Authors: Chris Cavender
Rest in Pizza (12 page)
“Not until you say it like you mean it,” I replied as I touched his hand lightly.
Bob looked up, stared at me a few seconds, and then let out a sigh of relief. “Fine. I forgive you.”
“Then you’ll propose to my sister?” I asked.
“Not a chance,” he said, shaking his head.
“I thought you forgave me.”
“I did,” Bob said, “But that doesn’t mean you weren’t right. Do you honestly think you’re the only one Maddy ever told that she didn’t want to get married again? I heard her say it a dozen times, but deep in my heart, I never believed her.”
“Bob, she may not even know that she’s ready,” I said. “I honestly don’t think she’ll have an answer until you ask.”
He wadded up the rest of his sandwich and threw it into paper bag in front of him. “It really puts me out there on a limb, doesn’t it?”
“I don’t mean to get all mushy on you, but isn’t that what love is? It’s taking that leap of faith that makes you feel alive.”
“Wow, a pizza maker and a philosopher,” he said, adding a smile that I’d missed. Maybe he really had forgiven me. “I didn’t know I’d be getting two such diverse talents for the price of one.”
“What can I say? I charge for the pizza, but giving advice is my true passion.” I laughed as I said it, and Bob smiled a little again, this one warmer than before.
As the attorney stood, he said, “Thanks for coming over here and apologizing, Eleanor. I really do appreciate it.”
I felt my heart sink when I realized that he was serious about changing his mind about the proposal. I may have just cost my sister her last real chance at happiness, and I didn’t know how I’d ever be able to forgive myself. “So, you’re really not going to ask her now?”
“I can’t do it.”
“Bob, please,” I said.
With a broad grin, he said, “Relax, Eleanor. What I can’t do is not at least take my chances and try.” Bob tossed his sandwich bag into a nearby trash can, and then added, “As a matter of fact, if you know where she is, I’m going to go propose right now.” Bob shrugged a little as he added, “After all, what do I have to lose but a little bit of pride? The chance at happiness is worth the risk, wouldn’t you agree?”
“I couldn’t agree with you more. That’s the spirit,” I said. “No matter what happens, at least you can be sure that I’m on your side.”
Bob and I walked back to the Slice together, but he was pretty focused on preparing what he wanted to say. I tagged dutifully along in silence, and when we got to the front window, I could see Maddy sitting at a table eating lunch. She’d made herself some kind of sub, and I remembered that I hadn’t eaten yet.
“I’m going to let you in, and then I’m going to take off again so you two can be alone,” I promised.
He hung back just out of sight. “Eleanor, don’t disappear on my account. You can hang around, if you’d like,” Bob said. “After how deeply you’re involved in this, it’s only fair that you get to hear the proposal, too.”
I would have loved to stay, but I wasn’t sure how my sister would feel about an audience. “Thanks, but you two deserve to have some privacy.”
I started to unlock the door, but to my surprise, Bob stayed back. Was it possible that he was already getting cold feet? “Aren’t you going in?”
“Give me a second to work up my nerve,” Bob said with a nervous smile. “I’ll be right there.”
“Don’t take too long,” I said. “We’re opening soon.”
“Don’t worry.”
Maddy looked up at me as I closed, but didn’t lock, the door behind me after I walked into the Slice.
“You’re early,” she said to me in a flat voice.
“As a matter of fact, I’m not really even back yet. Bob is standing outside. He wants to come in and talk to you.”
She looked less than elated by the news. “I was under the distinct impression that we were finished talking for the day.”
I hoped that my sister’s stubborn streak wouldn’t sabotage her chance at a happy life. “You need to keep an open mind to whatever he says and hear him out, Maddy,” I said.
She studied me for a second, and then nodded. “Go on. You might as well tell him to come in.”
I grinned at her, and then turned back to Bob and gave him a thumbs-up sign. “It’s all clear.”
As the attorney walked in, I lingered for a second and whispered, “Good luck,” before I left and locked the door behind me.
If he heard me at all, he didn’t show it.
As I left the Slice to them, part of me was tempted to stand nearby and watch them from outside the window, but I decided not to do it. If Maddy spotted me snooping, I’d never hear the end of it, and besides, I’d meant what I’d said. They deserved to have this time alone, and I was going to give it to them.
I didn’t feel like driving anywhere, so I walked down to Paul’s Pastries to see if there was any chance that he was still open this late. If he was, I might just see if any of his treats caught my eye. That was a lie; they all garnered my attention, but I was trying to be a little more selective in the goodies I ate, since my jeans weren’t exactly getting any looser as I got older.
Paul, a tall and thin handsome young man I was proud to count as a real friend, smiled at me as I walked in. “Hey, Eleanor. It’s nice to see you. What’s going on? Is your sweet tooth calling my name?”
“It’s so loud I can barely rest at night,” I answered with a grin.
“What can I tease you with today?” Paul asked as he waved a hand toward his display. “We don’t have a great selection at this time of day, but everything we do have is good.”
“You don’t have to sell me on how great your things taste,” I said. I studied the case, and found myself being torn between a peanut-crusted donut and one that was covered in white powdered sugar. They both looked good enough to be featured in a catalogue. “I’ll take both of those,” I said decisively.
“Would you like to eat them here, or do you need them to go? Honestly, I could use the company, if you have the time to hang around a little.”
“I’d be delighted to stay,” I said. I was in no hurry to get back to the Slice, not with the conversation that must be going on at the moment between Bob and my sister. “Throw a chocolate milk in, too, would you?”
“I’ll do better than that,” Paul said with a smile. “If you don’t mind, I think I’ll join you.”
That was indeed a rare occurrence, and I wondered at times if Paul ever sampled his offerings, given how thin and fit he was. If our positions were reversed, I doubted I’d be able to get out through the front door after a month of being around all of those baked treats.
“I’d love it if you could,” I said, meaning it.
Paul grabbed a coffee and a plain cake donut for himself, and then brought the full tray to the table I’d selected by the window.
“Here you go,” he said as he served me, and then sat down across the table from me.
After the first bite, Paul said, “I was sorry to hear about Benet. I wasn’t a fan of the man, but at least he wasn’t afraid to let people know where he stood. I can’t believe someone killed him at the Slice.”
“Me, either,” I said. “He really wasn’t easy to get along with at all, was he?”
Paul shook his head. “I knew him for three minutes and my blood pressure spiked higher than it should have been. I can’t imagine being in his life on a daily basis. Eleanor, do you have any idea who might have killed him?”
“The police are investigating the case,” I said, trying to sound as nonchalant as I could.
Paul just laughed. “I don’t doubt it, but I’m willing to bet that you are, too. Come on, you can trust me. How can you not look into this? Your place and your reputation are both on the line.”
“Maddy and I are asking around,” I admitted.
“Do you have any good suspects yet?”
It was clear that Paul honestly wanted to hear about it and wasn’t just being polite. “Well, so far we’ve talked to his wife, his assistant, and his TV producer,” I said. “There’s bound to be more suspects than that, given the man’s demeanor, but Maddy and I are still checking them out.”
“Did he have any ties to Timber Ridge?” Paul asked as he took another sip of coffee. His donut, for the most part, still lay untouched on the tray. How could he not devour it? It was taking every ounce of self-control that I had not to scarf my donuts down, they were so tasty.
I honestly didn’t know how to answer that at this point. “We have our suspicions, but there’s nothing we can prove yet.”
“You will. I have faith in you two.”
“I hope it’s warranted,” I said as I broke down and took a healthy bite of the peanut donut. “These are amazing.”
“They should be,” Paul said with a bit of a wicked expression on his face. “I stole the recipe from The Charlotte Donut Explosion.”
“Don’t they mind?” I asked with a grin.
“They might if they knew about it, but I did it fair and square. I must have eaten twelve dozen donuts before I figured out what made theirs so special.”
“Whatever the reason, you may have even surpassed them,” I said as I polished the peanut donut off. “They’re almost too good to eat.”
“But not quite, right?” he asked as he took a sip of coffee.
“A picture might be worth a thousand words, but one bite of your treats is worth a thousand pictures,” I said. I took a bite of the powdered one, and though it was good, I wished that I’d saved the peanut one for last. I made a mental note for next time, knowing that no matter how much I wished that I had more willpower, I’d be back.
“Hang on,” Paul said when I looked up at him. “You’ve got a little powdered sugar on your nose.”
I brushed my nose, and then asked, “Did I get it?”
The baker shook his head as he reached out a napkin and brushed it away. As he did, I looked into his eyes and saw them beaming, but a movement at the window distracted me.
When I looked up from the tray, I saw David Quinton hurrying away from us.
Without meaning to, it appeared that I’d just caused myself another problem that I had to fix fast before it blew up in my face.
Chapter 11
“D
avid, wait up,” I called out as he hurried away from Paul’s shop. I had to run to catch him, and I must have looked like a fool chasing after the man, but I didn’t care.
avid, wait up,” I called out as he hurried away from Paul’s shop. I had to run to catch him, and I must have looked like a fool chasing after the man, but I didn’t care.
“David,” I said, nearly out of breath as I grabbed his arm. “Didn’t you hear me?”
“Hello, Eleanor,” he said. “Sorry about that. I was thinking about something else.”
I had to give David credit for being such a terrible liar. After all, I wanted to be able to read when he was angry or hurt, not be fooled by a disguise he showed the world. I spun him around to face me, and then I said with every ounce of conviction that I possessed, “I don’t know what that must have looked like just now, but I had a little powdered sugar on my nose, and Paul got it off for me. That’s the sum total of it. Nothing happened.”
“You don’t owe me any explanations,” he said. “We never said that we were exclusive.” I could tell that he was hurt, and I hated being the cause of it.
I couldn’t think of a thing to say, so instead, I kissed him, as soundly as I knew how, not caring who might see.
When we finally pulled away, an older man standing nearby began applauding, and I felt my face redden slightly.
“Okay, now I believe you,” David said with a crooked little smile. “I’m sorry if I overreacted, but you’ve got to admit that Paul is a handsome young man.”
“I never denied it,” I replied, and before David could react, I hugged him. “You’re not so bad yourself, mister, and you’ve got one big advantage over him.”
“What’s that?” David asked.
“You’re the one I’m dating,” I answered. “Just you, and nobody else.”
“That’s a good point.”
I don’t know what possessed me to say it, but I added, “Trust me, if I wanted to be with Paul, I would be.”
I realized how it must have sounded, but before I could correct it, David just laughed. “My, aren’t we full of ourselves today. Eating powdered donuts must make you feel invincible.”
“You know what I meant,” I said.
“I understand,” David said. “I’m just teasing you. Listen, I’d love to stay and chat, but I’m late for a meeting. Sorry about the way I reacted just then.”
“A little jealousy isn’t necessarily all that bad,” I said. “But you don’t have anything to worry about.”
“Neither do you,” David said, the smile on his face deep and wide.
I was feeling pretty good about things with him when Bob Lemon nearly knocked me down near the Slice in his rush to get past me.
“What just happened?” I asked, afraid I already knew the answer. It appeared that one of my worst fears had just been realized. “Did she say no?”
“She has to think about it,” Bob said, clearly unhappy with the result. “I guess that’s better than nothing.”
I smiled and hugged him. “Are you kidding? That’s a major victory, if you ask me. My sister must really care about you. You know that, don’t you?”
“I do,” Bob admitted. “I just hope she’ll say yes, and soon.”
“If it helps, I’m rooting for you,” I said.
“I appreciate that,” he said, “but you’re not the sister I need to win,” he added as he hurried off.
When I walked back into the Slice, I found Maddy in the kitchen furiously chopping vegetables, even though we had plenty for the rest of the day.
“What’s up, Sis?” I asked as innocently as I could manage.
“Don’t play dumb with me,” Maddy said as her gaze never left the cutting board. “Bob told me you knew about the proposal all along.”
At least I didn’t have to keep that secret any longer. “Do you understand why I couldn’t tell you?”
“I don’t know that I do, actually,” Maddy said as she continued to chop. “A little warning might have gone a long way. I told him I had to think about it, in case you’re wondering.”
“I heard.”
“He couldn’t wait to call you, could he?” she asked, giving the cutting board another serious whack.
“As a matter of fact, I just saw him outside,” I admitted.
“You weren’t watching us, were you?”
“No,” I said, glad I could admit that honestly. “I was at Paul’s getting into a mess of my own at the time.”
That got Maddy’s attention. “Anything you’d care to share with me?”
“Maybe later,” I said as I moved closer and took the knife from her. “I believe that we’ve got enough for tonight.”
She looked down at the pile, and then grinned at me. “Tomorrow, too, I’d wager. Sorry about that.”
“Hey, I understand completely. Cooking helps, doesn’t it?”
She frowned at me as she said, “I wish. I’m no closer to an answer now than I was when he asked.”
I put my arm around Maddy’s shoulder. “You’ve got time, don’t you? He didn’t give you a deadline or anything, did he?”
“No, Bob is too sweet a man to try to do something like that. He’d never try to rush me. I’m just not sure when I might have an answer for him. I honestly have no idea what I want, and I can’t tell you how frustrating it is for me. You know me, Eleanor. I pride myself on being decisive, and yet I can’t make up my mind about the most important question I’ve been asked in a long time.”
“Don’t worry. You’ll find the right answer. I have faith in you,” I said.
“I’m glad at least one of us does.” She glanced at the clock and said, “It’s nearly time to open. Did you get enough to eat at Paul’s, or should I make you something before the crowds hit?”
“I’m good,” I said. “Let’s go face the day. Oh, before I forget, here’s your key.” I handed it to her, and she took it gratefully and returned it to its rightful place on her key ring.
As she did it, she looked at me and said, “Eleanor, no matter what I say to Bob’s proposal, I’m here as long as you want me. Okay?”
I hugged my sister, and then said, “That’s good to hear.” After we broke apart, Maddy said, “While I’m thinking, I could really use a distraction, and investigating Benet’s murder might be the perfect solution. What are our plans on how to keep digging into it?”
“Well, we’ve spoken to the three people closest to Benet that were in town, but I’m not entirely certain that Cindy has told us the complete truth up to now.”
“I can’t see her lying to us,” Maddy said with a frown. “Why would she? We’re just trying to help.”
I thought about that, and then said, “She might do it if she was hiding something.”
“Like what?”
“That I wish I knew,” I said. “There was something between Cindy and Benet, but I can’t for the life of me figure out what it might have been.”
“Then maybe we should tackle her first,” Maddy said as she glanced at the kitchen clock. “I’ll go open the front door.”
She came back ten seconds later.
“That was fast,” I said.
“I never opened it,” Maddy admitted.
“Any reason in particular why not?” I asked.
“Cindy’s outside waiting to get in, so I thought you might want to talk to her yourself before things get crazy for our evening shift. You two have a closer connection than I do with her, so you might have better luck if you speak with her alone. Now might be the perfect opportunity to question her.”
“That’s a great idea,” I said. “Let’s go.”
There were no other customers waiting outside, so I let Cindy in and locked the door behind her. She asked, “Are you open yet? I don’t want to interfere.”
I looked at my watch and lied, “We’ve got a minute before we let the masses in. Come on back into the kitchen where we can talk.”
Cindy agreed, not noticing that I’d shaved a bit off the time. Maddy smiled at me, and out of Cindy’s sight, my sister gave me a thumbs-up.
As Cindy and I walked back into the kitchen, I saw Greg standing just outside. Behind him, Josh Hurley was waiting as well.
“I’ll go let them in,” Maddy said, and then looked right at me as she added, “We’ve still got a few minutes before we open, right?”
“Right,” I said, happy that she’d bought me a little time.
Cindy and I went back into the kitchen, and she took one of the barstools I kept there for the rare times I allowed visitors in my kitchen.
“How are you holding up?” I asked her as I set my kitchen in order to prepare for our first customers of the evening. “Have you decided when you’re going to have your grand opening at the bookstore?”
“Do you mean the reopening?” she asked, a little crestfallen.
“Cheer up. That’s the joy of owning your own business,” I told her. “You can call it whatever you want to.”
“I suppose,” she said. “To tell you the truth, after what happened yesterday, some of the bloom is off the rose, if you know what I mean.”
“You just have to weather the storm,” I said, not meaning to give her yet another pep talk. I had questions to ask Cindy, but I had a difficult time not trying to buck up her spirits. After all, we were more alike than different, and I suppose part of it was that I wanted to help her succeed. I couldn’t focus on that now, though. I had to ask her a tough question that had been hounding me since we’d spoken the day before.
“Cindy, I hate to ask you this, but I need to know what you were talking about yesterday when we spoke.”
“What do you mean?” she asked. Was she that dense, or was she just playing with me? I couldn’t imagine that she didn’t know exactly what I was talking about.
“When I asked you if you’d met Benet before, you said not really, and when I pushed you, all you’d tell me was that it was complicated.” It was time to lay my cards on the table. “Cindy, the author you brought in for a book signing was murdered in my pizzeria. I know you think it reflects badly on you, but how do you think my customers must feel? If I don’t solve this case, and soon, it’s going to haunt me to the point where it may kill my business. Maddy and I are going to investigate, but to do that, I need your help. You have to be honest with me. I feel as though I’ve been of some help to you lately, and all I’m asking is that you do the same for me in return.”
I shouldn’t have been so forceful, but I was afraid that it might be the only way I could get through to her.
After a moment, Cindy finally nodded. “Okay, you deserve that much, at least. All I ask is that you don’t tell anyone what I’m about to tell you.”
“If I can’t say anything to Maddy, don’t tell me at all,” I said. I didn’t even have to think about it. Maddy was so much more than my sister, no matter how deeply that bond went. Sure, she was my employee, but she was also my coconspirator; most of all, she was my best friend.
Cindy chewed her bottom lip for a second, and then reluctantly nodded. “Okay, you can tell Maddy, but that’s it.”
“I can probably do that unless it’s vital information needed to catch a killer,” I said, meaning it. If what she told me became pertinent to the case, I’d have to reserve the right to break my word to her. Catching a murderer took precedence over keeping someone’s secret, no matter what the fallout might be.
Cindy nodded absently, and then she explained, “Benet contacted me six months ago, if you can imagine that.”
“He came to Timber Ridge?” I asked, incredulous that no one in town knew that the chef had been here before now.
“No, he did it online,” Cindy explained. “I got an e-mail from him one day out of the blue. He said he heard about my plans to open a bookstore and asked if there was anything he could do to help. I told him that having him there when I cut the ribbon would mean a great deal to me, but he claimed to have a scheduling conflict and said that he couldn’t make it.”
“And that ended your contact with him?” I asked.
“No, it was just the icebreaker. After that, we usually e-mailed back and forth once a week. He told me he was fascinated with what it took to open a bookstore, and then he gave me a glimpse into what his life was like.”
I remembered how Benet had acted around Cindy when he’d come to town, and it just didn’t jibe. “He was rude to you when he got here, though. There wasn’t anything nice about him when he walked into your store. I was there, remember?”
“Hang on, I’m getting to that,” Cindy said, looking worried as she continued to tell me the story. “Two months ago, we had a falling out online, and he told me not to e-mail him anymore. I was upset, especially since I didn’t know what I’d done to cause it, but he never answered any more of my queries, and I finally stopped trying to get in touch with him altogether. As a matter of fact, I’d nearly forgotten all about him when he got in touch with me again.”
“What made him change his mind?” I asked. I knew that time was getting away from us, but these answers might help me find the man’s killer. If that meant that folks would be a little late getting their pizza, so be it.
“I don’t know what happened, and that’s the truth,” she said. “I was shocked when I got the call from Oliver. I was told in no uncertain terms that I was not to speak to Benet, or anyone else, about our earlier e-mail exchanges, and to pretend that the chef and I had never met. If I violated that agreement, he would walk out of my shop forever.”
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