Strong Tea

by Sheila Horgan

  “You might as well do it now. It’s not going to get better with time.”

  “Yeah.”

  “Think of it this way. It’s only smart to do a full audit right now since Mr. Fisher turned everything over to you. You might as well have a really clear baseline.”

  “Yeah.”

  “A wise woman once told me that it’s always better to have everything documented. Just in case.”

  “Yeah.”

  “You’re the wise woman that told me that.”

  “Don’t throw it in my face, Cara. I’ll have them start a full audit.”

  “Who is them?”

  “What?”

  “I’d have it done by a completely neutral third party.”

  “You’re right. I need to start treating this all more seriously. I’ve always done my stuff, and Mr. Fisher has always done this kind of stuff, and I just never bothered with it. If I’m gonna do my stuff and Mr. Fisher’s stuff, I need to do it the right way.”

  “That’s a whole lot of stuff.”

  “The computer guy has me all whacked-out. I’m afraid to use a better descriptor.”

  “You’ll figure it out, Teagan. That’s why they pay you the big bucks.”

  “Not quite, but getting there.”

  “See! You can do this.”

  “I know I can. I just have to build up to the wanting to part.”

  “I thought your dream was to have your own business. This seems to pretty much have fallen in your lap, Teagan. Why aren’t you excited about it?”

  “I don’t know. I just have this weird feeling. When Mr. Fisher was in charge of everything, he had to deal with the worst of it. You know what I mean. I did most of the work. I knew how everything worked and what to do in every position. But when something I didn’t want to deal with came along, I always had the go ask Mr. Fisher escape. Now I’m the one that has to deal with the worst of it.”

  “You can handle it. If I were in your situation, you know what I’d do?”

  “Yeah, well, let’s pretend my brain isn’t working, and you can tell me what you’d do, dingleberry.”

  “I’d start fresh. It’s always better to start at the beginning.”

  “How can I do that? This company has been around forever.”

  “But you need a baseline. Some serious mark that indicates this is when Teagan took over. Everything before that line was on Mr. Fisher. Everything after the line is on you. Make sure that everything after the line, you can live with.”

  “You’re right. Jessie said pretty much the same thing. I gotta just suck it up and do what needs to be done.”

  “It’s like Mom always said. You can deal with all the issues while the kids are young, or you can deal with it when they are teens, but you’re gonna have to deal with it. You might as well get everything going your way while the kids are young and you can still pick them up and put them in the corner, so to speak.”

  “I get it. It’s just so much work, it’s hard to wrap my brain around it.”

  “Yep. Have you figured out what you’re going to do about Gord?”

  “We haven’t found anything that indicates he has done anything wrong, never mind anything illegal.”

  “Sorta good news, right?”

  “I still have a weird feeling. We’ve been moving backwards from today. We’re almost to when he started. The people I hired — who are costing me a small fortune — said they’re doing a cursory look, specifically for things that Gord may have done. If I want the really in-depth look, it’s going to cost me even more.”

  “I can’t imagine why you would need to do more. If Gord did something wrong, they’ll catch it. If he didn’t do anything wrong, then I’d just ask them what I need to do to make sure everything is on the up-and-up from this point forward. Building layers of security and whatever else they suggest.”

  “You can tell we’re related, dingleberry. Your plan sounds just like my plan.”

  “Let me know what you know when you know it.”

  “I will.”

  I texted A.J. and asked if he had any plans for the evening. He did not. I invited Liam and family over for dinner.

  Teagan is right.

  I haven’t been doing enough family stuff, and family stuff is what makes me me.

  Liam said if I didn’t hear from him in five minutes, it meant all was well, and they would be over at about five thirty or six.

  When I hadn’t heard anything in thirty minutes, I pulled out some pork and set it on the counter to thaw. I know you aren’t supposed to thaw stuff on the counter, but I haven’t killed anybody yet. It’s one of the perks of being Irish. We overcook everything. The chances of us ingesting bacteria because it wasn’t killed off in the cooking process is pretty slim.

  I called Daddy and invited him to dinner.

  He said he couldn’t make it. He was having dinner with his friend Aldo and his wife. I said he was welcome to bring them along. He laughed and said I’d finally come up with just the idea. It was great to hear him joke around. He said he would get back to me.

  I texted Suzi and let her know that dinner was around five thirty. With any luck, there would be a houseful. She surprised me when she asked if there was any problem with her bringing a guest.

  Never, ever, is that a problem. I told her yet again, the house we live in is her home. She can bring anyone over any time she wants.

  In the back of my brain a little voice said, Except Barry, but I didn’t say it out loud. I’ve almost convinced myself that Suzi will never allow Barry back into her life.

  On any level.

  I hope.

  Daddy called back and said that Aldo’s wife had already planned their dinner and that they wouldn’t be joining us. I didn’t even try to hide my disappointment. People need to know they’re missed when they aren’t around. Especially Daddy.

  I told him to swing by on the way to their house, and I’d have his favorite upside down cake ready so that he could take it with him for dessert. Mom used to do that when they would go over to dinner at Aldo’s.

  Daddy will be by at four thirty. With bells on.

  Liam and Jordan showed up a little early. Morgan was coming straight from work. We did a tour of the backyard. It’s coming along nicely. We had a little chat about the last time they’d come over, when Jordan was in super big trouble for risking his life to retrieve his skateboard when it had gone through a huge plate glass window.

  Liam explained that he and Morgan had revisited their approach and decided that they needed to back away from punishing Jordan and figure out how to make the lesson real so he wouldn’t do it again.

  Asking a boy to stay out of harm’s way is like asking him not to breathe, but they decided to practice intent. Jordan is going to take a breath before he does anything. They believe if he gets into the habit of giving himself a split second to consider the ramifications of his actions, he will make a good decision because it is done with intent.

  I don’t think it’s going to work, but it’s worth a try.

  Morgan arrived just as A.J. was pulling in the driveway. I heard the garage door go up, which meant Suzi was home, too. A.J. gave her his parking spot in the garage so it would be easier for her to get Evelyn in and out and so that the metal on the car seat wouldn’t be hot when she put Evelyn in.

  At least, that is his story.

  I think between Barry beating the heck out of me, and Suzi being in the line of fire at the restaurant when the bad guys stormed in, A.J. is a little bit paranoid.

  That’s okay.

  It’s better to have someone worry about you than not care about you at all.

  A.J. suggested we eat in the backyard. I love our backyard, and the weather has been cooperating. Not too hot. Not too humid. Not too many bugs. How can you argue with perfection?

  The guys grabbed stacks of dishes and went out back to set the table. Morgan and I were in the kitchen getting things into serving bowls when her phone rang. She looked at the screen, frowned,
gave me the international sign for damn it, I have to take this, and walked away.

  When she came back, only moments later, she apologized for the interruption, said she’d put her phone on vibrate and leave it in her purse, and then she asked, “How do you know Gordon?”

  “What?”

  “There’s a picture of Gordon in the other room.”

  “Oh, Gord. He works for Teagan. How do you know him?”

  “Church.”

  “You go to the same church?”

  “No, I’ve done some PR work for the church where his wife is pastor.”

  “Churches need PR work? Really?”

  “No, that’s just the short phrase I use for everything. I’ve done their brochures and handouts for some fundraising. I’ve done a couple of press releases. They are a tiny little congregation, but they are part of a much bigger organization, and the bigger part is the part I actually deal with most often.”

  I shook my head. “The things you never know. I was baptized in the church I’ll probably be buried from. I never really think about this stuff.”

  “Why do you have a picture of Gordon if he works for Teagan? Are you helping out now that Mr. Fisher is gone?”

  “Actually, it’s kind of weird. He went missing for a while, and his wife went nuts and pretty much threatened Teagan with a media crap storm if she didn’t find him. Then he came back all beat up and insisting he was just being chivalrous walking in Old Town with a Hooters girl, when a couple guys attacked them in the one area not covered by cameras.”

  “That was Gordon? I heard about someone making that claim when I had a meeting with some of the groups we are working with to try to get the word out about how great Old Town is. I don’t want to say anything bad about Teagan’s employee, especially since he’s kind of a client by extension, but he’s full of it.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You know how hard we have worked to get Old Town under control. The crime rate has gone from not all that bad to something any area could be proud of. It’s true, the camera was broken, but it was accidentally broken by a sign installer. And the sign installer immediately informed everybody, and the building owner had his personal camera set up in about twenty minutes. They have reviewed all the images since word came out about someone getting beat up. It didn’t happen. Not in Old Town, anyway. The business owners are thinking about suing the guy making the claims.”

  “You’re kidding. I should have thought about contacting you guys. You know everything that happens in Old Town. I feel like an idiot. Can you do me a favor?”

  “Sure.”

  “Can you get this stuff out on the table while I call Teagan? I’ll only be a minute.”

  “No problem.”

  It took me more than a minute, but not too long.

  Just let me say when I fold a napkin, it is a lovely rectangle. When Morgan folds a napkin, it is an origami masterpiece and brings a smile to your face and an elegance to an outdoor table the guys set.

  Suzi walked out the door with Evelyn on her hip just as we were beginning to wonder if her plans had changed. Which they had. She would not have a guest at dinner. She looked disappointed enough that none of us asked the who or why of it.

  I’m sure A.J. will find out exactly what happened and fill me in later.

  Dinner was great. Jordan regaled us with stories of school and his friend’s pets and how it was time for Liam and Morgan to accept the fact he needs a brother or a sister.

  My brother almost choked to death.

  Morgan smiled and stayed her normal, serene self.

  Suzi helped clear the dishes and then excused herself to give Evelyn her bath. She said to leave the kitchen the way it was, and she’d get to it as soon as Evelyn was settled. Jordan offered to help and went upstairs with them.

  Morgan and I got the kitchen cleaned before Suzi and Jordan came back. Suzi had recorded the cutest video of him singing to Evelyn to help her fall asleep. A lullaby I’d never heard before.

  Liam blushed and said maybe it was time to add to the family.

  Morgan just stayed serene.

  I really need to learn how she does that.

  Jordan sat at the kitchen table and wrote a letter to his pen pal. I believe the girl lives in Spain with her military family. I let him use my very best stationery — yes, I’m old-school and I actually have beautiful stationery — and a lovely fountain pen. He did pretty well considering a fountain pen can take some practice and the nib I have on mine is a little tricky.

  The adults went back outside for a drink and some conversation. It felt good. Almost like old times.

  By the time Jordan had finished his letter, we were pretty much talked out.

  Suzi checked on Evelyn and said she was going to take a good book to bed.

  My brother and his family left with promises of a repeat dinner soon.

  A.J. locked up the house while I stuck the cups and glasses in the dishwasher and started it.

  We were just about to start dancing in the living room when someone pounded on the front door.

  It was Teagan.

  She didn’t look blue, but I couldn’t tell if that was because of makeup or the color had already worn off or maybe the lighting in my living room just isn’t as good as I thought it was.

  A.J. was standing behind her with a weird look on his face. She couldn’t see him, but his face had the intended effect. It was all I could do not to burst out laughing, and Teagan was in no mood to be laughed at. My guess was that A.J. had seen a blue patch or two.

  “You busy?”

  “I was just about to dance with my soon-to-be husband, but you don’t really care about that. Since you came here instead of calling, I’m guessing you’re either out of chocolate, clean sheets, or we’re on our way out to do something you don’t want to do by yourself.”

  “See, that’s why we all love you, Cara. You’re smart like that.”

  “Not smart enough to ignore the knock on the door.”

  “We’re on our way out.” She turned toward A.J. Shrugged. “If that’s okay.”

  A.J. raised his hands in surrender, although I’m sure he had no clue why. When Teagan gets like this, just the tone in her voice has everybody backing down.

  “Be safe. If you need anything, call. I’ll keep my phone on me.”

  “Thanks.” We said it at the same time.

  Once A.J. had left the room — because Teagan was in a mood, I didn’t even try to ask her anything in front of anyone — I asked the obvious question. “What’s going on?”

  “I got the name of the Hooters girl. Don’t ask how. I want to have a little talk with her, and I don’t want to do it alone.”

  “She isn’t going to beat you up, Teagan.”

  “I’m not worried about her beating me up. I want a witness.”

  “Witness to what?”

  “Don’t ask.” Her words were intense, but she smiled after they escaped her lips, so I knew we probably wouldn’t end up in jail or anything.

  “Where are we going?”

  “She gets off work in twenty-five minutes. I’d kind of like to be there when she does.”

  “What are you going to do? Grab her as she walks out the door? I’m sure Hooters has some kind of security in place. You can’t be the first crazy person that has tried to accost one of their girls.”

  “I’m not going to accost her. Not really. I just want to know what happened with Gord. There’s something going on. I can feel it. Something bad. I want to protect my company, and if I need to confront Kendra to get some answers, then guess what I’m going to do.”

  “So, her name is Kendra?”

  “Yep.”

  “How do you know her name?”

  “After you called me and told me what Morgan said, it dawned on me that everyone in Old Town must know something, right? So if everyone in Old Town knows about the guy who claims he got attacked in the alley, then the girls at Hooters must know the name of the girl who was phony attac
ked with him. So I went in and got a sandwich and fries. Grilled cheese. It was good. Talked to my server, a great girl — she’s got two little kids, and she and her husband are thinking about a third. Anyway, she let it slip it was Kendra. She even offered to go get her, she was in the back, but I declined and got out of there before she could tell Kendra I was asking about her. It was one of those conversations just on the border of getting creepy. Not sure if my server said anything to Kendra or not. My guess is they have a lot of borderline creepy people asking about them.”

  “Yeah, but probably not too many of them are female.”

  “I bet you would be surprised. Anyway, now all I have to do is go talk to Kendra.”

  “What does she look like?”

  “She’s gorgeous.”

  “Yep, she works at Hooters in Florida. They’re all gorgeous. But what does she look like?”

  “I have no clue, Cara.”

  “What?”

  “How hard can it be? We know what time she gets off work.”

  “How do you know what time she gets off work?”

  “Don’t ask so many questions. I don’t want you to be able to testify against me.”

  “Okay, fine, but if she’s getting off work, that probably means change of shift, which probably means a whole bunch of girls are going to get off work at the same time.”

  “Yep, exactly where you come in.”

  “Me?”

  “Yep. Cara, I need bait.”

  “I’m bait?”

  “Yeah, but really, just baby bait.”

  “What does that even mean?”

  “The girls are going to come out the door. I’m going to call Kendra and act like it’s you I’m calling. When the real Kendra turns around, we’ll know which one she is.”

  “That’s your plan?”

  “Yep.”

  “You know it’s stupid, right?”

  “Really, Cara? This from a woman that once wanted to use my boobs to solve a murder case?”

  “I didn’t want your boobs to solve it; even I would admit having your boobs solve a crime just sounds stupid. I just wanted to use your boobs as a distraction, and don’t tell me you haven’t done it a million times yourself. If I had boobs, I’d loan them to you for a good cause.”