“Go ahead,” Anna said. “I baked some extra last night since I was here, so I can help with sales if they pick up. Are you doing something exciting? Seeing Mike?”
“No, meeting a high school friend.”
“It’s that Eddie person again, isn’t it? The man who doesn’t like our products.”
“Well, yes. I think he might have some information that would help Julie.”
Anna gave her a sideways glance. “That would be good.” She suspected there was something more, Chase was sure. That woman had Chase’s number, and good instincts.
Chase was able to steer Eddie to a lunch place that was a step up from fast food, but definitely not vegan. She told him she didn’t have enough time to go to his own health bar. He was disappointed.
“You know how it is when you own your own business,” she said. “I can’t be away for too long in the middle of the day.”
“What days are you closed?”
Uh-oh. She’d laid a trap for herself. “We close on Mondays and Tuesdays, usually.”
“I’ll have to pick you up one of those days, then, and take you to the Health from the Heath Bar. You’ll love it.”
Chase gave him what she hoped was an enigmatic smile. That was better than sticking her finger in her mouth with her tongue out.
“We can walk to this place today.” Chase headed up the street to the Meet N Eat, which was only a few blocks away.
“It’s pretty cold out. You sure you don’t want me to drive there?”
Chase paused and took in the clear, crisp sunshine, the dark blue sky, and the merest hint of a breeze. “It’s a beautiful day. It would be healthier to walk.”
She had him there. Chase had to admit, though, that her cheeks were numb and her eyes watering by the time they reached their destination. Eddie was right. It was cold out.
The warmth of the Meet N Eat felt good; it wrapped around her as soon as she entered. Smells of sizzling beef hung in the air, making her realize that the walk had made her hungry.
As they went in, two men were going out, and one of them was Langton Hail.
After they were out the door, Eddie noticed Chase eyeing them. “Do you know who that was?” he asked. “He seems familiar.”
“He’s the guy we saw at that vegan restaurant who was drunk. He was at the reunion. He’s nobody important.” Unless he’s a murderer. Eddie, she thought, obviously didn’t know anything about the man.
Eddie waited until they were seated by the hostess before he began criticizing Chase’s choice.
“What kind of a menu is this? Look at all this beef.”
“It’s a hamburger restaurant,” Chase said. “They specialize in beef.”
“There are exactly five vegetables on here. And two are breaded and fried.”
“I always get lettuce and tomato on my cheeseburger.”
Eddie shuddered, but stopped complaining.
Chase studied the menu, thinking she might try something different than her usual cheeseburger with onion rings (presumably one of the unacceptable vegetables). Maybe she’d go with the Chicken Caesar Salad. That might appease Mr. Health Heath a bit.
He ordered the Chicken Caesar Salad, too, the only Caesar on the menu, but no chicken—and no dressing. Just Romaine lettuce, basically, Chase thought.
The hostess brushed by and seated a couple at the table next to them. Chase was horrified to see Mike Ramos. She turned her head aside quickly and tried to keep her face hidden. However, she had to know who he was with, so she snuck a peek. One look at the dark brown shoulder-length hair told Chase this was his cousin, Patrice Youngren. The young woman was a self-styled fortune-teller. She was also a habitual thief. She loved the thrill of lifting things and not getting caught. The trouble was, she often got caught. She had managed, though, to filch a ring off Chase’s finger once without Chase noticing until much later. Mike had gotten it back and Patrice had promised not to take anything from Chase again.
“Chase, hi,” Patrice said, spotting her and waving with a bright smile. “Good to see you.”
Mike, who had been seated with his back to Chase (so that Chase had thought she might get away without being noticed by him), whipped around, started to smile, and spied Eddie. The smile died before it was completely born.
This was too awkward. Mike would think it strange if she didn’t introduce Eddie.
“Hi, Mike,” Chase said. “This is Eddie Heath. He owns a health bar here in Minneapolis.” Maybe he’d think this was a business lunch and they were discussing their prospective shops. Or maybe it wouldn’t be such a bad thing for him to be a bit jealous.
The guys and Patrice said hi and that seemed to be the end of it, except for Mike’s deep scowl directed at Chase.
Eddie tried to make small talk while they waited for their food to arrive. “You know, funniest thing. I drive by the high school on my way to work and there was a car still there the morning after the reunion. I think we missed part of the party.”
“You think some people stayed there all night?”
“Probably too drunk to drive home. There was someone in the car, sleeping it off. Hard liquor is toxic to your body, you know.”
Chase didn’t think a glass of liquor was exactly “toxic,” but she didn’t feel like arguing with the guy.
He asked how the Bar None was doing. “Do people buy all those things made with sugar and flour?”
“The shop is going great guns,” Chase said. “My partner, Anna, is a little frantic with all she has going on right now.”
Eddie raised his eyebrows in question.
“First of all, she’s getting married Christmas Eve.”
“My Health from the Heath Bar does a terrific reception buffet.” He paused. “But I suppose your place will supply the catering.”
Chase nodded. “She’s also entered in the Minny Batter Battle. She’d like very much to win. A woman named Grace Pilsen is a rival of Anna’s and has been taunting her unmercifully.”
“Who is she?”
“She owns a bakery called The Pilsener.”
Eddie guffawed. “Really? It’s a bakery, not a bar?”
“Really. Anna would love to get hold of Grace’s recipe so she would know what she has to beat.”
“That would probably help her out a lot, wouldn’t it?”
“I think so. I’m not into stealing recipes, though, and neither is she.”
Their food arrived and Chase noticed, out of the corner of her eye, a rapt expression on Patrice’s face. Mike’s posture was stiff and unnatural. His face was buried in his menu. She could almost feel the frost emanating from him.
TWELVE
As soon as Chase got to the Bar None, Anna hurried over. “Good, you’re back. Are you doing anything tonight?”
Chase took off her coat and scarf and hung them on a hook by the rear door. “Nothing special.” She had thought she would inspect the state of their inventory and maybe go over the financials for the shop.
“I’ve just talked to Julie. She’s feeling pretty low. We need to cheer her up.”
“Okay. I’m all for that. What do you have in mind?”
“Holmes Sweet Holmes is playing tonight at the Orpheum. Julie’s talked about it and I think it would do her good to get her mind off everything.”
“Don’t you want to practice for the Batter Battle tonight?”
“I’m getting sick of it, to tell you the truth. I could use a night off. Then I’ll hit it fresh on Friday.”
“And win the contest next Saturday!” Chase had no desire to do the books tonight. They’d be there tomorrow.
“One hopes.”
Chase went to the office to try to do a little work on ordering items for the shop. That was something she had to keep up with. If they ran out of baking supplies, they were out of product to sell. They could run to the local grocer for a few things, but she needed to stay on top of the major items. She completed most of her ordering, but didn’t know if they needed more eggs or not. Those were ordered separately from a local farmer. So she went into the kitchen to count them.