Fired and Inflamed Read online

  “It’s your Christmas present!” Thatcher added.

  I slapped my hands over my eyes. “Oh my goodness, a present for me? I promise I won’t look.” Continuing with my hands still over my eyes, I said to Stella, “So, this looks like a lot of fun. Is Shannon only doing crafts for kids?”

  “She’s doing the kids’ jewelry workshops here. Her mom is doing the jewelry workshops with wine for adults across the street at Fulcrum’s tasting room.”

  “Okay, we’re done,” Thatcher said. “You can look now!”

  I uncovered my eyes just as Stella slipped two little projects into a silver gift bag. Nico had walked around the table and was crouching down next to Hudson so that they were eye-to-eye, and Thatcher slid off his chair to be part of the guys’ conversation.

  Now with my eyes uncovered, I surveyed the scene more closely. I didn’t recognize most of the people making jewelry, but I did spot Artie Brow who ran OV’s chess shop, Checkmate, at the table next to Stella’s. I waved to him as he helped his two grandchildren string beads onto a thick, silver wire. And right across from Stella was Bradley Greer’s wife, Allison. I assumed the two little boys playing under the table were hers. They looked like they could be in the five-to-six-year-old range like Hudson and Thatcher, but since they were under the table, I couldn’t quite tell. I said hello to Allison and sat next to Stella in the chair vacated by Thatcher.

  “So, just really quick,” I said to my older sister. “Elita is upset because she thinks Entonces’ tasting room is a mess from the Christmas projects—”

  “Even though it’s not,” Nico interrupted from the other side of Stella.

  I cracked a smile as Nico went right back to his talk with Hudson and Thatcher. “Right, even though it’s not. But you know how she is. So she decided to cancel girls’ night, and I’m in charge of spreading the word.”

  Stella folded down the top of the silver gift bag and raised a perfectly-arched eyebrow that matched her perfectly-cut bob and perfectly-understated make up. “Well, that’s silly,” she said. “If Elita’s overwhelmed, we’ll just help her clean up and then meet everyone else next door at Deseo.”

  I shook my head. “She’s not in a good place right now. I don’t want to spend time with her if she’s going to be in such a bad mood.”

  Allison Greer leaned toward us from across the table. Her short brown hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and if I hadn’t known she was in her early forties, I would have guessed she was at least ten years younger. Her skin seemed to have a perpetual post-workout glow, no matter what she was doing. “I’m sorry to interrupt,” she said. “But is this Bradley’s Christmas workshop you’re talking about here? Has he destroyed someone else’s store?”

  I shook my head. “Oh, it’s not Bradley. It’s his assistant Katie who’s running everything at Entonces today.”

  “And it’s not even a mess,” Nico interjected again. “Elita’s just being difficult.”

  I looked at Allison with what I hoped was a reassuring smile. “Really, it’s nothing. Elita is probably just disappointed because she’d rather Bradley run the workshop than Katie. She prefers working with men, and she likes to throw fits when she doesn’t get her way.”

  The moment the words left my mouth, I wished I hadn’t said them. Did it sound like I was implying Elita liked to flirt with Bradley? I hoped it didn’t come across that way. Before I could backtrack, Allison spoke, unfazed by my dumb comment.

  “Well, I’m sorry that it’s caused you to miss out on a girls’ night,” she said. “I know how hard it can be to come by those. Boys!” She leaned down and directed her attention under the table. “Stop playing with Mommy’s shoes. Why don’t you come out and behave like your friends Hudson and Thatcher for once? You need to finish your presents for grandma. She’s going to be here to pick you up in fifteen minutes. Do you really want her to see what you’re making?”

  The boys didn’t acknowledge their mom, and she didn’t repeat her request.

  “Let’s do something tonight anyway,” Stella said. “There’s only a couple of us who consistently come. Katie and Shannon only join us about half the time, and none of the other moms who work in OV come more than once or twice a year. Let’s watch a movie at Aldo’s and invite the ladies who normally make it.” She looked toward the next table over where Shannon was helping a little girl secure a clasp on the bracelet she was making. “Shannon, were you going to join us for girls’ night? Elita backed out and doesn’t want to have it at Deseo, but we could still get together for a movie and popcorn at Aldo’s. Interested?”

  Shannon looked up. Her curly red hair had been tied into a knot on top of her head, and her freckled skin had the hue of one who had recently been in the sun, which didn’t surprise me since she surfed year round. “I can’t tonight,” she said while finishing the clasp. She walked toward us. “I’m helping Katie pack up.”

  “You’re a good friend,” Stella said to Shannon. Then she turned toward Allison. “How about you? Want to join us for a movie?”

  Allison smiled a gracious thanks-but-no-thanks smile. “Oh, it’s so nice of you to include me. Tonight I’m going to sneak into Chocolat and decorate the employees’ break room and drop off their bonuses. I’ve been putting it off and need to get it done.”

  Stella nodded and then turned to me. “Are you up for a movie?”

  I looked at Nico. We had just decided to spend the evening planning our New Orleans trip, and I didn’t want to bail on him.

  “A movie night sounds fun,” he said, standing up. “You should do it. Before Elita canceled, I was going to see what some of the guys were doing tonight anyway. I’ll stick to my original plan.”

  “Jason is taking the boys to pizza and then on a bike ride if you want to join them,” Stella said, referring to her husband and sons.

  “That would be fun,” Nico said, “but I don’t have a bike here. I’ll just find out what Will and Chris are up to.”

  “You can borrow my bike,” Stella said.

  Nico grinned. “Thanks for the offer. If nothing’s going on with Will and Chris, I might take you up on it. But only if the bike is pink and has a bell and a basket.”

  Stella snapped her fingers as though to say oh darn. “Nope, it’s blue with no bell or basket. But now I know what to get you for Christmas.” She winked.

  Call me corny, but warmth spread through me as I watched Nico and Stella joke about bikes and Christmas presents. My sisters and our significant others didn’t actually exchange presents at Christmas anymore—mostly because we were tired of getting Holly’s coupon books of useless promises like never-going-to-happen car washes, 24/7 access to her art history books from her Ph.D program, and free wine tastings at our own winery. But I was so grateful that my sisters and Nico got along. Life would be so much more difficult if they didn’t.

  I got to my feet. “We’ll let you get back to your jewelry-making here. I’ll spread the word about movie night at Aldo’s. What time? Eight o’clock?”

  Stella nodded. “Sure. I’ll bring some snacks and movie options.”

  From the next table over, I heard Artie Brow’s voice. “Hey Jill, one thing before you go.” He stood and ambled toward us, straightening his bowtie and looking earnest. “How’s the apartment search going? Find anything yet?”

  “Not a lot of luck just yet.” I glanced at Nico. “We were supposed to look at a place later this afternoon, but the guy hasn’t called me back yet.” My eyes involuntarily darted to Shannon at the next table. She seemed pretty immersed in helping a preschool-aged girl put beads on a pipe cleaner, so she probably hadn’t heard me. The apartment situation was really strange. Last weekend, I had mentioned to Shannon that we were looking for a place in Temecula, and she had what seemed like a great idea at the time. She told me about how Katie Foxx and her boyfriend just went through an ugly break up, and both wanted to move out of their apartment. They still had six months on their lease, though, so maybe Nico and I could sublet from them. It soun
ded like a win-win. Katie and her boyfriend could move on with their lives separately, and then Nico and I could try out the apartment for six months rather than being stuck in the standard year-long lease. If we liked it, we could stay. The only problem was that Katie refused to talk to me about the apartment because the whole situation was too upsetting, and the ex-boyfriend was terrible about returning calls.

  So now Shannon’s idea was feeling less like a win-win.

  “If that place doesn’t work out, let me know,” Artie said. “A tenant from one of my properties just moved out. If you want the place, it’s yours.”

  My eyes grew. “Oh, wow, really?”

  “Sure. It’s just a little house a couple miles from here. Good neighborhood. Lots of young families.”

  “That sounds great. I’ll just call this guy with the apartment one more time, and if I can’t get ahold of him, maybe we can check out your place.”

  “Thanks for the offer, Artie,” Nico said.

  Under the table, one of Allison’s boys roared like a wild animal and shook a table leg. Loose beads rained to the ground, bouncing every which way.

  Nico, Artie, and I all bent to collect the fallen beads.

  “I’ll get them,” I said, reaching the floor before Artie. Sure, he was a very capable seventy-something-year-old man, but there was still no need for him to crawl around on the floor if I could help.

  “Boys, don’t knock the table,” Allison said just as her son roared again. Surely he didn’t hear her, and she didn’t reiterate the command or move to help gather the beads.

  Nico and I gave each other a look as we collected beads on either side of Stella’s feet. I was sure I knew what he was thinking. What a stark contrast between Allison’s boys and Stella’s boys. Sometimes we gave Stella a bad time for being strict, but her little guys had manners coming out of their ears.

  After grabbing all the beads in sight, I rose and placed the handful on the table. Nico did the same.

  “All right, we’re headed out,” I said. “See you later, Stella. Bye, Katie—I mean, Allison.” I inwardly cringed at calling Allison the wrong name. Clearly Katie was dominating my thoughts between the Entonces fiasco with Elita and the possibility of living in her old apartment. But Allison ignored my faux pas, just like she had when I implied that Elita liked flirting with her husband.

  Allison might not have been a great disciplinarian with her boys, but at least she was gracious with my blunders.

  Artie was still on the ground, now talking to Allison’s boys under the table, so I leaned down and waved to him. Then Nico and I both said goodbye to Shannon and headed out.

  “It would be nice to get a little house rather than an apartment,” Nico said once we were outside.

  “I bet it’s nice, too. Artie’s wife was an interior designer before she retired and loves taking on fixer-uppers.” Silently, I hoped that the house would be in my price range. Nico could afford anything, but I wouldn’t let him pay more than half of the rent, so he was stuck with whatever I could afford. “I’ll just try calling Katie’s ex-boyfriend one more time. I feel badly about saying we’ll come see the apartment without following up.” I pulled my phone from my back pocket and searched for his number.

  “He’s the one not calling you back.”

  “True.”

  “I’m just glad that we’re moving up here,” Nico said.

  “Me, too.”

  I had always liked living in Carlsbad. It was where I had grown up and where I now taught English. But since my parents passed away in a boating accident years ago, I was the only one in the family left living in the coastal city. Nico worked in OV, and we spent nearly all my days off up here. It seemed like we were here far more than we were in Carlsbad. Plus, my school year wasn’t going so well. Our new principal did nothing but chase test scores, and I was having trouble adjusting. I no longer found myself volunteering for extra school activities or hanging around after school if I didn’t have to. A time or two, a little voice in the back of my head had even suggested looking for a job in Temecula’s school district for next year.

  I knew my grandfather Aldo didn’t mind us staying in his house whenever we were in OV, but it just made sense for us to find our own place.

  I glanced at the time on my phone. “You better get back to Entonces. I told Elita you’d be gone twenty-five minutes, and now you’ve been gone twenty-seven minutes. The world may end if you’re gone any longer.”

  I held my hand up for a high-five. Nico slapped it and then squeezed me into a hug.

  “Let’s meet for dinner before movie night,” he said.

  “Okay. Text me when you’re done working.”

  Nico let go and with a deep breath, walked westward toward Entonces.

  I called and left another message for Katie’s ex-boyfriend, texted my friends about the evening’s change of plans, and then headed eastward toward D’Angelo Winery to deliver Holly her lunch.

  THREE

  All Entonces’ customers were gone when I walked through its front doors later that evening, and that was good—because Elita and Katie were in the middle of a raging argument. Nico stood behind the bar, drying a clean wine glass and staring into space as though oblivious to the ruckus.

  “No, I’m done,” Elita said with an aggressive head shake. “You promised after last weekend’s mess that it would be better this weekend. It wasn’t!”

  “I don’t see the problem,” Katie countered. She pushed her brown hair behind her ears, looking around, genuinely puzzled. “There weren’t any spills. All the candies and nuts were in little containers. There aren’t any stains on the floor—not even any melted chocolate. I got all the finished product in the refrigerator to harden right away, and it was all bagged and ready to go within the hour. What are you seeing that I don’t see?”

  Elita waved her hand, dismissing Katie’s observations. “I already told you, this is it. If Bradley wants to run the show tomorrow, that’s fine. But not you.”

  Conflicting impulses fought within me. I could back away and pretend I never walked into the store, or I could stay and watch the histrionics.

  The nosy half of me won out.

  Katie put her hands on the sides of her head, her eyes growing. “I already told you. He can’t. He’s not available tomorrow, okay?”

  “Not available?” Elita spat. “So you’re telling me that whatever he’s doing tomorrow is more important than this? And he’d rather lose the Crafts for Christmas contract than change his plans?”

  Katie stared at Elita. She took a long, deep breath. When she spoke again, her voice was lower. “I don’t get to make these decisions. He said he couldn’t come.”

  “Then forget it. Get your stuff and go. I’ll send Nico over tomorrow with your portion of the profits from today.”

  I glanced at Nico, who was still doing an impressive job ignoring the argument. He placed a dry wine glass under the counter and dried another one.

  “Oh, come on,” Katie said. “Please.”

  Elita shook her head and pointed past me to the front door.

  Katie’s face hardened. “You’re playing with fire,” she said. “If you want things to get dirty, watch out.” And with that, she swiped her purse off a nearby high-top table and stormed by me without making eye contact.

  “Hey Jill, you ready?” Nico said, suddenly coming to life. He put the last wine glass away and walked around the bar. “Let’s go.” He passed Elita without a word, took my hand, and led me out of the tasting room.

  “Wow,” I said once outside. “That was intense. Has it been like that all afternoon?”

  “There were two chocolate sessions after lunch, and Elita fumed nearly the whole time. I made her go to Deseo twice because she was getting worked up, but she kept coming back. And sending her away backfired because she complained to her dad about the chocolate workshop, and he told her to make sure Bradley comes tomorrow to avoid a repeat of today. He didn’t bother to consult me first.” Nico let out a long
breath. “At least Elita managed to contain herself until after all the guests left.”

  It was only six o’clock, but the sun had been down for over an hour. In its absence, the air had developed a chilly edge. I leaned into Nico to steal some of his warmth.

  “Katie’s ex-boyfriend didn’t answer when I called him earlier,” I said. “I had hoped to ask her about the apartment just now, but obviously it wasn’t the right time.”

  Nico watched his feet a moment before responding. “It’s a sign that we should just go with Artie’s house.”

  Before I could agree, there was a loud crash followed by a scream across the street. Nico and I froze. The noise sounded like it had come from Chocolat.

  Without a word, Nico started across the street toward Bradley’s shop. I scurried after him, scanning for cars along the way. The street was remarkably deserted—and so were the sidewalks. It seemed that very few people were around to hear the ruckus. The weekend visitors probably had already wrapped up their Christmas presents and were in the cozy restaurants eating dinner.

  As we reached the curb in front of Chocolat, there was another crash. The front window was dark, like Bradley had decided to close early, and I couldn’t see what was happening inside.

  “What’s going on?” I said as we hustled up the walkway toward the front door. “What should we do? Should I call Detective Fitts? 911?” I pulled my phone from my back pocket and shakily scroll through my contacts. Just a couple months ago Otto Viti had seen the death of a winery guest—on the D’Angelo Winery property, in fact—and I had become well-acquainted with the detective assigned to the investigation.

  I had also become quite jumpy around loud noises.

  Nico pushed my hand down. “Don’t call anyone. Stay right here.” He reached the front door in two strides, swung it open, and nearly ran into a red-faced Katie whose white shirt was splattered with chocolate. Startled by Nico, she gave a little yelp.

  “Are you okay?” he asked.

  She nodded. “I’m fine. Everything’s fine.” She crossed her arms and maneuvered around him. “Excuse me.”