Ginny Gold - Early Bird Café 05 - Smashed Potatoes and Gravy

by Ginny Gold

  Instead of her normal jeans, Kori decided on something more festive: a burnt orange skirt that just covered her knees and had an appliquéd turkey on her right thigh. Then she slipped on her standard black t-shirt, which would be covered by her apron anyway. She was ready before seven so headed downstairs to make some coffee and breakfast for when Zach arrived.

  Since she didn’t have to cook breakfast for a crowd, Kori made a large smoothie for sharing and heated up the griddle to fry eggs once Zach was there. She put bread in the toaster, but didn’t push them down, and pulled out some frozen hash browns that she only used when she was out of potatoes. She threw those on the warming stovetop so they’d be crispy and just on the edge of burned when everything else was ready.

  At five minutes to seven, Zach walked through the front door and headed straight for the kitchen. As soon as she heard the door open, Kori cracked the eggs and started toasting the bread.

  “What is this? Breakfast for two? I didn’t know you cooked when people weren’t paying,” Zach teased when he walked into the kitchen, a bouquet of sunflowers, orange lilies, red dahlias and ferns held out in front of him. The colors matched Kori’s skirt and she smiled as she took it from him.

  “Who says you’re not paying?” she threw back at him, then found a vase for the flowers.

  “Oh, I’m always paying,” he agreed, planting a kiss on her cheek. “Where do you want me?”

  Kori blushed at the answers running through her head but instead handed him two mugs and said, “Fill these. Breakfast is almost ready.”

  Zach did as he was told and then pulled two stools out from under the counter and sat on one. Kori filled two plates with eggs, hash browns and toast, poured the smoothie into two glasses and placed a bottle of ketchup between them on the counter. “Happy Thanksgiving,” she said, raising her smoothie glass and clinking it with Zach’s mug of coffee. “Thanks for spending it with me, even if that means working.”

  “It’s only work if I’d rather be doing something else, isn’t that what you always say? And I wouldn’t rather be doing anything else.”

  Kori took a sip of her smoothie so she would be spared commenting, but she smiled inside and might have even blushed a little. “I can’t believe I forgot center pieces for the tables. Bouquets would have been perfect to add to the festivities.”

  Zach swallowed his bite of egg and toast before saying, “Don’t worry. I’ve got you covered. There are three more bouquets in the car. We can split them up into smaller ones and spread them out around the tables.”

  Kori looked at him quizzically. “You mean you didn’t just buy one for me because you love me? You bought some for three other people too?”

  Zach laughed. “One was for your mom, one was for Nora and one was for Lani. But I’m fine taking them apart and not giving them out if you’d rather have them on the tables.”

  “That’s so sweet,” Kori said, placing her hand on her chest. She wasn’t thrilled that he’d bought one for Lani, who Kori had once thought was going to steal her man away, but she was probably working today since she was new at the department and it was a nice gesture. “I’d love to break them apart, but only if you’re really okay with that.”

  “I wouldn’t have offered if I wasn’t.”

  Kori smiled to herself. How had she not realized earlier in her life how great Zach was? Sure, they’d been dating now for about six months. But they’d known each other just about their whole lives.

  “We have a tradition in our family,” Zach started once they had both finished their breakfasts but neither had made a move to get up, “where on Thanksgiving, we not only give thanks for what we have, but we each come up with a way to help make someone else more thankful.” He paused and Kori acknowledged him by nodding. “So this year, I’m thankful that I have you. And I would like to invite you to volunteer with me at the food bank to serve dinner tomorrow.”

  Kori smiled broadly. Her family didn’t really have any Thanksgiving traditions other than getting together and eating a lot. Which came with drinking a lot and laughing a lot. But she loved adding this new element of reaching out to make someone else thankful.

  “I would love to,” Kori said, then leaned forward and kissed Zach. She smiled against his lips and closed her eyes, enjoying the moment of closeness he had allowed her to have with him.

  “Great. I’ll pick you up at four tomorrow afternoon.”

  That seemed to end the moment and he got up and carried both plates to the dishwasher. Kori followed with the glasses, then headed to the walk-in fridge and turned on the ovens as she passed. She had to get the turkeys going right away so the first would be ready by one.

  Zach met her in the fridge and carried one of the turkeys out and Kori grabbed the other. At twenty pounds, Kori struggled to hold it against her chest and move her feet at the same time. As she left the fridge, Zach laughed at her struggles and then took the turkey from her, setting it on the counter next to the first one.

  “Thanks,” Kori panted. “I don’t know how I even got them in there without dropping them.”

  Zach continued laughing before he recovered his voice and asked, “What’s your plan with them? What can I do to help you?”

  Kori thought about the plan she had. “Go get two sticks of butter and the herb packets from the fridge. Then cut up the butter into one teaspoon pieces.”

  Zach gave her the thumbs up and headed back into the fridge. Kori turned around to the counter, cut the turkeys free from their packaging and then grabbed a few lemons, bulbs of garlic and onions. She cut the lemon into circular slices, peeled two whole bulbs of garlic and sliced two onions.

  When they were both done with their first tasks, Kori separated everything into two piles and slid one of them over to Zach, taking half of his sliced butter. “The garlic, onions, lemon and herbs go inside. Then the butter goes under the skin, like this.” She separated the skin from the meat and started sliding pieces of butter into every bit of turkey she could reach. That would keep the meat nice and moist and would give the skin a delicious crunch.

  As they stuffed their turkeys, Kori’s mind returned to the shrinking list of suspects who could have killed Lou. If Jenna and Vera had both been released, who could have killed him besides Victor? Curiosity finally got the better of her and she had to ask.

  “How’s the Lou McKay investigation going?” Kori asked as innocently as she could muster. She hadn’t heard from Zach after she’d led him to the bloodied stick and she wanted to know what else they’d done last night. “I heard you let Jenna go.”

  Zach nodded slowly without looking up. He was either concentrating on the task at hand or didn’t want to look at Kori because he knew she’d be able to read his every expression.

  “Yup, Jenna went home. I felt terrible about holding her even for as long as we did.”

  “Did she have an alibi?” Kori asked, unable to stop herself.

  “Yeah, we finally got it out of her. She hadn’t wanted to tell us why she was out at the property because she was planning something for Kyle and she didn’t want him to find out.”

  Kori stopped working and looked up in surprise. “She spent a night in jail over a surprise for Kyle? Must have been some surprise.”

  Zach laughed. “Yeah, I guess it was.”

  Kori put her hand on her hip. “And you’re not going to tell me what it was, are you?”

  Zach met her gaze and said, “It’s not really my place to tell.” He smiled a devious smile and Kori laughed. She knew Jenna would eventually tell her, even if it wasn’t today. Maybe it had something to do with the baby and Kori would find out once it was born. She’d have to learn to be patient.

  Kori considered how to change the direction of her questions. She wanted to know more about Lou McKay, but without Jenna to ask anything else about, she didn’t really have a good ‘in’. Eventually she decided to just go for it. “So, with Jenna back at home, and Vera’s questioning going nowhere, who else is on your suspect list?” />
  Zach stopped what he was working on looked at her dead on. “That’s also not my place to tell you. But we have a couple people we’re investigating. It looks like there was a large inheritance that made things tense within the family, but we’re not sure if that was the only money scandal taking place.”

  CHAPTER 15

  Kori was beside herself with more questions all morning but didn’t want to ask. Mostly because she knew she wouldn’t get answers, but also because Zach was right; it wasn’t his place to tell her. She wasn’t directly involved and really didn’t want to be. But with Jenna and Kyle dragging her in from the beginning, she just couldn’t seem to keep her nose out of it. She had a hunch that the black SUV that was probably Victor’s had something to do with it. But she hadn’t given Zach the photo she had of the license plate so she couldn’t very well ask him about it.

  At one o’clock, families started coming into the café and Kori had to give up thinking about Lou. She had two Thanksgiving dinners to serve instead, and she was excited to get them started. The tables each had a small bouquet of the flowers Zach had brought—Kori had kept her own intact—and place cards with names on them had been set out on each table so seating would be easy. She knew everyone who was coming—she’d personally invited them—so even without place cards it would have been easy enough.

  “Kori, I want you to meet someone,” Gale gushed when she entered the café. She was wearing the same colors Kori had picked out that morning and Kori cringed to think how much like her mom she looked right now. “This is Lucas Wright, my fiancé.” Kori could hear the happiness in her mother’s voice, which was almost a squeal.

  Kori extended her hand and Lucas took it in his, raising it to his lips and kissing the back of it rather than shaking it as she’d expected. “Nice to meet you,” Kori said, her blush darkening. She didn’t know people still kissed hands.

  “The pleasure is mine,” he replied and dropped her hand. “I hear that you’re also close to getting married. You don’t want to have a double wedding on Saturday?”

  Kori was speechless. She was what? She and Zach hadn’t even spent a whole weekend together, or moved in with each other. Marriage was not even on the edges of her thinking. Yet. Finally she stuttered an answer. “I—I want you to meet my boyfriend, Zach,” she said, stressing the word boyfriend, which she didn’t think implied any plans for the future.

  “Zach, you’re a lucky man,” Lucas said. Kori’s discomfort only grew. Was he hitting on her or was this just who he was? It was going to take some getting used to her new step-dad. Whoa, there was a thought she hadn’t yet considered. She was going to have a step-dad.

  “Okay. Jay should be here soon,” Kori said, more to interrupt her own thoughts than the conversations that were happening. “Why don’t I get you seated by the window and I’ll show Jay over when he gets here.”

  Kori retreated as quickly as possible to the kitchen. Once there, she breathed a huge sigh and rubbed her fingers through her hair. Zach came up behind her and wrapped her in his arms. Kori let herself relax momentarily into his body.

  “That was really awkward,” she said, her hands over his on her stomach.

  “It could be worse. My parents could have come.” Kori knew his parents from their childhood together in Hermit Cove, but she hadn’t seen them since they were dating. They’d retired to Florida and rarely made the trip back to New England. And never in the winter.

  “They can’t be that bad. I don’t remember them being hard to be around when we were kids.”

  Zach laughed. “That’s because you were never around them. You barely knew I existed.”

  Kori turned around so she was facing him, his arms still wrapped around her body but with space between them. “That’s not true.”

  “Hah. Nora had to convince you last spring that I was worth your time,” he reminded her, a smile on his face. He wasn’t holding it against her, but Kori knew he was right.

  She didn’t answer, just unwrapped his arms and started getting plates ready. Each person was getting the same meal, with minor modifications for any dietary restrictions like gluten free or vegetarian. Everyone’d had to place their order a week ago so she knew how much to cook of everything. “Help me get these plates ready,” Kori instructed Zach and he took his place next to her, filling plates beyond their capacity in the true indulgence of Thanksgiving.

  When they were finished, Kori explained the different colored stickers on the place cards. “The red ones are for regular, green is for vegetarian and yellow is for gluten free. You know which plates are which?”

  Zach scanned the kitchen. There were three areas with plates, separated by what type of meal they were. “I think I can figure it out.”

  “Great. Then start serving.”

  Kori balanced a plate in her left elbow and then picked up two more, bringing them to the first table. Mel, Jackie and Vera were sitting together and they’d all be eating regular turkey dinners.

  “This looks fantastic,” Vera said when she received the first plate. Mel and Jackie readily agreed.

  “Thanks for putting this on,” Mel said. “Ever since Jackie’s dad left, it’s just been the two of us and it’s fun to feel like we’re having a big family meal.”

  Jackie nodded in agreement, a smile plastering her face.

  “It’s my pleasure,” Kori said. And she meant it. She loved cooking for people any day of the week, but especially on holidays. “Enjoy.”

  Kori headed back into the kitchen to grab more plates and almost ran into Zach coming out with two of his own. “Slow down there,” he said, avoiding her without dropping either of them.

  Kori next served her mom, Lucas and Jay, who had arrived since she’d last talked to Gale. Jay looked uncomfortable but Kori didn’t let herself take the time to get sucked in to the awkwardness that was surely surrounding that table. She consciously ignored Jay’s pleading eyes. He probably wanted to offer to help in the kitchen but didn’t want to seem rude to Lucas.

  Once everyone in the café was eating, Kori made the rounds with refills of drinks and then sat down with her family, Zach joining her as well. She thought she heard Jay sigh but couldn’t be sure.

  “So Lucas, my mom tells me that you two reconnected in August in Italy at an art retreat. You’re an artist?” Kori asked, hoping to break the ice into a safer topic of conversation than when she’d first met him.

  He chewed his turkey and swallowed before answering, making a show of trying to be quick. “No. Your mom is actually the one who invited me.”

  Kori’s eyes grew large. “Mom? I didn’t know you painted.”

  Gale shrugged. “It’s something I’ve taken up recently.”

  Kori wondered how recently. Maybe it was just an excuse to go to Italy with Lucas.

  “But if you and Zach are looking for a vacation, I would highly recommend it,” Lucas said.

  “We’ll see. We’ve talked a little about it, but with our work schedules being the way they are, we haven’t found the time,” Zach answered.

  “You have to make the time,” Gale protested. “You’re not getting any younger …”

  Kori blushed. She wasn’t sure if her mom was hinting that she wanted grandkids and Kori’s biological clock might be ticking down the last good years, or if she was feeling her own age and projecting it on to Kori.

  “Maybe after the new year,” Kori said, hoping to find a balance.

  Kori looked around the room and was so filled with a sense of community that her eyes nearly welled up. Everyone in the café was a close friend or family, and she had another twenty people coming in at three o’clock for a second meal. She felt so lucky to live in a place where she was so loved, and where she had such a strong network of friends.

  She noticed that glasses were once again emptying, and plates were suddenly being cleared of food, so she excused herself and Zach and they made the rounds. Zach continued clearing tables while Kori cut the pies and placed them on dessert plates. Then t
hey both brought them out to each person, whose faces lit up with excitement.

  When she handed Vera her slice of apple pie, she quietly asked Kori, “Did you hear that someone else was brought in last night for Lou’s murder? I didn’t recognize him, but we passed in the hall as I was leaving.”

  Kori was too shocked to answer. Could that have been Victor?

  CHAPTER 16

  Hours later, after the last of the guests had nearly licked their dessert plates clean, Kori let herself relax. She hadn’t been stressed with the two Thanksgiving dinners, but it was a relief to have it all finished. Now she was alone with Zach and they could enjoy a private dinner together.

  She put her feet up on her coffee table, Ibis lying on the ground beneath her legs, and let Zach wait on her.

  “A glass of wine,” he said, handing her a full glass and taking a seat beside her on the couch. She heard him sigh as he leaned back into the cushions.

  “Happy Thanksgiving,” she said, their glasses just kissing.

  “Happy Thanksgiving,” he repeated and leaned over, kissing her cheek. “Thanks for including me in it. I think we should make this a tradition.”

  Kori smiled. She’d thoroughly enjoyed having him work with her in the kitchen and sharing the holiday with him. “Serving the town Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday and then volunteering on Friday? I could get used to that.” She momentarily closed her eyes, imaging what else could be in their shared future.

  She felt Zach stand up from the couch just as the oven beeped, alerting them that it was preheated. Kori shifted, ready to stand up with him and help him get everything in the oven, but he protested. “I’ll be right back. Don’t move.”

  Kori couldn’t argue with that. There had been enough leftovers to feed another twenty people and they had already made up plates that just had to be reheated. The only thing that had been finished was the dessert. But Kori had another plan in mind for their own dessert later. And it didn’t involve pumpkins or apples like the pies that were gone.