Rocky Road (3 page)
“Oh, he’s always looking for an excuse,” Tess said as she pulled open the oven door. “And as long as he’s willing to put up with the heat to do it, I’m always game.”
“Mmmmm,” Caro said. “I still remember that stew he made last year.”
“Wait until you have this, then,” Tess said as she removed a pan of rolls—perfectly golden brown—from the oven and set it on the stovetop. This meal was looking better and better. “It’s a recipe his dad used to make, but he’s changed it up a little and it’s so good.”
Sadie continued to watch Paul—though she hadn’t been formally introduced to him—through the glass as Tess explained his love for Dutch oven cooking and how he was looking to turn it into a side business. Paul straightened, and Sadie hurried to open the door for him. “Thank you,” he said. He had the same hazel eyes Sadie had seen on his daughter, and a kind face. “I’m Paul, but my hands are covered with charcoal so I won’t make you shake them.”
Sadie smiled. “I’m Sadie, Caro’s friend. Nice to meet you.” She closed the door behind him.
“I think we’re ready,” he announced to the group.
“Great,” Tess said, putting the last of the rolls in a basket lined with a flour sack towel. “Gabby, go get your brother for the prayer.”
Gabby did as she was asked and returned with Paul and Tess’s son, Ryan, who looked ten or eleven years old. He said a prayer over the food, and then Paul instructed everyone to pick up their plates from the table and come outside to be served. Sadie had to stop herself from being the first in line and graciously let the children go in front of her.
As soon as she stepped outside, the heat was forgotten because of the amazing smells coming from the two Dutch ovens. One had chicken in it and the other a potato casserole. Sadie had to swallow in order to keep her enthusiasm in check. Really, her food obsession was a bit out of hand.
“This is wonderful,” Sadie said after Paul slid into his seat at the head of the table. She’d already enjoyed a few bites of both chicken and potatoes, and they were delicious.
Paul grinned his appreciation for the compliment but said nothing, probably because his mouth was full. She waited for him to finish before asking about the recipe, which he said he’d be happy to share. She committed to buy a Dutch oven and make it for Pete. Maybe after they were married. Zing.
“Oh, I forgot the rolls.” Tess jumped up and headed for the kitchen, returning seconds later with the basket of rolls that completed the meal perfectly. She also put a small bowl of what looked like strawberry cream cheese in the center of the table.
“When we got married, Paul’s mom gave me a whole cookbook full of her family’s favorite recipes, including this one,” Tess explained as she returned to her seat. “It’s from a restaurant called Maddox in northern Utah—that’s where Paul’s from. The rolls are especially good with raspberry butter.”
Raspberry butter, not strawberry cream cheese.
Sadie was happy to sample a roll. She spread both halves with a generous helping of the raspberry butter. “These are delicious,” she said one bite later. “Is it a batter roll?” It was so light it couldn’t possibly be from a traditional kneaded dough.
“It is a batter roll. They’re my go-to roll recipe—so easy to whip up and so good. I’m glad you like them.”
“I like everything. Thank you both for your efforts.”
“Sadie’s a bit of a foodie,” Caro explained with a teasing smile in Sadie’s direction.
“And a very, very happy one right now,” Sadie added, causing the adults to chuckle. She was soon lost in the joys of really excellent home-cooked food.
For the next twenty minutes, the group ate and talked and got to know each other. As soon as dinner was over, the kids disappeared outside with Paul to clean up while the three women cleared the table and stored the leftovers. Tess put the last four rolls into a zippered plastic bag for Sadie and Caro to take to the hotel to eat later. Sadie was overjoyed! Would it be rude to ask for some raspberry butter, too?
The three women worked together like a well-oiled machine. When the kitchen was clean, Tess pulled out a half-gallon of vanilla bean ice cream and asked Caro to get a jar of hot fudge out of the fridge. Paul and the kids weren’t ready for dessert yet, so Tess, Caro, and Sadie made only three hot fudge sundaes for themselves.
“So,” Tess said with a glint in her eye after they sat around the table again. “Are you ready to discuss the case? I have the layout for the scrapbook all worked out and ready to go—now I just need the info to fill it with.”
Breading:
1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 teaspoons salt
2 1/2 teaspoons paprika
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
3/4 teaspoons red pepper powder
1 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
Combine breading ingredients and coat 18 pieces (approximately 4 pounds) split boneless, skinless chicken breasts.
Brown breaded chicken in skillet in 2 tablespoons vegetable oil. When browned, place chicken in 12-inch Dutch oven. Cover and cook over low heat 2 to 3 hours. Check occasionally; if contents are too dry, the pot is too hot. Do not stir. When chicken is tender, serve as desired. (Chicken may tenderize in pan for approximately 1 hour.)
Slow cooker directions: Place 2 tablespoons vegetable oil in bottom of slow cooker before adding browned chicken. Cook 2 to 4 hours on low heat setting.
Oven directions: Place browned chicken in 9x13-inch pan, cover with foil, and bake 1 hour at 350 degrees.
Makes 18 servings.
1 (10.75-ounce) can condensed cream of celery soup (or any cream soup or homemade white sauce)
8 pounds potatoes, unpeeled and sliced 1/3-inch thick
3 medium onions, finely chopped
2 pounds cheddar cheese, sliced or grated
Salt, to taste
Pepper, to taste
1/2 (1-ounce) packet ranch dressing mix, blended with 2 tablespoons water (mixture should be thick, like condensed soup)
Spread undiluted soup over bottom of Dutch oven. Fill oven 1/3 full with sliced potatoes. Add a layer of 1/3 of the chopped onions; sprinkle with salt & pepper. Add two more layers of potatoes, onions, salt, and pepper; top with ranch dressing mixture.
Place over low heat about 2 hours, being careful not to let potatoes burn; stir every 30 minutes. If potatoes seem dry, the pot is too hot. If potatoes on bottom of pot burn, do not disturb them—the rest of the potatoes may still be enjoyed without tasting the burned ones.
When potatoes are tender, cover with ½ of the cheese. When cheese is melted, stir potatoes a final time. Just before serving, add remaining cheese; allow cheese to melt and serve this delicious dish.*
Feeds about 18 adults as a side dish.
*When potatoes are tender, serve within 10 minutes or dish will turn mushy.
Note: One-half or one-third of this recipe may be made in a slow cooker. Grease slow cooker before adding ingredients as listed. Cook 2 hours on high heat setting before adding1/2 of the cheese, stirring, and then adding additional cheese.
The Maddox Ranch House is located in Perry, Utah.
1 tablespoon active dry yeast or instant yeast
1/4 cup warm water
1/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup shortening
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup scalded milk*
1/2 cup cold water
2 eggs, beaten
3 1/2 cups flour
For regular yeast: In small bowl, sprinkle yeast over warm water; set aside. In separate larger bowl, combine sugar, shortening, and salt; mix well. Add scalded milk, cold water, and beaten eggs; mix about 1 minute, or until well combined. Stir in dissolved yeast. Add flour. Mix four minutes.
For instant yeast: In mixing bowl, combine 2 cups flour, 1 tablespoon yeast, sugar, and salt; mix well. Add shortening, eggs, scalded milk, and 3/4 cup hot water; mix 2 minutes. Add remaining 1 1/2 cups flour; mix 2 minutes more. (This is a “batter” roll rather than a “dough” roll. Batter will be soft.)
When ingredients are combined, cover bowl; let batter rise in warm place 45 to 60 minutes, or until doubled in size. Stir batter down. Spoon into greased muffin tins, filling 18 muffin cups about 2/3 full. Cover; let rise an additional 45 to 60 minutes, or until double in size.
Bake at 400 degrees 15 to 20 minutes, or until lightly browned.
Makes 18 rolls.
*Evaporated milk may be substituted for scalded milk.
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup raspberry jam
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Mix all ingredients together until smooth. Makes about 3/4 cup.
Sadie had almost forgotten about the investigation, and neither she nor Caro answered Tess immediately. Not seeming to notice their hesitation, Tess turned toward Caro and continued. “Remember that list we made of people who could be good sources of information? Well, you’ll never guess who’s in town and possibly available for an interview. I almost didn’t put her on the list because I thought it was such a long shot.”
Suddenly the ice cream wasn’t quite so delicious. Sadie put down her spoon.
“Uh, who?” Caro asked. Sadie lamented the missed opportunity to let Tess down from the start.
“Lori Hendricks,” Tess said. She looked back and forth between Sadie and Caro, her eyes showing that this name should mean something to them. “Dr. H’s ex-wife. Nikki’s ward is hosting the memorial luncheon and Lori’s helping with it.”
“Ward?” Sadie couldn’t help but ask. “Who’s Nikki?”
“Oh, uh, a ward is what we call a Mormon congregation,” Tess said.
“Nikki Waters is Dr. Waters’s wife,” Caro said, turning to Sadie. “He and Dr. Hendricks were partners at the clinic and the foundation.”
“That’s sure nice of Nikki’s congregation to head up the luncheon,” Sadie said.
“Mormons do that kind of thing all the time, and Dr. H was a member of the Church, just not active.” Tess leaned closer to Caro and Sadie. “But the fascinating part is that Lori’s helping with the luncheon. She’ll even be at the church tonight. So I told Nikki we’d love to help set up. It might create an opportunity to talk to Lori, right? And maybe Nikki, too.”
“Uh,” Caro stalled, shooting a look at Sadie.
Tess continued, still not properly interpreting the lack of response to her enthusiasm. “Lori’s son, Joey, was in Ryan’s first grade class—that was before Lori and Dr. H divorced—and Lori and I did an art council fund-raiser together. It’s that whole foot-in-the-door thing you were talking about, Caro, you know? I’m still friends with her on Facebook and now she’s in town. Isn’t that great?”
“Well,” Caro started. “I’m not—”
“And I told Nikki about the scrapbook idea and she loved it. She’s going to talk to Dr. Waters about sharing some of his memories for it.”
When neither Sadie nor Caro made any comment, Tess sat back in her chair a little and drew her eyebrows together, finally recognizing that something was wrong. “Why aren’t you excited about this?”
“Actually,” Caro said slowly, saving Sadie the trouble of bursting Tess’s balloon of anticipation. “There’s been a bit of a change of plans.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, I talked to Sadie,” she motioned toward Sadie, and Sadie tried not to shrink back when Tess turned her confused look in her direction. “And she thought that we should turn the pictures over to the police and let them follow the leads. Ya know, since they’re already involved and everything. The pictures are probably evidence.”
Probably? Sadie repeated in her mind.
Tess was quiet for a few seconds and put her spoon down on the table. “You mean, you don’t want us to look into this on our own like we talked about?”
Caro shifted her weight in her seat and looked at her ice cream. “Well, uh ...”
“I don’t think it’s a good idea,” Sadie said, attempting a rescue for poor Caro. “It could be considered interfering with a police investigation, which is why we took all the articles and pictures to the police department on the way here, so they can evaluate them and use them toward their own investigation.”
“You took them to the police?” Tess lifted her eyebrows and looked back and forth from Sadie to Caro in shock.
“It’s a police investigation,” Sadie repeated. “And I’m certain they will appreciate you guys helping them out.” She smiled in an effort to lighten the mood of the conversation.
When Tess focused on Sadie, her eyes narrowed slightly. “But—I thought this is what you did. You’re a PI and everything, right?”
“I had a private investigator business for a while, but I don’t do it any more.”
“But you solve murders and stuff. Caro told me about what you did in Santa Fe, and then something back east, too, right?”
“Well, yes, but I don’t do those things on purpose.” That didn’t sound right. “I mean, I don’t put my nose into things that aren’t my business.” That was a bald-faced lie. “I mean, well, I believe it’s best to help the police figure this out rather than do it ourselves. They know more than we do, and for us to act on this independent of them would be duplicating information and could cause some problems with their case.”
“What kinds of problems?” Tess asked, accusation and challenge heavy in her voice. The nice bubbly woman Sadie had first met was gone and in her place was a woman who likely wished Sadie had never come to town.
“All kinds of things can go wrong when you’re doing an investigation and the police are better trained to deal with those things. We certainly don’t want to mess anything up for them.”
Silence fell on the table between them and after a few more seconds Tess picked up her spoon and took another bite of her ice cream, staring at her bowl. Her annoyance was palpable, and Sadie felt bad despite knowing she was doing the right thing. At her core, Sadie was a people pleaser—she liked people to be happy. Tess was not happy right now.
Despite the awkward mood, Sadie wondered about this list of names Tess had mentioned. Caro hadn’t mentioned it. Had they planned to create an actual scrapbook? Or just tell people that’s what they were doing? What else had they done in preparation for this “case”? But Sadie couldn’t allow herself to think about that for very long. It wasn’t safe, considering how easily she’d become invested in past cases.
“I’m sorry, Tess,” Caro said after several seconds had passed. “I should have thought about turning the pictures over to the police sooner.”
“What if they don’t do anything with it?” Tess said sharply, looking at Caro—not Sadie. “Dr. H’s foundation saved my life and he was the only one who seemed to understand how important it was for me to keep the option of having another baby. He’s made that a possibility for me—he did. In the two months since he’s disappeared, the police have found no leads. Not one. And we did. I owe it to him to find out what it means. I can’t believe you two decided that didn’t matter without even talking to me about it.”
Ouch. “The police haven’t found leads they’ve shared,” Sadie cut in, though she tried to smile to make up for her rudeness in interrupting. Tess did not smile back as Sadie explained further. “There are things that take place behind the scenes that aren’t necessarily made public. And they might be things that your discovery could help with. I understand how strongly you feel about this, Tess, but the police really are the best option for evaluating the photographs. They can do more than we ever could.” Even as she said the words, dozens of memories rushed through her mind of times when the police hadn’t found the answers Sadie had sniffed out on her own. Caro had said as much back at the hotel, but now Sadie was remembering actual details about things she’d uncovered that no one else had. But with those memories came the reminder that she’d also gotten in the way of police investigations. She’d put herself in danger, and she’d created dangerous situations for other people. This was far more complex than either Caro or Tess realized.
Caro and Tess returned to their ice cream. After a few moments, Tess looked up again. “That’s really it, then?” she asked in a tone that seemed casual, but didn’t mask her disappointment ... or frustration. “All that planning for nothing? I never considered that we were wasting our time with the lists and everything.” She cast a quick accusatory glance at Sadie, and Sadie looked away again. Her hopes that she and Tess would be friends began to thin.
“I’m sorry,” Caro said.
Even the last bite of ice cream couldn’t make Sadie feel better about this. What a killjoy she’d turned out to be. Who else was on that list? Why was Lori Hendricks helping with the memorial luncheon for her ex-husband?
“So you agree with her?” Tess asked Caro as though Sadie weren’t sitting right there.
Caro paused a moment, but then she nodded. Sadie would have liked a stronger answer.
“And you guys took all those articles I found to the police? Without even asking me about it? I spent hours gathering those articles. Hours. If I’d known you were going to just hand them off, I’d have kept them myself.”
“I’m sorry,” Caro said. “I should have told you about it before we went to the police. I made copies of the articles, though. I’ll bring them over tomorrow.”
Tess stood up, pushing back her chair and leaning over the table to gather the bowls. This time she didn’t make eye contact with either Caro or Sadie. “Well, I told Nikki I would help set up at the church tonight, and I need to keep my word. You’re welcome to come with me if you’d like, but don’t feel obligated.”
Tess didn’t wait for an answer before heading back into the kitchen. The bowls clinked together as she put them in the sink. Sadie and Caro stayed at the table.
“That didn’t go as smoothly as I had hoped it would,” Sadie said quietly enough that Tess wouldn’t overhear.
Caro leaned toward Sadie so she could also keep her voice down.
“Yeah, Tess can get a little intense sometimes, and she felt like this was something she was supposed to do—as in, ‘God wanted her to.’”
Oh, boy.
“Couldn’t we help her set up tables at the church?” Caro asked a moment later. “It sounds like she told them we’d come—they’re counting on us, and maybe it would help Tess feel better about all this.”
It was on the tip of Sadie’s tongue to ask if Caro’s and Tess’s real motive for going were to create an opportunity to talk to Dr. Hendricks’s ex-wife after all. But Tess hadn’t said she was going to continue the investigation, and Sadie still wanted Tess’s friendship. “I’d be happy to help set up.”
“Oh, good,” Caro said brightly as she got to her feet, a little too brightly for Sadie’s peace of mind. “I’ll let Tess know.”
Sadie hoped this wouldn’t be a decision she’d regret.