"Oh, hey. Um, we, she..." I stopped and licked my lips. "It"s Hollandaise sauce."
Maggie glanced at the blushing cook. "My aunt needs you at the buffet table, Sharon. I"ll finish cleaning up this mess," she advised evenly.
The young cook smiled sheepishly and quickly skirted out the swinging kitchen door.
Maggie picked up the towel and stood in front of me, looking up, but avoiding my eyes. I stood there, obediently. What else could I do? She lightly wiped away the remains of the dastardly sauce.
"I"m not sure I like you flirting with the hired help, Ms. Ryan," she scolded and only then did she look directly into my eyes.
"I"m a sucker for Hollandaise," I said with a helpless shrug.
"I"ll remember that, now go get cleaned up. Mac is tending bar and he has a maniacal look on his face."
Mac was mixing some strange concoction at the bar. Teri was watching him suspiciously.
"What is he doing?" I asked warily as I joined them.
Teri shook her head. "I have no idea, but when he gets that demented look in his eyes... He"s been shaking that one drink for three minutes." We watched as Mac checked his watch then nodded to himself. He picked up three small-stemmed gla.s.ses and poured.
Maggie came into the room and joined us.
"What did he make?" she asked.
Teri and I shook our heads as Mac pushed the drinks in front of us.
I stepped back and shook my head. "No way." He looked hurt.
"Katie, you"re my best guinea pig." Then he looked at Teri.
"I love you sweetie, but I"m thinking, no," she said staring at the drink.
Finally, he looked at Maggie. She gave him a very doubtful look.
"Don"t you dare make her drink that," Teri scolded.
The three of us stared at the c.o.c.ktail then each other and then looked at Mac"s pitiful face. I shrugged and picked up a gla.s.s, as did Teri and Maggie.
"A toast..." I started.
With that, Hannah came out of the kitchen and screeched, "You"re toasting without me?" She hurried over to the bar. She honestly looked hurt.
"Hannah, I apologize. Just a minute," Mac said seriously. He turned his back to us and mixed another batch. Then shook it and shook it, and shook it again.
"Oh, will you pour the drink already," I said quickly.
Mac sneered at me and poured Hannah a drink.
"A toast..." I started again and the doorbell rang. "Oh, for Christ sake"s, skip it. Cheers."
We all touched gla.s.ses and very cautiously took a sip. Hannah drained hers in one gulp.
"Ooh, that was good. I have to see what they"re doing in the kitchen," she said and hurried away. The rest of us stood watching her.
I looked at my gla.s.s, took a deep breath and sipped it. I think it was a daiquiri. I nodded to Teri and Maggie. "It"s good, not poisonous. Go ahead."
They did and we all applauded as Mac took the obligatory bow.
The caterers, after doing their job, quickly exited, leaving the cooks and servers. I went into the kitchen; it was humming with a couple of chefs. I was completely in the way so I made a hasty retreat.
Maggie was on the deck with Teri and Mac. It had gotten cool and no one had started a fire. Geez, these people. I got a fire blazing, sat down in the huge, overstuffed chair and put my feet up. I laid my head back and closed my eyes.
I felt a hand on my shoulder. Maggie came up to me with a gla.s.s of wine and I started to get up.
"Stay put. You look too comfortable."
She wore a pair of navy tweed slacks with a navy sweater and white turtleneck. She had her thick long hair pulled back with a white silk scarf; she looked good, very good.
Mac and Teri came in and sat by the fire.
Teri looked at me. "Uh-oh, Kate"s by her beloved fire, she"ll be asleep in ten minutes."
We all laughed, knowing she was right and now that she mentioned it, I blinked a couple of times and yawned. We talked about nothing of any importance for a while and I was indeed getting tired.
I looked down at Chance. "Wanna go for a walk?" I asked and the lazy cur laid there looking up at me.
I went out on the deck then walked down to what was left of the stable. It was pretty much a mess. The charred sh.e.l.l was still standing, well, leaning. Mac, Teri and Maggie came down to join me.
"We took a vote, no one goes anywhere alone anymore," Maggie said sternly.
I frowned and looked at Mac and Teri. They nodded in agreement.
"Well, I vote no," I said.
"Well, maybe you don"t get to vote," Maggie said frowning.
"Well, maybe you can"t tell me what to do," I said childishly.
Am I forty-three? She"s irritating me again. One minute, I"m looking into her blue eyes, the next, I want to strangle her. This young doctor was becoming a thorn in my side and I think a judge might be lenient in my case.
I stood near the area where Maggie and I pulled Bedford out. He must have seen quite a bit. He had to see something and either threatened to expose whoever it was, or maybe he tried blackmail.
No, Bedford didn"t look like the blackmailing type.
As I turned to walk away, I stepped on something. Looking down, I noticed it was a black leather glove.
"Why, Sherlock Holmes, what the devil are you doing over there?" Charlie asked in a ridiculous British accent.
I jumped. Teri and Maggie screeched.
"Dammit!" Mac groaned and grabbed his chest.
"Charlie, come here, look what I found." I showed him the glove. We all knelt down and stared at it.
"What is it?" he asked. "Why, it"s-it"s a glove!" he said in mocked astonishment.
We stared at the glove for a minute.
"Is it going to do something?" he whispered, hopefully, and Teri laughed again.
She liked him and I knew why. Charlie definitely had our father"s sarcastic sense of humor.
"You idiot, can you go up and get a plastic bag? I"ll put it in there," I asked.
"Yes, inspector, I shall return," he said eagerly and walked away.
I stared at the glove. The murderer could have been wearing it. Perhaps during a struggle, the glove came off.
Charlie came back and I carefully placed the glove in the bag.
Back at the house, we examined the bag under the lamp on the desk.
Maggie looked at it. "It looks like a woman"s glove."
"How can you tell?" Charlie asked.
"It"s too small to be a man"s glove. I can"t be sure, but it looks leather, maybe expensive," she said and Teri and I agreed.
"Be right back," Maggie exclaimed and dashed upstairs.
I went to the desk, opened the bottom drawer and reached way into the back. I took out the plastic bag of jewelry from where I had placed it earlier for safekeeping.
Hannah came into the room and Mac explained what had happened. Hannah"s eyes were as big as saucers.
Maggie came down breathless and smiling. She handed me a pair of gloves that looked exactly like the one we found.
"I got these three years ago. They"re actually riding gloves."
Teri and I looked at them. "These are expensive," Teri the shopper said.
"Where did you get them?" I asked.
Maggie hesitated. "From Allison. They were a birthday present."
"Are you thinking what I"m thinking, Kate?" Charlie asked.
"What are the odds of that happening, Charlie?" Maggie snapped at him rudely.
There was a moment of extreme tension between the two.
Hannah was watching them. "That"s enough, children," she said sternly.
"You know, cousin, you and I need to clear the air and we need to do it now," Charlie said, almost fatherly in his tone.
"Why, what"s the point? I saw you both so let"s drop it."
I knew that look, she was getting angry. Mac, Teri and I busied ourselves with the bags of evidence.
"Well, I think I"ll go into the kitchen and-" Hannah started to say, but she was interrupted by Charlie and Maggie. We all stepped back to a safe distance.
"You saw us doing what? There was nothing going on, Maggie."
"Oh, please Charlie, don"t play the innocent, it doesn"t suit you. Allison told me exactly what happened." She stared right at him.
He looked confused. "What did she tell you? Never mind, I can only guess. Let me tell you what happened in London," he started but Maggie interrupted him. Why should he be special?
"I don"t want to hear about it, Charlie," she said, angrily.
"I"ve had enough of this, Maggie. You"ve been riding me for a year. Look, I know you and I have never gotten along, but like it or not, we"re family. Now, I"m going to tell you and you"re going to listen."
I waited for the blow up. Boy was he in for it. She said nothing. I was shocked, I must admit.
"Make it fast," was all she said.
"I was in London on business when she called me. She said she was there buying antiques. She did not tell me you were there as well. I went over to her hotel and she was crying. I will be honest with you. I was attracted to her. She"s a gorgeous woman." He looked to Mac and me for help.
We nodded stupidly, agreeing with him.
"She"s very attractive," Mac offered.
"Really gorgeous," I said, trying to help him.
Charlie continued. "Whatever you"re thinking didn"t happen. I walked into her room and she hugged me. That was all. Believe it or not, when you walked into the room, I was shocked. You didn"t even wait long enough for me to say anything. You"ve been pigheaded ever since, cousin." He looked at her affectionately. "It"s the truth Maggie. I don"t know what she told you, but if it was anything different than what I just said, then, I"m sorry, she"s lying."
Maggie was standing with her arms folded in front of her, staring at the fire. I could tell by her face she knew that Charlie was telling was the truth. I felt bad for her, so much was happening, all at once.
She said nothing. I looked at Charlie. He gave a disappointed shrug and shook his head. He turned and went over to Hannah.
"Well, I"m going to go get ready for the festivities," he said to her. "I"ll see you later, auntie." He bent down, kissed her cheek and started for the door.
"Charlie, wait," Maggie called, and went to him. "I"m sorry. I should have asked you long ago. I do believe you. I just didn"t want to believe it." She looked down at the floor.
"I know and I don"t blame you. Realizations can be hard to take." He gave her an affectionate hug. "I"ll see you later," he said and was gone.
She turned, wiping away her tears, and went out on the deck. We stood watching her as Hannah came up behind us.
"She"s lost. So much has happened to her." She sighed and went into the kitchen.
Mac and Teri were sitting at the bar talking. Guests would be coming soon and this place would be buzzing.