Pies and Prejudice (7 page)

Verena was seated at one of the dilapidated picnic tables out front when Ella Mae arrived on her bicycle. Seeing her niece, the robust woman gave a regal wave, as though Ella Mae were a courtier being granted approval to approach the queen’s throne.

“You should be wearing a hat!” Verena’s voice boomed over the sidewalk. “You’re as pink as your mama’s First Blush of Love rose.”

Leaning the bike against a streetlamp, Ella Mae laughed. “I bet! It’s been so long since I felt the full force of the Georgia sun on my skin.” She took one of the paper napkins off the table and wiped her damp forehead. “How did things go this morning?”

Verena handed Ella Mae a menu. “Pick out what you’d like for lunch first. Dee and your mother are in line and Sissy should drift in any minute now.”

Ella Mae took a quick glance at the laminated menu. “Fried catfish sandwich. Hope it’s as good as I remember.”

“It is, but I’m
ravenous,
” Verena answered. “Had some god-awful fiber cereal for breakfast and was hungry again by ten. It’s going to take both the pulled pork
and
the ribs to calm the beast today. I’ll let the others know what you want, Ella Mae.”

A few minutes later, Adelaide and Dee came out the restaurant’s side door carrying plastic red trays piled with
plates of barbecue and glasses of sweet tea. Dee put a serving of fried chicken, hush puppies, and slaw at the empty place at the table and shot Verena a quizzical look. “Where’s Sissy?”

Verena shrugged, reaching for her sampler platter. She paused only long enough to arrange a napkin over her black-and-white floral skirt before attacking the baby back ribs with gusto.

“How did it go with August?” Ella Mae’s mother asked.

“Getting divorced is more complicated than I’d hoped. I need to establish myself as a Georgia resident as soon as possible. In six months, I can fill out all the paperwork required to become single, but that wait is going to drive me crazy. It’s bad enough that you’re keeping me in suspense,” Ella Mae said. “What happened at the Realtor’s?”

Her mother sprinkled pepper on the inside of her bun and reassembled her own catfish sandwich. “We left an offer, signed the papers, and wished the agent a nice day. Now we wait. Apparently waiting is our theme today. Where is Sissy?” she asked impatiently.

At that moment, Ella Mae spied Sissy at the far end of the block. Dressed in a creamy linen blouse and a sage green skirt of crinkled cotton, she floated up the sidewalk in her long-legged graceful stride, creating an image of a magnolia blossom being whisked off the branch by a strong breeze.

“We’ve got
trouble
,” she announced, squeezing Ella Mae’s shoulder before taking a seat. “Loralyn Gaynor’s fiancé made an offer on
our
pie shop site right after we left. Apparently, he’s planning to buy it for her as an engagement gift. She’d like to open a deluxe nail salon—one that includes tanning beds.”

Verena was aghast. “Tanning beds! We live in Havenwood, not South Beach! Can’t she just put an addition onto one of her other nail salons?”

Ella Mae no longer felt like eating. “Who’s her fiancé?”

“You could have knocked me over with a feather when
the agent told me, but Loralyn is engaged to Bradford Knox.” Sissy took a long sip of sweet tea.

Adelaide put down her sandwich and scrutinized her sister. “Knox? Are you sure? Bradford isn’t Loralyn’s usual kind of…prey. He’s smart, savvy, and was utterly devoted to his late wife. Why would he want to marry such an overt—”

“Bloodsucker!” Verena bellowed.

“Phony?” Dee suggested quietly.

Shooting her sisters an impatient glance, Adelaide said, “I was going to call her a gold digger, but I suppose your adjectives are just as accurate.”

“I remember hearing about Dr. and Mrs. Knox when I was a teenager.” Ella Mae pushed her plate aside and leaned on her elbows in order to look at each of the women at the table. “He was an equine vet and she ran a horse camp for children with disabilities. Some of the kids in my school used to volunteer there. What happened to her? To Mrs. Knox?”

Sissy frowned. “Ovarian cancer. It happened about five years ago and word has it that Bradford hasn’t so much as
glanced
at another woman since. He’s a good-looking man and has a successful practice, though I’ve heard that he sees fewer and fewer patients these days.”

“Only the wealthy ones,” Dee said with a hint of accusation. “Thoroughbreds.”

Verena shrugged and picked up a rib. “And why not? He’s almost seventy and he’s worked his whole life. He can be selective with his clientele now. But why wouldn’t he be equally selective about the second Mrs. Knox?”

Her mother shrugged, clearly ready to drop the subject. “She must have something to offer.”

Sissy let out a moan. “I do
not
want to think about what that ill-mannered tramp has to offer. We all know it isn’t a sweet disposition or a kind heart.” She shook her head, as though regretting her choice of words. “Let’s forget about
Loralyn. I’ve left a second bid, higher than her fiancé’s, of course. By this time tomorrow, that darling little retail space will either belong to the LeFayes or to the future Mrs. Knox.”

Everyone began talking at once. Adelaide suggested they look for an alternate location for Ella Mae’s pie shop, Verena recommended holding Bradford Knox hostage until the deal went through, and Sissy counseled patience.

Dee placed both hands flat on the table and her three sisters immediately fell silent and looked at her expectantly.

“I happen to know the seller,” she said softly. “He’s a client, actually.”

Sissy clicked her tongue sympathetically. “He lost a pet?”

Dee nodded. “Yes, a cockatiel named Paco. I’m not finished with his sculpture yet—Paco’s crest has been giving me trouble—but if I worked really hard this afternoon…”

Verena beamed at her sister. “You could deliver it tonight! And the man would be
so
moved by how you captured his precious bird’s likeness in metal, he’d accept our offer without a second thought! You’re a genius!”

Coloring slightly, Dee whispered, “I don’t know…It feels wrong, to take advantage of the man’s grief.”

“Nonsense!” Verena shouted. “You’re simply finishing the piece sooner rather than later, and your client is going to love it and cry over it and be healed by it. That wouldn’t change no matter when it was delivered. You’re giving your client what he needs now and helping your niece at the same time. Two good deeds in a single day! You’ve always been the most giving of the four of us, Dee.”

Ella Mae looked intently at her aunt. “You don’t have to do this, Aunt Delia.”

Her mother lifted her plastic fork from a pile of slaw and waved it like a wand over Dee’s head. “Go ahead and work your magic, Sis. There’s a reason my daughter came back to Havenwood. I have a feeling the pie shop is an important part of her destiny.”

The words sounded so formal and serious that Ella Mae
nearly burst out laughing, but her aunts were nodding in solemn agreement.

Suddenly, a wind sprang up from nowhere, ruffling the napkins and caressing the damp tendrils of Ella Mae’s hair. It was redolent with aromas. Roses, crushed sage, baking bread, damp wood, chrysanthemums.

The scents were all familiar, tickling a memory hidden deep within Ella Mae’s mind. Just as she attempted to grab hold of it, the strange breeze disappeared, leaving her aching to remember what she had once known.

“Everything all right, Ella Mae?” Sissy asked. “You look like you flitted off for a minute there.”

“Oh, no, I’m done leaving,” Ella Mae answered in a faraway voice. “There are parts of me that are just coming to life. It’s like I’ve been asleep for a long time but am finally waking up.”

A swallowtail butterfly landed on the edge of her bike basket and flapped his magnificent gold and black wings double-time, as though he had something urgent to impart. Then, a stray current whisked him up, up, at a frenzied pace. Ella Mae watched, until he became a small spot in the sky, racing toward the blue blur of the mountains above.

She followed the flight of the beautiful creature toward a place in the distant forest that seemed to be calling to her. Ella Mae watched, trying to make sense of the tugging sensation she felt inside, until the sun burned tears into her eyes and she was forced to look away.

Ella Mae was back in her mother’s kitchen, washing the tomatoes she’d bought from the roadside stand on the way home from lunch. The ancient farmer had been at the same location since Ella Mae was a child and she’d been delighted to see him clad in his customary denim overalls and straw hat, nose buried in a paperback as his customers perused crate after wooden crate of ripe and colorful fruits and vegetables.

Putting the tomatoes on a dish towel to dry, Ella Mae ventured into her mother’s kitchen garden for fresh basil, amazed that the herbs were so verdant and robust beneath the unforgiving Georgia sun. Squatting by a row of bushy rosemary plants, she inhaled deeply.

An image of the pie shop rose in her mind, pastel and rose-covered as a fairy-tale cottage. Holding the vision in place, Ella Mae gently separated basil leaves from the largest plant, rubbing one of them until her touch coaxed forth its strong scent. It burst into the air, an invisible beanstalk of fragrance surging skyward.

Ella Mae hummed and re-entered the kitchen, where she removed the seeds from the tomatoes and cut them into bite-sized pieces. After chopping the fresh basil, she placed a portion of the herb along with the tomatoes and a sprinkle of salt and pepper into a dish lined with one of her Parmesan cheese piecrusts. Using Reba’s favorite ceramic bowl, Ella Mae blended mayo, fresh-squeezed lemon juice, grated mozzarella cheese, and the remainder of the basil.

As her spatula created figure eights and curlicues in the creamy mixture, Ella Mae willed the seller of the property on Swallowtail Avenue to believe that Havenwood would benefit from having a pie shop. Closing her eyes, she poured this faith in the success of her venture into the pie and topped the tomatoes with the mayonnaise blend, calling forth the vision of milling, eager crowds lining up to purchase one of her creations.

Aunt Dee stopped by at five thirty, looking pale and limp.

“You put too much into those sculptures,” Reba nagged after catching a glimpse of Dee’s face. “You gotta hold a bit of yourself back.”

Ella Mae’s aunt didn’t answer, accepting the tomato and basil pie with a sigh. Finally, she murmured, “This doesn’t feel right. To sway this man with gifts.”

Reba waved the notion off. “You’re just catchin’ flies with honey. The practice is as commonplace as a cold in these parts.” Reba glanced at the clock and, with a satisfied grin, pulled the cork from a bottle of red wine on the counter. “Besides, Loralyn Gaynor doesn’t care a fig about the folks of this town. You all do. Now buy the damned place so I can have my kitchen back. Ella Mae’s done nothin’ but stuff my freezer with dough and fruit since she showed up.”

“That can’t be all bad. It smells just like summer in here,” Dee said, inhaling the aroma of cooked bread, tomato, and basil.

With a shake of her head, Reba said, “That ain’t summer. It’s what destiny smells like when you bend it to your will.
Now get your hide to the seller’s place or destiny is gonna get bored and leave.”

Dee complied. Ella Mae watched her aunt climb into her truck, which was covered with bumper stickers supporting a variety of animal shelters.

The rest of the evening passed with the slowness of dripping sap, but Dee’s mission was clearly a success, for the next morning Aunt Verena’s triumphant shouts were reverberating down the telephone line.

“We’re under
contract
!” she bellowed the moment Ella Mae answered the phone. “And the seller’s even agreed to a rushed closing. The property will belong to the LeFaye women by noon this Friday!”

Ella Mae, who had just returned from a strenuous bike ride, threw down the towel she’d used to mop off her wet face, picked up Chewy, kissed his black nose, and then held him in her arms as she twirled round and round her mother’s kitchen. Infected by the excitement, Chewy yipped and licked Ella Mae’s chin while Reba laughed in mirth.

“Put on something decent!” Verena ordered good-naturedly. “No cutoffs and T-shirts. Meet me at the bank at ten. We have a number of financial issues to sort out.”

Quickly ironing a new pair of off-white slacks and an amber blouse, Ella Mae slipped on a pair of bronze-hued sandals and examined herself in the mirror.

The ruddy brown of the blouse brought the filaments of auburn and copper in her hair to life. Her skin had turned from northern pale to a salubrious pink, and her eyes, filled with the promise of her new future, sparkled with threads of gold.

“You’re as pretty as a Georgia peach!” Reba declared as Ella Mae came downstairs carrying a pair of grocery bags. “Are you movin’ into the guest house today?”

Ella Mae nodded. “It’s time. But don’t worry, I’ll come over every morning for a visit.”

Reba puckered her lips, sending a burst of strawberry
scent into the air. “I won’t be here when you get up, sugarplum. I’ll still be fast asleep wearin’ my rollers and my aromatherapy blindfold.”