by Mary Maxwell
“Do you have any theories on why Evie would’ve been involved in staging her own kidnapping?”
Louella heaved another sigh. “Money,” she said in a hushed, weary voice. “And pure hatred for her father.”
CHAPTER 42
A few days later, I was standing next to the portable presentation easel in my living room, carefully editing our wedding guest list while Zack watched from the sofa.
“What about Dane and Shirley?” he said, scanning the notes he’d made before we ate dinner and washed the dishes.
“Do they have a last name?” I asked.
He looked at the wrinkled sheet of paper in his hands.
“Nothing here,” he said.
“I don’t know anyone named Dane.”
“Maybe it says Dave and Sheila.” He studied the list again. “It could also be Dale and Sheba.”
I laughed. “Sheba? How many Shebas do we know?”
“Just the one,” Zack answered. “As in, Queen of Sheba. Otherwise, I’ve never met anybody with that name.”
“Okay, so if it’s not Shirley, Sheila or Sheba…” I paused. “Oh! Could it be Sheena?”
He moved the sheet of paper closer to his face. “Maybe. If I hadn’t spilled water on it earlier, this list would probably be a whole lot easier to work with.”
“So? What do you think about Sheena?”
“Yeah,” Zack said, squinting at the smudged notes. “It could be. I mean, the first letter is definitely s. And then I’m pretty sure the next one is h. After that, it kind of resembles a couple of swoops, a little curlicue thingy and there’s a squiggle at the end.”
“Okay, so we’ll go with Sheena,” I said. “Viveca’s assistant is Sheena Breakstone, and her husband’s name is Dade.”
Zack frowned. “Dade? What kind of name is that?”
“Well, he’s from Florida,” I said. “Maybe his parents were inspired by the county where they lived.”
“That would make sense,” Zack said. “Have I met those two?”
“Sheena and Dade?”
He nodded.
“Very briefly,” I told him. “They were at Viveca’s New Year’s Eve party.”
“That explains it,” Zack replied. “I don’t remember much about that night.”
“Well, I do,” I said. “Especially the part where you slipped on the ice and smashed your head against the curb. I get chills every time I remember that awful sound.”
To be honest, I got chills and nausea and waves of dread whenever I thought about New Year’s Eve. We were leaving Viveca’s house shortly after midnight. An ice storm had passed through the area while we were enjoying the party. Although Viv had scattered sand, cat litter and ice melt on her driveway, the road was especially slick and Zack’s left foot hit a particularly icy patch. It happened so suddenly that my hand grabbed air instead of his elbow when I reached out to help.
“Nothing was broken,” Zack said, tapping his knuckles on the top of his head. “And my ankle healed in record time. The only really big deal was not remembering the incident, but the ER doc said short-term memory loss was common after a fall like that.”
I shuddered as the scene replayed in my head again. Zack falling. His head striking the concrete. And the horrible sound echoing through the frigid night.
“Luckily, you still remembered me when you came to,” I teased.
“How could I not?” he said. “The first thing that I saw when I regained consciousness was my gorgeous, wonderful Katie. If you weren’t with me, babe, I probably would’ve frozen to death out there. We were last to leave Viv’s party, so it could’ve been hours before someone found me.”
“I don’t know about that,” I said. “You’re a brute. You probably would’ve dragged yourself back up to the house and banged on the door.”
He smiled. “Probably. But it’s still nice that you were there to save the day.”
I waved away the compliment. “I didn’t do anything,” I said.
“You called 911,” he replied. “You held my hand while we waited for the ambulance.”
He got up from the sofa, walked over and surrounded me with his arms.
“But you know what they say,” he whispered.
“It depends which ‘they’ you’re talking about,” I said with a laugh. “Dave and Shelia or Dale and Sheba?”
Zack made a face. “I’m talking about you and me.”
“Well, in that case,” I replied, “what do they say?”
“To have and to hold, from this day forward.” He leaned in for a kiss. “For better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until—”
I put my hand on his mouth.
“Let’s stop there for now,” I suggested. “We can wait until the ceremony to say the final words and seal the deal.”
Nana Reed’s Sky High Recipes
Chocolate Walnut Banana Bread
Ingredients
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 large eggs
1-1/2 cups mashed bananas
1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup dark chocolate chips
1 cup chopped walnuts
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Grease and flour a 9x5 inch loaf pan.
3. Whisk together dry ingredients: flour, cocoa, brown sugar, baking soda and salt.
4. In a separate bowl, combine wet ingredients: olive oil, eggs, mashed bananas, yogurt and vanilla.
5. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients.
6. Fold in the chocolate chips and walnuts.
7. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan.
8. Bake for 60 minutes or until tester placed in center comes out clean.
9. Cool loaf for 15 minutes before removing from pan.
10. Place on wire rack and garnish with Sky High Glistening Glaze (see next page).
Sky High Glistening Glaze
Ingredients
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
3 tablespoons milk
1/4 teaspoon orange juice
1/3 cup orange zest
Directions
1. Combine all ingredients and mix well.
2. Drizzle over Chocolate Walnut Banana Bread before slicing and serving.
Sweet Sunshine Biscuits
Ingredients
1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 cup mashed cooked sweet potatoes
1/4 cup softened butter
3 tablespoons milk
1/2 cup unsalted sunflower seeds
1/2 cup unsalted pumpkin seeds
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C).
2. Prepare two baking sheets: lightly grease or line with parchment paper.
3. Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon.
4. In a large bowl, combine sweet potatoes and butter.
5. Fold dry ingredients into potato-butter mixture and blend well.
6. Add 1 tablespoon of milk, mix thoroughly and repeat and all 3 tablespoons are incorporated into mixture.
7. Place dough on floured surface and roll to 1/2-inch thickness before dividing with biscuit cutter.
8. Place biscuits on baking sheets and brush tops with melted butter.
9. Sprinkle with unsalted sunflower and pumpkin seeds.
10. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until tester placed in center comes out clean.
11. Cool on wire rack briefly before serving warm with butter, honey or other favorite condiments.
Nutty Blue Cheese Scones
Ingredients
2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup sugar
2-1/4 teaspoons baking powder
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled and cubed
2 large eggs
3/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup honey
1 cup blue cheese crumbles
1 cup chopped walnuts
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (205 degrees C).
2. Prepare two baking sheets: lightly grease or line with parchment paper.
3. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
4. Blend cubed butter into dry ingredients with pastry blender, fork or fingers until mixture is coarse and crumbly.
5. Whisk together eggs and cream in separate bowl.
6. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients; hold aside 2 tablespoons of the egg-cream mixture.
7. Fold in blue cheese and walnuts; mix until all ingredients are combined.
8. On a floured surface, shape the dough into a circle (8- to 9-inches in diameter).
9. Brush top of dough with remaining egg-cream mixture.
10. Divide dough into 14 wedges with cutter or knife.
11. Arrange wedges evenly on prepared pans.
12. Bake for 20 minutes or until tester placed in center comes out clean.
13. Cool on wire rack briefly before serving warm with butter, honey or other favorite condiments.
