The Caterer

Chapter 35

H ER MOTHER STOOD TALKING to Carver when Alice got to the bakery the next day. She told her mother to give her a minute, going to put her stuff in the back office. It was time to move out. Hasty Pudding was viable enough and she long ago grew tired of the commute. Before she could chicken out, she sat at the computer and logged into WlkmNt taking her apartment down after the weekend. A few stragglers over the fall would have to find other places to stay. But if Moe kept the clause that they’d give them 15 percent off any rebooks, it should be okay.

“This is a surprise,” she said. Her mother motioned to the chair across from her. Alice set her breakfast down and repeated her statement.

“We need to talk about your father’s birthday,” her mother said.

Alice closed her eyes. She forgot her mother asked her to cater it. Alice opened her calendar, it would take some shuffling, but Alice would make it work .

“It’s the whole weekend at the house?”

“About forty people right now. We are having the big dinner that Saturday. The rest of the time it’s going to be smaller meals. Nothing too fancy.”

“I’ll bring a crew up for the dinner. Maybe we can get by with pre-made sandwiches and buffet breakfasts for the rest.”

“I trust your judgment. You all do full-bar service, right?”

“Let me see what Carver and I can come up with.” She jotted down some ideas.

“Things look quiet here. Do you want to come to lunch with your sister and I?”

“Not particularly.” She kept her focus on her notebook.

“Birdie, your sister is going through a hard time…”

“Mom, I see her enough at home. I am sick of her martyring herself and acting like I did something to cause what’s going on.”

“Have you talked to her about your decision to work with Macon?”

Alice rolled her eyes. Of course, her mother would take Tabby’s side.

“I’m thinking we can do tenderloin for Dad’s party.” Maybe if she moved on her mother would too. They talked through the menu before Alice took a deep breath and got up her nerve. “I took my apartment off WlkmNt.”

“Really?” Her mother tilted her head.

“It’s time. Hasty Pudding is doing well. I’m tired of getting a cab at two a.m. if I could just walk five blocks. I want to talk to you and Dad about buying it.”

Her mother set her coffee down. “Well, this is a change from July. We would love for you to take over the apartment, if it’s where you want to be.”

“It is.”

“We were going to offer to fix it up for your birthday. New paint, new furniture, anything else you want to do. I can call Suzi and see when she’s free to meet us. ”

“It’s open starting Monday. Thank you, Mom.”

“You’re coming into your own, Birdie. It’s quite lovely to see.”

#

TABBY MET HER MOTHER at their favorite Mediterranean place, determined to get beyond the night. The level of her sister’s ungratefulness. It felt good to give Alice a piece of her mind, remind her of all she’d lost chasing Alice’s dream for her, until that is she went into the bedroom and saw Paul’s face as he sat in bed reading. Unsure what to say, she went to get ready for bed. She got in, ready to defend herself, but the look on Paul’s face said determined his verdict.

Her mother spoke on the phone when Tabby got there. She motioned that the host outside had their name. The September day was unusually un-muggy. Just let her sit in the sun and pretend the people in her life were on her side.

“Thank you, Suzi. I’ll see you Monday. Ta.” Her mother closed her phone.

“Are you and Dad redoing the house again?”

“No. Alice’s apartment.”

Tabby paused. “Why are you redoing the apartment?”

“So Alice can move home. Ah.” She raised her hand, and the server led them to a table near the banister. The terrace sat raised from the street, her mother choosing the side that let her look at the Portrait Gallery.

“Alice is moving home?” Tabby set her purse down before snatching the menu from the host. Just leave them alone.

“She didn’t tell you?” her mother said slowly.

“No.” Tabby leaned back, wondering if it was because of what happened. Her mother started to look at the menu. Alice must not have told her about the fight. Tabby debated asking when her mother knew about Alice’s little lie, but didn’t want another lecture about moving on.

The server took their orders. Not wanting to think about the fight or her sister leaving, Tabby told her mother about the military wives’ luncheon the next day and reading over the applications for the small business incubator. She thought about offering to do websites for the winners to help them get a solid online presence. It would give her something to do and help keep her skills fresh.

“It’s good you got some of your spunk back.” Her mother leaned back while the server put their first round of small plates on the table.

“I don’t know if offering to do websites for women crocheting Star Wars characters is getting my spunk back.”

"This is the first time I’ve seen you not raging about TabiKat since June. Maybe you can help women curate their dreams.”

“How do I make money, Mother?”

“Why not give your talents for free?” She dabbed the side of her mouth with her napkin before reaching for her iced tea.

“Would you help women in politics for free?”

“What do you think I’ve been doing for twenty years? A rising tide helps all of us!”

Tabby laughed once and then took a drink of her water, ready to change subjects. “Did you get a menu figured out with Alice?”

“Tenderloin with a salad of fall edibles and a berry and cream dessert, your father’s favorite. I do feel bad not doing anything for your sister’s thirtieth birthday.”

“She probably prefers it that way. Be glad she’s cooking, or she might not even be there. I never see her anymore and she lives with me.” For now. Tabby took a bite of her pita and hummus. Her mother shook her head and smiled sadly, taking her glass off the table. “What?” Tabby asked.

“You are so blinded by your anger you cannot be happy for your sister. This is her dream. This catering company is her chance to put her name on something not attached to that bloodsucker, Jonas. And instead of being happy for her, instead of cheering her on, and maybe seeing if you can help her, you are finding any little reason to be mad and rain on her parade.”

“Oh, so letting Alice live with me is not helping her?”

“Don’t take that tone with me, Tabatha Gloria Black. You will not make me the brunt of your anger. Alice has lived with you for over a year. Your kids are better for it. Your marriage is better for it. You are better for it. It has helped your sister, and you know she is grateful.” Her mother talked over her. “But you are jealous, and that is unbecoming on anyone.”

Her mother waited for Tabby to react, who just shook her head.

“When’s the last time you lost something you loved?”

Her mother’s face fell. “I almost lost everything I love. Maybe you should remember why we’re sitting here. Why I walked away from what I gave my life to.”

Her mother reached for her iced tea and watched the road. Tabby let out her breath. No one wanted to think about Maryanne’s heart attack in the middle of an impassioned speech on the House floor for the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act. Alice had been there with Annie, wanting her niece to see her grandmother fighting for a better future. They watched her fall to the floor, then chaos surround her. Tabby was at work when her sister called and told her their mother was in an ambulance on route to the hospital. The color drained from the room; Tabby unable to imagine a world without her mother in it.

“I’m sorry, Mom.”

Her mother brought her gaze back. “My first husband tore me down every day of our marriage and I let him. He hated that I was getting an education, pursuing things that let me be independent of him. You were my reason for leaving, Kitty Cat. You got me out. ”

Tabby chose to forget that James was not her biological father. At eighteen, her mother married some loser from Pittsburgh who thought he found a woman to cook for him and raise lots of kids. But Maryanne watched her own mother live like that and refused to let the pattern continue. They moved to Cumberland, so he could work in the mines. Her mother got a job in an office and started to save money to go to school. She put herself through college, working two jobs, while her first husband did everything to derail her. Her mother left when Tabby was four months old. She had no memories of her life before her mother married James.

“I’m not downplaying what you went through, Tabby. I won’t. I have watched things I fought hard for get swept away and torn apart. I know the feeling. But all we have is our response. And yours should be better than this.”

#

ALICE OPENED THE DOOR to Delany’s apartment, not hearing anything. She checked the time, needing to leave by four to make it to Annie’s basketball game that night. Setting the bags of food on the counter, Alice unpacked before she pulled the pans she needed and slipped her earphones in. She worked without thinking, refusing to dwell on the fight with Tabby. Yes, she should have told her sister back in August, only she wanted to be close to Delany and knew Tabby would never understand. She tried to keep it casual, but New Mexico changed everything. And she got that losing TabiKat hurt. When Jonas forced her out of Marigolds, she thought she’d never be happy anywhere else. But now she was, and Delany was a part of that.

She sent Valencia a rambling email about everything going on. Maybe she was missing something or reading too much into things or letting her old fears hold her back. Val would be honest with her. Alice stopped herself from asking her to just come home. The undertones were there. Valencia enjoyed her mother, but was less thrilled with her half siblings and the lackadaisical culture the longer she stayed. She missed her life and friends back home.

A hand touched her back, making Alice jump. She pulled her earphones out. Delany stood there with Helene. “What are you doing here?” She put her hand on her heart. Helene hugged her leg hello, Alice kneeling to hug her back.

“She only had a half-day, and my mom has something going on tonight.” Delany set some things in the fridge.

“What are you making?” Helene asked.

Alice stood and moved the vegetables off the burner, hoping they didn’t get too soft. “This is for a lasagna, then there’s vegetable stew in the fridge.”

“How long have you been here?” Delany leaned on the island.

“An hour, maybe.”

“Are you staying for dinner?” Helene asked.

Alice looked at her watch. “I probably need to go soon.”

“We still have the mac-oons you made. Daddy said it’s a guessing game.”

Alice debated what to do. She’d missed Annie’s games while she was in New Mexico and didn’t want her niece to feel like Alice had abandoned her. But after the fight with Tabby, Alice wasn’t ready to smile. Her sister needed to get over herself one of these days. The idea of not sitting in tension all night and doing something to make up for ruining Helene’s birthday sounded ideal. She found her cell and texted Paul something came up at work.

After dinner, they sat around the small table in the kitchen. Delany made her a decaf latte, Helene sampling the mystery macarons Alice made. She got the cardamon one, and the lemon ginger, the Lady Grey stumping her. They hung out until Delany went to put Helene to bed, Alice moving to the large windows to take in the view.

Delany hugged her from behind. She ran her hand over his arm, his lips in her hair.

“This is not how I imagined you here this late.”

She chuckled. “How did you see this moment?”

“Well, instead of taking you home after a date, we’d come here. Champagne. Turn on the fireplace.” He kissed her neck. “I have to admit, I’ve always wanted to do it with the shades open, the city lights outside.”

“If Helene wasn’t here.” She closed her eyes, his hand on her side bunching up her shirt. “What are you doing, Mr. Clare?”

“Is that okay?”

“What about your daughter?”

“We could host a party here and she’d sleep through it. She has a noise machine and an eye mask. It’s a bit ridiculous.”

She laughed as she faced him. He smiled at her, his knuckles on her cheek. This man changed her life in so many ways, made her feel safe and seen in a way she’d never experienced before. There were a thousand things going on outside his apartment, but for the moment, she chose to block it all out for the chance to feel what she did in New Mexico.

She kissed him, Delany’s hand running into her hair. He led her to his room and laid her down on his bed, exploring her body with his lips. Alice let the emotion carry her, hoping this man was who he seemed.