She had to dig a trench with her hands in front of the rolling wooden door of the shed. Once inside, she sorted through the stacked boxes until she found the one that contained her grandfather’s fishing gear, which had been salvaged from under a sink in the utility room. She brought it over to the door where the light streamed in, diffused by the thick falling snow. She set the box down and opened it, the action raising hinged trays filled with the expected rusty fishhooks and melted objects that might have once been plastic bobbers and lures. A few misshapen weights had survived but most had melted, spread over the bottom of the box and rehardened. A handful of sharp-edged pebbles lay strewn in the bottom of the box. Tugging a mitten off with her teeth, she picked up one of the pebbles. Except it wasn’t a pebble. It was too round and symmetrical. Jenny frowned. Rubbed it on her jeans. Took off her glove and dug at it with her thumbnail. Found a fillet knife and scraped the soft alloy away.
Her gasp sounded loud and desperate in the snow-cushioned silence. She shut the box and hurried as fast as she could to the lodge. This was crazy, she thought. Completely crazy. She had to be wrong, she just had to be. Except a little kernel of knowledge inside her knew the truth.
Jenny hurried back to the lodge. She let the dog in and took off her parka and boots. Then she sat at the table and cleaned some of the stones as best she could, trying to imagine what on earth had been her mother’s purpose, praying there was some innocent explanation. But as the seconds ticked by, she felt only suspicion. She tried to figure out a way not to sound demented when she told Rourke what she’d found. Her hand shook as she dialed his number at work. His assistant said he was unavailable except in case of emergency.
“It’s not an emergency,” Jenny said. “Not like that, anyway. Please ask him to call me when he gets a chance.” She hung up and then dialed Nina, who wasn’t available either. On a snow day, Jenny reminded herself, public servants were busy keeping people safe. She tried the bakery. Earlier, Laura had said she’d probably open late and close early.
Laura herself picked up. “Sky River Bakery.”
“It’s Jenny. Is everything all right?”
“Sure,” Laura replied with a smile in her voice. “We’re busy, in fact. Only Mariel Gale and I made it in, and we’re swamped because so many places are closed. How about you?”
“I’m getting plenty of snow but I’m fine. Listen, is Rourke around?”
“Haven’t seen him.”
“Nina?”
“Not her, either. What do you need, hon?”
Jenny swallowed hard, struggled to keep her voice matter-of-fact. “I was going through some of the things salvaged from the fire and I found something my, um… I think it’s something my mother did, a long time ago. Laura, I don’t quite know how to say this. I think I found a fortune in diamonds in my grandfather’s old tackle box.” She paused. “Tell me that’s not as crazy as it sounds.”
There was a silence so long that Jenny feared the line had gone dead. Then she heard faint sounds from the bakery—the jangle of the bell over the door, the beep of the register, a murmur of voices. “Laura? Did you hear what I said?”
“I heard.”
She knew something. Jenny could hear it in her voice.
“You have to tell me,” she said. “Was my mother stealing from the jewelry store where she worked?”
“No, doll. She never stole from Palmquist’s.” A pause. “The diamonds—they were the price she demanded to keep you a secret.”
Food for Thought
BY JENNY MAJESKY
Why Bowl?
This is a spicy cookie with almonds, and is traditionally molded into giant 12-inch shapes using carved antique molds of the saints. At home, a flat pan will do. This is a richer variation, filled with almond paste.
My grandmother never worried about dieting. People of her generation tended not to, while nowadays we’re fanatics about our intake of carbs, calories, transfats… Maybe we should reconsider our grandmothers’ philosophies. Gram simply never overate. She believed that if something was good enough, then you didn’t need to eat a lot of it in order to feel satisfied.
However, the fact is, her baked goods tend to be loaded with refined carbohydrates, which are directly converted into fat. To burn off the calories requires 30-47 minutes of running, 40-60 minutes of cycling, 85-120 minutes of walking or 90-135 minutes of bowling.
SPICE OF LIFE
1-½ cups flour
1-½ teaspoons baking powder
⅔ cup butter or margarine
¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground cloves
½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
a pinch of cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 (7-ounce) package almond paste
1 egg, beaten
4 tablespoons sliced almonds and a sprinkle of coarse sugar
Preheat oven to 350°F. Combine flour and baking powder. Cut butter into flour mixture. Add sugar, spices, milk and lemon zest. Roll out dough on floured surface into a rectangle ¼-inch thick. Cut in half. Place half on heavy sheet of aluminum foil, folding the edges of foil up around dough to make a shallow, fitted pan. Brush the top of this layer with beaten egg.
Roll out almond paste to fit on top of dough and lay it on top of this. Cover with remaining half of dough, pressing down lightly.
