Lemon Pies and Little White Lies (19 page)

Chapter 10

Ella Mae didn’t receive any more texts from Hugh.

She wrote several of her own asking when he’d be coming home, but he didn’t reply. His one-line text had her head spinning. Was he really returning to Havenwood? And why now? Against all odds, had he found what he’d been looking for?

“I can’t obsess over this,” she chided herself after checking her phone for texts the tenth time that morning. “I have too much work to do.”

In fact, her list was longer than usual. Due to the History in the Baking events, The Charmed Pie Shoppe would only be open for tea the following week, but Ella Mae still had to prepare enough dough for teatime pies and tarts. She also had to shop for ingredients for the fillings. That meant a trip to the farmer’s market followed by an afternoon in the kitchen making balls of dough until her hands ached.

“At least it’s Sunday, so you can come along,” she told Chewie. “I’ll put you on security detail.”

When Ella Mae pulled into the lot behind the pie shop, she was surprised to see a row of familiar cars. Inside, her family and friends were gathered in the kitchen. Her mother and two aunts were wearing the shop’s official peach aprons embroidered with the phrase “That’s How I Roll,” while Reba and Jenny had to make do with aprons from home.

“What’s going on?” Ella Mae asked, hanging her purse on a hook near the door.

Before anyone could reply, Suzy and Aiden came into the kitchen through the dining room. Aiden carried a coffee carafe in each hand and Suzy held a pitcher of sweet tea.

“We’re here to work.” Suzy placed the pitcher on the counter and smiled at Ella Mae. “We might not have your magic touch, but all of us are capable of operating small appliances, chopping fruit, or washing dishes.”

“I volunteer Aiden for dishwashing duty,” Jenny said with a snigger.

He nudged her in the side. “Make my sister slice the onions. I like it when she cries like a baby.”

“We don’t need onions, you big, lumbering oaf. We’re making desserts for the tea menu.” Jenny swatted her brother with a potholder. “Or did you think Ella Mae would serve her customers an onion meringue pie?”

Reba held up a warning finger. “Don’t make me put you two over my knee. Aiden, the front porch and patio need to be swept. I’d recommend you do the job with your shirt off, but seein’ as your girlfriend is standin’ right next to me, I’ll keep my randy thoughts to myself.”

“That would be a first,” Verena said and winked at Ella Mae. “As for Sissy and me, we caught a few hours of sleep and would rather be here than moping around our houses.”

Ella Mae smiled. It was a balm to see the circle of familiar, beloved faces, but she felt that someone else was far more
deserving of company and comfort. “What about Dee? Shouldn’t someone be with her?”

“Sissy, Adelaide, and I have already worked out a schedule,” Verena said. “But we can’t spend eight hours a day in Atlanta, sweetheart. Dee knows that you need us too.”

“All of Havenwood seems to be buzzing,” Sissy said. “Everyone’s bright-eyed and chatty. There’s so much
energy
in the air. It’s like a late spring fever.”

“Well, my Buddy is jumping out of his skin with excitement over the History in the Baking events.” Verena chuckled. “I swear that whenever that man closes his eyes he envisions a giant coffer filled with gold coins. I bet we’ll see several town beautification projects this summer.”

Sissy pried the lid off the flour container and waved it around. “Every hotel, motel, and spare room from here to Atlanta is booked, and the shops and eateries are packed with people. As mayor, it’s no surprise that Buddy’s thrilled.” She gestured at the commercial mixer. “Tell us what to do with that intimidating contraption, Ella Mae.”

As Ella Mae got Sissy and Verena started on the dough, her mother washed the fruit from the farmer’s market. Reba was tasked with measuring out nuts for the bourbon pecan and chocolate hazelnut tarts Ella Mae planned to make and then freeze for later in the week. There’d be no cream or meringue pies on the menu. To make up for this, Ella Mae decided to bake a large batch of cream cheese–and-peach hand pies. These treats would freeze well, and she knew a warm, creamy, and delectably sweet hand pie topped with a scoop of cinnamon vanilla-bean gelato would delight her customers.

After Aiden headed outside to clean, Jenny washed her hands and volunteered to grease pie dishes and roll out dough for crusts. As soon as she was set, Ella Mae had Suzy
boil peaches on the stovetop and then, once they were cool enough to touch, remove the skin and pits.

“I never knew you could skin a peach this easily,” Suzy said, her eyes round with wonder. “It’s almost like magic.”

The women worked and chatted and moved around one another like synchronized dancers. The kitchen was filled with sunlight and the scent of roasting nuts and freshly brewed coffee. Reba switched on the radio. Over the seductive crooning of Michael Bublé, Ella heard occasional bursts of laughter or squeals of dismay as a peach rolled onto the floor or an egg broke in a drippy mess on the worktable.

While she gently stirred chunks of semisweet chocolate in the double boiler, Ella Mae felt the invisible threads binding her to each woman in the room. They seemed to thrum like living things, and Ella Mae knew that she wouldn’t need to infuse her food with magic today. It was all around her, filling the air with music and transforming the sunlit dust motes into fairy dust.

This is where my strength comes from
, Ella Mae thought.
When I need it most, I’ll just close my eyes and remember this feeling.

Hours later, both the cooling rack and freezer were loaded with tarts and pies. Ella Mae stood back and admired the results of their combined efforts. Since The Charmed Pie Shoppe was closed on Mondays, she was now fully prepared for a café filled with customers on Tuesday.

“Even with the events taking place at the resort, I still expect to be mobbed at teatime,” Ella Mae said. “After all, talking about pie will make people hungry for it.”

“Not to worry. Your aunts and I plan to be here all week.” Her mother touched her apron and smiled.

Verena nodded. “That’s right. When we’re not with Dee, we’ll be with you. Fiona and Carol Drever are in the rotation too. After Adelaide told me about your late-night visit, I
wanted to speak with Fiona myself. She’s an honest woman, Ella Mae. A good and loyal woman.”

Ella Mae frowned. “What about Opal Gaynor? She must be in pain right now.”

“Adelaide asked her to help you with some of the History in the Baking events,” Verena said. “Opal has incredible organizational skills and she excels at crowd control. We also like the idea of keeping her close.”

Ella Mae studied her aunt. “Why? You don’t trust her?”

Verena hung up her apron and took both of Ella Mae’s hands in her own. “I don’t have a child of my own, but when you were born, I claimed you as belonging partly to me. We all did. And if you were to raise your hand against me for whatever reason, I wouldn’t fight back. I couldn’t. Your life is far more precious than mine. Knowing you’re in the world brings me joy.”

“If Opal feels the same about Loralyn—and despite her icy exterior, I suspect she does—then she’s vulnerable.” Sissy brushed Ella Mae’s cheek with her fingertips. “So, for the first time in our history, a LeFaye will protect a Gaynor. You will keep Opal safe and show all our visitors that the two clans can stand together. This is your destiny, my dear.”

Ella Mae thanked everyone for helping her and then shooed the women out of the kitchen, telling them to go home and relax. She even had her mother take Chewy, knowing he’d rather play in the garden with Miss Lulu than spend another hour snoozing on the porch.

Alone in the pie shop, Ella Mae removed the white chocolate raspberry pie from the freezer and placed it in the middle of the counter. She was just about to unwrap it when there was knock on the back door.

“Don’t tell me you’re working,” Finn said, shielding his eyes against the spring sunlight. He made no move to enter. “I came to see if you were okay.”

Ella Mae glanced at the pie on the worktable in confusion. She’d been thinking of Hugh, but it was Finn who stood in her doorway. It was Finn who’d been utterly selfless last night. He’d helped rescue Aunt Dee and the cat in her arms. He’d ruined his car taking down the barn door and risked his life rushing into a burning building after Ella Mae. And how had she repaid him? By sending him a text message thanking him for being her hero. She hadn’t even spoken to him in person.

Feeling deeply ashamed, she walked toward him. “Finn,” she began before stumbling over a bulge in the floor mat by the sink. She pinwheeled her arms as Finn leapt forward. He clamped a hand on either side of her waist, and she fell against his chest with an “umph.”

Making no attempt to let go, Finn smiled at her. There was so much kindness in his big brown eyes that she had a powerful urge to kiss him. And before she knew it, her lips were on his. Instantly, his arms encircled her. He pressed her closer. And closer still. She could barely breathe, but she longed to be made breathless.

But Finn’s kiss didn’t feel right. It wasn’t Hugh’s kiss. Finn’s lips were soft and wet and warm, but they weren’t Hugh’s. For all his fine qualities, Finn was a stranger. A charming and attractive stranger, but he wasn’t Hugh. And Ella Mae wanted Hugh. She loved Hugh.

She backed away. “I shouldn’t have done that.” She touched her lips and then shoved her hands in her apron pockets. “I’m sorry, but I’m in love with someone else. When he left, he told me to move on with my life, but I can’t. I tried to put him out of my mind, but I can’t.” She shook her head in apology. “I really like you, Finn, and I owe you a huge debt of gratitude, but I shouldn’t have kissed you.”

“I’m not sorry,” he said hoarsely, his eyes locked on hers. “And I’ll never stop hoping we can repeat the experience. By
the end of next week, I’ll officially be a Havenwood resident. I’m going to stick around, Ella Mae. Your guy might have been crazy enough to leave you, but I wouldn’t. If you were mine, I’d never let you go.” Lifting her chin, he stared down at her, and whispered, “I’d run into the fire for you a million times over, but I won’t interfere with your relationship. If you need me, you know where to find me. Until then . . .” He pressed a kiss on her palm, smiled at her, and then left the shop.

She watched him go; wishing her hot skin would cool and the rapid beating of her heart would slow. When Finn vanished from view, Ella Mae poured herself a big glass of water and gulped it down. She then moved back to the worktable and slowly removed the layers of aluminum foil from around the frozen pie. When the last piece came free, her eyes widened in surprise.

The overlapping hearts of melted chocolate she’d piped in February were broken. In the cold quiet of the walk-in freezer, every single heart had cracked, the thin squiggles of dark chocolate mysteriously separating into jagged halves.

Hands trembling, Ella Mae rewrapped the pie in foil and shoved it back into the freezer. In the empty kitchen, she touched her lips again, as if the ghost of Finn’s kiss could offer her warmth and comfort. But she felt chilled, as though winter had sunk deep into her bones. She left the pie shop and headed home, where sunlit roses and flights of butterflies awaited her.

•   •   •

The next day, Ella Mae arrived at Lake Havenwood Resort well before the first event. Mr. Brandon, the manager, greeted her in the lobby. He pumped her hand with gusto while predicting that the weeklong festivities would be a rousing success.

“I certainly hope so.” Ella Mae smiled at him. “And I’m glad our first activity is indoors. It’s rather gloomy out today.”

“Not to worry,” Mr. Brandon said. “It’s the ideal weather to pack the auditorium, the restaurant, and most importantly, the bar.”

Ella Mae laughed. While Mr. Brandon moved off to speak with a guest, Ella Mae proceeded into the auditorium to conduct a microphone test. After mounting the stage, she spotted a couple in the third row gazing up at her with a look she could only interpret as wonder.

“Hello. I’m Ella Mae LeFaye,” she said into the microphone. Her voice sounded foreign to her own ears, so she switched off the mic, exited the stage, and approached the couple.

They immediately jumped to their feet. “This is such an honor,” began the woman, who was at least twenty years older than Ella Mae.

The man removed his baseball cap and performed an awkward little bow. “An incredible honor, ma’am. She’s even more beautiful than the tales tell, isn’t she, Linda?”

“I expected no less. After all, she’s our . . .” The woman trailed off and glanced around. “Forgive us. We’re just a bit starry-eyed. We’re the Shermans from North Dakota, I’m Linda and this is my husband, Bill.”

Ella Mae recognized the names. “Of course. You’re the beekeepers. It’s lovely to meet you, and I can’t thank you enough for baking the samples for this morning’s event.”

Bill waved off her thanks. “The honor’s ours.”

“Can we do anything else to help?” Linda asked.

“I need to get the word out that I’m holding a meeting in our grove tonight,” Ella Mae said. “I’d like the chance to talk to everybody about changing our future.”

The Shermans exchanged gleeful smiles, and then Linda took a hesitant step forward. “I know this is terribly rude, but we’ve traveled so far and, well, would you mind showing us the mark?”

For a moment, Ella Mae didn’t understand, but when she realized what Mrs. Sherman was asking, she nodded and held out her palm. The Shermans both whispered an awe-filled “ahhhhh.”

At that moment, the double doors in the back of the room were opened, and the audience began filing inside.

“I know you need to go,” Bill said in a low voice. “But Linda and I made up a sign so you’ll have a way of knowing who’s loyal to you. We figured out how to make a clover shape with our hands. See?” He curled his thumbs into his index fingers as if he were making a pair of shadow rabbits and then folded his remaining fingers on top of one another, creating a roundish hollow above the two roundish hollows he’d made with his thumbs. He raised his hands so the beam of an overhead spotlight shone through the gaps between his fingers. Ella Mae saw the shape then. It really did resemble a three-leaf clover. Linda repeated the movements with her hands, smiling shyly as she did. “We’ll spread the news about your meeting.”