Читать книгу Death of a Wicked Witch - Lee Hollis - Страница 12

Chapter 6

“I wish you wouldn’t speak to me like that,” Ted Lancaster said as he wandered toward the Wicked ’Wiches food truck, his phone clamped to his ear, grimacing.

Hayley and Gemma, who were finishing up eating their sandwiches, eyed him as he approached, declining to greet him as he was too engaged in what appeared to be a very difficult, prickly conversation with someone. He did nod to them in acknowledgment as he continued talking. “Listen, I understand where you’re coming from, but at some point you’re going to have to make an effort to—” He paused. “Hello?” And then he sighed and stuffed the phone in his back pocket, frustrated.

Trudy leaned out of the window of her truck. “Was that who I think it was?”

“Yes, I’m afraid so,” Ted growled. “Sometimes she can be so... so... thickheaded and impossible.”

“Just like her father,” Trudy joked, winking at her husband before glancing over at Hayley and Gemma, who were standing awkwardly nearby and chewing the last bites of their subs. “Ted’s daughter, Alyssa.”

Hayley and Gemma both nodded, choosing to remain silent, not anxious to overstep their bounds and ask too many questions. But, fortunately, Trudy was in a chatty mood.

“She’s been having a rough time of it ever since Ted divorced her mom and married moi.”

“How old is she?” Gemma asked.

“Twenty-one,” Ted answered gruffly, obviously replaying the conversation with his daughter over again in his head.

“She’s a senior at Boston College, studying Education. She wants to be a teacher,” Trudy said.

“Not anymore. She just told me she’s dropping out and moving to New York to sing in a rock band, if you can believe it. She’s in her final semester, with enough credits to graduate in a few months, and now she’s throwing it all away on a whim!”

“Wow, is that why she called?” Trudy asked.

“Yes, and to remind me what a terrible father I am,” Ted grumbled.

Hayley and Gemma crumpled up the paper plates and tossed them in the trash can next to the food truck and were about to sneak away when Trudy drew them back into the uncomfortable conversation again.

“There has been a lot of tension ever since I came onto the scene. A lot of it has to do with the age difference between Ted and me. Alyssa has made it quite clear that she hates the fact I’m closer to her age than I am to Ted’s.”

“Look, I know how awful it is when your parents get divorced,” Gemma said softly, glancing furtively at Hayley. “But you can’t force them to stay together, and you certainly can’t control who they fall in love with.”

Ted didn’t appear to be listening because he was too lost in his own thoughts. “She’s doing this just to get a rise out of me. She wants to get me angry because she’s so angry.”

“Ted, maybe her going to New York is a good thing. If she wants to be a performer, that’s the place to be,” Trudy said.

“Have you heard her sing? I say this with love because I’m her father, but she stinks!”

“Ted!” Trudy cried.

“It’s true! No, this is her way of punishing me.”

Before Hayley and Gemma could finally make their escape, Trudy was talking to them again. “I feel terrible I haven’t been able to forge a positive relationship with her, and Lord knows I’ve tried. She just doesn’t want to have anything to do with me.”

“It’s her problem, not yours, honey,” Ted said, gazing lovingly at his wife. “You’ve made a herculean effort to become her friend. She’s just acting like a spoiled brat.”

“Well, we better get going,” Hayley said, grabbing Gemma by the arm to quickly steer her away.

“Wait,” Trudy said. She disappeared inside her truck and then reemerged with a paper bag that she handed to Ted. “Did you walk here, honey?”

Ted nodded. “Yeah, when Alyssa called I figured it would be safer if we didn’t talk while I was behind the wheel of a car.”

Trudy turned back to Hayley and Gemma. “Ted’s picking up lunch for himself and the Reverend and Mrs. Staples over at the church. I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind dropping him off on your way home.”

“Not at all,” Hayley said. “We’d be happy to.”

“Thanks,” Ted said, taking the bag from his wife and looking up at her. “You did remember no olives on Edie’s veggie sub?”

“Yes,” Trudy sighed. “She reminded me five times when she called to place the order.”

When Hayley, Gemma, and Ted piled into Hayley’s car for the five-minute drive to the Congregational church, Ted dropped any further references to his troubled daughter, Alyssa, and focused on how much he was looking forward to taking over ministerial duties from Reverend Staples. Hayley couldn’t agree more given her own complicated history with the mercurial reverend. She was eagerly anticipating some new blood at the church.

As Hayley pulled her Kia into the church’s gravel parking lot, she and Gemma were both stunned by the sight of a monstrous RV parked parallel to the backside of the church building.

Reverend Staples, who was just stepping out of the brand-new, pristine, shiny vehicle, spotted them immediately and waved frantically at them to get out of the car and join him.

Ted, who was sitting in the backseat, leaned forward and said, “I don’t think there is any way you are going to get out of a tour.”

Hayley shifted the gear into park. “I’m actually curious.”

They all jumped out of the Kia as Reverend Staples hurried over to them, excitedly huffing and puffing.

“So, what do you think?” he asked expectantly.

“It looks really nice,” Gemma said.

“It’s a 2020 Coachman Mirada 32SS,” Reverend Staples said, beaming proudly. “She’s such a beauty. And she better be because she cost us half our retirement savings!”

Hayley could only imagine what the reverend’s nettlesome and stingy wife, Edie, had thought about that.

“She’s thirty-four feet and ten inches long,” Reverend Staples boasted, leading them over and rapping on the side of the RV with his knuckles. “Exterior is champagne glass with partial paint.”

Hayley and Gemma nodded, pretending to have some idea as to what he was talking about.

“And she’s fully loaded. Come inside!” Reverend Staples said, clambering up the steps.

They all dutifully followed. Once inside, they found Edie sitting at the dinette table, scowling as she paid bills from a checkbook.

“Hi, Edie, we’re here for the tour,” Hayley said, smiling.

Edie grunted, obviously not at all sold on her husband’s self-proclaimed magnificent purchase.

Reverend Staples didn’t seem to notice his wife’s less than enthusiastic demeanor and prattled on. “It’s got a king-size bed, full-wall slide, fireplace, hardwood cabinet doors, and a solid-surface kitchen countertop.” He pounded on it with his fist for good measure. “And we went with the deluxe package that features stainless-steel appliances, a WiFi ranger, exterior speakers—oh, and a power drop-down bunk in case we have guests.”

“Have you thought about where you’re going to go first?” Gemma asked.

“We’re heading north to Niagara Falls as we make our way west. I’ve never seen Mount Rushmore in South Dakota and the Black Hills, I’m partial to the canyons and alpine rivers in Wyoming and Utah, Vegas is a must, and then when we hit California and dip our toes in the Pacific, we’ll turn around and head south because Edie has always dreamed of touring the old plantation homes of New Orleans. Isn’t that right, dear?”

“I can’t wait,” Edie said, scowling. “I just envisioned us flying there and staying in a nice hotel in the French quarter, like the Hotel Monteleone where my sister and her family stayed, not in some RV park outside of town.”

“Oh, you’ll love it!” Reverend Staples insisted, obviously turning a blind eye to what his wife wanted in his dream retirement scenario.

“Whatever you say, dear,” Edie said, forcing a smile.

Hayley had known Edie Staples long enough to know that this simmering and so-far-unspoken conflict between her and her still oblivious husband would eventually come to a boil. She could only imagine what kind of knock-down, drag-out fights were going to erupt in this surprisingly spacious RV as the couple slowly made their way from sea to shining sea. She just hadn’t expected those fights would start before the Coachman had even left the parking lot.