Pepperoni Pizza Can Be Murder Read Online Free PDF Page B

whenever something went wrong in my life, even him.
    Maddy bit her lip; then she said softly, “Eleanor, I wonder if you should call him back and apologize.”
    I’d had enough of this particular conversation, from just about every angle. “If you want to chat with him, just hit redial. Me, I’m done talking to him at the moment.”
    “I think I’ll work out front a little,” Maddy said, even though she still had vegetables to prep for the day.
    “You know what? That’s just a swell idea,” I said, making sure she caught the sarcasm in my voice. As close as we were, there were sometimes when I needed space away from my sister.
    After Maddy left the kitchen, I started working the dough. It felt good kneading the soft mass, folding and refolding it again and again. I got out a lot of frustrations that way most mornings, but today it was a little less than satisfying. I felt rotten, and I knew exactly why. Maddy was right. I’d been far too short-tempered with David, and while I didn’t need to check in with him every hour on the hour, I did owe him more respectful treatment than I’d just given him. I hated when she was right, especially when it meant that I was wrong. It was pretty clear that David wasn’t the only one who merited one of my apologies.
    I put the well-kneaded dough in a bowl coated with oil, lightly brushed the top, then covered the whole thing and put it under the proofing lamp to give the yeast a chance to kick in. I had an hour before I had to touch it again, which gave me plenty of time to make that telephone call.
    David didn’t answer, though I suspected he was listening as I left my message. “Listen, I’m sorry I was so abrupt with you. It was nice of you to worry about me, but I meant what I said. I’m fine. Call me later if you feel like it.”
    Leaving a message wasn’t nearly as satisfying as making the apology to him directly. It somehow felt like I was taking the coward’s way out.
    That left one more apology I needed to make.
    I was getting ready to head out front to take care of it when Maddy started to come into the kitchen.
    She stopped short and peeked in through the door. “Is it safe to come in?”
    I grabbed the cleaver we used to chop the meat for our steak pizza special. “Sure, I’m just fooling around with this big knife.”
    “I thought I heard you on the phone,” she said as she edged in. “Did you call someone?”
    “You have the ears of a bat,” I said. “If you must know, I called David.”
    “You didn’t chew him out again, did you?”
    “No,” I said, putting the cleaver down. “I called him to apologize.”
    “That’s wonderful,” she said with a smile.
    “He wasn’t home. At least he didn’t pick up.” Maddy frowned, and before she could say anything, I added, “I left him a message, so don’t say anything else about it. I was wrong, and I admit it. I apologized to him, and this is about the only apology you’re going to get from me about this. Can we just move on?”
    To my surprise, she agreed. “The front’s all set up now, so I’m ready to get the toppings going.” As she started pulling peppers out of the refrigerator, she asked, “Is Greg coming by today?”
    “I’m not sure. He’s got class this afternoon,” I said.
    “So it’s just the two of us.”
    “No, Josh Hurley is coming in sometime. I’m just not sure when.” I’d chatted with him briefly on the telephone after his father had come by the Slice, and he’d promised to come by as soon as he could.
    “That’s great. We can handle things until school’s out,” Maddy said. “I’m surprised Marybeth and Kevin are letting him come back to work.”
    “From the sound of it, he’s driving them both crazy pacing around the house. Kevin made it sound like I was doing him a favor when I agreed to let Josh come back.”
    “It will be good seeing him again,” Maddy said. “I’ve missed his odd sense of humor, haven’t you?”
    “Let’s just say I won’t