Pumpkins in Paradise (Tj Jensen Paradise Lake Mystery Book 1) (10 page)

“I heard we were the last choice and you got stuck with us.
” Ryder Finnegan, a socially aggressive boy who was more often in detention than not, chimed in. Everyone in town knew his father was a drunk who hadn’t had a job in more than four years, so most folks tended to give the handsome young man a break in spite of his difficult personality.

Tj shrugged. “You know what they say about leaving the best for last
. Since you seem to be eager to share, why don’t you start us off by telling us your name and why you decided to join choir?”

“You know my name.
” His blue eyes flashed with annoyance.

“I do but others in the room may not.”

“Name is Ryder.” His long blond bangs draped over one eye as he glared at her with the other. “And I’m in this dumb group because Mr. Talbot told me he’d forgive the hundred and fifty hours of community service I racked up over the summer if I joined the choir.”

Tj knew Jim Talbot was a probation officer in charge of community service for underage minor crimes, like petty theft, possession, and truancy
.

“Okay, I can work with that
. How about you?” Tj nodded to a large-boned girl she didn’t remember seeing in any of her PE classes.

“Rhonda
. I don’t like getting sweaty, and Mr. Remington said I could skip PE for the rest of the year if I joined the choir.”

“I see.
” Tj wasn’t a fan of letting kids who most needed an hour of exercise avoid the only class in which they were likely to get it. “There are a lot of fun options to the traditional calisthenics many people think of when they hear the words PE. Have you thought of trying soccer or dance?”

“Don’t like to run and don’t like to dance.”

“You have to dance,” Marley Davis spoke up. “The student council voted to make this a show choir, like in that TV show.”

Rhonda snorted
. Marley was the president of the student council and, Tj suspected, the only member of the group who gave a flying leap whether the choir was a regular or a show one. The girl had gumption, she’d give her that, but it was going to be close to impossible to turn six misfits, none of whom appeared to have any actual musical talent, into a regular choir that could serenade the old folks at the senior center let alone a show choir that had to sing and dance at competitions.

“How about we continue with the introductions before we discuss the direction our group should go?” Tj suggested.

The next in line was a slight girl with a thin frame and long blond hair. She’d been staring at the floor almost the entire time Tj had been in the room. “And what is your name?” Tj asked.

“Kendall,” she whispered.

“And what made you decide to join our group?”

Kendall looked up for the first time
. Her pale skin and bright green eyes made her look like a terrified cat on the verge of flight. “Mrs. Remington suggested it. She thought it would help me make friends.”

“Do you have any singing experience?
” Tj crossed her fingers.

“Experience, no
. But I like to sing when I’m alone.”

“Okay, well, that’s something.
” Tj turned to the next member of their group, Conner Harrington, one of her best snowboarders. She suspected he had a thing for Marley, which most likely explained his presence in the room. “Conner, would you care to tell us why you have decided to join the choir?”

“I like to sing.”

“Do you have any experience with choir?”

“Yeah, I sing in my church choir every Sunday I don’t have a race.”

Tj couldn’t have been more surprised and delighted if he’d just won one of the races to which he referred. Never in her wildest dreams had she imagined that her star skier might actually be the answer to the silent prayer she’d been muttering since Greg had saddled her with this impossible assignment.

“Fantastic
. I don’t suppose you can dance?”

“Better than I ski.”

Thank you, God.

“
Okay, and our final member is Sasha Bennington. Sasha, why don’t you tell us why you decided to join choir.”

“I want to go to Harvard.
” Sasha, tall and lean with dark hair, dark eyes, and dark skin, was as focused and driven as a student could be. Tj had no doubt she could achieve anything she set out to do, including drag the choir, willing or not, into the final rounds of any competition. She’d joined the track team last spring in an effort to round out her portfolio; apparently she’d joined the choir for the same reason.

“Can you sing?
”

“I can do anything I need to do.”

“Okay, then. Let’s talk direction. Marley has suggested a show choir, but I’m thinking it might be easier to just focus on being a regular choir.”

“Mr. Remington said we could be a show choir,” Marley argued
. “The student council voted on it. I already have my solo picked out for our first competition.”

“Hold the bus, sister,” Sasha chimed in
. “If anyone is doing a solo, it’s me.”

“I don’t need to hold the bus; my dad owns the bus,” Marley countered.

“Just because your dad donated the bus doesn’t mean he owns it. The school owns it,” Sasha pointed out.

“Okay, everyone, let’s slow down a bit.
” Tj tried to regain order. She knew that Sasha was not only bright and driven but dirt poor. If she needed to sing a solo to help her earn the scholarship she coveted, you could be darn sure she’d find a way to do a solo. “Before we worry about solos, we need to definitively decide what type of choir we are going to be and how many members we will need to accomplish our goal. Whether we decide to focus on a show choir or not will depend in part on whether we can recruit the necessary members. We’ll need at least twice the number we have now.”

“Maybe we can hand out fliers and hold tryouts,” Kendall suggested.

“Good idea. I’ll make up some fliers, you all can try to recruit friends and classmates. Normally our group will meet Tuesday’s and Thursday’s but due to the Pumpkin Festival we won’t be meeting on Thursday of this week so we’ll meet back here a week from today.”

“Something smells good,” Tj commented as she walked through the back door of The Antiquery several hours later.

“I’m experimenting with a new recipe for the cookie exchange,” Jenna explained.

“The cookie exchange as in the Christmas cookie exchange, which is still like six weeks away?”

“I know it seems ridiculous, but I have a reputation for being the best cook in town—a reputation, I might remind you, that keeps this restaurant in the black—so it’s important that I bring something that is both fantastic and unique. The closer we get to the actual event, the more hectic things will get around here, so I usually try to experiment with a few ideas whenever I get the chance.”

“So what kind are you making?
”

“It’s a secret
. You’ll just have to wait six weeks to find out. How about you? Any secret recipes you’re playing around with?”

“Thought I might add butterscotch chips to the Nestlé Toll House cookies I usually make
. Does that count as a secret recipe?”

“Actually, for you it does.
”

Tj hated to cook and wasn’t ashamed to admit it
. Maybe she brought the same chocolate chip cookies every year, but even Jenna had to admit they were the best chocolate chip cookies around. She’d leave spending hours in the kitchen, baking batch after batch of some innovative idea, up to her domestically talented best friend. Personally she had a lot better things to do with her time.

“Here to mooch some lunch?
” Jenna asked.

“ No
but I’ll have a cookie. After I ask your mom a question, that is. She in the front?”

“Should be.”

Tj walked through the dining area of the café and found Helen, who was on the antique side, working on her newest display.

“Nice touch,” Tj commented on the old magazines from the nineteen fifties that she’d stacked on a table near the old-fashioned soda fountain.

“Thanks. I think the display is coming along quite nicely. I’ve had folks dropping by all week to give me their input on the subject. I picked up a twelve-piece set of antique cola glasses at the flea market this weekend.”

“Speaking of that: there was a woman about fifty-five selling glass and other used items.”

“Short blond hair?” Helen asked.

“Yeah, you know her name?”

“Connie Beckett. She just recently moved to the area. Runs a little shop out of her garage.”

“You know where she lives?”

“Corner of Pine and Fourth. Why, are you in the market for something specific?”

“No, I just heard she had interesting stuff
. I thought I’d check it out. You wouldn’t happen to have her phone number, would you?”

“I believe I do.
” Helen’s phone rang as she began looking for the number.

“Go ahead and get that,” Tj suggested
. “I’ll check back before I leave.”

“It’s slow today,” Tj commented when she returned to the kitchen through the empty café.

“I guess everyone is cleaning up after the storm
. I’ve only had a handful of customers all day. Even on a slow day we usually get the gals from the Serenity Gossip Society in to try to pick up on the latest rumors, but even they’ve been surprisingly absent.”

“Speaking of gossip,” Tj said, sliding into a
seat at the counter to watch, “I’d like you to be the first to know that I am the new choir director for Serenity High School.”

Tj was rewarded with the look of shock she’d been expecting
. “You’re kidding.”

“’
Fraid not.”

“But why
? You can’t even sing.”

“Hello.
” Tj held her arms to the side palms up in a gesture of frustration. “That’s what I’ve been telling everyone, but apparently if you are the last to choose your adjunct duty, no one really cares whether you can sing or not.”

“Oh, dear.
” Jenna laughed.

“Oh, dear, is
right, and it gets better. The kids don’t want to have any old choir; they want a show choir.”

“Just like the TV show.
” Jenna grinned.

“Yeah, exactly like the TV show
. The problem is, unlike the show, it appears that my misfits can’t sing.”

“I guess all you can do is
prepare for the worst but hope for the best.” Jenna removed the first batch of cookies from the oven and placed them on the cooling rack. “Try one of these. Chocolate cures any ailment.”

Tj accepted a cookie and took a bite
. “These are really good.”

Settling the second batch on the center rack of the commercial appliance, Jenna picked up one of the cookies, took a small bite, and frowned
. “These are pretty good, but not really what I was going for. I guess I’ll have to make a few adjustments and try again.”

“What do you mean, try again
? These are the best thing I’ve ever tasted.” Tj picked up another cookie and stuffed half of it into her mouth.

“They’re good, but not good enough.
” Jenna bit her lip as she made a few notes on a handwritten recipe.

Helen poked her head in
. “Another failure?”

“They’re excellent.
” Tj took another bite. “You should try one.”

“No, thank you, dear
. I’m watching my weight.” Helen ran her hands down the sides of her perfectly pressed size-two designer suit before pouring herself a cup of coffee and sliding onto a tall stool. “I just got off the phone with Bonnie and you’ll never believe what she told me; in the strictest confidence, of course.”

“Maybe you shouldn’t tell us what she said if she shared it with you in the strictest confidence,” Jenna suggested.

“Oh, posh. Bonnie knows I can’t keep a secret and she told me anyway, so I figure news of her affair can’t be all that big of a secret.”

“Affair,” Jenna choked
. She’d never known her motherin-law to so much as look at a man since her husband died. “Bonnie’s having an affair?”

“Well,” Helen hedged, “the word
affair
might present a slight misrepresentation of the facts, but still, I do believe that love or at least lust is in the air. I guess Bonnie reconnected with an old flame at the reunion and the two of them have been keeping time ever since.”

“Keeping time?” Jenna asked.

“Spending time together; catching up; reminiscing about old times.”

“And from that you came up with the word
affair
?” Jenna accused.

“It seems a likely progression of the relationship as described
. First they had drinks, followed the next day by lunch in the park and dinner the following evening. By my calculation, the next time they go out it will constitute a fourth date, and everyone knows what that means.”

“It means nothing,” Jenna insisted.

“If you say so, dear.”

“Mother,” Jenna rarely called Helen mother, but when she did she said it in a tone of voice that left no doubt as to the seriousness of what she was about to say, “under no circumstance will you use the words
affair
,
lust
, or
love
when speaking of Bonnie and her high-school friend, no matter how many lunches or dinners they may have. In fact,” she added for good measure, “under no circumstance will Bonnie and her trip to Tucson be discussed with anyone beyond the three of us in this room.”

“But dear…”

“Promise me,” Jenna cut her off.

“There are those who might ask…”

“Promise me!”

“Okay, I promise,” Helen regretfully agreed
. “I guess I’d better get back to the front and relieve Bren. Oh, by the way, she asked me to let you know that we’re almost out of pumpkin cookies.”

“I was just about to mix up another batch.
” Jenna began pouring the ingredients for the cookies into an industrial mixer.

“I should be going too.
” Tj got up from her stool as Helen left the room. “Ashley will kill me if I’m late picking them up again.”