A Pour Way to Dye (Book 2 in the Soapmaking Mysteries) (7 page)

“
Put the soap you’ve grated
in your glass measuring containers, then add the water I gave you.
Next, place the container into the pan and turn your hot plates
on.”

“
Why not use the
microwaves?” Herbert asked.

“
We could,” I admitted, “But
for the first time, I like you to be able to see the soap actually
melt and coalesce. That’s tough to watch in a microwave.” I wasn’t
a big fan of using microwave ovens for soapmaking, though some of
my sisters actually preferred them. I personally liked to watch the
shredded soap and water combine slowly, a dance that delighted when
it transformed into a silky base ready to enhance.

As everyone waited for the water in their
saucepans to boil, I gave them my talk on the history of soap. It
filled the time nicely, and I thought it was important for them to
realize they were participating in a process that was thousands of
years old. I noticed most of them were ready, so I said, “When you
achieve a fairly smooth consistency, lower the temperature to a
simmer, and then stir the soap occasionally. Don’t worry if it
looks a little lumpy right now. We’re just trying to get everything
melted. Stirring helps, but do it gently. If you stir too hard,
you’ll get suds, and we don’t want them right now.”

After another minute, Herbert said, “This
looks more like cottage cheese than soap.”

“
Then you’re doing it right.
Keep stirring.”

A little while later, Diana said, “Mine’s
stringy. Should it be that way?”

“
That’s perfect. Take the
bowl out of the water and turn your hot plate off.” She did as I
asked, as did most of the others. “As your soap reaches this stage,
you’ve got to work quickly. Add the dye, then put the fragrance in.
Next comes the oatmeal, then stir it all in. Once you’re happy with
the blend, spoon what you’ve got into your mold. Tap the side of it
a few times as you go along to get rid of the air bubbles, and
you’re finished.”

I had to help a few students out, but Diana
had done a perfect job, as had many of the others.

When they were finished, a woman named Betty
from a front table asked, “Can we take these with us this
afternoon?”

Ordinarily I liked to send my students home
with their soap, but I didn’t have enough freezer space to hurry
the setting process. “No, these won’t be ready for four or five
hours. There’s a piece of tape on each mold. Write your name on it,
and you can pick your soap up on Monday.”

There were a few grumbles, and I regretted
once again that I’d let Mom schedule the first class on a Friday.
She’d had to bump the session when she had a chance to teach a
special class earlier in the week, one that profited the shop
considerably.

“
They’ll be here for you all
on Monday. Have a good weekend,” I said.

With the class over, I said, “Cindy will be
standing by the door handing out some of our basic hand-milled soap
recipes. Each of you should take a sheet and consider what type of
soap you’d like to make during our final session on Tuesday. Thanks
everyone, you all did a great job.”

They didn’t clap, but everyone looked well
pleased with the session. Diana approached me after class was over
and said, “That was a lot of fun. I’m so glad I could come.”

“
I’m happy you could,
too.”

There was a line of people waiting to speak
to me, so she excused herself. Somehow Constance had beaten most of
the others to me, although she’d been in the back of the classroom.
“Ben, there’s something I want to ask you about. I tried to do a
pour last week like you taught in that other class, but it didn’t
work out right.”

“
Did you bring it with you?”
I asked.

“
No, I didn’t think to do
that,” she admitted.

Saved. “Why don’t you bring it early on
Monday and I’ll take a look at it.”

She wasn’t going to budge, though. “I can
describe what happened to it.”

Herbert touched her arm. “Let’s go, Connie,
I’m hungry.”

“
I told you not to call me
Connie,” she said.

“
And I told you not to let
me go hungry. I figure we’re even.”

As they headed for the door—still arguing—I
answered the rest of the questions. Cindy came up front with the
extra soap handouts after everyone else was gone. “That was dirty,
big brother.”

“
If I’d answered her
question, she’d never have left,” I said.

“
You know perfectly well I’m
talking about dragging me into your class. I wasn’t supposed to do
anything, remember?”

I couldn’t believe it. “Cindy, I just asked
you to help hand a few things out. You’ve got to get over this fear
of teaching. This isn’t junior high school. These people are here
because they want to learn. With the possible exception of Herbert,
nobody’s here who doesn’t want to be. Okay?”

“
I guess so,” she said
reluctantly. “Do you need help cleaning up?”

“
No, I’ve got it,” I said.
In all honesty, straightening up after one of my classes was a
nice, quiet time for me.

I was just starting to rinse the graters when
Mom hurried into the classroom.

“
Let one of the girls handle
that,” she said. “You’ve got a job to do.”

“
This will just take a
second,” I said, resentful that she’d intruded on my
time.

“
Well, I don’t think Andrew
Joy’s going to wait for you much longer. He wants to talk about the
fence.”

Chapter 4

Andrew Joy was studying a
display Cindy had created for the shop showing which essential oils
and fragrances achieved a particular result. Andrew was a squat
little man with a head of thinning blonde hair, though I knew he
was just in his late twenties. To overcompensate, Andrew had grown
a thick, luxurious mustache that edged down his chin.

Before I could even say hello, he turned
toward me and said, “Do you people actually believe this bunk? How
can a bar of soap alter your mood?”

“
I don’t know, how can
jewelry make you feel better?” I countered.

“
We never claimed it did,”
he said. I’d been hoping Andrew was there on a peacekeeping
mission, but it was pretty obvious from his tone of voice and
demeanor that he was asking for a fight.

“
What can I do for you,
Andrew?” I asked curtly.

He actually smiled. “Good, we can dispense
with the niceties. I want you to leave my family alone.” He tried
to poke me in the chest with his right index finger, but I easily
stepped out of his reach.

I laughed, which only made him angrier.

“
What’s so funny,
Perkins?”

“
You put a fence up blocking
access to our shop and you expect me to back off? You’re kidding,
right? I’ve got a team of lawyers digging into it right now.” Well,
maybe not a real team, but I knew Kelly was better than anybody the
Joy clan could throw against her.

“
Dad was well within our
rights. That land belongs to us,” he said petulantly.

I was tired of dancing around these people.
“According to what fairy tale?” I asked as I stepped up to him. I
was a good four inches taller than Andrew, and I wanted to use
every bit of it to back him down.

He took a slight step back. “We’ve got proof,
don’t worry about that.”

“
If you’re so certain, why
don’t you show us? If you want us to leave you all alone, give us a
reason to.”

Andrew snorted. “You’d love that, wouldn’t
you? There’s no way we’re going to give you a chance to steal our
proof. An IOU from a poker game is legal, and you know it.”

“
What are you babbling
about?”

Andrew’s smile cracked his face again. “You
mean he hasn’t told you? I thought you’d have talked to Paulus by
now. Honestly, Ben, I’m beginning to believe you’re not nearly as
smart as everyone in Harper’s Landing thinks you are.”

He started to leave, but I wasn’t finished
with him yet. I grabbed his arm, and he jerked it away
violently.

“
So now you’re going to try
to beat me up, is that it? I’ll sue you for assault and battery.
You’ve lost your mind. You and your entire family are lunatics. You
should all be locked up.”

That was all I could take. There was no way I
was going to stand in my own shop and have the man insult me and my
family. I grabbed his arm harder this time and started walking him
toward the front door. He tried to struggle, but I forced him
outside. I hated that my class saw my behavior, and no doubt some
of them would drop out because of it, but I wasn’t in the mood to
worry about the ramifications of my actions at that particular
moment.

Once I had him outside, I nearly shoved him
off the porch. “Go home, Andrew.”

When he was fifteen feet away, he said, “I’ve
got witnesses You’ll be sorry you did that.” As he rubbed his arm,
he said, “When I get back to town on Monday, I’m swearing out a
warrant on you.”

“
Why wait?” I said. “Let’s
go downtown right now.” The adrenaline was starting to wear off,
but I still wasn’t sorry for what I’d done.

He shook his head. “I’m late right now for an
appointment in Raleigh. Monday will be soon enough for you to go to
jail.”

He scampered back toward Joy land, and I had
to fight the urge to follow him, just to see what he’d do.

Mom walked out onto the porch, and before she
could say anything, I admitted, “Okay, maybe I shouldn’t have
thrown him out like that, but he had it coming.”

To my surprise, my mother just smiled at me.
“I came out here to tell you how proud I am of you. No one should
be allowed to insult your family, Benjamin.”

I wasn’t sure if I was happy with the praise
or not. As for the threat of arrest, that didn’t bother me too much
either. I’d worry about it when and if the time came later.

The last thing I wanted to do was to go back
inside the soap shop, but I didn’t have much choice. I wasn’t sure
what the reaction would be, but I never expected applause. When I
walked through the door, my brothers and sisters were lined up near
the register clapping.

Bob said, “Way to go, man. We heard you
yelling from the production line.”

Jeff added, “You really let him have it.”

Louisa looked at me and said, “Don’t let him
get to you, Ben. He always was a little weasel.”

“
Guys,” I said, “I hate to
ruin the party, but there’s a very good chance that I may have just
made things worse.”

Mom said loudly, “Enough. We have these
wonderful customers still to wait on, and gentlemen, you have a
specialty production run to finish. Now back to work,
everyone.”

I wanted to hide in my office, but Diana
caught me before I could get upstairs. “I’m sorry to hear about
your troubles.”

“
We’ll work it out,” I said.
“I’m the one who should apologize. I let him get to me.”

She touched my arm lightly. “Ben, there’s
nothing wrong with defending your family. I think you did exactly
what you should have done.”

“
Thanks,” I said, then I
noticed that Kate and Cindy were watching us. “Well, I’ve got a
mound of paperwork waiting for me upstairs. If you’ll excuse
me.”

She took the hint instantly. “Absolutely. I
need to get back to the bookstore. It’s hard to tell what Rufus has
done in my absence. I’ll see you Monday, Ben.”

“
See you then,” I
said.

I retreated up the stairs to my office,
hoping to get away from the world for a while. There was a knock on
my door not ten seconds after I’d closed it.

“
Go away,” I
said.

The door opened and I saw Louisa standing
there. “Now is that any way to talk to your favorite sister?”

I grinned at her. “Who said you were my
favorite?”

“
Why wouldn’t I be?” she
asked with a smile of her own. “Now why don’t you take me to lunch?
You haven’t eaten yet, have you?”

I looked at the clock and realized that I’d
missed another meal. Sometimes my schedule was so busy I literally
forgot to eat. It was probably a good thing, though. With the baked
goods Mom kept on hand downstairs, I could stand to skip a meal
every now and then. “I’m not all that hungry,” I said just as my
stomach growled loudly.

“
What was that, coyotes?
Come on, let’s go to The Hound Dog. I’m in the mood for one of
Ruby’s sloppy burgers.”

“
Why not,” I said as I stood
up. “I’m not going to be able to get much work done anyway.
Andrew’s a real jerk, isn’t he?”

“
Like father, like son.
We’ll detour the Joy property and go the back way, what do you
say?”

I grabbed my jacket. “I say let’s go.”

We walked to The Hound Dog, chatting
aimlessly about anything that crossed our minds, except for fences
and neighbors. By the time we walked in to Elvis Presley’s voice
serenading us with the grill’s name and inspiration, I felt much
better. Though I loved all my siblings equally, there was no
denying the special bond between Louisa and me.

Ruby, the owner of the diner, was dancing
when we walked in, but didn’t look the least bit self-conscious
when she saw us. “Grab a booth or a spot at the counter, I’ll be
with you in a second.”

We found a booth away from the jukebox, and
as soon as the song was finished, Ruby joined us. I’d been studying
the vast array of Elvis memorabilia on the walls. I could swear
some of it was new, though where she’d found the room to display
anything else was beyond me.

Ruby handed us a pair of menus and said, “You
two are eating a late lunch, aren’t you?”