The Caterer

Chapter 36

S HE AWOKE IN THE guest room, Delany’s voice filling the apartment. The smell of pancakes mixed with coffee. She thought about the night and beamed. It was everything she hoped—tender, attentive, and wow!—how he filled her. He told her to stay with him, but she did not want to risk Helene finding them together. She climbed into the guest bed after two and told herself to stop smiling. Their sweat and his kisses covered her skin. All she wanted was to crawl back into bed with Delany and spend the day with him. Instead, she saw the time and knew she needed to get going.

Helene called good morning. Alice kissed her head and asked how she slept before she went to get a cup of coffee. Delany kissed her good morning, the playfulness in his eyes making her face warm. She sat at the table, Delany setting down a plate of pancakes.

“It’s from a box—don’t judge me.”

“Next time I’ll cook.” Alice took a drink of her coffee. “What are you doing today? ”

“Going to see Grandma. Can I come to the bakery with you?”

“Maybe next time. I have an event over lunch.” Alice pouted and Helene laughed.

“Do you need me to drive you to work?” Delany sat at the table with them.

Alice shook her head. “We’re five blocks from the bakery. I can walk.”

Delany reached for her fingers as they rode down the elevator together. She smiled and looked at him. He winked. She kissed his cheek and told him to have fun at work. The line at the bakery went out the door. Alice slipped in, raising a hand to Carver as she walked to the office. She sat at the desk and opened her email, one waiting from Valencia. It included a photo of her at an olive vineyard she went to with her stepbrother. She wore a wide brimmed hat and a wider smile. After filling Alice in on her latest fun she got to what Alice emailed her about after Helene’s birthday. Nadia would do whatever necessary because she felt she deserved the life Delany’s money and fame provided. That girl will keep Delany single until he runs out of options and goes to her. If she let Nadia push her away from Delany, then Nadia won. Instead, she could stay close and let Nadia see she wasn’t easily intimidated. She never got to make a stand with her ex, not that Alice was sure she would have if given the chance. But with Delany she would not just walk away. It would be easy for her to get out of the basketball game, to let Nadia’s attitude push her back. Not this time.

The cursor blinked on the reply email. Alice leaned in and typed the one thing she wanted to say since Val left in July. ‘When are you coming home? Things are picking up w/ HP and I could use my best friend.’ She hit send and looked at the time. Cheese puffs! It was too late to call Paul and ask him to bring her a change of clothes. She could swing by the apartment on the way to the military wives’ luncheon and deal with her sister later. If she found a way to keep making a name for herself in the face of a man who only wanted to destroy her, Tabby could get over how things ended with TabiKat. It was time for her sister to do more than wallow.

She pulled the van into the circle in front of the apartment building, telling Rita she’d be back. Hopefully Tabby was already at the venue, not that she wouldn’t rip into Alice there. Was it better to have the conversation in public or private? Tabby wasn’t that different from Nadia—both women needing to take someone down to feel better about themselves. Alice unlocked the door to the apartment and went to her room, starting to change. She thought through what she needed for the day. Part of her hoped for a repeat of the previous night, waking up with Delany a welcome reprieve to things, but she had to face her sister sometime. Get through their tiff and tell Tabby she was leaving. She headed toward the front door.

“I thought I heard the door.” Tabby leaned against the wall to the dining room. “Sneaking in and out now, are we?”

“Don’t have much to say.”

“I would have thought ‘I’m sorry’ might be on that list.”

Alice paused at her purse. “What do I have to apologize for? You’re the one who freaked out on me.”

“I’m sorry, what?” Tabby put her hand over the heart. “After all I’ve done for you…”

“Spare me your martyrdom today, Tabby. I have a job to go to.” She pulled the door closed behind her, half-expecting her sister to open it and continue their fight to the main floor. She got into the elevator and rolled her eyes. Whatever delusion her sister needed to believe.

They pulled into the garage of an event center on the water. Staffers waited beside the minivan to help unload the food. A couple started off with Rita and the taller rolling warmers. Alice passed off trays from the van, making sure they had everything they needed. She rode in the elevator with two female servers she enjoyed.

She let them get off the elevator first. The walls of windows provided an unobstructed view of the Potomac River and Maryland. Rita already had things humming at the corner setup for them, servers plating salads and finishing the desserts. Staff from the event center set the tables. Half an hour to go.

“Are you Alice?” A woman came toward her. “I’m Cyndi.”

“Really?” Alice caught herself. “Nice to meet you.” She was sweet and down-to-earth, a natural beauty. Nothing like Carrie and the stuck-up sorority girls her sister spent time with. She treated Alice with nothing but kindness. They chatted before Cyndi went to do a final mic check.

The space filled up, the activity helping Alice to forget what else was going on. Halfway through the main course, Tabby stepped behind the podium. Alice leaned on the back wall, her hands sliding into her apron.

“My mother was a woman ahead of her time. In 1976, as a single mother, she worked to put herself through college while telling women they had a choice. My mother fought hard for Title IX, for equal pay, and for domestic violence to be recognized so there could be laws to stop it.” Alice found her mother in the crowd. “My mother served in Congress for twenty-seven years. In her time, she fought hard for the rights of the military, for better healthcare, and to ensure you all were protected during the wars in Iraq. My mother taught me what it is to be a strong woman. You all know what it is to be a strong woman. You have to be. I started my own tech company, ready to take on a world of men that told me to sit and take my place. But I refused to listen, and in the end created the company that holds the biggest opening evaluation on Wall Street. But I don’t tell you that to sound impressive. I tell you that to encourage you anything is possible. You sit here with ideas of your own. Something stirs in you, something you must pursue like I did. That entrepreneurial spirit will not be satisfied until you chase what you love.”

Alice waited for the bitterness to come, for Tabby to call out those who stabbed her in the back. Instead, she kept it on point, telling the women four things she learned while starting TabiKat. For the first time she’d talked about it without any hint of hostility. Here was the passion and drive that enabled her sister to break into the tech world and do what many called impossible, that would enable Tabby to leave her mark on anything she set her sights on. If she could just let go of what happened.

Alice went back to the bakery after the event, working with the office door closed to try and get ahead of what was starting to bury her. Her cell phone rang midafternoon, Eddie’s name on the screen. Alice answered, unsure why he’d be calling.

“I want to talk to you about being our chef full-time,” Eddie said.

“What does that mean?” She sat back.

“Morse needs to back out. He wants to be with his wife who is dying, and then, well, as a single dad he can’t travel the world on a moment’s notice. What do you say?”

“Delany knows about this?”

“Of course.” He laughed. “You’d be on-call for emergencies, so could still work your catering job.”

A calendar of the next year hung on the wall across from the desk. The number of free weekends was declining, most of their weeknights filling up as well.

“Let me think about it.”

“I just sent you an email with all the details. Look it over and get back to me.”

“Thanks, Eddie.” She hung up and skimmed his email. They were going to pay her how much per trip? It was more than she made in half a year with the food truck before Valencia left and would keep her from feeling one bad month away from losing everything. If it was a bad year, meaning she got called out to multiple natural disasters, she could make a comfortable six figures.

Alice reread the number, things spinning. She’d be an idiot not to take the job. Not to mention she loved the work. If the offer came before the latest fight with Tabby, she would have said yes without a second thought. Now she saw it as another way she worked for Delany, another way her career was tied to him. Once people knew they were together would anyone see her as anything other than his girlfriend gaining favors because of who he was?

Paul was waiting when she came out of the bakery. She slid into his X5, asking about his day.

“We might be getting somewhere with the case. How did the luncheon go?”

“Her speech was amazing, actually. Just wish she’d take her own advice.”

The drive was quiet, Paul using the time to listen to 90s R too many things vying for attention. Her loyalty to Tabby told her to walk away. But she was desperate to figure out a way to merge Delany into the rest of her life, and yet realized because of how things went down certain aspects remained closed to the other. Tabby would never agree to a meal, and could she ever sit with his best friend without feeling like she was betraying her sister?

“Have a good night, okay?” Alice slowly hung up.

“You okay?” Paul asked.

Alice could only nod, hating the fear sweeping in and making her question everything.