There was a part of me that didn’t blame him. “How did Richard get the job at the catering business?”
“His mother knows Della. I guess Richard had gotten into some trouble a few years back, and he’d moved away, but when he came back, he needed a job. His mother talked to Della, and she said she would give him a try. She was doing her a favor.”
“How was he to work with?”
She shrugged. “He was all right. He pulled his weight most of the time. But there were days that it was a little irritating because he was constantly taking smoke breaks. But most of the time, he did a good job.”
“But Della didn’t like him complaining about how she ran her business, did she?” I wondered about this now. If he was having issues with his employer, was that how he lost his life?
“To be honest, Della is a difficult woman to get along with. She’s a perfectionist to be sure, but not in the same way Peggy was. Like I said, she cut corners, but she still expected us to produce quality dishes. Sometimes it’s frustrating. There’s only so much you can do with a cheap cut of steak. Even when you tenderize it, it can still be tough, and people are going to notice.”
“That’s for sure,” I said. “We decided to skip steak for my reception because I wondered if it would be tender enough. I took a general poll with everyone, and they were all good with seafood, so that’s what we went with.” I didn’t want to ask if she had cut corners with my seafood. We had already eaten it, and everyone thought it was delicious, and no one had gotten sick, thankfully.
“As long as you don’t have allergies, seafood is the way to go,” she agreed. “Well, I had better get my shopping done. Please don’t say anything to anybody about what I told you about Della.”
I shook my head. “Your secret is safe with me. I completely understand what you’re saying. It must be difficult for you to watch her cut corners after you worked with Peggy for so many years, and you know how it’s supposed to be done.”
She nodded. “Exactly. Well, it’s been nice talking to you, Allie. I’m going to talk to the butcher and see if they can get enough steak in by the weekend for that wedding reception. Otherwise, I’m going to have to go in search of more beef.”
“I’ll talk to you later, Lisa,” I said and pushed my shopping cart out of the meat department. I didn’t like hearing that Della was cutting corners in the catering business. I wondered how much I had overpaid for my reception food. And I wondered how much it bothered her that her employee hadn’t approved of her tactics. Her dead employee.
Chapter Nine
I couldn’t help but think about Mary Thomas and what she must be going through after losing her son. While I was at the grocery store, I bought the ingredients to make an apple pie, and I went home and got to work on it. When I lost my first husband nine years ago, in my grief I had baked a pie every day for years. I rarely ate more than one slice, but there were always people stopping by, and I would offer it to them. Sometimes I never touched the pie, and I would take it to someone I knew might need it and leave it with them. The day before Thaddeus’ funeral, I stayed up most of the night and baked dozens of pies, and it just went on from there.
After a while, even though the grief wasn’t as crushing as it had been at first, I continued to bake a pie every day. It was a habit. It wasn’t until I met Alec that I broke that habit. It wasn’t anything I did on purpose; it was just that I skipped a day one week, and then a week later, I skipped two days and so on. Eventually, I only baked pies when I needed them. Now, unfortunately, the act of making a pie sometimes reminded me of why I had begun to bake them in the first place. I shook away the thought. Thaddeus would always be a part of my life. He had given me two beautiful children that I treasured, and someday those children would give me grandchildren. It broke my heart that Thaddeus wasn’t going to be here to see those grandchildren, but Alec would do his best to stand in for him. Alec was a man of character, and he would be the grandfather those kids needed.
When the pie was finished and cooled a little, I covered it loosely with aluminum foil, and I took it out to my car. Alec was working at his office or the police station, and I would catch up with him later.
I drove over to Mary’s house and got out. When she answered the door, she was surprised to see me. She smiled, her eyes were red and puffy.
“Hello, Mary,” I said. “I just wanted to stop by and tell you how sorry I am about Richard.”
She nodded and pushed open the screen door. “Thank you. Would you like to come in?”
I nodded and followed her inside the house. “I baked you an apple pie.”
“That’s so sweet of you, Allie.” She took the pie from me, and I followed her into the kitchen where she set it on the counter. “Would you like some coffee?” she asked.
I nodded. “I would love some.”
“I already have a pot brewing,” she said
