Goldy Schulz 01 Catering to Nobody Read Online Free PDF Page B

married - he looked like a male model in every thing - I had a compulsive interest in assessing his current wardrobe. Perhaps it was the new ostentation. He wants to look younger: Or the leather, wool, occasional silk: he's making lots of money. If I thought it was polyester, I savored an inner victory: the practice is failing. I now glanced from the hand-tooled cowboy boots past the charcoal-colored wool pants to the silk cowboy shirt and Navajo bolo tie. The bolo was held with a silver ring sporting a hunk of turquoise that matched his eyes. John Richard was tall and blond, with broad shoulders and narrow hips. He had more the build of a prizefighter than a doctor. Which, I reflected, was probably appropriate.
    He straightened his tie. He said, "Outfit okay?"
    I took a deep breath. I was too angry to admit he looked fabulous. I closed my eyes and feigned boredom.
    "Remember," I said, "I'm from New Jersey. There, people wear cowboy clothes up to fourth grade. But suit yourself."
    He was walking away. He held his hand up in mock salute. "I'll do that."
    I looked at the food spread out on the table, then scanned the room for Patty Sue. She was talking to Pomeroy the beekeeper. At least someone was having a decent conversation with a man. Fritz Korman was sidling up to Patty Sue himself. Didn't he see her enough with the twice-weekly visits? I also noticed Vonette watching Fritz.
    Not a student of social interaction, I put
    myself to work. Besides, I didn't want to seem to be looking for John Richard.
    "Come and eat," I invited a new gaggle of people eyeing the salmon. "C'mon, Trix, " I said because she was once more near me.
    Trixie's right arm - ripped, shredded; cut, as they say in the body business - reached for a plate. I lifted salmon flesh from the carcass.
    "Asparagus?" I asked her.
    "Of course," she said. "But no bread."
    "Were you a friend of Laura's?" I asked.
    "I knew her," she said vaguely, as I topped her coral-colored mound of fish with a dollop of mayonnaise. Trixie looked at me, dark brown eyes in a face framed with streaked blond hair. She said, "Not too much mayo." She thought for a minute. "Laura used to come to class. Sometimes we talked afterward. She was funny, a little wacko, I thought, but not. . . She never came to the club's parties. She was like you, didn't really go out with men."
    I mm-hmmed and averted my eyes to end the conversation. This was not the assessment of my current social life that I wanted John Richard to overhear.
    The aunt came up and asked how everything was going, then complimented us on the food, which she had yet to taste. She was a short woman with pale makeup and too-black hair cut severely short around her face.
    "Thank you," I said. "Will you be around long?"
    She shook her head. "I'm flying back to Chicago tonight. The house is going up for sale Monday. She left her goods to me, but I certainly don't know what to do with them. I'll be back in November to finish things up." She gave me an ingratiating smile. "Your son is just a little darling. And how nice of him to help you with the business."
    I nodded and fixed her a plate, then glanced in the direction of Arch, who was talking to John Richard, or rather, being talked to. Arch was nodding, his face full of pain. I could imagine the questions. Did you try out for soccer? Are you going to play football? Have you thought about basketball? Why not? The Jerk had never accepted the fact that his son was not destined for the NFL.
    I reassured the moneyed aunt that the catering business was very important to me, as well as to Arch. She gave me a sympathetic look and slid away.
    Now I could sense John Richard, hear him, see him shuffling along in what had become a fairly long food line, maybe ten people. With that kind of backup I was now preparing the plates in advance, whether the guests wanted asparagus or not. I heard him again and looked up. He was talking to Fritz. A medical conversation, no doubt. Beside the Jerk was the new