I looked up and saw Lisa Wilson pushing a shopping cart, looking in at the packages of meat as she went. I pushed my shopping cart forward a few paces. “Oh, good morning, Lisa.”
She looked up at me and smiled when she realized who was speaking to her. “Good morning, Allie.”
I nodded and smiled. “I sure was sorry to hear about Richard.”
She frowned and nodded. “Me too. I still can’t get over it. I can’t imagine how he could have died like that.”
I shook my head. “I feel bad for his family. Are you doing a little shopping today?” I looked into her shopping cart, and it was filled with an assortment of produce, two bags of flour and one of sugar.
“I’m doing some shopping for the catering business. Della sent me down here to pick up a few things. We have another wedding to cater on the weekend. I’m supposed to pick up some steaks, but I don’t think the grocery store is going to have enough of them.”
“I would imagine you would have to put in an order in advance for a large quantity. How many people are you serving?”
“Sixty. But some of them have asked for chicken, so only thirty-five will be eating steak.”
I nodded. “That’s a lot of steaks. You guys are going to be busy cooking steak and chicken.”
“Oh, you have no idea. And now we’re short an employee. I love what I do, but sometimes the amount of food that we handle is overwhelming.”
I shook my head. “I can only imagine. I love to cook. Well, mostly I love to bake. I make all the desserts for Henry’s Home Cooking Restaurant.”
Her eyes widened. “I heard you made their desserts. My husband and I went there two weeks ago, and we ordered carrot cake. It was the best carrot cake we’d ever tasted.”
I grinned. I never got tired of hearing people compliment me on my baked goods. “That would be one of mine. Thank you so much. I’m glad you enjoyed it.”
“I wish I was a better baker. I can cook just fine, but for some reason, baking eludes me. I’m determined that one day I’m going to make the perfect blackberry pie. It’s my husband’s favorite, and every time I make it for him, the crust is soggy or it’s too dry, and it burns.”
I nodded. “I prefer to make my piecrust with butter. A lot of people don’t use butter in their piecrusts anymore, but I just love the flakiness and the flavor.”
“I’ll have to try it with butter. Maybe it will turn out better.”
I nodded and stepped closer to her shopping cart. “I guess Della is going to have to hire somebody to replace Richard.”
She nodded. “I’m sure she will. She was thinking about hiring on another person in addition to him, so I suppose she’ll have to hire two people.”
“Oh goodness, she’s going to be on the lookout for candidates then. If I hear of anybody, I’ll send them her way.”
She nodded, and then she hesitated, biting her bottom lip. “Della has really grown the business in the past year. She’s very good at getting out and talking to people and selling her services.”
She said it hesitantly, and it made me think that she wanted to say something more.
“In today’s economy, you’ve got to be a good salesperson no matter what it is that you do. It’s good that she knows how to do that sort of thing.”
She nodded and glanced over her shoulder, then turned back to me. “You know, Peggy Adams used to own the catering business. We didn’t do as much business then, but she took a lot of pride in her work.”
I knew Peggy well. “Peggy is an excellent cook and baker. I envy her skills.”
She nodded gratefully. “Me too. She taught me so much, and I sure do miss working with her. But I can understand that she was ready to retire. You don’t learn to cook as well as she does unless you’ve been doing it for a lot of years.”
“I agree. It takes a long time to hone your skills, and Peggy certainly did that. But it’s tough standing on your feet day after day doing all that cooking, and I’m sure she was ready for retirement.”
“It is. Believe me, I know all about that.” She chuckled. “Della is just a different kind of person.”
“And?” I asked her. There seemed to be something else she wanted to say, but she wasn’t quite certain she could say it to me. I wanted her to know that she could.
She nodded. “Between you and me, she cuts corners.”
This surprised me. “How does she cut corners?”
She shrugged, glancing away. Then she looked at me again. “Sometimes she buys cheaper cuts of meat, or cheaper foods, and passes them off as better quality. You can cover up a lot with sauces, depending on the dish. It bothers me because Peggy always went out of her way to make sure that she served only the best.”
I didn’t appreciate hearing this since I had just hired her as the caterer for my wedding. But the food was excellent. Honestly, I couldn’t have asked for anything better. “I’m sorry to hear that. Some people don’t take pride in their work.”
She nodded. “Exactly. That’s the way I feel about it too. And she and Richard sometimes didn’t get along very well.”
“Oh?”
She looked at me and was quiet for a moment. “Yes, he knew that she was being cheap when she bought some of the ingredients, and she was
