A Pizza To Die For - A Pizza To Die For Part 30
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A Pizza To Die For Part 30

Chapter 17.

"Iwasn't going to stop, but I saw you standing there, so I thought you should know what's happened," Nancy Thorpe said as she got out of her car. "I'm leaving Timber Ridge, and I'm never coming back."

"What happened?"

"She tried to kill me," Nancy said, her voice shrill and full of fright.

"Who did?" I asked.

"Gina. Who else?"

"Take a deep breath and tell us what happened," I said.

She took a look at our outfits, and then said, "I forgot it was Halloween, can you believe that?"

"It's not important. What happened?"

"I was on the stairs going down when that crazy woman tried to shove me. I'm lucky to be alive."

"Are you sure it was intentional?" I asked.

Nancy looked at me with crazy eyes. "I'm telling you, that's what happened. Don't tell me that you're taking her side, too. Nathan believed her when she said it was an accident, but I felt her hand on my back, and trust me, it was no accident."

"Do you think she was doing it to try to get rid of the baby?" I asked. I couldn't believe anyone would be so callous, but if Gina had killed her brother, what was a little more blood on her hands?

"If that's why she did it, the joke's on her, then. There never was a baby."

"What are you talking about?"

"I lied," she said.

"About being pregnant?" Maddy asked.

"About everything. I went out with Judson twice, and we just didn't have enough of a spark to keep it going. He was estranged from his sister at the time, so she had no idea. When I found out that he was dead, I wondered if there was an angle I could play."

There must have been a look on my face that showed my disapproval for her, because she added, "Hey, I'm not exactly proud of myself for trying to take advantage of an opportunity like that, but it was worth a shot. Not anymore, though. I'm getting out of Timber Ridge, and I'm never coming back."

Nancy got into her car and drove off, leaving two grooves of chewed-up grass in her wake.

I looked at Maddy and said, "Can you believe that?"

"The fact that Nancy lied, or that Gina tried to kill her imaginary baby?"

Was that what the world was coming to? "Both, I guess. What is wrong with people?"

Maddy shook her head. "That's not the way to look at it. The question is, what's wrong with these people? Not everybody's like them."

"I sincerely hope not. Is there any chance that Nancy could have been mistaken about Gina?" I asked.

"Anything's possible, but from what I've seen so far, I'm willing to believe her. After all, she's leaving town. What does she have to gain by spreading lies on her way out?"

I shook my head. "Think about it, Maddy. The woman lied about being in love with Judson, and she just admitted to us that she made up a false pregnancy. Does that really give her any credibility now? If she told me the sky was blue, I'd have to look up and see for myself."

Maddy shrugged. "You've got a point. Look on the bright side, though."

"What, that I've got to get someone to fix the tracks in my lawn?"

"Think about it, Eleanor. We have one less suspect now than we had before."

"That's true," I said. "It is nice to eliminate one instead of adding someone new to our list."

"Don't get too excited. Karen's supposed to report back today with news of her genealogy search, isn't she?"

In all the excitement, I'd forgotten all about the job I'd given our customer. "Then it's a wash. Come on, I need a little reality right now, and there's nothing like burying my hands in dough to get that."

Maddy and I parked side by side in the back and walked through the shortcut together to head for the Slice. Before we left our cars, though, my sister had taken a minute to reattach her fairy wings, and I had to admit that she looked adorable.

My costume was the best she could do on short notice, but hers was truly eye-catching.

"Let's go see Paul," she said as we hit the promenade.

I glanced at my watch and saw that we had a few minutes to spare. "Why not? I'm a little worried about him."

Maddy asked, "Do you think he'd really leave Timber Ridge?"

"You saw the look on his face after Gina visited the bakery. I wasn't sure he'd finish out the day."

We walked toward the bakery, and soon we saw Paul through the window, behind the counter. To our delight, he was dressed as a scarecrow, complete with straw flopping out of his sleeves and a floppy hat.

"You look adorable," I said as we walked in.

"Right back at you both. You two look great."

"So do you," Maddy said.

"Maybe, but to tell you the truth, this hay is driving me nuts," he replied with a huge grin as he scratched at his sleeves.

"Are you allergic to straw?" Maddy asked.

"No, thank goodness for that, but it keeps falling out on the floor. If the health inspector comes by today, I'm doomed."

"I think you're safe," I said. "If I'm not mistaken, he's still on his honeymoon."

"Then I hope he doesn't get a substitute, because if he does, I'm going to get shut down."

I looked at the array of his offerings and saw full trays of the samples he'd shared with us before. "They all look wonderful."

"Sorry I never brought samples by to taste like I'd promised. I've been off my game the last few days."

"We understand," I said. "How are you doing?"

Paul managed a slight grin. "I'm getting better. I think I'll live, and in all honesty, I believe that's all I can hope for. Would either one of you care for a taste? Take whatever you want; it's on the house."

"No thanks," I said as I held a hand up. "They look wonderful, but I've had my fill of treats for a while."

Maddy looked at me as though I'd lost my mind. "I don't know what she's talking about. I'd be delighted. Thanks for offering."

"You don't have to," Paul said agreeably. "It won't hurt my feelings."

"I'm not sure I could look myself in the mirror if I turned down one of your confections," Maddy said. "I'll pick from the adult menu."

He nodded and offered the tray to her. Maddy chose a zombie head, and I changed my mind and reached for one myself since they looked so good.

"You don't have to," Paul said. "Really."

"I don't see how I can pass it up," I said with a smile. I took a bite and tasted the delightful cherry and raspberry filling. He'd overstuffed them, and it literally oozed out onto my hand. "Everyone's going to love you."

"I hope so," he said.

After Maddy and I finished eating, I said, "We're saving two ghost pizzas for you tonight. You are coming, aren't you?"

"I'm not sure," he said. "You know my hours."

Paul was up and working at a time when most folks were fast asleep, and I knew he rarely stayed up past eight at night.

"Surely you can make an exception," Maddy said. "You were at the Blowout last year."

"How could you possibly remember that?" he asked.

"You were a skeleton," I said, suddenly remembering the dancing bones of his costume, perfect for his tall and lanky frame.

"Very good. And you didn't dress up at all."

"Guilty," I said.

"Why the change?"

I was about to respond when Maddy waved her wand in the air, sending out little bits of glitter everywhere. "Haven't you heard, Paul? There's magic in the air today."

I stared at the glitter now scattered all over the floor. "Don't worry, we'll clean that up."

Paul just laughed. "Leave it right where it is. It complements the hay, don't you think? Happy Halloween, ladies."

"To you, too," we replied, nearly in unison.

When we left him, Paul was retrieving hay and stuffing it back into his shirt, a perfect scarecrow if ever there was one.

The lunch session at the Slice went fine, and I was pleased enough with my costume to come out every now and then to show it off, and to see what my fellow residents of Timber Ridge had managed to come up with. There were a few ghosts, goblins, witches, and zombies mixed in with a politician's mask and a few from movies I'd never seen, but I was surprised by such a light turnout. The air was festive, and I knew most folks were getting excited about the Blowout later that night. I kept watching the door, hoping that David would come through, but he must have still been interviewing candidates for the branch manager's job.

Maddy caught me looking once and said, "You could always call him and say hi, you know."

"Call who?"

"Don't play dumb with me, Sis. David will be here tonight."

"I know that," I said, pretending to be offended by her statement, but I wasn't fooling either one of us.

As the day went on, I realized that the lunch crowd was never going to reach our normal sales level for the day, and I knew that we'd be giving food away later by donating the proceeds to charity instead of keeping any of it for ourselves. It wouldn't do much for my bottom line, but Halloween was one of the few days of the year that I didn't watch my income so closely. I was in the spirit of things, and I wasn't about to let a little slow business get to me.

At least, not until Maddy reminded me of the real reason we weren't selling nearly as much as we were used to.

"It's not hurting us as much as I thought it would," she said. "At least not so far, anyway."

"What's that?"

"Eleanor, have you honestly forgotten? Gina is opening Italia's today."

It had truly slipped my mind, though I had no idea how that could have happened. "We still had our share of customers today," I said.

"That's because she doesn't officially open until tonight," Maddy said. "At least we weren't completely deserted, which is what I've been afraid of since we found out she was going ahead with the grand opening."

I glanced at the clock and saw that we still had half an hour before we were due to close the pizzeria for our break. "Maddy, this place is dead. Let's go ahead and shut down so we can check her place out and see how things are going over there."

"I've been waiting for you to suggest that for the last hour," she said as she quickly flipped our sign to CLOSED.

"I'll do even better than that," I said. "Tell you what, let's go right now. The dishes can wait until later."

"Are the paint fumes from the swatches I brushed on your face getting to you?" Maddy asked as she stared into my eyes.

"No, I'm fine. Why do you ask?"

"It's not like you to leave a dirty dish unwashed before you leave, let alone a sink full of them."

"Hey, people can change." I felt as though I'd already proved that.

"So I see," she said.

"Do you want to go, or not?"

"I'm right behind you," she said.

I locked the door, hoping that we weren't alienating any of our customers. Then again, who would notice? The promenade had folks drifting around from shop to shop, and I knew that some of my fellow tenants were taking advantage of the day to offer excellent specials to their customers. I'd tried it myself years before, without a great deal of success. I supposed most folks didn't associate Halloween with pizza.

As I thought, Gina had a crowd out in front of Italia's, but it was smaller than I'd been expecting. I was about to resign myself to standing in line out front when she spotted Maddy and me waiting to get in.