Rest in Pizza (11 page)
Authors: Chris Cavender
As I started on the next pizza, Maddy grabbed the finished one she’d just cut and left again.
Greg came into the kitchen a second later waving more orders at me. “Wow, I didn’t know that many folks in Timber Ridge even liked our pizza.”
As I took two more orders from him, I asked, “What’s not to like?”
“I agree, trust me, but if someone else asks to sit at the table of death, I’m going to go ballistic.” Greg lowered his voice and then asked, “Just out of curiosity, since you moved things around, I couldn’t find it. Where exactly is it?”
I didn’t have the heart to tell him that Maddy and I had mixed things up so much that we didn’t know ourselves, which was exactly the way I wanted it. “Are people really that ghoulish?”
Greg just laughed. “You wouldn’t believe some of the things I’ve heard today. I had four customers offer to pay me something extra for my trouble if they could get the right table. I was pretty tempted to take money from all of them, and then put them wherever I wanted to.”
It sounded so much like Greg’s sense of humor that I was worried that he’d done exactly that. “You didn’t though, right?”
“Eleanor, I said I was tempted, not that I’d actually do it.” He paused, and after a momentary grin, he added, “You’ve got to admit it, though, it would be hilarious.”
“I guess it might be, under different circumstances,” I said, “But don’t give in to the temptation.” Almost as an afterthought, I said, “And don’t tell Maddy what’s going on, either. Who knows what she might do.”
“Might do about what?” my sister asked as she came back in with a bin of dirty plates, glasses, tableware, and serving pans. Our staff was so close to the bone that we all took turns bussing tables whenever they needed it.
“I was a little worried how you might treat people who asked you if they could sit at the killer table,” I said.
“You’re too late to be concerned about that. I’ve already had three different parties ask me if they could sit there,” Maddy said nonchalantly.
“What did you do about it?” I asked.
She looked at me as though I’d gotten amnesia for a second. “Eleanor, after we mopped and rearranged the dining room, how could either one of us possibly know for sure?”
I smiled and sighed a little from relief. “So, that’s what you told them?”
She grinned at me. “Of course not. I told them they all had it. Who knows? I might have even been right once.”
My worst fears were coming true right before my eyes. I asked, “You didn’t charge them for the privilege, did you?”
Maddy looked as though the idea hadn’t even occurred to her. She turned quickly to Greg and asked, “Why is my sister asking me that, Greg; is that what you did? If you did, that’s absolutely brilliant. I must say, I’m impressed.”
“I was tempted, but I didn’t do it,” Greg admitted.
“Excellent,” Maddy responded with a wicked grin. “We can have a race, and whoever generates the most extra cash gets to keep it instead of putting it in our communal tip jar. How does that sound?”
I had to stop this before it got even worse. I wasn’t sure how that might be, but when it came to this kind of stunt, my sister was a full-fledged genius. “I don’t want either one of you doing that,” I said.
“Is that my boss talking, or is it coming from my sister?” Maddy asked.
“That depends,” I answered. “Honestly, it’s probably a little bit of both.” That approach was not going to work, and I knew it. “Please?” I added softly as I looked at her. “Would you do it for me?”
“You don’t have to worry, Eleanor. Greg and I will behave ourselves,” Maddy said. I was on edge, both from the murder and the reaction I was getting from my customer base, and my sister must have sensed something in my stress level to agree so quickly. Sure, folks had come out to the Slice, but I had to wonder what their motives really were. While it might not mean much to Maddy or Greg, it was very important to me.
I needed to lighten the mood. I couldn’t have my staff picking up on my somber mood. I flipped my towel at them and said, “Go on, you two, shoo. You both need to get back to work.”
Maddy grinned, then offered me a salute on her way out. Greg joined right in with one of his own as the two of them faded away back into the dining room, and I finally found my own smile again. I loved it when we could all lighten the mood a little, but I hoped Maddy hadn’t taken Greg’s idea to heart. Knowing her, it sounded exactly like something she would do if the mood struck her. In warning her not to do it, I was afraid I might have just given her another idea she could exploit, not so much for profit, but for her own personal entertainment.
I was still grumbling about the idea that many of our customers were at the Slice because of the murder, and not because of our offerings, when Bob Lemon came back into the kitchen. The attorney, and Maddy’s boyfriend, was smiling as he came in, and I had to wonder what had made his day so happy.
“Maddy should be up front waiting on tables, Bob,” I said absently as I finished another sub and put it on the conveyor.
“I know. I saw her when I came in,” he said, still grinning at me as though he was some kind of goofy kid.
I was overworked, and I really didn’t have time for any foolishness at the moment. “Is there something I can do for you, Bob?” I asked.
“Don’t worry; you don’t have to stop working, but I wanted to show you something if you’ve got a second,” Bob said as he reached into his pocket.
“Okay, but make it quick,” I replied, wiping my hands on the towel I always kept nearby while I worked in the kitchen. I hadn’t meant to snap at him, but I didn’t feel like apologizing at the moment. Besides, if my abrupt tone had bothered him, I was certain that he would have said something about it.
“That’s okay. I can see that you’re busy. Don’t worry about it. It can wait,” Bob said, clearly deflated by my behavior. So he’d picked up on my mood after all.
I stopped what I was doing and said as sincerely as I could manage, “I’m sorry. It’s been a bad couple of days around here, but that’s no excuse for me to take it out on you. What’s up?”
“Do you really have the time?” Bob asked.
“I do,” I said, hoping that whatever he had to show me wouldn’t upset my world any more than it already was.
“Look at this,” he said as he brought a ring box from his suit pocket. As he opened it, he said proudly, “I’m going to ask your sister to marry me as soon as you two take your afternoon break.”
I looked at the engagement ring—a huge, beautiful diamond mounted on an intricate gold band—and then studied Bob. “Are you absolutely positive that you want to do that today?”
He sighed. “Why wouldn’t I? I love her, and I know in my heart that she loves me.”
How could I say something without shattering his feelings? Maybe I could talk him out of proposing before he actually got down on one knee. “She’s been married four times; you know that, right?”
Bob snapped the box shut and put it in his pocket. “Eleanor, why do I have the feeling that you’re not all that excited about the idea? Is it because you’re afraid she’ll quit working here for you once we’re married?”
“What? Of course not. Why would she do that?”
“You’re teasing, right? The real question is, why wouldn’t she?” Bob asked, clearly confused by my question. “I can more than take care of her. Maddy won’t ever have to work again once we’re married.”
“She doesn’t
have
to work now,” I said, not really sure if it were true or not. I didn’t know much about my sister’s finances, but I knew that at least one of her husbands had been rich. She might be living on what I could pay her, or she might have enough money in her checking account to buy the place outright if she wanted. “I’d like to think that she likes being here. I know I love having her in my life every day.”
have
to work now,” I said, not really sure if it were true or not. I didn’t know much about my sister’s finances, but I knew that at least one of her husbands had been rich. She might be living on what I could pay her, or she might have enough money in her checking account to buy the place outright if she wanted. “I’d like to think that she likes being here. I know I love having her in my life every day.”
“I’m sorry,” Bob said as he ran a hand through his hair. “This was a mistake. This didn’t go anything at all like the way I’d planned.”
“And that’s my fault how, exactly?” I asked. I might have been lashing out a little now, but he was talking about taking my sister away from me. Okay, I knew how irrational that sounded even as the words popped into my head, but it was how I felt.
Bob didn’t say anything as he left the kitchen rather abruptly, and I wished I would have forgotten about trying to spare his feelings and instead shared the conversation I’d had with Maddy about marriage. But it was too late. If he asked her to marry him, I had a feeling that my sister would hurt his feelings a lot more than I just had.
Chapter 10
“W
hat just happened?” Maddy asked thirty seconds later when she burst back into the kitchen.
hat just happened?” Maddy asked thirty seconds later when she burst back into the kitchen.
“Hey, I’m working as fast as I can,” I said. “I can’t force anything to cook any faster than it is now, no matter how much I wish I could.”
She frowned at me, and then said, “I’m talking about Bob. What did you say to him, Eleanor? He was so excited when he got here, but after he left you, the poor man tore out of the restaurant so fast he almost knocked a pair of nuns over on his rush to escape. I have to believe that it was something you said to him. Please tell me this is just my imagination, and that I’m wrong.”
“You’re wrong,” I said.
“Funny, but I don’t believe you,” Maddy replied.
I’d dug myself into a pretty deep hole, and I had a feeling that I wouldn’t be able to climb out of it. “If you don’t trust my answers, then why ask the questions?”
“Eleanor?” Maddy asked in that voice she used when she was being deadly serious, instead of her normally jovial mood. “Tell me what just happened, and start from the second Bob walked into the kitchen.”
She wasn’t going to drop it; that much was clear. “He caught me at a bad time, okay? I’m sorry.”
Maddy studied me critically before she spoke again. “There’s something else that you’re not telling me. You might as well come clean, Sis. You know that I’ll get it out of you sooner or later.”
I was now firmly between a rock and a hard place. If I told her the truth, she’d know that Bob was about to propose, and that wasn’t fair to either one of them. On the other hand, if I lied to her, she’d see right through it. I could lie when I was backed into a corner to just about anybody, but Maddy could almost always tell when I was even shading the truth a little.
“Talk to Bob,” I said. “You need to hear it from him, not me.”
She wouldn’t do it, though. “Trust me, I will, but right now I’m talking to you.”
I just couldn’t bring myself to do it, though. I turned back to my work as I said, “Maddy, I’d tell you if I could, but I can’t. You need to just drop it, okay? It’s not my place to say anything. Trust me on this.”
She frowned, took off her apron, and then tossed it onto the counter. “I’ll be back a little later.”
She was honestly deserting us when we needed her? “Where are you going? Did you forget that we’ve got a full house out there?”
Maddy shook her head. “I know, but I won’t be long. Greg can handle it until I get back.”
After she left, I looked out through the door. We were jammed, and I knew just how upset Maddy must have been with my refusal to tell her what Bob and I had talked about. I didn’t like that she’d deserted her post, but I couldn’t exactly blame her for doing it. If I’d been in her shoes, I most likely would have done the same thing.
I took the next pizza out from the line, slid it onto a platter, cut it, and then carried it out front myself.
As I delivered to a table, Greg came over and asked, “Where did Maddy go? It’s crazy here right now, and we really need her.”
“Sorry. She had to run an errand,” I said.
“You don’t understand. I can’t handle this alone,” Greg said, and for a second, I had a seizing fear in my chest that he would walk out, too.
When he didn’t, I took a deep breath and then said, “You take the orders, fill the drinks, and run the register, and I’ll bring the food out and deliver it as it’s ready. It might not be perfect, but it will do until Maddy gets back.”
“If she comes back at all,” I thought to myself.
Greg and I managed to limp through, working that system for the fifteen minutes that Maddy was gone, but we were both relieved when she came back to the Slice.
“I’m sorry,” I said the second I saw her.
“For what, exactly?” my sister asked as she made her way back to the kitchen to retrieve her apron.
“For the way I treated Bob,” I added.
“And?” Maddy asked.
“For not telling you what the two of us discussed,” I finished. “You did find Bob, didn’t you?”
Maddy didn’t look at all happy when she explained, “Oh, I found him all right, for all the good it did me. He wouldn’t say a word, and when I pressed him about what happened in the kitchen with you, all he would say was that there was nothing to talk about anymore, that he’d changed his mind. What did he change his mind about, Eleanor?”
I didn’t have the heart to tell her now. “Maddy, I still can’t say. I’m so sorry.”
“I am, too,” she said a little coolly. “Like you said before, we’re busy out there, so I’d better get back to work.”
The second Maddy left the kitchen, I grabbed the phone and called Bob Lemon’s telephone number.
Instead of his secretary picking up, Bob answered the phone himself. I could have made a crack then, but it clearly wasn’t the time. “Bob, Maddy said you changed your mind about proposing. Was it because of what I said? I’m sorry; I was wrong to butt in like that.”
“Did you tell her I was going to propose?” Bob asked, the ominous tone strong in his voice.
What an odd day this was turning out to be. “No, of course not. She said she found you, and you said you changed your mind. Was she lying to me?”
After a momentary pause, Bob admitted, “I told her I changed my mind, but I didn’t tell her what it was about, and I assumed you wouldn’t, either.”
“I didn’t say a word to her about it, but that doesn’t mean I won’t. I’m one of your biggest fans, Bob, but she’s my sister, first and foremost. If you don’t tell her right now, I will. I won’t have her angry at me for something I didn’t do.”
“I think you’ve done plenty already, don’t you? I was surprised, and more than a little hurt, by your reaction, Eleanor. I thought you liked me.”
“I do. I’m just not sure Maddy wants to get married again to anyone, even you,” I blurted out.
“Ever?” Bob asked softly.
“I’m sorry,” I said, “but that’s what she told me.”
He hesitated, and then asked, “Is there any chance that was a long time ago?”
It nearly killed me to tell him, but I admitted, “We were just talking about it this morning.”
Bob’s voice was quite somber as he said almost wistfully, “I knew she teased a great deal about being finished with matrimony, but I never took her seriously. Perhaps I should have.” His voice nearly started to break, but he quickly put it back together. “Eleanor, maybe I should thank you instead of being angry with you. After all, you very well may have saved me a great deal of embarrassment.”
“Bob,” I said, “If you have any sense at all, you need to ignore me. Do what’s in your heart; don’t base your actions on anything
I say. If you want to marry my sister, you have my blessing to ask her. If you’ve really changed your mind, that’s fine, too, but she has the right to know that you were at least considering it.”
Bob sighed heavily. “I’m not at all sure what I’m going to do.”
“I truly am sorry, but I can’t keep this secret for you forever,” I said.
“Do what you must,” he answered, and then hung up on me.
It appeared that now I was the one in trouble.
By the time we took our dinner break, things had still not warmed up between Maddy and me, and I felt terrible about it. I kept thinking that if Maddy had been exaggerating and had really been interested in marrying Bob, I’d just blown it for them both, and that was something that I just couldn’t live with. I knew that if Bob didn’t propose soon despite my reaction to the idea, I’d have to tell Maddy what had happened and leave the next step up to her. Contrary to what she might believe, I didn’t take any joy in messing with her love life, but I’d still managed to foul it up royally.
“Do you want to grab lunch?” I asked Maddy tentatively as I joined her up front. Greg had wisely taken off at the first opportunity, and I didn’t blame him a bit. He must have sensed the storm clouds gathering, and had decided to go for some shelter of his own.
“No, thanks,” she said as she refused to make eye contact with me. “I’m not all that hungry. You go ahead, though.”
It was a noteworthy event when Maddy didn’t want to eat out. I was afraid that I’d done as much damage as I’d imagined. “I said I was sorry,” I repeated.
She pretended to be busy wiping a table down, though it was as clean as it had ever been since I’d owned it. In fact, I was worried that she might wear through the varnish if she didn’t stop soon. “It’s fine, Eleanor. I’m sure you have your reasons not to tell me what’s going on.”
It was pretty clear that she’d made up her mind. I grabbed my jacket and headed for the door. Before I walked out, I paused and asked one last time, “You’re really not coming?”
“I’m really not,” she said.
I knew how strong her stubborn streak was, since I had one myself. “Let me have your key, then,” I asked as I held out my hand.
“You’re firing me because I won’t eat with you?” Maddy asked seriously.
“Of course not. I need a copy myself, remember? If you’re going to stay here, I’ll run over to Slick’s and have him make me a duplicate. I can’t bring myself to use the one Benet had. It shouldn’t take long.”
“Fine,” Maddy said. “That’s all right, then.” She took her key off her ring, but instead of handing it directly to me, she put it on the table she’d just been polishing.
I almost said, “You missed a spot,” as I picked up the key, but I knew better. This would not be fixed by a joke, and would most likely make matters worse. I walked outside, and as I locked the door behind me, my sister turned her back to me. I had to fix this, and as soon as I got a new key made, I was going to track Bob Lemon down and beat some sense into him.
As Slick made me a duplicate key, he asked, “I normally wouldn’t ask you this, but is something wrong, Eleanor? I mean besides the murder in your pizza place and all. You look troubled.”
“I stuck my nose somewhere that it didn’t belong, and it got nipped off,” I admitted.
Slick nodded. He was in his fifties, bald as a cue ball, but he did sport a pretty magnificent mustache. We’d been friends for a long time, and he and my late husband, Joe, had been great pals as well.
“Don’t beat yourself up too much about it. It happens to me all of the time,” he said as the key machine started to automatically cut a duplicate.
“How do you fix it?” I asked, honestly curious. “I could use some good advice.”
“Usually, I just tell Nancy that I was wrong. That normally works for me,” he said with a grin.
“Even if you don’t think you are?”
“Especially then,” Slick admitted. “It makes life a lot more pleasant all the way around, and what does it cost me? It doesn’t hurt anyone to eat a little crow every now and then. As a matter of fact, it could even be considered healthy by some. I know it’s helped keep my marriage going, even after all these years.”
The key was finished, and Slick took it out of the clamp, then buffed it on a wheel attached to the cutting machine. He held both keys up to the light back to back, and then nodded. “That should do it, but if you have any problems, bring it back and I’ll cut you another one on the house.”
As I paid for the key, I asked, “I’m happy to pay for the advice, too. How much do you think would be fair?”
“What a coincidence. We’re running a special today,” he answered with a grin. “You buy a key, and you get the advice thrown in for free.”
“I’ve got to say, that’s the best deal I’ve had all day,” I answered with a smile, despite my mood. Slick had a way of doing that, and I knew that Nancy was a lucky woman to have this man in her life.
I had the key. Now it was time to go attorney hunting. I found Bob on a picnic table in front of his law office eating a sandwich. Why had he waited so long to eat? Had he planned to wait for Maddy? If so, he was in for a long wait. The lawyer didn’t look all that pleased to see me, but I couldn’t let that stop me.
“Got a second, Bob?” I asked as I sat down, not caring that much if I was welcome or not.
He shook his head as he dropped the sandwich on the wrapper. “This is not how I’d hoped my afternoon would turn out.” He looked at me for a second, and then asked, “What is it with you two? Don’t either one of you ever take no for an answer?”
“Not when it’s important,” I said. “I owe you an apology, a real one, and I need you to accept it.”
He frowned at the table in front of him as though it had done him a grave disservice. “You have nothing to apologize for, Eleanor. I asked you a question, and you gave me your honest opinion. I can’t expect anything more than that.”
Boy, he was as stubborn as my sister. Maybe they were the perfect match after all. “That’s just it. It wasn’t how I really felt,” I said. “You caught me at a bad moment, and I lashed out at you. I had no business treating you that way, and that’s what I want you to forgive me for.”
“You can rest easy, then. You’re forgiven,” he said after a moment, but he still wouldn’t make eye contact.
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