The Caterer

Chapter 27

D ELANY SHIFTED HIS BACK, looking over the parking lot of the hotel. He sipped his coffee and checked the time on his phone. Helene should be up. He called Nadia’s house and took another drink. A door closed somewhere down the hall. People were awake on what promised to be another long day.

They had been on the ground for a week. Firefighters were starting to get a handle on things, the fire now mostly in the national forest. People still needed clothing, shelter, and basic supplies. But that was not their game plan—they distributed food. It felt like a drop against what people needed, but it was something. Something. Helene’s voice came on the phone asking when he was coming home.

“Hopefully soon. How is school?”

He let her ramble on, an edge to her voice. He couldn’t pry too hard, needing to focus where he was. They talked for a moment before Eddie knocked on the door and called his name. Delany opened the hotel door and told Helene he had to go .

They chatted while he finished getting dressed. He slept in the bed furthest from the window, not that the extra twenty feet made any different for the noise. Eddie reached for the book he was reading off the other bed. The spare bed helped organize his life on the field with binders with information, the few shirts he brought, pants neatly folded beside them. There were notepads with notes from meetings and daily totals of how much food they served, communities they reached. A picture of him and Helene from Halloween a few years before sat on the table between the beds. It helped to see her first thing.

They drove to the kitchen at the high school only a few blocks away having moved hotels after getting the kitchen established. Alice had already been there for hours, hundreds of meals waiting. Before Delany could say hello, Eddie pulled him into a string of interviews. Once the press found out he was there, he was bound to become part of the story. He tried to keep it off him and on the people of northern New Mexico and what they needed.

He walked toward the kitchen, ready to do something productive. Alice came out of the door, waiting while he got closer. They chatted for a minute, Alice trying to check her watch again. “Are you late for something?”

Her eyes went wide. “No, I just don’t want people to think I ran off.”

He crossed his arms. Samson mentioned how much she’d been working, how he had no idea when she slept, and how it felt like she was always at the school.

“When was the last time you were out of this kitchen?”

“Does the hotel count?” Alice chuckled.

“Have you seen the area at all?” He rocked back. She shook her head. “Come on.”

“I need to be here.” She pointed toward the kitchen.

Delany reached for her wrist. “I think you need to see what you’re making possible. ”

“Delany.” Eddie appeared at the end of the hall. “FEMA wants a word.”

He lowered his head, failing to keep back his annoyance. Alice slipped her arm back and walked toward the kitchen.

Delany found her later on the football field, working to serve the firefighters from a food truck. She started it the weekend before, wanting to provide fresh meals around the clock for the men and women fighting the fires as they got off their shifts. She did a variety of meals, breakfast bowls or pancakes in the morning, hamburgers and fries for lunch, meatloaf for dinner.

He stepped through the back door of the food truck. Alice set some fried chicken on top of the French fries and coleslaw with corn, black beans, and peppers. He’d tried some in the kitchen before coming out, the lime adding an unexpected tang.

“Are you here to help?” Alice asked.

“No. FEMA cleared a way for us to reach some places near the Colorado border that have been cut off because of the fire. We need to take some food to them. Come with me.”

She hesitated, looking out the window. “I should stay.” Her tone betrayed her. She asked the firefighter outside what he wanted. Delany filled the to-go box and handed it to him, the man thanking them.

“Come with me.” He put his hand on her back. “Eddie can get someone to cover.”

She nodded. He left to find a volunteer. They were almost done loading the cargo van when she came out of the school, drinking a bottle of water. It had been full sun since they arrived, yet she was still pale. Her hair hadn’t been washed in a few days. She walked a bit slower, her eyes heavy.

“Are you sleeping?” he asked when she got closer.

“I’m fine.”

Samson called they were ready to go. Alice walked to the passenger seat of the full van. Delany got an apple from the crate before closing the side door. She was texting someone when he hopped into the driver’s seat.

“For you.” He held out the apple.

She pressed her lips, not taking it. “Mr. Clare…”

“Stop with the Mr. Clare, okay? After all this. You need to take care of yourself, Alice.”

She reached for it and turned in her seat, dropping it back in the bin. He started to call her out when she leaned further back and got two bananas, handing him one. He slid it into the cup holder and started the van.

“We were about to have a conversation,” he said.

“I get it. I know.” She started to eat. They fell into a caravan of medical people and FEMA staff. The truck ahead carried a tank of fresh water for the community. The back of their van held enough food for a few days along with crates of Alice’s fresh cooked chili, her wild rice, and cranberry salad. At one point he looked over and found Alice asleep, her head against her fist by the window. He reached to turn on the radio. Someday he’d ask how many hours she worked.

They drove on, the sun setting lower on the horizon. It was a slow drive, the road gone in some places. They waited as the forest service cut through fallen trees to make a way. The forest around them was nothing but black trees and ash. Alice looked around her, her hands under her legs.

“Pretty crazy, huh?” he said.

“How do you recover from this?”

“It takes time, but people are resilient. How are you doing?”

Alice gathered her thoughts before she glanced at him.

“This is amazing, Delany. What you’ve started, what you all do…” She shook her head. “Thank you for the opportunity.” She held his gaze.

“Thank you for coming.” He glanced at her, getting up his nerve. “Can I ask you something, did Jonas train you? ”

Alice closed her eyes and laughed. She apologized, the chuckle still running through her.

“That hack? He wouldn’t know cinnamon from cardamom if his life depended on it. He better be grateful Cornelia died or he’d still be peddling his garbage back in L.A. No. I was the sous chef under Cornelia. After he died, Jonas got hired and told me I’d be going back to sauce prep unless I ‘earned my keep.’ I told him to stick his sausage in some béchamel and walked out. That man has been denigrating me to whoever will listen ever since.” She shook her head. “That’s why I’m here. He’s made me a pariah, implying I only got to where I was with Cornelia because I slept with him. He acts like I offered, and he turned me down. There isn’t a woman alive Jonas would not sleep with.”

“I see.” Now it made more sense, Jonas’ tone toward Alice, their different cooking styles and preferences.

She went back to watching the scenery. It was the first time they were alone together since leaving D.C. He wanted to talk about things, ask why she refused to give him a shot. After she left with Katy he wondered if she came to quit, the idea making his heart ache. He’d reset whatever boundaries she wanted, just don’t leave . Since meeting her, he wanted to do more than go through the motions. He knew the difference now between existing and living.

“You okay over there?” Alice asked. Delany smiled, unsure what to say. Katy mentioned something when they talked earlier about an invoice for Carrie’s birthday Bobbie refused to pay. Bobbie told Katy to include it with the other invoices for what the caterer did for Macon. But it was a private event. Delany paid Alice for cooking for him at the house, Bobbie needed to pay for that meal himself.

“Bobbie’s been calling all day. It’s nothing.”

“Why do you keep him around? If I can ask.”

“We go way back…”

“I know that. It seems sometimes he’s against everything you stand for. Would he get what’s happening here?” She closed her eyes. “I’m sorry. Not my place. I’m exhausted. Forget I asked.”

“It’s okay. He’s like a brother. We grew up together.” He met her gaze for a moment, Alice saying a quiet okay before looking out the window. Things went silent again.

“When I was in seventh grade some guys at the high school thought it might be a good idea to put me back in my place. They planned to grab me after one of our home games and beat the crap out of me. Bobbie overheard them talking about it at the local convenience store and told his dad. His dad came to the game, made sure I got home safe, and then got some of his friends together to find this group and let them know if anything happened to me, they’d be back. His dad served in Vietnam, was this big broad man.” Delany puffed his arms out. “My mom knew who he was, Bobbie’s mom her hairdresser at the time. His parents were oil and water. They’d be in love, and then fight down the block. My mom told Bobbie he could be at our house. He was there all the time. He’s been at every birthday and major life event since I was thirteen.” He rested his head on his fist against the window. “He’s one of the few people who was there before I became this basketball prodigy that had to make it for an entire community. I don’t have to pretend with him.”

“I see. Where does Bulldog come from?”

He snorted. “I hate that nickname. Can’t get rid of it.” He took a deep breath. “I don’t know who my dad is. Well, I do. But he left my mom and didn’t give two shits until I made it big. My mom raised me. She’s why I am here. That man’s fifteen-second contribution doesn’t make him my father.” He ran his hand over his head. “The one time I saw my dad growing up, he brought me a stuffed animal of Georgetown’s mascot. He said it was his dream school growing up.”

“A bulldog. ”

Delany nodded. “Even then, I knew it was all BS and threw it away. Bobbie saw it. My sister told him what happened. He thought it would be funny to call me that and, well, the name stuck.”

“Did you ever tell him to quit?”

“Yeah, but we were, what, fourteen at the time? No one listens, and once it got around…”

“I get back then, but he still calls you it now. Why not tell him to cool it?”

Delany shrugged; it was a battle he would not win.

“I get that Bobbie is brash and loud. But to me, he’s just trying to live up to his dad who was larger-than-life. Bobbie doesn’t get that people respected his dad because of how he treated them. His dad bought me my first suit, taught me how to do a tie. He taught me how to approach women and to help those around me. Bobbie is all bluster, but below that, he’s a decent guy.” Or at least he used to be.

They pulled into the community after dark. Everyone waited for the caravan inside the one building with lights. Medical personnel went in a side entrance to set up a clinic. Delany carried another crate of food into the building. Alice worked to distribute hot meals, a firefighter giving out bags of food. People sat in clusters, blankets over their shoulders, shellshocked. Kids sat quieter than they should be. After the line went down, Alice thanked the man for helping. He had come to check for hot spots, but there was nothing for the fire to burn.

Alice set a stack of empty trays in the insulated crate. Her chin shook and she tried to take deep breaths. Delany cupped her arm and pulled her out the side door. She leaned into him and wept. He hugged her close, Alice’s arms slowly going around him. The things a person saw, the magnitude of the devastation. It weighed on them. It was okay to cry, meant they were human.

“I’m sorry.” She brushed at the tears on his shirt .

“It’s okay.” He could barely find his breath, having her that close.

She touched his cheek, Delany leaning into her hand. Her gaze stayed on his as she leaned up and kissed him. She wrapped her arms around his neck when he dared pull her closer. He ran his hand into her hair, meshing itself under the wrap. A faint moan escaped her.

A voice called into the dark, Alice turning to face the woods. A man stepped closer toward them with two beers in his hand that he offered to Delany before going back inside.

“Do you want one?” He wasn’t sure what else to say, still coming off the kiss. She turned back toward him, unable to hold his gaze.

“Can we do this?” She took the beer he’d opened, Delany working on the second one.

“You have to rest sometime. You’re not good to these people if you don’t take care of yourself.”

She sat on the back of the water truck. They watched the scene inside the building. He wanted to reach for her hand, to kiss her again, but sensed she was struggling. He didn’t want to ask if the kiss was how she felt or the emotion of the moment. The leader of the caravan came out. The medical people were going to be longer than anticipated and the truck of water needed to stay until the morning. The woman asked if Delany and Alice could take the firefighters down with them. He let them ride in the front, Alice asleep with her head on his leg in the back. He rested his hand on her side, her question lingering. Bobbie was his oldest friend, but lately, it started to feel like a scheme that might not work anymore. Instead of being someone he could pass the ball to, it felt like his best friend tried to block him. He’d heard things while he played, people making comments about Bobbie. He always wrote it off as people who didn’t know who Bobbie was. But he started to wonder if maybe he didn’t know his best friend like he thought.