Mac shook the chef’s hand. “We’ve actually already met,” the sheriff said. “Good to see you.”
“You’ve met?” Maris asked.
Max nodded. “At the County Recorders office.” He grinned at Mac. “I was lost but luckily the sheriff found me.”
It was no wonder that the crows feet at the corners of Max’s dark eyes were deep because, as always, his smile was enormous. As usual he wore a traditional white chef’s shirt, but modified with a stripe of bright green running down one side of his chest, and a stripe of red down the other.
“And may I introduce Bear Orsino.” She gestured to the big man. “The world’s most accomplished handyman.”
Max thrust his hand forward, peering into Bear’s face. “Orsino? From the old country?”
Bear took the man’s hand. “Abruzzo. My grandfather.”
Max slapped his other hand over Bear’s enormous one and shook it vigorously. “Ho, compagno!” he exclaimed, beaming. “My family too. Maybe near Matelica?”
Bear shook his head but grinned. “Pioraco.”
“Oh, the mountains!” He regarded the young man. “Fitting. Very fitting.”
“Massimo,” Maris said. “Would you–”
“Please call me Max,” he said, putting on a hurt look. “We are friends, are we not?”
Maris laughed a little. “Max,” she started again, “would you like to join us?”
He put a hand over his heart as he sat back on his heels. “I am honored. Truly.” Then he reached to the boxes of pizza, took one, and handed it to her. “But I am on my tour of the plaza. Free pizza for everyone.”
Maris cocked her head back as she accepted it. “Free pizza?”
Cookie added, “For everyone?” She gazed around at the plaza.
“Yes,” he said, nodding. Then he stood. “So I best go on my way.” He took them all in with a fond look. “It was a pleasure to meet you.”
Maris opened the box top and took a peek. The beautiful smell of the tomato sauce and fresh crust immediately wafted up.
“A seafood pizza?” she said, as Max bent and picked up the rest of the boxes.
He grinned down at her. “When in Roma, eh?” Then he was off, heading toward the next blanket. “Ciao, amici!”
“Look at that,” Cookie said, gazing down into the box with awe in her voice. “Are those scallops?”
“And baby shrimp and crab meat,” Mac said nodding.
“I can smell the garlic,” Bear said.
Maris was about to set the box down so they could all take a slice, but then she remembered the basket. Cookie had spent the morning getting their picnic ready.
When the chef noticed her gaze, she closed and patted its wicker top. “It’ll keep.” Then she eyed the pizza. “Let’s give this a try.”
Maris quickly set the box down and they each took a slice. Bear folded his piece and was the first to take a bite. “Mmm hmm,” he murmured.
Maris had already sampled Max’s triple mushroom pizza earlier in the week. But as she took her first bite, she knew immediately that this was completely different. He’d changed the tomato sauce to compliment the seafood—just a tad on the zesty side.
Mac nodded as he chewed. He gave Maris the thumbs up sign.
Cookie was next. As the chef sampled her slice, Maris saw the gears turning behind the dark and glittering eyes. She covered her mouth as she said, “Oh, that is good.” She looked down at her slice, analyzing it. “Asiago instead of Parmesan. Very nice choice. It’s–”
“Pig!” said a woman’s shrill voice. “Chauvinist pig!”
Not ten yards away, a woman was shaking her fist at someone.
“Who is that?” Maris asked. She didn’t recognize either of them.
“Rudy Schmid,” Bear said.
“The owner of Superior Hardware,” Cookie said, glaring at him with distaste. She peered at the pair a while longer before returning to her pizza. “I don’t know the woman.”
The tall man standing in front of her, on what was presumably his blanket, had his arms folded over his chest and was laughing. He shook his head and said something Maris couldn’t make out. The woman was so angry that she was shaking.
Maris looked back at Bear and Cookie, who were eating their pizza, making her frown. “Wait a minute,” she said, reluctantly setting her slice down, just as Mac did. “That woman just called him a pig, and is obviously livid. Am I the only one bothered about it?”
Bear shrugged. “It’s Rudy.” He took another bite.
Cookie nodded. “He is a pig.”
Maris stared at her. “What?”
“That’s it!” the woman screamed. As Maris watched, she spun on her heel, stalked off—and tripped.
“Oh no,” Maris said, as the angry woman went down in a pile. Thank goodness they were on grass. She must have tripped on someone’s blanket.
Mac shot to his feet but a young man nearby went over to help her up. But when he bent over her, he crouched down. His panicked face, as he scanned the plaza, said everything.
“Ambulance,” he yelled. “Someone get an ambulance!”
• • • • •
Buy The Witch Who Saw a Murder
FREE BOOK
If you’d like to learn how Maris arrived in Pixie Point Bay and got her start, you can read The Witch Who Saw the Light for FREE by signing up for my newsletter at the link below.
Get A Free Book
Dedication
For Mr. Bee’s Knees
Copyright
Copyright © 2020 Emma Belmont
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior written consent of the copyright owner.
The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book via the Internet or via any other means without the permission of the copyright owner is illegal. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate
