Deja Diva

by Kathi Daley

  If there was one thing you could say for Levi Denton, he was adept at pretty much every sport he tried, and Eli was already a little slugger even though he’d yet to have his fifth birthday. “I’m sure Levi and Eli will have many wonderful years ahead of them as a father/son kiddie league team,” I said. “It’s too early to tell whether Catherine will enjoy sports, but I do know that while Zak adores his daughter, he’d like to have a son.”

  “No time like the present to get started,” Ellie cooed.

  Maybe Ellie was right. Maybe it was time to really consider a second child before the age gap between Catherine and her brother or sister became too wide.

  Once our food arrived, the conversation seemed to settle on the new chef at Rosie’s, and whether she would make the cut in the long run. She’d added some new food items that we really enjoyed, but many of our old favorites had been changed to the point of being unrecognizable. Perhaps it was unrealistic for us to expect that the menu would stay the same even though the restaurant had changed hands several times since Ellie’s mom had owned the place, but when you had a favorite haunt you depended on, continuity was the key.

  Of course, not everyone had the history with the diner that Ellie and I had. I suspected it was safe to say that most folks who stopped in for a meal didn’t even realize that popular items such as the Mountain Man Special and the Pikes Peak Burger had gone the way of the dinosaur when Rosie sold the café and the new owner took over.

  “By the way,” Ellie interrupted my musings. “I’ve been meaning to ask about your plans for Halloween. I know you and Zak throw a huge party every year, but now that Catherine is old enough to want to go trick-or-treating, I wondered if you were going to change things up a bit and have the party on another night.”

  “Actually, Zak and I have discussed the situation,” I answered. “Initially, we thought about having the party on Friday and then taking Catherine trick-or-treating on Saturday, but then we found out that homecoming is on Friday. I’m sure Catherine would enjoy trick-or-treating, but I think that if given a choice, she’d prefer having her friends over for a party at the house, so we decided to go ahead with the party on Saturday. I know our friends with older children will want to take them out before heading over to the party, but I figure everyone can just drop by when they’re ready.”

  “That sounds like a good plan. I’ll talk to Levi. I don’t think Alya will care about trick-or-treating, but Eli might. If we decide to take him, we’ll go early as well. I usually help with the food for the party, but I can come over earlier in the day and get everything ready before we head out with the kids. If Catherine decides she wants to go, she can just go with us.”

  “Thanks. If Eli is going, she might want to. I spoke to my mom, and she said that Harper has plans to go trick-or-treating with friends from school; otherwise, she would have invited Catherine to go with them.”

  “What time did your mom think Harper would be done with her friends?

  “She said the group was heading out early, so they should be done around seven. Zak and I decided to tell everyone to just come by at any point between six and midnight.”

  “Do Alex and Scooter have plans that night?” Ellie asked.

  “They both invited friends to the party. Zak is going to decorate the pool area so the younger crowd can hang out there.”

  “Have you closed things up for the winter?”

  I nodded. “We have.” The pool and spa area of the house Zak purchased from my grandfather is an indoor/outdoor setup with a roof and walls that moved, creating an interior room for the winter months and an exterior pool area for the summer. Every spring, Zak retracts the walls and roof, and every fall, he closes everything back up.

  Ellie took a final bite of her sandwich and pushed her plate to the center of the table. “That was delicious, but I wonder if the soup would have benefited from additional spices. It seemed a little bland.”

  “It certainly wasn’t as good as the soups you and your mother used to make. I really miss Rosie’s shrimp chowder. It was always one of my favorites.”

  “Mine too, but I’m afraid that mom has totally given up cooking now that she’s moved off the mountain and embraced a new lifestyle. But I still make soup all the time. In fact, I made your grandmother’s potato cheese soup just last week. There’s a cold front that’s supposed to blow in next week, and I plan to make shrimp chowder. I’ll make extra and bring you some.”

  “I’d appreciate that.” Ellie really did make the best soups. “Do you ever miss having the restaurant? I know how much you love to cook.”

  “Sometimes,” Ellie admitted. “I miss creating new recipes and going into work each day. I miss chatting with the regulars and the feeling of satisfaction that would wash over me when my customers expressed their enjoyment of the meal I’d prepared for them. I certainly miss the discretionary income that comes with being a two-income family, but I’m happy that I’ve been able to be home with the kids while they’re young.”

  “Do you think you might go back to work? Perhaps open another restaurant when the kids get older?”

  She shrugged. “Maybe. I guess I’ll have to see how I feel about it when the time comes.”

  Once we’d finished our meal, Ellie went to pick the kids up, and I headed to the Zoo. I always enjoyed driving through town at this time of year. As they did every fall, the merchants along Main Street had gone out of their way to create a setting reminiscent of a Halloween village. I loved all the orange and white lights as well as the scarecrows and bales of hay, but my favorite part of the Halloween décor was the giant jack-o’-lantern at the entrance of the park. A local artisan made it a couple years ago. It stood ten feet tall, and there were battery-operated lights inside the huge pumpkin that were set on timers to come on at dusk every evening.

  “I’m glad you’re back,” Jeremy greeted as soon as I walked in through the front door of the animal shelter from the parking lot.

  Back? I was about to point out that I wasn’t back since this was the first time I’d been here today, but he immediately continued his thought.

  “The forest service called to ask if we could take two additional bear cubs. I guess they’re desperate, and I want to agree to take them, but the cub cage is full. We could put them in the cage we use for large cats during those times when we have a mountain lion or bobcat in our care, but if we use the large cat cage for the bear cubs, and then we get a cat, we’ll have nowhere to put it.”

  “Go ahead and take the cubs,” I instructed, knowing that if the forest service couldn’t place them, they may very well euthanize them. “If we have to, we’ll move some dogs around to make room for the smaller cubs in the dog area.”

  “I’m really looking forward to having this expansion complete, so we don’t have this sort of problem any longer,” Jeremy said.

  “Me too,” I agreed, looking around at the facility we expanded just a few years ago. It seemed that no matter how quickly we added cages, they filled up before we could even get the next set built. The domestic dog and cat population was actually fairly well controlled, but the wild animal section really needed more space.

  “If we want to expand much beyond the phase we’re working on, we’re going to need to buy additional land,” Jeremy said. “I heard the guy with the two lots next door is looking to sell. If you’re at all interested, you should talk to him before he sells to someone else.”

  “I hadn’t realized the lots were for sale. Even if we don’t need them just yet, we may in the future. I’ll call the landowner and set up a time to talk to him. Zak’s in Italy this week, but I’m sure he’d support buying up as much land as we can in the immediate vicinity of the shelter. It seems the more we expand, the more our name gets out there, and the more demand there is for our services.”

  “I agree, and we’ll continue to grow as we become more well-known.”

  “How are we doing on staff? It seems like we’ve been struggling to fill all the shifts.”

&n
bsp; “Tiffany is back on full time along with Aspen, which helps. We’ve hired several part-time staff to fill out the handful of dependable volunteers we’ve always utilized. Our biggest problem is the graveyard shift. We’ve had to scramble to get a steady overnight crew now that Tank and Gunnar are no longer with us.”

  “Let’s go ahead and run another ad. Run it in the valley as well. We might find someone willing to move up the mountain for the right salary and benefit package. How did the adoption clinic go last weekend?”

  “It went well. The turnout was even better than I hoped, and we have a huge stack of adoption applications to go through.”

  “Was anyone interested in the deaf border collie?”

  “Actually, we did have some interest. One man, in particular, seemed to be the perfect candidate when I spoke to him. He’s deaf himself, so his home is outfitted with lights that flash for various reasons, such as to indicate that someone is at the door. If his application is approved, he plans to teach the dog not only to read the lights but to understand sign language as well.”

  “He does sound perfect. Let’s go ahead and take a look at his application right now.”

  I chatted with Jeremy for another hour and then headed into my office to take care of some of the paperwork that had been piling up. I approved several applications, including the deaf man’s, after which Jeremy got on the phone to arrange for the new pet owners to pick up the newest additions to their families. Once that was taken care of, I went through the mail and authorized a bunch of expenditures. Once the bills were paid, I realized that it was getting late, so I began cleaning up so I could head to the boathouse to pick Catherine up. I hadn’t gotten through all the mail, so I decided to bring a small pile of unopened envelopes home. I slipped them into my bag and headed out of the office and into the hallway.

  “Are you heading out?” Jeremy asked.

  “I am, but I’ll stop in tomorrow. By the way, before I forget, I wanted to let you know that Zak and I decided to go ahead and have the Halloween party on Halloween night. We know those with kids might have a conflict with trick-or-treating, but a lot of folks are just coming by after.”

  “We’ll probably do that as well,” Jeremy said. “I’ll talk to Jessica about it and let you know for sure, but I imagine the older two will insist on going out with their friends for at least an hour or two.”

  “Have your kids decided on costumes?” I knew that Rosalie was eleven, Morgan six, and Emma just two.

  “Rosalie is going to go as Taylor Swift. She even found the perfect wig. Morgan wants to be a cat, and Emma is too young to care, although Jessica said something about a bunny. Has Catherine picked out her costume yet?”

  “No.” I frowned. “I suppose I should get on that. I know Alex is going to dress up as a scientist, and Scooter is going to be a rock star, but I figured I’d just take Catherine to the costume store and let her look around until something appeals to her.”

  “The place is going to be picked over if you don’t go soon.”

  “I know, and I will. Maybe I’ll go there after I pick her up this afternoon. Scooter has a soccer game tonight, but I should have time to pop in for a costume as long as Catherine doesn’t take too long to make a decision.”

  I called Ellie before I left the Zoo and asked her if she had costumes for her two children. She didn’t, so we decided that she would bring all three kids and meet me at the costume store. Jeremy wasn’t wrong about things being picked over.

  “I want to be a pirate,” Eli decided less than two minutes after we’d entered the crowded store.

  “I love how decisive and easy he is,” Ellie smiled, digging through the pirate costumes for one in his size.

  “He did seem to know what he was after,” I agreed as a group of boys barreled down the aisle where we were shopping, nearly knocking Catherine onto the floor.

  “I want a big knife,” Eli added after Ellie emerged from the pile of costumes with the pirate costume Eli indicated he’d wanted.

  Ellie furrowed her brow. “Big knife?”

  “I think he means a sword,” I explained. “I saw some plastic weaponry on the back wall. I’m going to take Catherine over to the toddler section. Maybe she’ll want to be a cuddly bear cub or snuggly puppy. I noticed an adorable zebra costume when we came in that would be just perfect if they have one in her size.”

  Of course, once Catherine realized that Eli was going to be a pirate, she wanted to be a pirate as well, and there was no talking her out of it. Ellie ended up getting the zebra costume for Alya while I dug through the pirate costumes for one in Catherine’s size.

  After we purchased the costumes, we took the kids to the park to see the giant jack-o’-lantern before Ellie headed home to her husband, and I headed home to get everyone ready to head to Scooter’s soccer game. As I pulled into the drive, Catherine began clapping her hands, and I had to smile. It looked as if Zak had not only come home earlier than expected but had spent the day turning our house into a Halloween wonderland to rival the one presented by the town.

  “You’re home early,” I grinned, jumping out of the car and throwing myself into Zak’s strong arms.

  “I got home around noon.”

  “Why didn’t you call me?” I asked. “I would have come home sooner.”

  “I wanted to surprise you with the decorations.” He walked around to the back door of the car, opened it, unbuckled Catherine from her car seat, and lifted her into his arms. “And how is my little princess?”

  “Daddy,” she screeched, wrapping her arms around his neck.

  He kissed her cheek, and she giggled.

  “Lights.” She pointed.

  “Yes, lights and pumpkins and monsters.” He walked her over to Mr. and Mrs. Frankenstein. She pulled back just a bit when she noticed the green faces and jagged scars. “They aren’t real,” Zak assured her, touching Mrs. Frankenstein on the top of her square-shaped head. “They’re dolls, like your baby dolls, only bigger,” Zak added.

  “And scarier,” I provided. “We might want to wait to turn on the animation until she gets used to them.”

  He shifted Catherine to his other arm. “I suppose you’re right. I still need to finish plugging everything in, but we need to get going if we’re going to make it to Scooter’s game.”

  “I’m ready,” I said. “Go ahead and buckle Catherine into your truck. I just need to grab a bag with some snacks. It’s too late to worry about dinner now, so I figured we could just stop on the way home. Is Alex here?”

  “She’s in her room. I’ll text her and tell her to come down,” Zak offered.

  When Zak and the kids had first started texting each other even if they were in the same house but different rooms, I thought it was crazy, but now texting the older kids instead of yelling up the stairs had become the accepted in-house protocol, but to be honest, I sort of missed the yelling.

  Chapter 2

  Scooter’s team won, and dinner with the entire Zimmerman crew was truly magical, but it was late when the family finally made it home. Alex and Scooter went up to their rooms to do homework while I gave Catherine a bath, read her a story, and put her to bed. Once she’d settled in and fallen asleep, I joined Zak downstairs. It was an unseasonably warm evening, so we decided to take a bottle of wine out onto the deck. He lit a fire in the river rock pit he’d built shortly after purchasing the house before turning on the orange and white Halloween lights that he’d strung to and fro over the entire patio area.

  It truly did feel as if we’d been transported into a magical fairyland.

  “How did your visit with Pi go?” I asked Zak after we’d settled into lounge chairs with a small square table between us. We really hadn’t had a chance to talk since he’d been home, so I hadn’t been able to catch up on the events of his week.

  “It went well,” Zak answered. “I’m really proud of Pi. Not only is he intelligent and focused, but he’s committed to the company and even more hardworking than I was at his age.”r />
  I doubted that anyone was harder working than Zak was at Pi’s age since Zak was already a multi-millionaire before his twenty-first birthday, but I understood the point he was trying to make.

  “The two of us talked a lot about expansion,” Zak continued. “On the one hand, I’m ready to slow down and focus on the school, so the idea of expansion doesn’t hold much appeal, but on the other hand, Pi is young and ambitious and seems to want to spread his wings a bit. It took me a while to come around to his way of thinking, but he’s been able to convince me that if we expand, he’ll happily take the lead and all I’ll really need to provide is a small amount of guidance.”

  “So, you trust Pi to run things on his own?”

  Zak nodded. “I do. I wasn’t sure at first, but after talking with him, I think he’s ready to run with a few of his own ideas. And he has help. I know I’ve been a one-man show here in the States, but we have a small staff in the overseas office that has really taken ownership of the future of the company.”

  “And what about the US division of Zimmerman Software and Zimmerman Enterprises? Are you still planning to cut back operations on this side of the ocean?” I wondered.

  Zak tightened his lips. “I’m not sure. I do want to ease back a bit, but Alex has shown an interest in eventually coming to work with us, and while she won’t be ready to join us full time for several years, I’d like to have a fully functioning company for her to step into should she decide to take that path.”

  “She has a year and a half of high school and then a minimum of six years of college before she will be able to commit to anything,” I reminded Zak.

  “Pi didn’t do six years of college,” Zak pointed out. “But Alex isn’t Pi. Pi was a master hacker when I met him as a teenager, but working with computers seems to be his one and only forte; whereas, Alex is gifted all around. She could have a future in mathematics, physics, medicine, or anything she decides to set her mind to. I realize she may change her mind about what she wants to do by the time she graduates from college, and I’m under no illusion that she will decide to work for the company in the end, but I do want her to have that option. I’m not looking to expand our domestic operation, but I figure that if I maintain what we have, she can take on a part-time role during the summer and on school breaks. She could even intern for us while she completes her college education if she decides that’s what she wants to do. Having said that, Alex has so much potential to do so many things that I want to be sure that she doesn’t feel obligated to me or to the company in any way. In the end, I just want her to be happy.”