The Caterer

Chapter 20

T ABBY WALKED THROUGH the halls of the twins’ school wishing they put her kids in the same classroom. She’d lost Rock-Paper-Scissors to Paul who got to go to Mac’s classroom with the fun teacher who was young and loved to snowboard and would integrate pop culture into his lesson plans. Annie, and thereby Tabby, got stuck with Mrs. Prim and Proper. She was probably older than the school. Never smiled. Kids had it too easy, she said once at a PTA meeting; it was her job to make sure they took their education seriously. Not that Tabby minded. Annie needed to be challenged, and Mrs. Proper would do that.

She skimmed the pathetic collection of snacks in the back of the room. For what they paid in tuition, the school could hire Alice to cater the event. Maybe she should take the open spot on the PTA, at least then they’d have something good to eat.

It was the first time she’d seen many of the parents since losing her company. They all knew, of course, and gossiped about her. Well, look who was back with nothing to do, the stay-at-home moms would say. Then there were men she’d chided, saying a woman could make it in a male-dominated industry. Only, who lost her company to a man with no tech experience? But her mother taught her how to hold her head high. She refused to indulge their false pity masked as curiosity. Let them talk; she’d find her footing again.

She sat at one of the desks and pretended to pick at the meager offerings she collected from the buffet. She dragged her feet, so they got to the open house right as the sessions started. Surely Mrs. Proper could not be happy to be running so late.

“Can I sit here?” a woman asked. Tabby had never seen her before. Loosely curled chestnut hair, matching oval eyes. Heart-shaped face, natural makeup, toothy smile. She wore a gray dress with a bunched collar and a dark blue cardigan. “I’m Cyndi. We’re new here.” She sat at the desk next to Tabby and slipped a cracker into her mouth.

“Tabby Black.” She put out her hand. Cyndi smiled and shook it. “Where did you move here from?”

“Japan. My husband works at Andrews Air Force Base. Our son is in this class, and we have a little girl in third grade.”

“My twins are in fifth, too. How did you get in?” Some people put their newborns on the list just to be sure they got a spot. For the higher grades, the wait could be years long.

Cyndi bobbed her head as she finished her bite of cheese. “The head of my husband’s unit made some calls. I guess he knows the PTA president or something.”

“Interesting.” Tabby bit into a flavorless cracker. Mrs. Proper came to the front of the room. Tabby sat up more and got ready to count the cement blocks in the wall behind her head.

Cyndi reached for Tabby’s plate after the presentation finished. Tabby thanked her, saying she could have gotten it.

“Would you want to get breakfast sometime? It would be nice to talk to a local about what there is to do. ”

“Are you free tomorrow?” Tabby dug in her purse. Finding an old card for TabiKat, she crossed out the front and wrote her cell on the back. Paul poked his head in and pointed to his watch. Tabby told Cyndi to call her and hustled to the door.

They compared notes on the drive home. As she suspected, Mac was going to have a lot of fun with someone who could somehow make the X Games relevant to the classroom, and yet probably wouldn’t push his students beyond the given criteria, while Annie would have more work and yet leave fifth grade fully prepared for middle school. Maybe it was better that she wasn’t working. Annie had basketball practice several nights a week, and this way she could keep Mac from playing his console all the time.

She checked her phone, surprised not to see any updates from Alice. Usually, Alice flooded her phone with images of the twins making a mess while they baked or built a couch fort in the living room. Once they tried to give Taco a bath. Tabby swore she still saw water marks on the ceiling. She was tempted to call and check in.

“How goes the job hunt?” Paul reached for her hand. Tabby pushed her cell into her purse. It was the only time they’d been able to talk because of his stupid case.

“Three more resumes off today.” The darkness kept him from seeing her eye roll, but she failed to keep the bite out of her tone.

“Any more thoughts on consulting?”

“Who’s going to hire me to consult on anything? Tips on how not to get your company stolen? Why you don’t trust your best friends with money?”

“Mac’s teacher said they might need a programming teacher.”

Tabby crossed her arms and glared.

“What?” He slunk away. Tabby sighed and shook her head. “It might be a way to get out there,” Paul added. Tabby watched the scenery outside. She didn’t want to get back out there; she wanted her company back.

Taco bounded down the hallway when Paul opened the door. The twins’ playful yells came out of the living room. Alice sat on the couch while Mac and Annie ran around with Nerf guns.

“You okay?” Tabby touched her shoulder.

Alice jumped. “How was the meeting?” She cleared her throat. Tabby repeated her question. “Just tired.” Alice stood. “Hey guys, we have to finish defending the planet tomorrow.”

Paul took the Nerf guns and sent the kids to brush their teeth. Alice started to wipe down the counters, distracted. Tabby stopped at the island to sort the mail. When Paul stepped into the twins’ bathroom, Tabby went to lean on the counter beside the sink and waited for Alice to acknowledge her.

“We need to find you a man, Lil.” She knew that would get a rise of Alice.

“What?” Alice dropped the glass in her hand. “I don’t have time.”

“When was the last time you looked at a man?”

“I notice men.” She rinsed the glass.

Tabby cocked her head. “Who?”

Alice put the glass into the side sink. “You had your chance at matchmaker. I am not letting you set me up with Paul’s coworker again.”

“Rupert was a poor choice. Maybe…”

“No, okay. I barely have time to shower and see you all as it is. I don’t need to date. They all cheat or leave anyway.”

“That was one guy.”

Alice finished the last dish and put it in the side sink. “I’m not going to be your fall project.” Alice kissed her cheek and walked out. Tabby leaned on the counter. Something was going on with her sweet little sister. Normally, Alice would spar more, bring up Tabby’s disastrous dating history, maybe even mention Harry as a defense against single men in their thirties. This was more than being busy. She’d been off since they got back from Europe. She went from telling the family everything about her day to being almost cryptic.

Maybe she should get more involved with Tasty Pudding. She could help Alice schedule events, do the back end. Then Alice could be around more, and it would give Tabby something to do. Tabby leaned off the counter and went to help Paul put the kids to bed with an idea swirling in her head.

#

ALICE SAID GOOD MORNING on her way to the coffeepot the next morning. She needed to get her head out of the clouds. Dinner with Delany was lovely, and just what she needed after finding out about The Cora. But she had to get her emotions under control. She could not date him. Tabby would lose it if she found out.

Tabby called her over to where she sat at the end of the island, turning her laptop for Alice to see the starting of a website for Tasty Pudding.

“It’s Hasty,” Alice said. “What is this?”

“Your website. You need a digital presence. This way people can see an assortment of what you’ve done before, contact you. You should be able to take payments on the website too.”

“How long have you been working on this?”

“Since last night. Sit, sit.” She pat the seat next to her. Alice drank her coffee while Tabby walked her through the drop-down menus, telling her all the places she needed photos.

“You have some on your laptop, right?” Tabby asked.

“Um, let me send you some. They’re mostly on Carver’s computer.” She set her mug on the island. Tabby eyed her. Alice had never been overly private, but the last thing she needed was Tabby to find a photo with Delany in it .

Annie hugged Alice from the side and rested her head on her. Alice kissed into her hair. They talked about her game the previous night, Annie getting a copy of Sleeping Beauty from the library to use as her template as she worked on her storyboard. She showed Alice her list of characters and ideas, and was studying the games she loved to figure out what she wanted to have happen. It was after eleven when Alice told her to go to bed, promising to help her more over the weekend.

“Mom, can I stay with Aunt A?”

“No, sweetie,” Tabby said. “We are meeting Cyndi and her kids. I want you to know them, so they have friends when school starts.”

“When are you meeting your friend?” Alice asked.

“Ten near the Torpedo Factory.”

“You might want to get going then.”

Tabby looked at the clock and jumped. She told Annie to get dressed and called for Mac to come eat. Alice promised Annie they’d hang out soon and sent her off to change. Tabby found milk and cereal from the cupboard.

“Why do I need this?” Alice slid the laptop over and started looking at the website.

“How do you get customers now?” Tabby set a bowl of cereal onto the counter.

“Word of mouth. Facebook. Twitter.”

“Well, this is a digital word of mouth for adults. You’ll thank me later. Come on, kids!” She shouted before leaving to change. Alice laughed and reached for her coffee.

#

TABBY LIFTED HER HAND at Cyndi and told the twins to come on. They made their way through the park to where Cyndi sat on a bench by herself. Before Tabby could tell the twins to be careful, they ran toward the playground. She forgot how long it took to feed the twins and focus them enough to get them to brush their teeth and find their shoes. Annie pleaded to stay with Alice; Tabby was not in the mood for her daughter’s theatrics. Things had gotten too relaxed since their trip. Before the twins understood that when Tabby asked them to do something, she meant it. She got that it was summer, and once school started their free time all but disappeared, but they needed to stop pushing her boundaries. They were only acting this way because Paul was gone all the time.

She got sidetracked, working on Alice’s website, and forgot about the list of things she planned for the morning. Hopefully the kids could entertain themselves after they got home so she could make some follow up calls on some resumes she sent out.

Cyndi went to help her youngest on the swing. Tabby reached for her notepad, calling a potential lead for a job. She’d met the man while working on WlkmNt. He was starting a tech company in D.C., seemed impressed with her work. She read in the paper he was hiring a new manager to oversee his programming unit. Tabby waved to Mac at the top of the slide. The man picked up the phone.

“Hello, Mr. Keiths, this is Tabby Black. We met last year at…”

“I remember you. How are you, Tabby?”

“Doing okay. I am calling about your open position. I was hoping we could get lunch; I’d love to hear more about what you’re doing.”

He sighed. Tabby held up her hand to keep Mac from running up to the bench to tell her about whatever just happened.

“I would love to, but we are working a deal with Macon, and Mr. Dunn’s made it clear we can’t work with you.”

“Did Mr. Dunn give you a reason why?” She tried to keep her tone light .

“Something about a noncompete agreement. Once this deal goes through, I’d love to talk to you. It might not be until the start of next year.” The silence hung on the line. Tabby sucked her lips, that lying rascal. There was no such agreement.

“I understand. Have a good day, Mr. Keiths.”

“You too, Tabby.” He hung up the phone. Tabby lowered hers and closed her eyes, taking several deep breaths.

“Mom, Mom? Are you okay?” Mac leaned on the bench close to her. Cyndi stood with her two kids and Annie a few yards back.

“I’m good. Where do you want to go for lunch?” She put on a smile and walked with everyone back to their cars. She waited while the twins got into their car seats. If Bobbie Dunn planned to lie to block her out of the industry, maybe it was time for Tabby to settle in and adjust to life at home.