and in large amounts. It never ceased to amaze Judith how
her cousin could consume so much food and stay slim. Metabolism, Judith told herself, and envied Renie’s gene pool.
All her life, Judith had fought to keep weight off, and only
now, in her fifties, did she feel comfortable with a couple of
extra pounds on her tall, statuesque figure.
“Do you feel okay?” Judith finally asked.
“Yes. Yes, I feel fine.” Renie sounded cross. “It’s going on
eleven. I’ve got to get organized. Good luck.” She disappeared from sight.
Judith didn’t have time to worry about her cousin’s sudden
lack of appetite. For the next hour, she immersed herself in
making crepes, dicing ham, rolling out puff pastry, and cutting up fruit. It was a joy to work under such splendid conditions, and best of all, with no interruptions from guests,
the telephone, or her mother.
The bus arrived at ten to twelve. Judith didn’t hear it pull
in, but Renie came to alert her. “It’s actually a big van,” she
told Judith from the doorway. “The driver won’t stay, of
course. He’s already headed back to the city.”
Judith, who was in the middle of fashioning her puff
20 / Mary Daheim
pastries, merely nodded. “Lunch at twelve-thirty, right?”
“Right.” Renie left again.
The lodge’s staff had already set up a large round table
for ten in the dining room. Judith checked the table settings,
admired the centerpiece of yellow gladioli, purple freesia and
white lilies, then returned to the kitchen. She was filling the
industrial-size coffeemaker when a small woman with big
glasses and a platinum blonde pageboy entered the kitchen.
“Are we on schedule?” the woman asked, tapping a huge
wristwatch that looked as if it could weigh down her arm.
“We are,” Judith replied with a smile. “My name’s Judith
Flynn.” She wiped her hands on a cloth and reached out to
the other woman.
“Nadia Weiss, administrative assistant,” Nadia replied with
a faint New York accent. She didn’t budge, let alone shake
hands. “If you have any problems, come to me.” With a swish
of cashmere skirts, she departed.
Judith uttered a self-conscious little laugh and went back
to work. Two minutes later, another woman appeared in the
doorway. “You must be the caterer,” she said.
Judith looked up from the crepe pan she was heating on
the stove. A slim, plain woman of Chinese ancestry fixed
mesmerizing dark eyes on Judith. “Yes,” she gulped. “I’m
Judith Flynn.”
“The caterer,” the other woman said in a tone that indicated
Judith wasn’t a person, she was merely a service. “My name’s
Margo Chang. If a Ms. Weiss contacts you, ignore her. I’m
the vice president in charge of public relations, and I handle
jobbers like you.”
Judith imagined that a small smirk tugged at Margo’s tight,
thin mouth. “Okay,” Judith said, still subdued. “If I need
anything, I’ll ask you.”
“You shouldn’t need anything. You should have come
prepared.” Margo’s voice dropped a notch in what sounded
to Judith like a threat.
SNOW PLACE TO DIE / 21
“I’m fine. Everything’s fine,” Judith said hastily.
Margo gave a curt nod and left. Judith’s wide shoulders
relaxed. She stiffened again when she heard someone else
enter the kitchen. To her relief, it was Renie.
“Thank heavens!” Judith cried. “I’ve just been visited by
two of the three witches.”
“Which ones?” Renie asked. “By my count there’re four.”
Judith winced. “Are all the women who work for this outfit
like Ms. Weiss and Ms. Chang?”
Renie’s round face grew thoughtful. “I’m not sure. By
chance, I’ve dealt mostly with those two. You have to realize,
coz, that I don’t know most of these people very well myself.
I’ve only done a handful of smaller projects until now.”
“But you’ve actually worked with the ones I just met?” Judith was aghast.
Renie nodded as she surveyed her cousin’s handiwork in
the kitchen. “I’m used to it. You have to remember that all
these executive types must be fairly tough to get to the top.
The women have to be even tougher.”
Judith, who was slicing kiwi, looked a bit puzzled. “But
Whatshername—Weiss, right?—isn’t a vice president or an
officer. Or is she?”
“That’s the problem,” Renie said, leaning against the
marble countertop. “She feels she should be. As administrative assistant, she wields a lot of power, but she doesn’t get
the same perks or the big salary. In the last few years that
I’ve dealt with Nadia and the p.r. v.p., Margo, I haven’t seen
any love lost between them. Nor with Andrea and Ava, if it
comes to that.”
“Andrea and Ava? They sound like a dance team.” Judith
tried to visualize the list Renie had given her. “Which ones
are they?”
Renie smiled indulgently. “Ava Aunuu is vice president–information technology services. Andrea Piccoloni-Roth is vice
president–human resources, which used to be
22 / Mary Daheim
known as personnel. I’ve never understood the name change
in a world that keeps dehumanizing people.”
A quick glance at the digital clock on the stainless-steel
range told Judith that it was 12:25. “I’d better start serving
the food. When are you going to eat?”
Renie shrugged. “Later. I don’t like to make presentations
on a full stomach.”
Judith started to say, since when? , thought better of it, and
began dishing the fresh fruit onto heavy brown earthenware
plates. “I’m surprised they didn’t ask for a buffet.”
“Everything else will be buffet,” Renie said, rummaging in
her big purse. “Since you’re here only for one meal, they
decided they’d like it to be a sit-down event.” Renie took out
a package of cigarettes and lighted up.
“Coz!” Judith almost dropped a crepe. “What are you do-
ing?”
“Smoking,” Renie responded through a thin haze.
“You don’t smoke! You haven’t smoked since we went to
Europe where we had to smoke!”
“Well, I’m smoking now.” Renie sounded unnaturally
calm. She exhaled a large blue puff.
Judith was flabbergasted. She herself had quit smoking
almost ten year earlier, and had never quite gotten over her
desire to start again. Renie, however, was another matter:
She had been what Judith called a party smoker, enjoying
cigarettes only when accompanied by reasonable amounts
of adult beverages and loud decibels of rock ’n roll.
But there was no time to discuss her cousin’s newly acquired vice. “I could use some help with these plates,” Judith
said, picking up two of them.
“Can’t.” Renie puffed some more. “It’d ruin my image.”
“Very funny,” Judith said, heading for the dining room.
“Hold the plates steady. I don’t want to screw up the
presentation.”
SNOW PLACE TO DIE / 23
“I’m not kidding,” Renie called after her. “I can’t help you.”
Judith stopped at the door and turned to look at her
cousin. “What on earth are you talking about?”
“I’m serious.” Renie had put on what Judith referred to as
her cousin’s boardroom face. “I can’t be a waitress one