The atmosphere was totally different when I went into the restaurant now. A lot of the tables were full and there was a line of people buying pastries. I checked the table where we’d been sitting, but it was clear, as was the floor below it.
I was giving it another look when I heard someone call out ‘Veronica.’ Irma was behind the counter waving, holding a sheet of paper.
I went to retrieve it, asking who’d found it.
‘The busboy gave it to me,’ she said. ‘Rex was already gone.’
‘Thank you,’ I said, sounding relieved. ‘I’m afraid it makes me look like a scatterbrain.’
‘No worries,’ she said. I slid the paper in the proper file just as Cocoa came out with a cake box for a customer. She delivered the cake and came over to where I was standing.
‘Rex didn’t tell me you were coming. I should have a say in it. I’d like to look over what you’ve done.’
I didn’t want to get involved with their family dynamic and pulled out the whole file, handing it to her. She read it over quickly and spent the longest time on the layout for the montage. ‘There should be a picture of my mother,’ she said.
I explained the one I’d taken with the piece of cake and showed it to her on my phone. ‘What about one with a whole cake and her standing behind it, holding the original recipe?’ she said. I sensed that it was more about her being part of the decision than the importance of the photo.
‘Sure,’ I said. ‘I’ll leave it up to you to arrange it,’ I said, thinking it was better to let her talk it over with Rex.
It was still a little before the appointed time, but I went to Handelman’s down the street.
The messenger bag smacked against my side as I went into the shoe store. All the seats along the wall were empty and the cow seemed to have stopped midway over the moon and appeared to be taking a nap. I stood by the door for a moment, waiting for someone to appear. When no one showed I stepped into the middle of the shop and heard voices coming from the back.
As I neared the counter the voices became clearer and I stopped to listen, waiting for a break to announce I was there.
I could hear Emily clearly and my ears perked up when I heard her mention her aunt. ‘Don’t tell Aunt Laurel. It will only make it worse,’ Emily said.
‘Don’t worry, I won’t,’ Lewis said. ‘Who knows what she’ll do with the information. I was only looking out for her best interests. I did what I had to take care of that guy. It’s over now anyway.’
I was stunned by what I’d just heard. But I also didn’t want Lewis to know that I’d heard it. Being as stealthy as possible, I retraced my steps until I was back at the entrance. I opened the door being as noisy as possible and called out hello as I let it shut.
Lewis and Emily came from the back and were all smiles as they greeted me. I was trying to focus on what I’d brought with me, but I was still shaken by what I’d heard.
The outer door opened and Laurel came in. ‘I thought my aunt should be here to look everything over with you,’ Lewis said. ‘She might have something to add.’
The jewelry designer came up to me and gave me a warm hug. ‘Thanks for listening to me the other day,’ she whispered in my ear as she slipped a package in my hand. ‘It’s a pair of earrings I think will suit you.’ She released me and turned to her niece and nephew. ‘I’m happy to do anything I can do to help these two. We’re family and we look out for each other.’ I looked at Lewis for his reaction. He nodded with a serious expression.
Lewis suggested we sit in the chairs along the wall and let Laurel read over what I had first, and then pass the sheets on to Emily and she’d pass them on to him.
It was taking all my resolve to keep myself together and I was glad to have been given simple directions to follow. I found their file and handed it to Laurel. I had included some photographs with captions that I’d taken with my phone and some that Laurel had sent.
They looked everything over and did leave a few notes, but in general it was what they’d all hoped for.
I packed everything up and we set up another time to meet. As I left I noticed a shoe box sitting on one of the chairs. It made me think of the one at my place.
TWENTY-FIVE
I was on autopilot on the walk home. Between thinking over what my clients had said and what I’d heard Rita say and then Lewis, my mind was spinning.
It was late afternoon by the time I got home. I dropped the messenger bag and flopped on the couch. Now that the worry over what kind of reaction I was going to get to my work was over, I felt drained and exhausted. I didn’t know what to do with what Rita and Lewis had said. Rocky jumped next to me on the black leather couch. It made me think of Ben and how the cat liked to sit next to him. It also made me think of how I really wanted to run everything past him, and in person. But after the way he’d run off when I’d offered him the room and gone home without even a goodbye the next day, and even with the text about still being friends, I was concerned he would think I’d created a reason to see him.
The only thing to do was leave it for tomorrow after the group and hope that he stayed.
I discovered that I was famished. I went into the kitchen and made myself a pot of spaghetti and a green salad. The unread Sunday paper was still sitting next to my unused place setting on the dining-room table from the day before. They both came in handy now. I used the fork on my food and the newspaper was my company.
I decided to take the night off from doing any work.
My plan had been to keep the scarf crochet project for relief when I was stuck writing, but since it was my plan, I could change it. Instead of idly watching some romantic fluff, I could work on the scarf while I watched. It hadn’t worked with the squares because they required too much attention, but the scarf was simple and repetitious. It was worth a try, anyway. I cued up the movie and went into my office for the yarn and hook. Once I retrieved them, I was about to close the drawer until my gaze hit the green metal box. I pulled it out and set it on my desk. I’d been distracted when Tizzy was there and had gone through everything rather quickly. Why not have another look? Opening it was easy now that I knew the combination. I took my time going through the contents now that I had no one reading over my shoulder. Most of it seemed the same, but then I found something that surprised and confused me. It was one more thing I wanted to run by Ben.
I skipped going to Zooey’s coffee stand the next morning. I wanted to get started on the changes for my assorted clients and I had the group’s pages from the previous week to go over. I spent some time doing the usual sprucing up I did in anticipation of having company. The final step was to clear off the dining-room table and bring in another chair for Rex.
The doorbell rang right around seven and, when I opened the door, Tizzy and Rex were coming up the stairs together.
‘I know you’re going to like the group,’ she said to him as they came inside. He stopped in the entrance hall and started to walk toward the French doors to my office.
‘That’s Veronica’s office,’ Tizzy said. ‘We meet in the back.’ She waved to him to follow her. I stayed in the front to buzz Ed and Daryl in and they arrived a few minutes later. Ben was late and I had a sinking feeling he wasn’t going to come, but I heard the knock at the door just as the others were settling around the table.
I went to let him in and saw that he had on his cop demeanor. His mouth was set in non-expression and even his dark eyes seemed flat. He stopped me as I shut the door. ‘I didn’t bring the pages we went over,’ he said in a low voice. ‘Things got kind of out of hand and I’m trying to pull back.’
‘Whatever works for you,’ I said, disappointed that he seemed to have gone back in his shell. ‘We have a new member,’ I said as we walked to the back.
Tizzy was explaining to Rex how the workshop went as Ben and I came into the dining room. Rex had already introduced himself and seemed comfortable, but then with all his experience at LaPorte’s he was used to dealing with new people. Ben was the
only one not familiar with the bakery and restaurant and I handled their introduction.
‘OK, we all know each other,’ Ed said. ‘Let’s get going.’
I offered to let Rex go first and tell everybody about what he wanted to write.
‘How about I just watch this time,’ he said. They all nodded with understanding and Ed handed his pages to Ben. I kept an eye on Rex as the reading continued. I couldn’t tell how he felt about the group by his facial expression. The only thing I noticed was that he kept looking at his watch.
Tizzy had brought her poem and Ben’s pages were filled with back-to-terse dialogue and no emotion. Daryl was more tense than usual at having to deal with a new critic.
When the last piece was read and we’d finished making comments on it, conversation broke out as the group began to de-stress. They always needed a few minutes before they got ready to leave. Rex stood up, pointing at his watch face. ‘I have to go.’ He thanked everyone and looked at me. ‘I’ll be in touch.’ He saw that I was getting up to see him out and said he could manage on his own.
They all handed me their pages as they got ready to leave and I followed them up the hall. Ben walked out with them without a look back and closed the door behind him. I hadn’t had a chance to say anything to him. I stood looking at the closed door for a moment, thinking it was even worse with him than I’d thought. With a sigh, I went into my office to put their pages on my desk.
Something seemed off and it took a moment to register that all the drawers on my desk were pulled out. I sucked in my breath when I realized I wasn’t alone.
‘I thought you left,’ I said as Rex came out of the shadow. And then I saw that he was holding something against his body – the green metal box.
‘Open it,’ he commanded. ‘It has to be in there.’ He was holding up his free hand and the desk lamp reflected off the knife he held in a threatening manner.
‘How did you know about the box?’ I said, trying to keep calm. Then I knew. ‘It was Tizzy, wasn’t it?’
‘She came in yesterday and I overheard her telling whatever committee she was meeting with about this box. She had already been most generous with information about you when she recommended I hire you to write the copy for us. I knew about all the different writing you did, the group Tizzy was in, and how you had cared so much about one of your clients that you’d let him use one of the drawers in your desk.’
I stared at the box he was holding by the handle now. I knew exactly what he was after. I’d found it during my second go round with the contents. But I had no idea how Ted had ended up with it.
‘What was Ted Roberts, or maybe you knew him as Tony Richards, doing with the recipe for your chocolate mint cake?’
The good nature had gone out of his face. ‘I’m just trying to get back what’s mine. That bastard stole it and was using it for blackmail.’ Rex glared at me. ‘Those letters you wrote for him.’ He shook his head. ‘Do you have any idea what a mess they made?’
‘They were for you?’ I said.
‘No,’ he said sounding annoyed. ‘They were to my sister. He’d convinced her that he wanted her all to himself when she’d wanted to introduce him to everybody. I only met him by chance when I came back to the restaurant one night after closing. She was baking while he watched.’ Rex stopped to take a breath. ‘I have to say he was good and I was taken in at first. He had a way of connecting with people so you felt comfortable with him right away. He knew about the expansion and laid it on pretty thick about what a brave move it was and how we’d built the place up from scratch. I was happy for her. Cocoa’s husband walked out on her after a couple of years and since then she’s had a few failed relationships. Once I’d met him, she felt free to go on and on about how wonderful he was. He was a pilot who flew all over the world and sent her romantic notes when he was off on his travels. She confided in me that she thought he was the one.
‘Then she let it slip that she’d given him some money and she started telling me about ideas he had for our business. She thought they were gold and, when I didn’t agree, she brought up that she should have equal say in what went on.’ He let out an exasperated sigh. ‘My mother and sister have dealt with the baking and recipes, but I’m the one who makes the business decisions. The only one.’ He looked at me with hard eyes. ‘I didn’t trust him. He’d started coming by the restaurant during the day, surprising her after he’d returned from a flight, and I followed him after one of his visits – at least to the entrance of the high-rise. I knew the building manager thanks to the deliveries I still make. She gave me an earful about him. The biggest piece of news was that he was living with his girlfriend, who incidentally was footing the bills.
‘I confronted him and tried to get him to disappear from Cocoa’s life. When he blew me off, I said I was going to tell Cocoa how everything he’d told her was a lie.’ Rex stopped and let out a disgruntled sound. ‘That’s when he told me he had the original recipe of my mother’s famous cake. He must have convinced my sister to show it to him and pinched it when she wasn’t looking. Stupid us kept it in a safe at the restaurant. If I said anything to Cocoa, he was going to post a scan of it on the Internet. Then every bakery in the world could replicate it. They would know how we got that perfect mint flavor that no one has ever been able to match. That recipe is our fortune. It’s like the spice list for Colonel Sanders’ chicken or the formula for Coca-Cola.’ He peered at me to see if I understood how important the recipe was. I decided the best thing to do was go along with him. I hoped he would plead his case and then leave with the recipe.
‘The next thing I knew she was telling me they were getting married and how it would make him part of the business. She wouldn’t hear of any sort of prenuptial agreement. He wanted to elope right away, but she’d convinced him to wait a few days so she could put together a family gathering, not telling them that it was actually a wedding party.’
As he said that, I remembered that I’d heard them arguing about a wedding cake when I’d come in to LaPorte’s to talk to Rex. I’d assumed it was about the order of a wedding cake, not realizing it was for her. All his talking was making me uneasy. I had no idea how serious he was about the knife in his hand and I didn’t want to find out the hard way.
‘As long as he had that recipe, my hands were tied. I had to get it back. I figured it was in the place he was staying. It was easy for me to get into the building. All I had to do was show up with a yellow box and I knew someone would let me in the security door thinking I was making a delivery. I took a chance that his girlfriend had a key hidden somewhere in front of the place and found it in the spokes of an umbrella stuck in a stand outside the door. I rummaged through the place, looking for the recipe, but came up empty. I was actually going to leave, but then he showed up. He’d already grabbed a knife from the kitchen and came after me. We scuffled and I got the knife. There was no way we were both going to walk out of there.’
I understood it was about more than the recipe. Ted viewed Rex as an obstacle to his plan to become a partner in the business. And Rex had been the alpha male since his father had died and he wasn’t going to give that up.
‘I knew his girlfriend was a drug rep and figured the cops would think he interrupted someone after drugs, which is exactly what I heard they settled on. But I still didn’t have the recipe back. I couldn’t leave it out there. I couldn’t let my mother know that it was lost. I’ve been running things, but my mother is the sole owner. She’d cut off my power.’ The devastation that would do showed in his face.
‘If it hadn’t been for Tizzy and her nonstop chatter, I never would have gotten a lead on where that bastard had stashed it.’
‘The mystery box was from you?’ I said, pointing to it in the corner. He looked around at my office. He nodded.
‘It was just a prop to get someone to let me in the locked door. I was betting that you left a key hidden someplace. Too bad you didn’t and we could have avoided all this. Now how do I open the box?’
<
br /> I gave him the combination and he had it open with ease. He fumbled through the papers until he came to the handwritten sheet I’d barely noticed the first time and only recognized when I’d gone through everything that second time. My hopes that he’d take it and leave were dashed when he glared at me, waving the knife.
‘You’re going to have to come with me,’ he said. He had stuffed the recipe in his pocket and with his free hand grabbed my shirt and pulled me close to him. He poked the knife toward me and I could feel the sharpness press against my chest.
‘Dinner’s here,’ Ben said as my front door opened. ‘Where should I put it?’ he called out, seeing that I was in my office. He stepped through the open French doors and saw Rex and the knife and sized up the situation.
‘I don’t know what’s going on, but I’m sure we can work things out,’ Ben said in a calm voice, instantly going into his cop mode.
‘No, we can’t,’ Rex said. ‘She’s coming with me.’ To impress his point, he poked the knife in harder and I cried out. ‘Now turn around and walk,’ he commanded me.
We went out the front door and began down the steps with Ben hovering behind us. There was nothing he could do but follow us down the stairs. Rex had retracted the knife enough so it didn’t hurt, but the threat was still there. My heart was thudding and I was trying to keep my anxiety at bay so I could think straight. If we left the building there was no telling what Rex would do. I went through the list of attributes I’d given myself. I was a single woman with a cat, living with her memories, stuck in her habits. I was sure there was more, but I couldn’t remember. I wanted to be around to add to and change those attributes. I wanted to make new memories, change the single thing, loosen up and be more fun. I was not going to let Rex keep that from happening.
Writing a Wrong Page 22
