Page 32 of Cordelia Manor
She dashed back into the kitchen and, this time, came out with what looked and smelled like freshly baked bread.
“Wow, you did all this today?” I asked.
She nodded and smiled before turning to go back into the kitchen. She made several more trips while Al poured us each a glass of wine. When Christie came back with nothing in hand, I looked at the spread in front of us and then back up at her. “How many people are coming?” I asked.
She chuckled. “I wanted you to get a feel for my abilities as a chef. These are my basic go-to foods. Onion soup with Swisscheese. Rye bread with freshly milled rye. Leg of lamb, which we have a local provider for, and coq au vin.” She named each dish, then sat across from us to watch us eat.
“Okay,” I said and stared at the meal before me. “I don’t know where to start.”
“Start here,” she said, pointing toward the salad. “I make my own dressing. It’s delicious and inexpensive to make. I can also make it in advance, and the flavor will become more intense the longer it ages.”
She took us through bites of each of the dishes. Each one a magnificent representation of French cuisine. I was once again overwhelmed at how gifted Christie was in her culinary skills.
“So?” she asked when I sat back, too full for even one more bite, although I really wanted to keep eating.
“So, I was going to play hard to get, and you deserve that too,” I said, trying to give her the stink eye before I gave up and just smiled. “You’re amazing. I don’t understand why or even how I could say no. If you want to partner with me on reopening the restaurant, I can’t imagine anyone more qualified or talented!”
Christie beamed and put out her hand for a shake. “Then it’s a deal.”
I reached out, took her hand, and a very light shock radiated through it. I knew instinctively I’d made a binding agreement, even though neither of us had signed anything. Christie was now a business partner. Damned if I wasn’t over the moon excited about that.
30
Cary
The weeks sped byafter the dinner at Al and Christie’s. It seemed so strange how quickly life changed once Evan showed up. The manor spirits seemed settled. As far as I could tell, the benign ones were getting stronger, now that we’d caged the old man. None of them were causing any trouble or showing themselves, at least not in the parts of the manor we were using again.
Evan’s great-grandmother Inez had not shown herself to me again either. I still sensed her presence, and got the sense she was pleased Evan was spending more time in the manor, but I hadn’t spoken with him about the encounter. Truth be told, I didn’t know how to discuss the spirits with him without freaking him out. The evil one remained locked in the basement, the basically friendly ones weren’t a bother, and there was no sense in rocking that boat for now, not when everything appeared to be going so well.
Interestingly enough, Evan and Al seemed to be the most at odds. Al possessed an incredible talent for renovating old buildings. But, despite Evan’s small build and quiet personality,when he set his mind to something, no one, not even the powerful coven leader herself, could sway him otherwise.
I was surprised to see admiration in Al’s expression as well as frustration. Christie and I mostly stayed out of their way, only doing what they told us to when they needed our help. Christie, of course, took over the kitchen. Prepping, testing supplies, and ensuring it was all up to standards before all the health department inspections began.
For my part, I helped sort through the massive file of past inspections, licenses and agreements relating to the hotel and restaurant that Deke had given Evan. A lot of the legalese was well above my paygrade, so as Deke had suggested, I contacted Mr. James to help us. He, in-turn, contacted the Hallock family’s attorney, and between the two of them, we forged an agreement. Assuming the restaurant passed another round of health inspections, we’d be able to operate under the Hallock umbrella for the immediate future.
I knew without question we would sail through the health department inspections. Christie was as dictatorial over the kitchen being pristine as Evan seemed to be over the dining room being impeccable.
He found the original fabrics for the chairs somewhere in storage, and I almost had a heart attack when he pointed toward the back of the kitchen where the door to the basement was. He noticed me cringe and physically paled. “I didn’t think… should I not go back there?”
I shook my head. “I-I think it’s fine as long as you leave the basement door alone. But how about you make sure one of us is with you anyway, just to be on the safe side.”
He nodded. “I got so caught up in the renovations. I’ll be more careful!” he said, quickly scurrying back to the dining room.
“Damn,” I said, and Al came up behind me. She’d obviously heard the conversation.
“Yeah, damn,” she repeated.
“I hate this,” I whispered because we were still close to the basement door. “He shouldn’t have to be afraid on his own property.”
Al took me by the elbow and dragged me away from the basement door. “It’s for the best, and I have a feeling that door will open when the time comes, no matter what we want or hope for. For now, though, we’re doing what we’re supposed to do. The other spirits seem to be gathering strength too… that’s encouraging. You can feel it too, right?” she asked.
I nodded because I did feel it. This was exactly right. I didn’t know why or how I knew, but I did. The nasty entity was safely locked behind the basement door. We hadn’t needed to get anything from down there. Thanks to the kitchen renovation after the fire, the plumbing had been updated and was working perfectly.
I dreaded the day we might need to get into the basement. I had a feeling there would be a reckoning coming, and maybe it would happen when we reopened that door. Or maybe something else would trigger it. Whatever the instigator, we needed to be prepared, I just still wasn’t sure how. More accurately, I wasn’t sure how to prepare Evan for that eventuality.
The man seemed to overcome his fears, though, and several days later, all the old-fashioned chairs had been repainted and reupholstered. Al had removed the ugly carpets only to find a layer of quarter-inch plywood. Evan was all for painting and polishing it when Al pulled the plywood up and found beautiful hardwood floors underneath.
We came to find out that Deke’s grandfather had put the plywood on top of the floors to preserve them before installing the carpet. I think if he’d been around, Evan would’ve kissed the man. Unfortunately, he still wasn’t well enough for us to makegood on our visit to him, or for him to venture here to see our progress in person.
