Flossed (Alex Harris Mystery Series) (31 page)
Read Flossed (Alex Harris Mystery Series) Online
Authors: Elaine Macko
Tags: #An Alex Harris Mystery
We opened the gifts to find old cookbooks. Very old cookbooks.
“It is a hobby for me. I collect old cookbooks. I like to see what women made many years ago. And you see,” she took one and turned to a well-worn page, “Sometimes there are notes written on the side.” She translated for our benefit. “This one says ‘can be used with chicken for more economy.’” She smiled at us. “It is nice to see what woman did before and how they took care of their families, no?”
“Oh, Annie, what a lovely gift,” Sam and I said at the same time as we wrapped our arms around the small woman’s neck and kissed her cheek.
“I have the perfect spot for this in my new kitchen,” I said.
“I am very glad you like them. Perhaps someday your French will be good enough so you can try some of the recipes.”
“Well, it’s a great incentive to take lessons,” Sam said.
“Okay,” John said from the van. “Time to go.”
We thanked Bret again and piled into the van.
The airport was indeed packed with people traveling home, people going to far away holiday destinations, and people coming to Belgium. Gerard helped carry the bags to the sidewalk in front of the terminal and managed to get us two carts.
“The time has come to say
a bientôt
!”
“Not
au revoir
?” I asked.
“
Mais non
! We have another surprise.” Gerard clapped his hands together.
Annie came to his side. “We hope to visit Ken next year. Boston and Indian Cove are close, no?”
“Yes! Very close,” I said.
“Well, then. Until next year.” Gerard gave me a big smile.
Annie got back into the van while Sam and Michael pushed the carts into the terminal. I went to stand with John.
“John. Thank you for all your help. I am so sorry it did not turn out well for your friend,” Gerard said.
John and Gerard shook hands and Gerard gave me a big hug. We waved goodbye and then went to join the others.
Chapter 53
“Well, here we go again.” John buckled his seat belt. “Not scared?”
“Nope. I’m so thrilled our luggage made it without surcharges, that I’m too happy to be nervous.”
The overhead system came on and a flight attendant welcomed us in three languages. I settled back and took out the cookbook from Annie. I opened it and inside was an inscription:
Alex, there will always be an opening for you in the Police Judiciare if ever you want to move to Bruxelles.
It was signed,
Gerard
.
I closed the book and smiled. What a nice man. The plane pulled away from the gate. I looked out the window at the lush green of the fields and the farmhouses in the distance. I thought of Amsterdam and Antwerp and my beautiful new ring. About Wanda and Donna and what would happen to them. I thought about people living far from their homes and family. It must be exciting and full of interesting new experiences but it could be lonely. I could see it in the ways the people I had met tried to recreate a bit of home in a foreign land. And I thought about John. I turned in my seat to look at my husband and touched his hand. I knew it was hard on him, too, to lose an old friend. But we had made new friends. Better friends, I was sure of it. And Annie and Gerard would come to Indian Cove the next year.
I touched the peeling fabric cover of the cookbook and smiled again. Somewhere overhead a voice told the flight attendants to prepare for takeoff. I rested my head back and made the sign of the cross as the plane sped down the runway.
The End
Bio
Elaine Macko is a transplanted New Englander living in California. From a very young age, she possessed an over-active imagination finding intrigue and mayhem in everyday situations, often with hilarious results.
In the 1980s bored with life in general, it was time to change direction. Signing up for a six-day vacation to London and Brussels in the dead of winter, Elaine found time to meet and fall in love with a local Belgian man and extended her trip to last 12 years. While living abroad Elaine became a board member of a charitable organization and taught Mexican cooking classes to the expatriate community. With a love of writing always lingering on the back burner, Elaine decided to try her hand writing a mystery and after several months, completed a draft of her first book,
Armed
, and moved on to three other books in the series.
Elaine never forgot her New England roots and centers her books in the fictional town of Indian Cove, Connecticut. Each book includes a European connection bringing together her love of both places.
An active member of Sisters in Crime, Elaine takes comfort in knowing that there are many others like her out there spending all their free time trying to come up with inventive ways to kill people.
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