Celebrate in Good Hope (Good Hope #22)

Chapter 5

CHAPTER FIVE

“Helen.” Roe kept her voice low and stepped close to her trainer. She’d worked the lunch shift every day since Tuesday. It was now Friday, and she had the distinct feeling that she was being watched. “Do you see the three ladies at the four-top by the window?”

Helen glanced at the table before returning her gaze to Roe. They’d gotten slammed over lunch, but now, at one thirty, with thirty minutes left of Roe’s shift, the rush had finally ended.

“I see them.” Helen’s placid expression gave nothing away.

Roe wondered if Helen was feeling okay. The older woman had been going since six a.m. without stopping, and while she’d tended to her tables with the same brisk efficiency that Roe had come to associate with her, today the lines on Helen’s face seemed deeper and more pronounced.

“What about them?” Helen asked.

“They come in for lunch daily and sit at that table from eleven until two.”

“So?”

“Doesn’t that seem odd?”

Helen shrugged. “They can sit as long as they like. ”

“But after they’re done eating, they stay and play cards, even though there is a line out the door.”

And the whole time, they watch me like three hawks eyeing a mouse .

Roe kept the last part to herself, knowing that would make her sound crazy. Still, the feeling persisted.

“Gladys, Ruby and Katherine are as close as we come to royalty in this town. Just so you know, Ruby is related in an indirect way to Beck and Ami.”

Roe understood without Helen needing to say more that these three were welcome to sit in the café—and stare at her—for as long as they wanted, 24/7.

From the corner of her eye, Roe watched the woman with the silver streak in her hair raise a slender, elegant hand.

Not motioning to her, Roe thought, but to Helen, their server.

Catching the movement, Helen started in that direction but skidded to a stop when Gladys pointed.

Pointed to Roe.

Helen turned back. “She wants you.”

“Me?” Roe’s voice rose. “Why would she want me?”

“There’s one way to find out.” Helen gave her a gentle shove. “I’ll take care of your last two tables.”

“My people already have their checks. The most they’ll need is more coffee or tea.” Roe spoke quickly, wanting to get it all out before Helen got frustrated and walked her to the table.

She wouldn’t put it past the woman.

Pasting on a smile, Roe wove her way through the tables to where the three ladies sat. The cards that had only moments ago been scattered across the tabletop were nowhere to be seen.

“How may I help you ladies?”

Gladys’s pale blue eyes lit up as if Roe had asked precisely the right question. “You can join us. We’d love to get to know you.”

Before Roe could reply, Gladys turned to her companions. “Wouldn’t we, girls?”

“Absolutely.” The one with the champagne hair tittered .

“We would.” The other, more serious, woman gestured to the empty chair. “Please sit.”

“I wish I could, but I’m on duty right now and?—”

“Helen,” Gladys called out. “It’s okay if she sits with us for a while, right?”

“Absolutely.” When Helen’s direct gaze settled on her, Roe realized the best—and, it appeared, the only—way to handle the situation was to answer a few questions.

These women would quickly realize that her life was downright dull. Then Roe would be free to grab her coat from the back room and head home.

“It appears I can sit and chat for a few.” Roe offered up a smile. “I’m afraid there isn’t much to tell. I’m far more interested in the three of you. Helen mentioned that you’re the closest thing to royalty in Good Hope. I’d?—”

“I’m Gladys Bertholf. This is Katherine Spencer, and that’s Ruby Rakes.” Gladys gestured to the serious woman first and then the woman with champagne-colored hair. “We’ll get to your questions in a minute. Let’s start with you. You’re the mysterious one.”

Roe’s laugh came quickly as she pulled out the chair and sat. “I’m hardly mysterious.”

“You’re a mystery to us.” Ruby’s voice trembled with eagerness. “We don’t know anything about your dating history, if you’re seeing anyone, how you like?—”

Roe was unsure what Ruby was about to say, because Gladys clamped her bony fingers, covered in jewels, around Ruby’s arm and gave a squeeze, silencing her.

“Where is it you come from, Roe?” Katherine’s voice filled the momentary silence. “Is that your given name?”

“It’s Rosalie.” The question was one she’d answered many times over the years. “My mother heard the name once and loved it. She told my dad that if she ever had a girl, she would name her Rosalie. After three boys, she’d nearly given up hope of ever using the name, but then I was born.”

“You have three older brothers.” Gladys’s glance at Katherine brought to mind an executive telling an assistant to take notes.

“I do.” Roe smiled at Ruby, who had written 3 brothers on the scoring sheet before her. “They’re the ones who started calling me Roe. The nickname stuck.”

“Any younger siblings?” Gladys promptly asked, as if reading from a list of questions.

“No, just me and my brothers.” Anticipating the next question, Roe continued. “My father is in the Air Force. We moved a lot, so there really is no place I would call home. Since leaving college eight years ago, I’ve lived in three different cities, the last being Minneapolis. That’s where I met Dakota.”

“We love Dakota,” Ruby gushed.

“I don’t know anyone who doesn’t.” Roe smiled, thinking of her intelligent, good-natured friend. “I feel honored she chose me to be one of her bridesmaids.”

“She must think highly of you. Do you also do crisis PR for Sterns & Kline?” Gladys’s question told Roe that these women not only knew Dakota but knew her well.

“No. Dakota and I met through a Minneapolis organization called TeamWomen. We served on a committee together and hit it off. We’ve been friends ever since.”

“You said you don’t work for Sterns & Kline.” Gladys arched a brow. “What field are you in?”

“I was working for Twin Cities Children’s Theatre when Dakota and I met.”

The spark of interest on Gladys’s face was too real to be faked. “You’re in theater?”

“I was. I started as a production assistant at a theater in Kansas City. I was there for a few years before moving to a theater in Georgia, where I was the director. Eighteen months ago, I accepted a position as a stage manager in Minneapolis. ”

Gladys’s brows pulled together. “Going from a theater director to a stage manager would be a lateral move at best.”

“You could say that,” Roe agreed. “But the Twin Cities Children’s Theatre was well established and an environment where I felt I could learn a lot.”

“Gladys has been involved in theater since she was in her teens.” Ruby smiled at her friend. “There is going to be a big production on New Ye?—”

“I’d love to tell you about my career, Roe, but first, I’d like to hear more about you.” Gladys offered an encouraging smile. “Are you taking a couple of months off or?—?”

“I was downsized.” Even though the board had assured her it wasn’t personal, simply saying the words brought a fresh wave of pain. “They’d taken some major financial hits during the pandemic. While that was a while ago, it started the organization on a downward course that they couldn’t recover from.”

Concern blanketed Gladys’s face. “Did the theater shut down completely?”

Roe believed she’d have found that easier to bear if it had. Not that she would ever wish for any theater to close its doors. “No. They looked at salaries and what positions could be combined. Mine was merged with the production assistant’s duties. Since he’d been there longer… Well, they kept him and let me go.”

“I’m sorry.” Gladys’s genuine sympathy soothed a raw spot in Roe’s heart that had yet to heal. “That must have been heartbreaking.”

Unexpected tears pushed at the backs of Roe’s lids, but she refused to let them fall. Focus on the bright side, Roe told herself.

“It was difficult, but I tell myself if they’d kept me on, I wouldn’t be enjoying the holidays in Good Hope.”

“Do you have another job lined up?” Katherine asked. “Perhaps one scheduled to start after the first of the year?”

“No.” Roe did her best to keep her tone even. “I’m finding December isn’t a great month to look for a job. I’ve got my résumé out there, but I think it will be at least January before I get any nibbles.”

“I’m sorry.”

Roe started when Ruby’s hand unexpectedly closed over hers. The look in the woman’s warm blue eyes was as comforting as her touch.

“I’ll survive.”

“Of course you will.” Gladys spoke brusquely, though the look in her eyes was no less kind than Ruby’s. “Since you’ll likely be here for New Year’s, I’d love for you to help with my birthday celebration and, of course, stay to enjoy the party.”

“Your birthday party?” Roe spoke slowly, not sure how this woman thought she could help.

“It’s not just a party,” Ruby piped up. “It’s a huge bash on New Year’s Eve with a stage production and everything.”

“It’s being held at our wonderfully renovated theater,” Katherine added.

“Sounds like a big deal.”

“Well, some think being on this earth for a hundred years is a big deal,” Gladys admitted with faux modesty.

“You’re going to be a hundred?” Roe blinked. No way was this vibrant woman that old.

“It’s true, though sometimes it’s difficult for me to believe. I?—”

“That was an awesome shot.” A loud male voice drowned out whatever Gladys had been about to say.

“I could have stopped the puck, but Micah got in the way.”

“You were the one who picked him to be on your team.”

Roe watched three teenage boys drop into a booth by the window. Two of them had red hair, and Roe realized they were twins. The other, about the same age, had wavy blond hair.

The puck reference told her that they were talking about hockey. Her brothers had played the sport, but more for fun than anything else .

The boys continued to talk loudly, making Roe smile at their boyish exuberance.

Gladys didn’t appear to have the same reaction. “Callum. Connor. Ric. Your parents taught you better than to behave this way in public. Please use your indoor voices.”

The boys turned in their seats.

One of the redheads flashed a smile that was more cheeky than apologetic. “Sorry, Gladys.”

The other twin added, “We’ll keep it down.”

“We’re just jazzed,” the third boy added. “We played pond hockey against a team from Egg Harbor and kicked their butts.”

The boy stopped as if realizing that might not be the correct way to describe the game to three older women and a woman they didn’t know.

“Good for you.” Gladys gave a decisive nod and then turned to Helen. “Their tab is on me.”

“Thanks, Gladys,” they said nearly in unison.

When Helen strode over to take their orders, the boys spoke in quieter tones.

“The twins are Callum and Connor Brody. Beck is their uncle. The other boy, the one with blond hair, is Ric Workman. His stepfather, Liam Gallagher, is a psychologist at Connections. Peyton, who you worked with last weekend, is a receptionist at that practice.”

Roe glanced at the boys before returning her attention to the women. “My mind is officially blown by all the connections in this town.”

“I’ll give you one more.” Ruby smiled. “My grandson Jeremy is married to Ami’s sister Fin.”

“Ami, as in Beck’s wife?” Roe considered herself good with names, but her head now spun like an out-of-control Tilt-A-Whirl.

“Ami, as in the owner of Blooms Bake Shop and co-owner of Muddy Boots,” Katherine advised, “and Beck’s wife. ”

“I can’t wait to meet her.”

Ruby slanted a glance at Gladys. Once Gladys nodded, Ruby continued. “You will meet her tomorrow. My grandson is having a Christmas party at his house tomorrow evening. Seven o’clock. It’s considered a not-to-be-missed holiday event. I’d love for you to come and, please, bring your roommate.”

Roe frowned. “My roommate?”

“Boone, I believe, is his name.” Once again, Ruby looked to Gladys for confirmation before continuing. “Bring him along.”

“How do you know about Boone?”

“Cade Rallis, the sheriff who came out to the cabin, is married to Marigold. Marigold is Ami’s youngest sister, and she told Ami?—”

Roe quit listening to the list of names but understood that Katherine’s relative had mentioned the encounter to her.

“I’d love to come to the party, but?—”

“But nothing.” Ruby’s tone turned firm, making Roe wonder if she’d once been a teacher. Despite the woman’s diminutive size, Roe saw a strength in her that she hadn’t seen until now. “To truly experience Good Hope, you must do more than work at Muddy Boots and go home.”

“Ruby is correct.” Katherine’s brusque tone brooked no argument. “The most influential citizens of Good Hope will be attending. You may meet someone who could help you in your job search.”

“Delphinium, who goes by Fin, is hosting the party with her husband. Fin had a prestigious job as a development executive for Entertainment Quest in LA before returning to Door County.” Gladys narrowed her gaze. “She now handles PR for Good Hope and is in charge of bolstering tourism. Fin has contacts all across the country. Finding the right position is often more about the right contacts than a stellar résumé.”

It was the truth.

Roe knew it .

Gladys knew it.

Turning to Ruby, Roe smiled. “Tell me where and when, and I’ll be there.”

“Bring Mr. Boone with you,” Gladys said pointedly.

“I can ask, but I don’t control his decisions any more than he controls mine.” Roe wouldn’t mind driving to the party with Boone. Walking through the door at a party was always easier with someone, even if they each went their own way after arriving.

“Tell him it will reassure Krew that he’s getting out and not sitting in the cabin brooding,” Gladys suggested.

“Like I said, I can ask, but I can’t promise.”

As Roe left Muddy Boots, Helen pressed a sack into her hand. “For you and your young man.”

“He’s not my—” Roe began, but Helen was already on her way back to the kitchen, forcing Roe to scurry after her. “Helen, this isn’t mine. There must be some mistake.”

A benefit of working at the café was getting food at half price. Roe hadn’t ordered any today. She didn’t know who this sack belonged to. She only knew it wasn’t hers.

When Helen didn’t turn, Roe spoke her name loudly.

This time, the older woman responded by stopping and turning toward her, heaving an exaggerated sigh.

“I’m sorry, Helen.” Roe held out the sack. “But this isn’t mine.”

“It’s yours. Gladys ordered it for you and your young man.”

For a second, Roe considered reiterating for what felt like the zillionth time that Jason Boone was no more than a housemate. Then she reminded herself that wasn’t the issue.

“When?” Roe frowned. “I didn’t hear her put in an order.”

“She did it before you sat down.”

“Before? ”

“Yes.” Helen shifted impatiently from one foot to the other. “Take it home, Roe. Eat it before it gets cold.”

Roe wasn’t sure what was in the bag and didn’t find out until she was back at the cabin and in the kitchen.

Boone, well, his truck hadn’t been in the garage, so he was obviously off somewhere.

The sack yielded two Reuben sandwiches, a pint of coleslaw and two chocolate brownies. Roe’s stomach rumbled at the sight of the Reubens.

After putting one on a plate, she scooped out a hefty dose of slaw and then placed a brownie on the plate.

She was about to set the rest in the refrigerator when she heard the garage door go up. Moments later, the door leading from the garage to a mudroom off the kitchen opened.

“I’ve got food if you’re interested,” she called out.

Boone moved to study the contents of her plate. “Looks good. How much do I owe you?”

“Nothing. Courtesy of a woman at the café.”

He scooped the plate off the table. “Thanks. I skipped lunch.”

Roe opened her mouth to protest that that was her plate, but she didn’t bother. Instead, she pulled out the rest of the food and, after filling a glass with water, took a seat opposite him at the kitchen table.

“Who is this generous lady?” Boone asked between bites.

“Gladys Bertholf. From what I understand, she’s like the town matriarch. She’ll be celebrating her hundredth birthday on New Year’s Eve.”

He blinked. “Seriously?”

“One of her friends invited you and me to a party tomorrow.”

“Bingo.”

Roe pulled her brows together. “Pardon?”

He grinned. “Is it a bingo party?”

“No, it’s a holiday party at…” Roe paused, then rolled her eyes before pulling the piece of paper from her pocket, “Rakes Farm. Ap parently, it’s a big deal. I’m going because, well, I don’t want to spend my entire December sitting at home.”

She also wanted to meet Fin—formerly of LA—and see if she had any connections she might be willing to share.

“Have fun.” Boone took another big bite of the sandwich.

“Don’t you want to go?”

He shrugged. “Not particularly.”

“Gladys said to tell you that it would reassure Krew to know you aren’t sitting around the cabin brooding.”

“I’m not brooding, and I’m not sitting around. I went to the Y today to check out the facilities.”

“You’ve been cleared to work out?” Roe couldn’t keep the surprise from her voice. When she’d learned that Boone had ruptured his spleen, she’d checked out what that meant on the web. It appeared to be a big deal.

“Not yet,” he admitted. “But I want to be ready when I get the go-ahead. Sitting around isn’t for me.”

“Come with me to the party, then.” If he reiterated that he wasn’t interested, she wouldn’t ask again. “Or not. Your choice.”