Granny Apples 05 - Ghost in the Guacamole (3 page)

Granny approached the shimmer. “Don't be so rude to Emma. Show yourself if you want help.”

Not wanting to rouse Rikki's suspicions, Emma tried not to focus on Granny and the spirit. She continued eating. After another couple of bites, she asked Rikki, “Why does your sister want to sell the business?”

“She says she wants to move on and do other things with her life, like be free to travel the world while she paints.” Rikki scoffed at the idea. “Don't get me wrong,” she quickly added, “Lucy is a pretty good artist, but I don't think she's touched her brushes in years. And believe me, she's not wired to be footloose and fancy free. She's been uptight and controlling since we were kids.” Rikki speared a shrimp but didn't put it into her mouth. “We were both made to work here during vacations. Lucy hated it, while I thrived here. When our father started the commercial food end, he all but forced her to run it for him. She seemed happy enough to do that as long as she didn't have to participate in the restaurant end.” Rikki put her fork down and spread her arms in a wide encompassing arc. Her brows were knitted in defiance. “This restaurant, this street, and its people are in my blood and I'm fiercely proud of that.”

“Why don't you compromise with Lucy?” suggested Emma. “Let her sell off the commercial food end and you keep and operate the restaurant end?”

“I did suggest that,” Rikki told her, “but Lucy said the potential buyers want it all or nothing.”

“She has more than one buyer lined up?”

Rikki nodded. “Lucy told me that there is another company interested and both want it all.”

“Maybe you can change their minds on it,” Emma said with encouragement. “Open negotiations and see if you can reach a compromise.”

“According to Lucy, that's not going to happen.” Rikki picked her folk back up and popped the shrimp into her mouth. When she was done chewing, she said, “That's why I need you. I know my father and grandfather are here. I need them to help me convince Lucy not to sell or to at least let me keep the restaurant end.”

“No,” said the unknown spirit. The shimmer came closer to the table.

“Show yourself if you want help,” Granny told it again in a stern voice. “Or go away.”

After a short pause, the hazy sparkles came closer and started to gain an outline. It was definitely a man. He was of compact stature and middle-aged with thick silver hair and a gray mustache. He wore clothing almost identical to the waiters in the restaurant. Emma looked at him, then at Rikki. They had the same broad face and sharp jawline.

“Do you have a photo of your father and grandfather?” Emma asked.

“So you're going to help me?” Rikki's voice swelled with hope.

“I don't know yet,” Emma answered truthfully, “but it helps if I can see a photo of the people.”

Rikki nodded in understanding and pulled a cell phone out of a pocket of her pants. After scrolling through some photos, she turned the phone toward Emma. “Here's a photo of my father with my mother. It was taken just before he died. I don't have one with me of my grandfather, but he and my father looked a lot alike.”

Emma studied the photo, then quickly shot her eyes at the spirit standing next to the table. Granny looked over Emma's shoulder at the photo. “Yep,” Granny pronounced. “That's him.”

“What was your father's name?” Emma asked Rikki.

“Felix,” Rikki answered. “Felix Guillermo Ricardo. His father was Paco Miguel Ricardo.”

Granny looked at the spirit of Felix Ricardo. “Is Paco going to be joining us?”

Felix shook his head. “My father no longer has interest in earthly matters.”

“But you do?” asked Granny.

“In this matter I do,” answered Felix.

Emma listened to the ghosts' conversation while keeping her attention on the photo and Rikki. She didn't want to arouse Rikki's suspicions about the presence of any ghosts—her father or Granny. “You look a lot like your father,” she said to Rikki. “Same jaw and facial bone structure.”

Rikki smiled. “Yes, and Lucy looks like our mother. Her name is Elena.”

While the man was compact and wiry with a broad face, his wife was taller and thickly built with a delicate face. Emma studied the photo one last time before handing the phone back to Rikki.

Rikki took the phone back. “So are you going to help me? I really need to convince Lucy to not sell our family's heritage to the highest bidder.”

“No,” the ghost of Felix Ricardo said again with great passion. “Tell the stubborn child to sell like her sister wants.” Felix drifted in his agitation, then came to hover close to Emma, almost putting his face next to hers. Emma tried to remain still so she wouldn't put Rikki on guard. “Tell her to sell it all!” he yelled. He pounded the table with a fist. It created no sound or impact. Had he been alive, the same gesture would have caused the dishes to hop and their drinks to spill.

Emma glanced at Granny, trying to convey for her to question the spirit since Emma couldn't herself. Granny read the almost imperceptible gesture with accuracy.

“Calm down,” Granny told Felix. “Getting all huffy won't help Emma help you. If Rikki wants to keep the family business, why not let her?”

Felix straightened up, his eyes flashing between Granny and Emma. “Because she'll die if she doesn't sell,” he told them. “Just like I did.”

“T
ELL
me, Rikki,” Emma said. She'd taken another couple of bites of food even though she was no longer hungry. She was stalling for time while she sorted out what Felix had just said and its implications. “How did your father die?”

Rikki pushed her plate away. “It happened here in the restaurant. In his office upstairs. He was working there alone and had a heart attack. Apparently he fell while trying to get help and hit his head hard on the edge of his desk. I found him crumpled on the floor but it was too late to do anything.” Rikki looked upward, toward the canopy that protected the patio. “The coroner said it was actually the blow to his head, not the heart attack, that killed him.”

“Is that true?” Granny asked Felix, but the ghost didn't respond. Instead, he drifted over to Rikki and tried to put a cloudy hand on her head to comfort her. It only slipped through her solidness.

Granny and Emma exchanged a quick look of curiosity before Emma said to Rikki in a soft voice, “I'm so sorry for your loss, Rikki. When did this happen?”

“Not quite a year ago,” Rikki answered. She didn't look at Emma when she spoke. Running a finger down the side of her glass, she stared instead at the trail it made in the condensation. When she finally looked up, her eyes were damp. “I miss him so much, Emma. We were very close. He taught me everything about running a restaurant and made me the manager of this place about three years ago. When I suggested using food trucks to reach more customers, he gave me total control over implementing the idea and was so proud when they became an instant success.”

“I'm sure he's still very proud of you,” Emma told her. She glanced up at the ghost, who was looking at his youngest daughter with both pride and sadness.

“Help her,” the spirit said to Emma, taking his eyes off the top of Rikki's head for an instant. “Help her by convincing her to sell the place. You'll be saving her life.” With a final attempt at patting Rikki's head, he disappeared.

Rikki was about to say something when a woman ran up to the railing from the street side and leaned over it toward them. “Mom told me what you're up to, Rikki,” the woman said as she shook a finger at them.

The woman looked vaguely familiar to Emma, but she couldn't place her on the spot. It was Granny who put the pieces together. “Isn't that the woman from the photo?” The clue gave Emma clarity. The woman wasn't Elena Ricardo but Lucy Ricardo, Rikki's older sister. She looked exactly like her mother, with a plump lush body and pretty face, made less lovely at the moment by her anger.

Before Rikki could say anything, Lucy strode along the railing and entered the patio, brushing past Ana like a tornado hell-bent on destruction, her high heels punctuating the pavement with each riled step as she made her way to her sister's table.

“So this is the crackpot you're bringing into our family business?” Lucy said the words at Rikki, but pointed a finger at Emma as she spoke. She had long red nails, Emma noted. Acrylic nails freshly and expertly done.

“Who's she calling a crackpot?” Granny asked, approaching the table, her hands on her slim hips, a scowl on her hazy face.

Emma wanted to caution Granny but didn't dare with Lucy Ricardo watching her with an intensity ready to erupt into a blaze.

Rikki stood up, her jaw as set as her sister's. “Now hold on, Lucy. This woman is my guest, so treat her with respect.”

The physical difference between the two sisters was made more obvious as they stood facing each other. The waif-like yet athletic stature of Rikki was dwarfed by Lucy's larger, rounder, and softer body. Even if Lucy had not been wearing heels, she would have been almost a head taller than Rikki. Lucy was prettier than Rikki in a more classical sense with her delicate face and thick dark hair worn in a feminine shoulder-length cut. Lucy was also dressed in an expensive and stylish designer suit in a dark rose that enhanced her brown skin and clung to her plump curves in such a way as to enhance her figure rather than point out its flaws. Based on the photo Emma had been shown, the sisters had been divided squarely between their parents in the looks department. The only physical similarities were their large brown eyes and the set of their mouths when angry.

“I don't need an introduction to any scam artist,” Lucy shot back.

“Now wait a darn minute,” Granny protested. The ghost moved between the two sisters and faced Lucy. “You can't talk about Emma that way.”

“It's okay,” Emma said, meaning the words for both Granny and the Ricardo sisters. She dabbed at her mouth with her napkin and stood up. “I'll just go.”

“No,” Rikki said to Emma. “Please don't. My sister has no right to insult you that way.” She turned to look at Lucy, not realizing an angry ghost stood between them. “You will apologize to my guest, Lucy.”

“The hell I will,” the older sister said. To show she meant business, she plopped her large designer handbag down into one of the nearby chairs and looked straight at Rikki in defiance.

Hector rushed over. “What is going on here?” he asked in hushed English. He switched into Spanish for his next words, which Emma judged by his tone and look contained a sharp scolding. He glanced over at the other side of the patio, where diners were watching the face-off with interest, as if it were a show staged for their benefit.

Both sisters looked over at their customers, then at each other, neither giving in. Finally, Rikki said, “Sit down, sis. I don't know what Mom told you, but at least hear me out.”

Lucy was clearly thinking about the invitation to sit. She glanced over at the curious patrons and studied Hector's glare a moment, then finally removed her handbag from the chair and sat down.

“Please, Emma,” Rikki said, indicating for her to take her seat. “I'm sorry, but please stay.”

“Please, Emma,” said Felix Ricardo, echoing Rikki's words. He'd appeared once again, this time between his two daughters. “It's too late to help me, but not them.”

“Tell us what happened to you,” said Granny, floating over to him. But instead of answering, he faded away again.

Emma considered her options and decided to stay, if for no other reason than to possibly find out more about Felix and his death. She wanted to know why selling Roble Foods would save the Ricardo sisters. Had the stress of the business driven Felix to his grave, or was there more to it than that? She took her seat. Granny hovered right behind her. “Do you want me to try and find that Felix spirit again?” Granny said into Emma's ear. Without a word, Emma gave her a very slight nod and Granny disappeared.

“How about some coffee?” Rikki said to Emma and Lucy. When neither answered, Rikki asked Hector to arrange for three
cafés con leche
to be brought to the table. Hector gave the Ricardo sisters a final warning scowl and left. Rikki retook her seat.

Rikki indicated Emma. “Lucy, this is Emma Whitecastle, a famous medium and TV personality. I've asked her to help us contact Abuelito and Dad. I believe they can help us resolve our issues.”

“I don't need to hear about any mumbo jumbo,” Lucy insisted, keeping her voice low. She glared at Emma as she spoke to her sister. “You may have Mom fooled, but not me.” She turned her face to Rikki. “This is just some cheap trick to keep me from selling Roble Foods. But it won't work.” She started to say something else but stopped when Carlos appeared at the table with the three
cafés con leche
. He placed them on the table, one in front of each of them, and started to clear Emma's and Rikki's plates.

Lucy put out a hand and pointed at Carlos's bare left arm. “And this is how you run this restaurant?” she asked. “By hiring
cholos
?”

“I am not a
cholo
,” answered Carlos, his jaw tight and chiseled in contained anger.

For a minute, Emma thought Carlos might fling the dishes back down on the table, but instead he took a deep breath. Emma knew that
cholo
was a term for a tough Latino male who dressed in baggy pants, wife-beater T-shirts, and flannel shirts. Usually
cholos
were also gang members.

“I'm sorry, Carlos,” Rikki told the young man. “You'll have to excuse my sister's ignorance.”

“I'm not the ignorant one,” Lucy said to no one in particular.

With a slight nod, Rikki dismissed the young waiter. He took the dishes and left them, but as he passed Ana and Hector, who'd both been watching from a distance, he snapped something at them in Spanish. From Ana's look of surprise and Hector's scowl, Emma surmised what the young man said wasn't very pleasant. When he disappeared into the restaurant, Hector followed him. Emma wondered if Carlos had just given his notice.

“Exactly what did Mom tell you, Lucy?” Rikki asked her sister.

Instead of answering, Lucy concentrated on sipping her coffee. Emma's first impression of the older sister was that she was smug and imperious, totally opposite Rikki in more than just looks.

Lucy put down her coffee. The cup hit the saucer with a sharpness that echoed her disapproval. “Mom told me that you were trying to contact the dead in order to change my mind about selling the company.”

“Not the dead, Lucy, Dad and
Abuelito. It's their company. They built it from nothing and I want to hear what they have to say about the sale. I'll bet they wouldn't be too happy with you right now.”

Lucy tilted her head back and laughed. “You've been hanging around Olvera Street too long, little sister. You've got
Día de los Muertos
on the brain. All those ghoulish dolls have finally twisted your thinking.”

Lucy turned her attention to Emma. “Or did you put this nonsense into her head?”

“Leave Emma out of this,” Rikki told her sister. “It was actually our mother who suggested I have someone help me contact either Dad and Abuelito.”

“Well, Mom's nuts,” pronounced Lucy. “She's always been a little off the rails, and you know that. We may not often see eye to eye, Rikki, but I've always thought of you as being stable and sensible.” She picked up her coffee and took a quick sip. “Now I'm not so sure.”

Looking around, Lucy caught the eye of Ana and waved her over. She said something to the young woman in Spanish, and she left and disappeared into the restaurant.

“Ordering food to go?” Rikki said, still simmering over her sister's remark. “Not good enough to eat here with your crazy sister?”

“It looked to me like you've already eaten.” Lucy drained her cup and set it down, more gently this time. “Besides, I have to get back to the office. I have a company to run and a company to sell.”

“You can't sell Roble Foods without my consent,” protested Rikki. “And I'll never allow you to sell, especially to Crown. That big conglomerate would just suck the life out of it.”

“Like I've told you, Rikki, Crown is not the only company attracted to Roble. In fact, they very recently withdrew their interest.” Lucy slapped a smirk on her face. “But Fiesta Time is very interested.”

“Fiesta Time?” Rikki was obviously not pleased with the news. She clenched her fists as she glared at her sister. “Selling to them would be like spitting on Dad's grave.”

Carlos came out with food packed to go and placed it on the table, leaving before anyone could say anything to him. Emma was glad to see that he hadn't quit his job in a huff of anger. Maybe Hector had calmed him down. Maybe he could also work some magic with the Ricardo sisters.

Lucy stood up and fished her car keys out of her purse. “At least if we sell to Fiesta Time, Roble Foods will stay in Mexican hands.”

Lucy glanced at Emma and tilted her head so that she was looking down her nose at her. “I'd appreciate it, Ms. Whitecastle, if you'd keep your nose out of our business. This doesn't concern you one bit.” She slung her bag over her arm, picked up her plastic bag of take-out food, and started to leave.

Rikki jumped up from her seat and grabbed Lucy by both of her shoulders before she could take two steps. Spinning her around, Rikki stood on tiptoes to get nose to nose with her sister. “I won't let you do this, Lucy. I won't let you sell our family's legacy to anyone. Mom and I will continue to stonewall you.”

Lucy slipped out of her sister's grasp and took a step back. A smug smile crept across her face. It was the sort of smile that raised Emma's hackles, but she kept her seat. “Today Mom's having a good day,” Lucy announced. “Today she's siding with me.”

Hector approached again to calm the noise down so it wouldn't bother the other diners, but Rikki held up a hand to silence him.

“Doesn't matter,” Rikki said to Lucy, her jaw set and her eyes flaming. “You need my vote to make it happen, Lucy. I will block this sale, and I can keep it up forever.”

“Not if I take you to court over it,” Lucy said in a quick comeback. “I'll sue you to break up the company and force the sale if I have to.”