Chapter Six

By the end of her first week at the Woodrose, Kit had finally gotten the reservation system to behave (after Mabel Morgenstern had promised to take the idea of a national reservation service “under advisement”), and she’d begun to give Elaine some rudimentary training in the art of waiting tables. And by the end of each workday she was thoroughly exhausted. She pulled into Allie’s driveway at six, after she’d gotten set up for lunch the next day. The house was dark, not that she’d really expected Allie to still be around.

Now that her wedding problems had been taken care of by dropping them in Kit’s lap, Allie usually took off for Wonder Dentist’s around dinner time. Kit hadn’t actually talked to her aunt since their last conversation about the wedding a couple of days ago, given that Allie got up at four to bake her breakfast pastries and Kit didn’t pull in until she’d finished riding herd on Gabriel and the dishwasher, Morrie.

Allie had told Wonder that Kit was going to take over the wedding. She’d even used the phrase “wedding planner,” which made Kit’s stomach tie a couple of new knots. She’d managed to pull her aunt aside before she disappeared that evening. “Allie, I don’t know much about event planning, let alone wedding planning. I said I’d help, but I figured you’d still be making the major decisions. I mean I’ve never done anything like this on my own.”

Allie shook her head. “You’ve got terrific taste, sweetheart. You’ll figure out what to do, I know it. If I try to do anything, I’m liable to have another panic attack. I’m just going to turn it all over to you.”

“But I don’t even know what you want to spend,” Kit said desperately. “How can I plan anything when I don’t know what’s in your price range?”

Allie frowned. “That’s a good point. Let me put together a budget, then you can work from that. Shouldn’t take me long.” She gave Kit another bright smile. “I’ve got confidence in you, kid. And I’m so grateful that I don’t have to worry anymore.”

Allie’s smile was so tremulous that Kit didn’t have the heart to make any more objections. But she had a feeling she’d been cornered into doing something that would eat up great chunks of her life for the foreseeable future. Not that she had a whole lot of other things pending at that moment. And, of course, she’d volunteered for this.

You owe her. She did. She really did.

She changed out of her professional clothes, pitching her two-inch heels to the back of the closet. From now on she’d decided to wear flats, possibly even running shoes, even if she didn’t look like the hostess of the year. She walked to Allie’s kitchen in her bare feet, feeling her arches ache. Her aunt had left a note on the table directing her to the refrigerator for a plate of leftovers. There was also a printout from her spreadsheet. Kit squinted at the figures. Apparently, it was supposed to be the wedding budget. She sank into her chair, rubbing her eyes. She so didn’t want to screw this up. Any more than she wanted to screw up the job at the Rose. She wasn’t sure who she was trying to impress exactly, but she had a sneaky suspicion it might be herself.

She peeked under the aluminum foil at the plate of leftover spaghetti, which was perilously close to what she’d had for lunch, although Joe LeBlanc’s sauce was probably more complex. She sighed. What she really wanted to do, she realized suddenly, was have a beer and nachos at the Faro and maybe gossip with Deirdre Brandenburg when she had a minute.

You know Nando will be there, right?

Kit swallowed hard. Well, so he’d be there. So what? She didn’t intend to make life difficult for either of them, but she also didn’t intend to keep away from places where she wanted to go just because Nando might be there too. They both needed to be adults about this and just get over it. She was ready to show everybody she was a grown-up.

Which was close to a total crock. She sighed. Oh well, let’s just pretend it’s true for now. The Faro had seemed like her kind of place, and she’d find a way to share it with Nando. And if he showed up there with another woman…she’d deal. Somehow.

She grabbed her keys and headed for the door.

The Faro was having a good night, or maybe it was just a normal night. Having only been there once, Kit was in no position to judge. The tables looked mostly full, the crowd largely male but with enough women scattered around to keep her from feeling uncomfortable. She found a seat at the bar.

Tom Ames gave her a cautious smile. “Hi, Kit. What can I get you?”

“Whatever beer you gave me the other night. It was great.” She gave him a smile that she hoped was reassuring. No drama here—absolutely none. So help me.

“Kit, you came back!” Deirdre leaned on the bar beside her, grinning as she pushed her tray toward Tom. “Two Shiners and a house red,” she called and then turned back. “So how’s the Woodrose Inn?”

“Exhausting.” Kit grinned back. “I had no idea the Rose was so popular. I haven’t had a chance to eat anything since mid-morning. I was hoping you guys were still serving.”

“Let’s check—Clem’s still back there, I think. Let me drop off this order, and then we’ll go ask what’s around to eat.”

Kit wasn’t sure who she’d expected “Clem” to be—probably someone large and male, sort of like Joe LeBlanc. She was a little surprised to see a tiny woman with spiked black hair and a side braid, along with a pierced eyebrow and a harassed expression beneath her chef’s beanie.

“What’s up?” she asked. “I’m not serving anything to those assholes at the pool table. They don’t even know what they’re putting in their mouths anyway. And I saw Denny Steinbruner put his burger down on the table, right on the felt. Let ’em eat chips.”

Deirdre shook her head. “I just wanted to introduce you two and see if you had anything around we could munch on. Kit Maldonado, this is Clem Rodriguez.”

Clem narrowed her eyes. “Allie Maldonado’s niece? The one working at the Rose?”

“Geez, news travels fast around here.” Kit nodded. “That’s me.”

Clem shrugged. “People in the restaurant trade talk to each other. Joe’s a friend of mine. So’s your aunt. I saw them both at the market this morning. Sit down.” She waved a hand toward a table at the side of the kitchen. “You can finish off the risotto so I won’t have to figure out what to do with it. We’re not getting many orders for it.”

“I need to go wait on a few tables,” Deirdre said. “Save me a little and I’ll come back for it.” She pushed through the kitchen door into the dining room again.

Clem shook her head as she spooned up two servings of risotto. “Sooner or later she’s going to burn herself out running Coffee Delight and waiting tables. Tom’s been trying to get her to stop, but she likes hanging around the bar in the evening and she can’t just sit there for some reason.”

“So Deirdre’s his significant other?” Kit took a bite of risotto and her tense muscles relaxed. Parmesan, mushrooms, a little hint of sherry. Clearly Joe LeBlanc wasn’t the only outstanding new chef around Konigsburg.

“About as significant as you can get,” Clem said dryly. “Chico and I have a running bet going about when the wedding will be.”

Kit grimaced slightly, which wasn’t at all fair to the risotto.

Clem narrowed her eyes. For someone her size, she could look surprisingly menacing. “You got something against them getting married?”

Kit sighed. “Not really. Right now I’m just sort of anti-wedding in general. My Aunt Allie roped me into planning hers, and I don’t have a clue about what I’m supposed to be doing. She just gave me her budget tonight and I can’t tell if it’s realistic or insane.”

Clem shook her head. “You mean she still hasn’t married Wonder? For some reason I thought that had happened a long time ago.”

Kit shrugged. “She kept putting it off, and now she’s got some kind of phobia about planning for it. So she’s decided I can handle everything, even though I’ve got no experience doing anything like it. I don’t even know where to start.”

Clem leaned back in her chair. “Does she have a venue? Go for that first. Once you’ve got the place nailed down, you can usually build around it.”

Kit shoveled in a couple of bites. “What are the usual venues around here? I don’t think she wants to get married in a church.”

“People used to get married at Cedar Creek Winery,” Clem mused, “but they’re enlarging their patio right now, so it’s not available. If it’s a small wedding there’s always the party room at Brenner’s. Lee Contreras and Ken Crowder are friends of Allie’s anyway. They’d probably let her have it for free, or close to it.”

Kit frowned. “I don’t think the wedding’s going to be that small, given all the people Allie knows around town and the size of our family. I mean Aunt Allie and her sisters and brothers alone would fill up Brenner’s.”

Clem buttered a piece of bread for herself. “Well, kid, if push comes to shove, you’re working at the biggest wedding venue in town. That event center at the Woodrose is wedding central.”

“Yeah, and it’s probably booked for the next five years,” Kit said gloomily. Plus it also probably cost more than Allie’s entire budget.

“Not necessarily.” Clem leaned back again. “They had this really lousy chef, Aaron Carville, for a couple of years. He ran the restaurant into the ground and that started dragging down the rest of the inn too. My guess is they’ve been scrambling to make up for the damage he did.” She took a bite of her own risotto. “Of course, that’s going to change fast now that Joe’s in charge. He’s already taking a major bite out of the lunch trade here in town. It doesn’t hit us because we’re not in that price bracket, but I’ve noticed that Kip Berenger at the Silver Spur has been doing a lot more lunch entertainment and special events than he did before.”

“Joe’s a really good chef. So are you,” Kit added hastily.

“Yes, I am.” Clem grinned. “But Joe’s more high powered than I am. He was sous chef at one of the biggies in New York and head chef at a restaurant in New Orleans. He’s definitely the real deal.”

“What’s he doing here?” Kit shook her head. “I mean, not that Konigsburg isn’t a good foodie town, but…”

“But it’s not one of the big ones.” Clem nodded. “He had some…problems. Personal problems. A few years ago. But now he’s pulled himself together again. If anybody can get the Rose back on its feet again, it’s Joe.”

Clem shoveled in a couple more bites of risotto. Kit considered asking her some more specific questions about Joe LeBlanc’s “personal problems”, but she figured if Clem thought it was her business, she’d already have told her.

Deirdre pushed back into the kitchen again, tendrils of her dark hair flying around her face. Depressingly enough, she looked even more beautiful when she was messy. “Back again. Did you save me some food?”

Clem handed her a plate. “Sit down. Do not go through that door again. Let Sylvia and Marilyn handle the tables.”

“Okay. For the moment.” She took a bite of risotto. “Really good, Clem. Up to your standard.”

“Yep,” Clem agreed. “Now about the wedding food.”

“What wedding?” Deirdre turned to Kit, wide-eyed. “You’re getting married?”

Kit shook her head. “Aunt Allie and Wonder Dentist. I’m the designated wedding planner, god help me.”

Clem continued as if there’d been no interruption. “If you get the Woodrose, you probably won’t have a choice—the food will have to come from their kitchen. But Joe would do a great job for you anyway. And he’d probably work with you on price. You should get some kind of discount since you’re working there.”

“You’re going to do it at the Woodrose?” Deirdre grinned. “That’s where Docia was supposed to get married. They had the reception there, anyway. All I remember is the champagne, which was first rate.”

“Nothing’s set up yet,” Kit said a little desperately. “I don’t know how Aunt Allie would feel about the Woodrose, or who she wants to do the food for the reception.”

Clem shook her head. “Doing it at the Woodrose would save you a world of hassles, believe me. If you do it anywhere else, you’ll be hip deep in the restaurant wars. Lee and Ken at Brenner’s would feel honor-bound to bid for it, and Allie might feel like she should do it herself, and I’d probably put in a bid too.” She grinned. “Not that I’d get it, but hey, I’d feel like I needed to stake my claim at least.”

“Won’t they get mad if Joe does it?” Kit took a quick bite of risotto. “I mean they’re competitors.”

Clem shrugged. “Like I say, if you do it at the Woodrose, you don’t get a choice. And then Lee and Ken can just be guests and Allie can relax.”

“Except she’ll probably want to do her own cake, and the groom’s cake too.” Kit chewed her lip. She wasn’t sure about that, but since baking was Allie’s profession, to say nothing of her pride and joy, she had a feeling her aunt wouldn’t want to turn it over to anyone else.

“Not a problem.” Clem grinned. “The Rose is already contracting with Allie for pastries and baked goods. Joe hasn’t found a pastry chef yet, and he probably won’t find one in time for this wedding, assuming he can get the okay to hire one.”

Kit leaned back in her chair, frowning. “It can’t really be this simple, can it?”

“Sure it can.” Clem carried her plate to the sink. “Assuming you can get the event center, you’re in.”

“Assuming I can get the event center.”

“Maybe you could use their wedding planner too. Then you wouldn’t have to do everything.” Deirdre raised an eyebrow. “Surely they’ve got one.”

Kit considered the Woodrose’s wedding planner, one Mabel Morgenstern. “I think I’d rather do it myself, or let Aunt Allie do it once we’ve got the venue sewed up. It’s going to be hard enough to reserve the place. I don’t want to push my luck. Thanks for your help, Clem.”

Clem grinned. “Anytime. Just remember our catering services when it comes time for the bridal shower.”

Kit lowered her forehead to the table. “Oh hell, bridal showers. I have to find out how to run a bridal shower. And here I’d been feeling so good.”

 

 

Nando lounged on his barstool, nursing his beer. All in all, it was a shitty end to a shitty week, and he used the words advisedly.

They hadn’t gotten anything back from the county lab about the bookstore break-in yet, but that would take a while. Given that the county had some more serious crimes in the queue ahead of them, Nando figured they’d be lucky to get anything back in a month or so.

Meanwhile, Ham had actually begun a campaign to undermine him as assistant chief. He should have anticipated that move, of course, but for some reason he hadn’t. Ham might be dumb as a post, but he had a certain flair for sneakiness. And he’d clearly decided if he couldn’t get Toleffson’s job, he’d take Nando’s instead.

Unfortunately, so far he was waging a fairly successful campaign, although Nando was willing to bet that success was more accidental than planned. His current problems all centered around the crap sample he’d taken from the bookstore. Ham had spread the story of the sample around town, leaving out the part about DNA, calling him the “poop policeman.” Given that most people around Konigsburg had no idea that crap could be evidence, the phrase had definitely caught on.

Nando found himself facing grins where he’d never faced them before, and hearing snickers behind his back from men who were more accustomed to snickering at Ham Linklatter. Maybe he could have explained about the DNA and the importance of the sample, given that they hadn’t turned up any other evidence that could identify the perp, but he had a feeling saying anything more about it would just make things worse. He’d perfected an easy grin to mask the acid bubbling in his stomach.

The one saving grace in the whole debacle was the fact that at least Toleffson understood the importance of the DNA evidence. On the other hand, he had a feeling this wasn’t exactly what the chief had had in mind when he’d told him to keep his nose clean.

They hadn’t been able to find any witnesses to the bookstore vandalism. Nobody had heard breaking glass or seen flashing lights. And nobody was currently living upstairs over the store, so there was nobody there to hear the intruders. All in all, it had been one frustrating investigation.

Now he sat sipping his beer and facing the very sobering possibility that Ham could replace him as the assistant chief if he managed to make Nando look more like a moron than Ham himself. A few weeks ago, Nando would have rated the odds on that happening at near zero. Now it was looking somewhat more possible.

Tom Ames leaned on the counter next to him. “Anything new with Docia’s store?”

Nando shook his head. “Not a damn thing. And we’ve been pounding the pavement for a week now. I don’t suppose anybody’s mentioned anything in here?”

“You mean other than you and the poop?” Tom grimaced. “Nope.”

“The poop was legitimate evidence…” Nando began.

Tom shook his head. “Stow it. I know about the DNA. So does everybody else in town with half a brain. Right now you’re getting the grade school playground reaction—you know, ‘Dude, he said poop!’ Eventually people will sober up and remind themselves what a half-wit Ham is.”

“Yeah. With my luck it’ll happen after he’s pushed me out of the assistant chief’s job.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Tom took a breath, polishing a non-existent spot on the bar. “Kit’s here.”

Nando stiffened. He’d checked the room carefully when he’d come in, and he hadn’t seen her. “Where?”

“Back in the kitchen with Deirdre and Clem. They’re bonding.”

“Terrific. Does that mean I have to find a new bar?”

“Only if you’re tired of my beer.” Tom shook his head. “She doesn’t seem like she wants to make trouble. I don’t see why you can’t share the place.”

Nando blew out a breath. “Hey, I was here first.”

“So we’re back to the grade school playground thing again?”

“No.” Nando rubbed his eyes. “Okay, I can handle it.”

Tom frowned. “What happened between you two, anyway?”

“Momentary lunacy.” Nando took a swallow of his beer, hoping that would be the end of it. He really didn’t want to get into explanations right now.

He heard the swish of the opening kitchen door and saw Deirdre and Kit heading back toward the bar, with Clem emerging a moment later.

As usual, his body kicked into high gear. He figured picturing Frau Blücher wasn’t going to have much effect right now. “Evening,” he said, keeping his gaze on Kit’s left earlobe. Kit seemed to be studying the far wall.

“Hi.” Deirdre leaned across the bar to kiss Tom’s cheek. “Did you miss me?”

“Always.” Tom grinned the grin of a man who was secure in the promise of getting lucky fairly soon. Nando felt like punching him. “What took you so long? I was about to send Chico in there to make sure you were all still around.”

“Wedding stuff,” Kit explained. “They were helping me.”

“Wedding?” Nando felt cold all the way to his toes. Jesus, had she come back to Konigsburg to get married? “Whose wedding?”

Kit looked at him full-on for the first time. “Aunt Allie’s. And Wonder Dentist. I’ve been drafted to play wedding planner.”

Tom gave her a dry smile. “I assume just heading for the nearest justice of the peace is out of the question?”

Clem shook her head. “From what I hear, Allie’s put this thing off for so long the whole town’s getting impatient. People are taking bets about whether it’ll come off at all.”

“It’ll come off.” Kit’s eyes were steely. “It’ll be the best damn wedding this town’s seen in years—even if I have to get the entire family to chip in.”

“Oh man.” Tom grinned. “This is going to be good for weeks of discussion. What’s the date?”

Kit shrugged. “I don’t have one yet. But I will.”

“That can work in your favor.” Clem’s brow furrowed. “Check to see if they’ve had any cancellations at the Woodrose. If they’ve got a slot they have to fill, they might give you a break on the price.”

Deirdre frowned. “But if they need to fill it, it would probably be pretty soon. Don’t you need time to plan?”

Kit shook her head. “The less time to plan, the less time I have to screw it up. Besides, Allie’s had months to pull this thing together. Surely she knows what she wants by now.”

Three fists immediately knocked on the wooden counter.

“Here’s hoping,” Kit muttered. “I need to get home. I’ve got work tomorrow.”

“Let us know what happens at the Woodrose,” Deirdre cut in. “Keep us posted. You never know—maybe we can help.”

Kit gave her a tired smile. Maybe it had been a long day for her too. “Thanks, Deirdre. I appreciate it.” She turned and started toward the exit.

Nando walked out the door behind her.

She came to a quick halt, turning to stare at him under the parking lot lights, her eyes wary. “What?”

He shrugged. “I was going to walk you home. It was time for me to take off too.” Maybe the parking lot lights would hide the tension he could feel snaking across his shoulders. He hoped so, anyway.

Kit licked her lips, and he braced himself. “I drove tonight,” she said softly. “You all made such a big deal about it not being safe.”

He told himself he wasn’t disappointed. After all, it was what he’d wanted her to do. “Okay, that’s good.”

“Would you like a ride?” She raised those astonishing dark eyes to his.

A smart man would say no. A smart man would know better than to take the chance of killing the truce before they’d even gotten started. But he wasn’t exactly smart these days. “Thanks,” he said. “Where are you parked?”

 

 

Kit had no idea why she’d offered him a ride. It wasn’t like he needed one. No mugger in his right mind would go after anybody Nando’s size. Now she felt like she was in driver’s ed class—sitting stiffly in her seat, trying to make sure she didn’t break any traffic regulations.

Not that he seemed any more relaxed than she did. He stared out the window, as if he were looking for somebody familiar on the deserted streets of Konigsburg.

“I heard about the break-in at Docia’s shop,” she said a little desperately. “All the damage. Allie said he destroyed several thousand dollars worth of merchandise and then messed up the store. Why would anybody do something like that?”

Nando winced. She hadn’t realized it would be a sensitive topic. “Somebody with a grudge against Docia, I guess.”

“But nobody has a grudge against Docia, nobody I know anyway. And I’ve known her since I was a teenager.”

He shrugged. “Some people get teed off and you don’t know it until they do something stupid. It could be somebody mad about something that doesn’t seem like a problem to the rest of us, like her selection of books or maybe the color of her hair.”

“Do you have any evidence that could point to who it is?”

He grimaced again. She wasn’t sure what was bothering him, but something about the break-in seemed painful. “Yeah, we’ve got some evidence. The county lab is taking care of it.”

They lapsed into silence again. She forced herself not to look at the sharp line of his profile against the darkened window. After a moment, he blew out a long breath.

“So Allie’s getting married to Wonder.”

“That’s what she says. Assuming I can get everything lined up for her.” Kit shook her head. “Deirdre and Clem gave me some good ideas, but I’m still not sure if everything will work out.”

“It’ll work out.”

“I hope so.”

“It’ll work out,” he repeated. “You’ll make sure it does.”

His smile flashed briefly in the moonlight. She licked her lips. “Thanks. I hope I do a good job for her.”

“You will.” He glanced out the window. “You can let me out here.”

Kit frowned. “Don’t you live in that trailer park anymore?”

“Nope. Sold the trailer last year. Esteban and I share an apartment over on Olmos Drive.”

“Oh. Well, okay.” She pulled her Civic to the curb.

Nando opened the door and stepped out, leaning back briefly as he closed the door. “Thanks for the ride.”

“Sure,” she murmured.

“Maybe I’ll see you at the Faro again sometime.”

He turned and walked up the sidewalk before she could answer, but she wasn’t sure what she would have said anyway. As she turned back toward Allie’s house, it occurred to her that that possibility, seeing him again, wasn’t nearly as upsetting as she might once have thought it would be.