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GRILLING CLEAN UP
The best time to clean the grill is as soon as the final item is taken off. Crumple up aluminum foil—recycle by reusing what was used to steam root veggies like carrots. Then let the barbecue tongs do double duty, too, and hold the foil to save your hands as you run the silver ball over the grate to knock off stuck on food while it’s still warm. In just a few seconds all burnt-on pieces will be gone, and the grill won’t require a lot of elbow grease later.
* * *
WHILE KEITH SHOWERED, Kate pulled out the cutting board grabbed the bowl in the refrigerator loaded up with all the washed vegetables. She took a few minutes to section the peppers and onions into big chunks, ran the knife down the carrots to make long strips, and sliced summer squash and tomatoes into similarly sized spheres. Then she grabbed the aluminum foil and olive oil cooking spray and called out, “Girls, I’m going next door for a minute.”
“Okay, Mom,” they chorused.
She took the shortcut through the back gate and was surprised to see Gil at the grill getting everything ready. “Hello, stranger, we’ve missed seeing you lately.”
Meg’s husband was tall and lanky, and he offered a crooked grin at Kate’s words. “Yeah, I’ve been hearing that a lot. So when the editorial meeting broke up today, I finished up my story and cut out before anyone spotted me.”
“You do know you’re not an indentured servant.”
“Only to my wife,” Gil said, chuckling.
“Is she busy inside?” Kate asked.
“On the phone with her mother. Doctor’s appointment today and apparently they’re waiting on more tests,” he replied. “If those are the vegetables she was talking about, you can leave them on the table here. I’m going in and get the corn in a minute. She’s had it soaking. Oh, and the asparagus spears and potatoes. ”
“Terrific. I brought cooking oil in a can. I always cheat and use that instead of having to coat the veggies with a brush.” Kate waggled the can back and forth as she spoke. “And here’s some foil to put the carrots on a little earlier to steam since they’re denser than the rest of these vegetables. Probably good to use it to start the potatoes too.”
“Great.”
“Keith’s in the shower now, but I’ll send him over to help you,” she called, lifting the latch on the gate.
“Watch out for Rowdy!”
The dog almost made it through, but Kate caught his collar and pulled him back just in time. Gil jogged over to take control of the canine escape artist.
“That was a good catch, Kate,” he said, grinning. “Maybe you need a dog to go with your cat.”
“Bite your tongue, Gil Berman. If my girls ever hear you say something like that they’ll never let up from the begging.” She smiled and waved on the way back to her house.
When she walked in the door, she startled Sam, and her daughter dropped something on the floor. Something that looked suspiciously like a firecracker to Kate, before her daughter closed her hand around it.
“Samantha, what’s in your hand?”
Her tomboy twin held out two Black Cat firecrackers. Kate snatched them from her palm. “Where did you get these?”
“At camp. Justin gave them to me.”
“Did he give away any more?”
The nod Sam gave was so nearly invisible only a mother could detect it.
“How many other children got fireworks from him?”
“I got two because he said he likes me, but most everyone else got one. I don’t remember how many, maybe eight other kids.” Sam shrugged. “Mommy, one of the kids asked if it was alright for us to have them, and he said they weren’t illegal.”
“So, someone did realize you shouldn’t have these.”
Again, the nod of her daughter’s head barely made a blip on the parenting Richter Scale. Kate sat in a kitchen chair and pulled Sam into her lap.
“Does Suzanne have any?”
“No. Justin calls Suzanne prissy.”
Kate bit her lip to keep from smiling. After a second she said, “These are legal fireworks for adults, honey. Not for someone your age, unless Daddy or I stay nearby and watch out for your safety.”
Sam buried her face in Kate’s shirt, and her voice was muffled when she said, “I wasn’t going to light them.”
“Whether you were or not...” She knew in her heart Sam was just saying the words to get out of trouble, but Kate decided to play along. “Justin should never have had these to give out in the first place. If someone ever gives you something dangerous like this again, you immediately take it to a teacher, a camp counselor, or your daddy or me. Understood?”
The small blonde head moved slightly, acknowledging the order.
Kate brushed the back of her daughter’s head with one hand. “It isn’t that we don’t want you to have a good time, Sam, but children—and even adults—lose their eyesight, hands, and even lose their lives each year by not handling firecrackers properly. You must take great care when you’re carrying or using them. What you don’t know can definitely hurt you.”
Keith walked into the room, and Kate opened her hand and revealed the contraband.
“What...?” He frowned.
Kate nodded down toward the daughter in her lap. Then said, “Okay, Sam, why don’t you run up to your room and read for a while. Your daddy and I need to talk.”
Sam raised her head. “Do I have to read?”
“Yes,” Kate replied, wishing Sam didn’t feel like a book was punishment. But for now, it was the best she could do.
Once Sam had raced upstairs and Kate heard the bedroom door close, she told Keith about the firecracker discovery and where they came from.
He moved to the phone. “I know Justin’s dad from school. Marty sells insurance and is a great guy. He always wants everyone to have a good time, but he would never give fireworks to Justin to take anywhere. I’ll call and talk to him. Ask if Justin remembers exactly which kids he gave fireworks to and try to head off any problems.”
“Sam said she remembered about eight, but he could have given away more when she wasn’t around him.”
“Okay, I’ll tell Marty.”
“Shouldn’t we tell the camp, too?”
“Yeah, I’ll do that when I drop off the girls in the morning. Everyone is gone for the evening since it’s only a day camp. For now, I’d like to try to find the fireworks and get the parents to take them away.”
“And when you’re finished, why don’t you go over to the Bermans and help Gil with the grilling,” Kate said.
“He’s home tonight? Wonder how he was able to sneak away from his editor?”
“I think he waited until no one was looking and slipped out,” she said, grinning. “Meg has him prepping the grill now, but she talked about getting him to mow the backyard earlier. He may never come home again.”
Dinner went well, and cleanup was fast since they used paper plates. After Keith headed to the radio station, the kids all went upstairs to play video games, and Gil went into his office to call a source, “But I promise, it won’t be long.”
“Okay, I’m timing you,” Meg teased, grinning.
When they were finally alone, sitting at the kitchen table with glasses of iced coffee, Kate said, “Gil seems to be putting a lot of effort into tonight.”
Meg sighed. “We’ve been talking. I know he doesn’t do any of it on purpose, and I like that he has a strong dedication to informing the public, but I told him sometimes he really needs to connect better with me and the boys. The look of guilt I saw cross his face when I said...” She covered her own face with her hands for a moment, before finishing, “I felt awful saying it, but more than a little vindicated at the same time.”
“Speaking of guilty, what do you think about what Stacy said today?” Kate asked, twirling her glass to make the ice dance.
“I’m glad Liz shut her down double quick. Can you imagine if she said that in front of the police?” Meg replied.
“Exactly. I’m glad Josh showed up at her house while the police were questioning her. He seems to have a good head on his shoulders.”
“It was awfully convenient though, wasn’t it?”
“What do you mean?” Kate asked.
“Him being there and piping up as they were asking her for an alibi,” Meg said. “Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying she killed Bren, but I can readily see she’d had her fill of the nasty little harpy and why. Josh is just the type of white knight personality who might think it’s okay to manufacture an alibi to keep a friend from getting into trouble.”
“She had no way of getting there without calling someone for a ride, remember. When her truck wasn’t getting tires at the garage, Josh was driving it back home for her because she had no means of getting there to pick it up.”
“There is that,” Meg acknowledged. “But I’m just worried Josh is sticking his neck out and may get his head chopped off if he is spinning an alibi to help Stacy.”
“And if she had been the murderer, I doubt she’d have left the bracelet behind,” Kate said. “I imagine she would have looked for it before leaving since it was one of the reasons she was angry with Bren. But I completely get your concerns about Josh taking the risk, and after what Liz said today about him always ready to protect a friend, it’s completely in character.”
“I wonder who the police have on their list right now,” Meg mused, turning her glass around on the tabletop as she thought. “Stacy, and probably Liz still.”
“And us.”
“You really think so?” Meg asked.
“Until they find a better suspect, I don’t doubt all of us are on the suspect list. They may let us leave, but not before talking to Lieutenant Johnson first.”
“Good point. And if Stacy is on the list, I’ll bet her brother Travis is too,” Meg said. “In fact, I’ll just bet anyone who helped round up the horses should be on the list. I can’t imagine young adults getting together in kind of a situation and not mouthing off about what they’d like to do to the person who caused the problem.”
“The list just gets longer and longer,” Kate said and sighed. “And I don’t really want anyone arrested for the crime. I’m not saying Bren doesn’t deserve justice, but...” She shrugged.
Meg nodded. “I know exactly what you mean. From the two encounters we had with her the woman was a homicide waiting to happen. She provoked everyone she spoke to.”
“And unfortunately, all the people we know she spoke to are either young people with their lives ahead of them, or Liz,” Kate said. “There’s never a good bad guy around to blame when you need one.”