Chapter 4
Kate Eiger scowled back at Mattie. Kate’s daughter, Susan, twenty-two, with the same wavy blonde hair as her mother pulled back into a ponytail, stood beside her. Joan recognized Susan from a picture on Kate’s cell phone shown to her after the job interview. Susan carried a large picnic basket. The sight of it made Joan’s stomach gurgle.
Kate chuckled. “I see we haven’t come a moment too soon.”
“What time is it?” She stepped aside to let Kate and Susan enter.
“About one-thirty.” Kate nodded to Mattie as she stepped past her. She gave Shana a wide grin. “You must be Shana.”
“I suppose I must.” She shook Kate’s hand and then Susan’s when Kate introduced her.
Susan nodded and smiled, but still said nothing.
Kate put her arm around her daughter. “We are the unofficial welcome wagon. We thought you might be hungry.”
“My last meal was in Portland,” Shana said. “There’s a card table left behind in the nook that we can use.”
Susan went with Shana. She, Kate and Mattie followed.
Susan said, “I have a tablecloth from the pub.”
“Perfect.” Shana brought the table into the center of the nook and unfolded the legs. “We have running water just like in Portland and the stove still works if you need it. I checked.”
“We brought two thermoses. Do you drink coffee?”
“No, she doesn’t,” Joan said.
“We do have diet pop.”
“She’ll have that.”
Shana made a face at her before helping Susan set the red and white plastic tablecloth over the table.
Kate said, “I hope you like chicken and salads.”
“Sounds delicious.”
Mattie and Kate glowered at each other again before Kate went to the table, opened the basket, a large one on second glance, and brought out some plastic plates. Then, with the speed and efficiency of someone experienced at running a pub, she emptied the contents of the basket and managed to make everything fit on a table that should be far too small to hold it all.
Mattie whispered to Joan, “She does love to put on a performance. I wonder what other tricks she has in store for us.”
Mattie hadn’t been the most generous of spirit when they were teens, though she hadn’t had to do without anything she wanted. Her wealthy stepfather had seen to that. She had also always been jealous of every girl in Dominion with a boyfriend. And she never had liked yielding center stage to anyone.
“I meant to ask you,” Joan whispered back as she watched Kate and Susan set out the chicken wings and legs, both of which smelled good enough to make her stomach gurgle again, “are you married?”
“God, no, I stayed in Dominion, remember? What was the chance I’d find anyone here worth it?” She shook her head. “I still have my family name. That should have told you something.”
“Not very observant of me, and that’s not good. I wouldn’t want you to get the wrong impression of your new sheriff.”
“It was just a question.”
“Not even a special someone, then?”
“I didn’t say that.”
Kate said, “I think everything is ready. Dig in.”
“Honey-garlic wings,” Shana squealed, “I’m first.”
After some minor jostling and passing of condiments, napkins, forks and such, they settled in to eat.
“When does your stuff arrive?” Susan asked.
“Not until tomorrow. Their truck broke down.”
Kate, Susan and even Mattie exchanged looks.
“It doesn’t matter,” Shana said. “We have our sleeping bags with us.”
“And the company is going to knock twenty-five percent off the moving costs.”
Kate said, “Submit the invoice to city hall. Make sure Laura Page gets it. She knows what she’s doing.”
Mattie said, “I’m sure Joanie knows that, Kate.” Mattie said Kate’s name as if she were spitting out bad food.
“It’s just that after three terms as mayor, I know who the go-to people are, the ones who will get the job done quickly.” She then said to Joan, “I offer my services, advice and wisdom about Dominion to you,” she looked at Mattie as she finished, “be it past, present or future.”
“What about the Wiley and Nguyen cases? What do you know about them?”
“I meant anything about the social and political fabric of Dominion, of course. You’d have to talk to Harry about any unresolved cases.”
“He’s already told Joanie he’ll come see her on Monday.”
“Good, but beware; if he gets going, you may regret it.”
Susan chimed in, “Mom was instrumental in getting Do-Dads and Karyon Research to come here, and in getting you to Dominion, too.”
“That’s an oversimplification,” Mattie said. “It discounts the efforts of so many others. And you seem to forget that Kate was out of office when the final decision was made to build in Dominion.”
Susan set her plate on the kitchen counter. “If she hadn’t worked so hard in the first place, there would have been no decision to make.”
“I’m quite sure others would have been just as successful as your mother. Dominion isn’t a one person show, you know.”
“Whew.” Kate chuckled. “For a moment there, I thought I was back at city hall again. Mattie is right. Many people worked hard to persuade Do-Dads and Karyon to come to Dominion.”
“Including Leo,” Mattie insisted.
“Leo played his part.”
Shana said, “If no one is going to have those last pieces of chicken, I’ll take them.”
“Feel free to take whatever you want,” Kate said.
“She usually does.”