Deadly Décor (A Caprice De Luca Mystery) (24 page)

After greetings all around, Nikki nodded to the tablet computer in front of her. “We’re brainstorming what to serve at the open house. I know your theme is hearts and flowers, but how over-the-top Valentine’s Day do you want to make it?”

“There’s no over-the-top for Valentine’s Day,” Louise maintained, possibly a little too firmly to be believable. “After all, Chet and I fell in love at first sight at the Pretzel Party’s Valentine’s Day shindig all those years ago.”

Louise almost sounded as if she was trying to convince herself, as well as them. Caprice knew Louise’s story well. Louise and her mom had become fast friends when they’d met at St. Francis of Assisi Church soon after Louise first arrived in Kismet. Back then, she’d been a secretary at the Pretzel Party, Chet Downing’s snack company. She’d caught his eye, and they’d gotten married, practically thirty years ago. Theirs had been one of those Cinderella stories that had become a legend in Kismet.

But something about Louise’s attitude tonight made Caprice wonder if Louise and Chet had argued about something. Obviously, Louise loved lace and chintz, flowers and hearts, velvet and ribbons. Her house reflected that. However, now she and Chet wanted to downsize to travel more. This house staging and open house was supposedly going to sell the Downing estate faster. Hearts and flowers had been the obvious theme, especially with Valentine’s Day right around the corner.

“Do you really think Chet’s going to be happy selling the Pretzel Party?” Caprice asked Louise now, guessing the man of the house was housed in his den away from their planning.

“He’s always wanted to travel more,” Louise answered. “With no restrictions on our time, we can choose places we
both
want to see.” She hesitated, then added a bit thin-lipped, “By the way, he’s staying overnight in Philadelphia tonight for a late meeting. At least he won’t be on the road in this weather.”

As Rachel set a porcelain cup and saucer before Caprice, Louise scolded Caprice. “You really should switch to herbal tea, or at least decaffeinated coffee. I had a latté at the Koffee Klatch just a few weeks ago. After I drank half of it, my heart skipped beats. The barista had used caffeinated coffee instead of decaffeinated. I could have gotten her fired but she was young and in a hurry.”

Because her mom and Louise were friends, Caprice knew Louise had suffered a heart arrhythmia condition since she was a young girl. It didn’t act up often, but caffeine would activate the problem.

“I drink tea with Nana. I’ll try to switch from coffee to tea at home, too,” she assured Louise, knowing if she didn’t, the older woman would try more thoroughly to convince her. Louise’s opinions were usually unshakeable.

Moving their meeting forward, Caprice asked Nikki, “So what did you have in mind for food for the open house?”

Lady had settled at Caprice’s feet and her tail wagged against the floor in a
thump-thump-thump
rhythm. Some people found that thumping bothersome, but Caprice found it soothing.

Nikki glanced at Caprice, then read from her list on her e-tablet. “We talked about hor d’oeurves. They’re easy—heart-shaped bruschetta, kiwi slices with tiny cream cheese hearts in the centers. I also have access to soup bowls shaped like hearts that would be great for tomato bisque. I can use red rose petals to decorate the plates, and carnations are edible too. They can taste spicy, peppery, even clove-like. Chrysanthemums have a more bitter taste so I could use some of their petals in the salads.”

Nikki paused and thought about that. “Some people have allergies to flowers in food, though, so it might be better just to decorate the buffet with them rather than use them in the dishes. We wouldn’t want anyone to have an allergic attack.”

“Goodness no,” Louise said, her hand covering her heart. “Chet would have a fit at the liability involved. No flowers in the food. Nevertheless, red rose petals on a white tablecloth would look fabulous.”

“Not everything has to be heart-shaped,” Caprice reminded them. “I just made a batch of white chocolate and cranraisin cookies. They’d be a great Valentine treat with chamomile tea, hot chocolate, or coffee.”

“Not to mention strawberry cheesecake, and cherries with meringue,” Nikki suggested with a lift of one brow. “The choices are endless with this kind of theme.”

“I spoke with Jamie Bergman at Garden Glory,” Louise informed them. “I placed an order for peace lilies, grafted hibiscus trees and, of course, palms. Jamie had the terrific idea of planting flowers in the base of the palms. She’s going to look into exactly what varieties are available and get back to me.”

Louise was one of those clients who liked control over the house staging. Since she knew plants and flowers well, Caprice had let her handle that, though she or her assistant would actually place them.

Caprice tapped Nikki’s e-tablet. “What about our main dishes? When guests come to one of my stagings, they expect substantial food, too.”

Nikki nodded. “I was thinking of prosciutto-wrapped stuffed chicken. Sliced correctly, the slices could look like heart shapes. Fettuccini would go well with it. Shrimp scampi is another possibility. I also thought about using those heart-shaped bowls for individual casseroles of shepherd’s pie with lamb and pork. This time of year, with this weather, that kind of food can warm your heart.”

“That sounds wonderful,” Louise agreed. “But back to incidentals . . . Let’s not forget chocolate-covered peanut butter creams. They’re my favorite candy.” Her eyes seemed to grow a little misty as she added, “Chet and I shared a few of those the first night we met.”

Louise and Chet had been married for thirty years. Caprice’s mom and dad had been married thirty-seven years, so the idea of a lifelong union wasn’t foreign. Yet Caprice could hardly imagine being married to someone for that long. Still she wanted that kind of committed, all-in-for-life marriage. If it was happy. Was Louise still happy? Was Chet?

Rachel approached the table, her expression worried. “I don’t mean to interrupt, Mrs. Downing, but the snow is falling rather heavily again.”

The blinds in the nook were closed. Louise looked toward them and nodded. “Thank you for telling us.”

“I think we’re ready,” Caprice announced. “The house is staged exactly the way we want it except for the plants, and Garden Glory will deliver them the day before the open house. The menu sounds perfect. By next weekend, we’ll be ready.”

A few minutes later after Rachel procured their coats and they hugged and said their goodbyes, Caprice led Lady to her van.

She happened a glance at the frosting of snow on the driveway. She caught the glare of headlights as a truck sped away from the driveway’s entrance. A visitor who decided not to come in? A wrong turn on a snowy night?

Caprice gave herself a mental shake. She was just paranoid because she’d been followed before. She’d been followed and almost killed.

Nothing was going to happen tonight.

She followed Nikki’s car out of the driveway onto Middlebrook Drive. Her sister’s car had just turned off onto a side street when the snow swirled in almost blizzard proportions with a howl of wind. Recently snow squalls seemed to become more prevalent in the Pennsylvania winter weather patterns. She was glad she’d put Lady in her crate.

She was carefully slowing for a stop sign when her cell phone played the Beatles’ “Good Day Sunshine” from her cup holder. She thought about not taking the call, but then her curiosity, as usual, got the best of her.

Checking the caller ID, she saw that it was Grant Weatherford, her brother’s law partner. She listened to a few more notes of the music and took a deep breath. Lately Grant’s voice made her feel both excited and nervous. They’d been getting along better since he’d adopted Patches, Lady’s brother, but there was still so much tension between them.

She swiped her finger across the face of her phone and picked it up. “Hey, Grant, what’s up?”

“I think we have a problem,” he warned her.

She started off again across the intersection, wishing she had taillights in front of her to follow. “And what might that be?” she asked.

“I think your brother is in love with Roz Winslow. What are we going to do about it?”

The question so startled her and broke her concentration that she hit a patch of ice and slid sideways into a snowbank by the side of the road.