character, but I’ll always have a soft spot for her.” He gazed at Callie with meaning, and she smiled back at him, her face warm. The two of them had become officially “involved” after a party at Mrs. DeWitt’s house.
“I guess you’ll be pretty busy,” Sands said, taking a swig of tea.
“Well, won’t you be?”
“Yes, of course. Especially with this latest case.”
Callie sighed. “Me, too. Summer is my busiest season. And I’m not complaining. I need the business.”
“You’ve got Max, though, haven’t you? And Piper?”
Callie didn’t have the heart to discuss the possibility of Max’s departure. “I’ll figure it out. Now, before you have to go, how about dessert?”
The two of them shared some bittersweet chocolate sorbet before Sands took his leave. As they exited The Harris House, Sands’ arm draped casually around her shoulders, Callie kept her eye out for Lisa, who was greeting more diners as they clustered into the doorway for the busy dinner hour.
“Good night,” Lisa warbled, but her smile was uncertain and her previously cheeriness seemed to be permanently extinguished. Callie was determined to find out what had caused the change in Lisa’s behavior.
“I’m walking you to your car, so don’t argue,” Sands said and Callie saluted him. Once they reached her car, she turned to say goodbye, and he swept her in his arms before she could say a word, giving her a kiss that left her breathless. “Gotta go,” he whispered, holding the car door open for her.
“See you soon,” Callie whispered back. She sat in the car a minute, wishing they both had normal jobs and that everything didn’t have to be so rushed. Looking up, she noticed that Sands had stopped and had turned to look back at her. His smile was devilish, and he gave a jaunty wave which Callie returned.
As Callie started her car, she was feeling a little shaky and it wasn’t just from Sands’ show of passion. She was feeling troubled by their dinner conversation. His mentioning of Raine and Hugh knowing Holly seemed ominous. Callie couldn’t believe they were seriously being considered as suspects. However, there was one truth she couldn’t escape, uncomfortable though it was for her to contemplate.
Everyone had their secrets.
Seven
The next morning, Callie was feeling as mixed up as a bowl of spanakopita filling. It helped that Max was working so industriously beside her. The weather had decided to become stunningly beautiful as well.
Sunlight glinted off the polished glass of her display case and sparkled on the stainless steel countertops. The warm, soft breezy weather on her way to work that morning had lifted her spirits, but she still had a lot on her mind.
Callie paused in her food prep for a minute as she looked fondly around her shop. Even in stressful times, she always took pride in its inviting appearance. Fresh daisies in mason jars decorated the tables and a feeling of light and warmth permeated the room. Callie looked at the St. Basil icon that her father, George, had bought for her years ago (St. Basil had once worked as a cook, apparently) and said a small prayer that she wouldn’t lose her best employee.
The two of them hadn’t broached the topic of Max’s potential departure from her employ again, and Callie was relieved not to revisit that conversation for the time being. However, she found that she was casting about in her mind for possible Max replacements as she went about her tasks of rolling out pie dough for her famous summer cherry pie, filling display cases with fragrant koularakia, the famous braided Greek butter cookie, and baking spanakopita triangles to bring to the Beats on the Bay refreshments table. Running Callie’s Kitchen without Max; it wasn’t a pleasant thought.
Max was wiping off the countertop and whistling when Callie emerged from the work room where her ovens were housed. “We sold out of the Greek yogurt coffee cake,” he remarked, gesturing at a pan that held nothing more than crumbs. “Want me to make more?”
“Yes, that would be great. Might as well have extra for tomorrow.” Callie felt her shoulders slump. Sharp-eyed Max noticed, of course.
“Callie, what is it? You seem really down today. I know you’ve been through a lot lately.”
“Oh, I don’t know.” Callie didn’t know where to start. “Just tired, I guess.” Olivia had kept her up half the night with nightmares, and Callie was worried about her, so that was true enough.
“I hope I’m not part of the reason you’re upset.” Max looked pained. “I’m sorry. I sort of wish I’d never said anything about my dad wanting me to take over the farm. But I thought I had to let you know about my current situation. You know, just in case.”
Callie groaned involuntarily, and Max pulled himself up to his full height. He crossed his arms in his usual pose, his huge, tattooed forearms as colorful as ever. “I’m doing my best to stay here. I promise. And if something happens and I can’t, well, I’ll just help you find someone to take my place. Not that they could,” he said, half-smiling at his own joke.
“That’s just the trouble, Max. I’m not sure anyone can take your place. You’re here now, so let’s knock out this Beats on the Bay food. Remember, you said you’d help, and I need your cooking expertise right about now.” Callie smiled at him.
“Yeah, yeah,” Max grinned, his face flushing. Any sort of praise made him shy.
“You’re right, by the way,” Callie continued, picking up the thread of their earlier conversation. “This Holly Tennyson murder is really bothering me. Olivia is devastated, and I don’t blame her. I’m not doing so great myself.”
“Yeah, I was wondering about that. Poor kid. I wondered how she was doing.” Max leaned against the counter and looked outside for customers. “Looks like nobody’s coming in, so do you want to tell me about it?”
Grateful for a friendly ear, Callie shared some of Olivia’s distress. Then, omitting the part about Hugh and Raine being potential suspects, she blurted out the fact that Hugh and Holly had once been an item, if only briefly.
“No way!” Max looked surprised. “Must have been before his new wife, what’s her name, came on the scene.”
Callie couldn’t help but laugh at his referral to Raine. “Her name is Raine. Remember? And yes, I think it was before she was around. Anyway, I didn’t know and just found out about myself.”
“Well, that’s just really weird,” Max said, frowning. “You didn’t even know your ex-husband had a fling with your daughter’s teacher? Parent-teacher conferences must have been interesting.”
“Hugh generally skipped those last year. I put it down to being busy and moving but now I guess I know the real reason why.”
Max gave her an empathetic glance. “Holly was a nice woman. It’s a real shame. She seemed a little stressed, though, last time she came in here. Don’t you think?”
“What are you talking about?” Callie couldn’t remember a stressed-out Holly in her shop recently.
“Oh, that’s right. It was Piper and me working that day. You’d already left. Holly was grabbing some food to go and was in kind of a nervous mood. You can ask Piper, she saw her too.”
“Go on,” Callie said, intrigued.
Max stopped talking as a couple walked by the shop, but they passed by the door and didn’t come in. He shrugged and continued his tale.
“Well, it was a couple of weeks ago. She didn’t really give specifics. She was in a big hurry, and Piper and I were chatting to her, you know, teasing her about it, I guess. She said she was sorry to be in such a rush, but that rehearsals were getting in the way of some sort of research she was doing for her graduate degree.”
“Did she say anything else?” Callie pressed.
Max closed his eyes, trying to remember. He shook his head. “Nope. That’s all I remember. Piper might know more. She’ll be in tomorrow.”
Callie glanced up; the couple had decided to come into Callie’s Kitchen after all. “We’d better get back to work. Let me jump back on the baking while you deal with the customers.”
Max nodded his head at her as Callie strode back into her workroom, even more mixed up than before. This was another noodle to add to the soup. She resolved to tell Sands about it and shrugging off her many doubts, dove back into her spanakopita triangle-making for Beats on the Bay.
***
Callie finished her food prep and then realized that she’d need to provide paper plates, napkins and plastic flatware. She hunted through her store room, but her supplies were low, probably from the uptick in customers, so she couldn’t spare any.
“Max, we’ve got to order some more paper plates and stuff,” she said, brushing her hair out of her face as she emerged from the storage area. “In the meantime, I’ve got to run out and get some extra for tonight.”
“You’re not going all the way to the kitchen supply store, are you? They have the best prices.”
“No, there’s no time. I’ll have to stop at the supermarket.”
“You sure? I can go.”
“No, it’s fine. I’ll be back in two shakes of a lamb’s tail.”
Callie dashed to her car and was soon at the supermarket on the edge of town. Summer people filled the place and, as she sped through the store, she found herself dodging shoppers staring at produce or debating what crackers to buy. Finally she found the paper goods aisle and loaded up her cart, making a mental note to hang onto her receipt for the Chamber to reimburse her.
Callie was just pushing her cart into the one open checkout line when she saw Raine coming her way. As usual, she was dressed in one of her too-youthful outfits: denim short-shorts and a tropical print T-shirt. Her long blonde hair was twisted up into a knot on top of her head, making her look even taller. Out of habit, Callie peeked at Raine’s shopping cart. It was filled with thick, marbled steaks, salad fixings, corn on the cob, cans of baked beans and several 2-liters of soda and beer.
“Hi Raine,” she said, trying to inject some enthusiasm into the greeting. “Looks like you’re barbecuing tonight.” Might as well be friendly.
“We sure are. It’s been too warm to cook indoors and anyway, you know Hugh loves to stand around a fire!” Raine chuckled immoderately and Callie smiled neutrally back at her. It was strange seeing her after all of Sands’ talk of Hugh and Raine being acquainted with Holly. Callie floundered around for a different topic of conversation.
“I meant to tell you how much I enjoyed the show the other night. You did a good job on the costumes.”
“You think so? Thanks. Though I have to say, the whole theater troupe is really shaken up about Holly. I am too, especially since I knew her in high school. And it may sound cold, but they’re now short an actress.”
Callie raised her eyebrows. “Yes, well, I guess they’ll have to find somebody new. I hadn’t thought of that.”
Raine got a funny look on her face. “Everyone is really upset. But you know the saying: The show must go on. It turns out there’s another show scheduled at The Harris House in a few days. They booked the troupe for several shows after the success of the last one and before Holly…” Raine broke off, blinking back tears. She took a shuddery breath before continuing.
“They’ve asked me to be Holly’s replacement.” Raine wiped at her big blue eyes. “I told them I would, but I just don’t know if I can go through with it! It seems…disloyal.”
Callie gaped at her a bit but decided to take the high road. “Don’t worry. I think it’s nice of you to step in.” Raine and Holly were physically very different, but maybe that didn’t matter, especially in an acting emergency.
“Thanks,” Raine said softly. “I just hope I can memorize my lines.”
“You will,” Callie said absently, a thought dawning on her. She’d really like to get a chance to observe some of the players from the other night, as well as Allan Browne. But it would seem odd to go back when she’d been there so recently, unless she had a reason to be there. “Raine, do you mind if I go to the show?”
“I don’t mind one bit.” Raine’s cheeks flushed underneath her bright pink blush. “I’m going to need all the support I can get.” She beamed at Callie.
Callie cringed. She wasn’t planning to be there for support, but for more snooping. It was embarrassing the way Raine misinterpreted her every move.
“See you then,” Callie said. “I’ve got to get back to the shop right now, but I’ll call The Harris House for details.”
“You can also check the website. All the info should be there.” Raine seemed to be perking up.
“Will do.” Wait until everybody heard this news, Callie thought. Theater might never be the same.
***
“Guess who’s going to see their name in lights?” Callie asked Max once she was back at work with her stock of plates and utensils.
“What are you talking about?” Max asked distractedly, his arms full of empty pastry trays. He brushed past Callie and set the trays down on the counter.
Callie looked right and left before answering. Fortunately, only a couple of customers were clustered at tables near the window. It was early afternoon. This was one of the shop’s slower times, well after lunch, but right before people started getting hungry for snacks and dinner.
“Raine,” she said in a loud whisper. “She took over Holly Tennyson’s part in the play.”
“Wow,” said Max. “That sounds interesting, to put it mildly.”
“You’re telling me,” Callie agreed. “I want another look at the actors and director so I told Raine I’d see the next performance. I didn’t get to meet all of the actors, but I did meet one of the other actresses and the director. Let’s just say they’re both a little…eccentric.”
“If I’m not on the schedule, wild horses couldn’t keep me away.”
Callie smiled at his remark. “Something about that theater troupe has me extremely curious.”
“No kidding,” Max chuckled. “Now what’s on our immediate agenda?”
With all the excitement, Callie almost forgot why she had gone to the store in the first place. “Did you pack up the food for Beats on the Bay?”
“Pretty much. Why? It’s early.”
“I know. I was thinking that I need to have a game plan for getting the food over there.”
“Why don’t you go ahead and bring it over there in an hour. I can take care of customers and close up here on my own. You want me to call Piper? I know she’s not doing anything right now.”
Callie frowned. She hadn’t figured on paying an extra employee today, but Max could use the help, especially with how busy the summer season had been so far. “See if she’s available. Thanks, Max.”
“After we close up, I want to check out the band with Piper. One of our friends should be there. He’s playing sax tonight.”
Max was as good as his word. Shortly after the two of them started serving the late-afternoon rush, Piper flounced in, wearing one of her floaty summer dresses.
&
nbsp; “Hi, everybody,” she sang. “What have you got for me?”
Max was all smiles as he greeted Piper. The couple exchanged a brief hug before Max shooed Callie away from the front of the shop.
“Go get your stuff for Beats on the Bay,” he told his boss. “I’ll handle things here. You’re going to need time to set up, and the last thing you want is people hassling you for food before you’ve unloaded everything.”
Callie had to agree with him. Gratefully, she loaded her car with various sweet and savory tidbits and sped off toward the bandstand in search of nearby parking. At this time of day, parking near the water was nearly impossible.
She was finally able to find a spot near her destination when she spotted a couple of young moms with several wet and weary children departing from a day in the water. Callie waited patiently for several minutes as the two women collapsed strollers, deflated water toys and managed to pack six children into a minivan before vacating the space.
Happy to have found a spot so close to the park, Callie was cheerful as she stacked her insulated food boxes and a cardboard placard advertising her business onto the small collapsible dolly she used for such events. She secured everything into place with cords before carefully maneuvering her goods in the direction of the park.
“You look like you’ve got quite a load there.” Callie looked up at the source of the remark and into the face of the young woman working with Lisa Linley and Hugh. Today she was dressed in jean cut-offs and a white-off-the-shoulder blouse. With her long blond braids, she looked like a milk maid. “April, right?” Callie asked.
“The one and only,” the young woman answered with a smile. “Can I help you? Where are you headed?”
“I’m providing the food for Beats on the Bay,” Callie explained. “But it’s OK. I think I’ve got this.”