Chapter 25
The next day was the annual Bar Harbor Halloween parade where all the schoolchildren from kindergarten all the way up to the eighth grade marched down Main Street showing off their Halloween costumes.
This year there was a wide variety of ensembles from store-bought outfits to lavishly homemade ones. Lots of superheroes and cartoon characters like Green Lantern, Superman, Batman, Bart Simpson, SpongeBob SquarePants, and Dora the Explorer. Others more unique like four brothers wearing beards made of mops and going as the Duck Dynasty brood and three kids in lobster costumes made of felt crowded into a giant steel pot on wheels and being pushed by another boy with a drawn-on goatee, fake tattoos on his arm, and spiked hair pretending to be celebrity chef Guy Fieri. Hayley’s favorite were two first graders, a boy and a girl, in black T-shirts and leather pants wearing too much hair gel as Danny and Sandy from Grease.
The parade started promptly at three thirty in the afternoon when it was still light out, allowing the high school kids enough time after their last class to come and watch.
Danny had shown up at the office insisting Hayley accompany him, and despite her initial refusal, Sal once again failed to back up her decision and said in front of Danny that he was fine with her leaving work early to see the parade.
So here she was weaving through the crowd with her ex-husband, who was in a buoyant mood. He clasped her hand so they didn’t get separated.
Danny spotted a small opening in the mob of locals clogging the sidewalks and pushed his way forward dragging Hayley behind him until they had jostled their way to a clear view of the parade.
Dustin joined them after getting dropped off by the school bus a few blocks away, and after the first wave of kids started marching down Main Street in their various getups, Gemma texted Hayley to tell her Dr. Aaron had closed the practice early today so the staff could attend. Hayley texted their exact location and Gemma caught up with them a few minutes later.
Danny threw his arms around his kids and pulled them close. “This is so special!”
He squeezed them hard until they both started giggling.
“Like old times. Watching the Halloween parade. As a family . . .” Danny said, his voice trailing off, lost in his memories of years long past.
“Don’t get all sentimental, Danny,” Hayley said, refusing to allow him to revel too much in his longing for the days when they were still married.
“I think it’s sweet, Dad,” Gemma said.
“Thank you, baby doll,” Danny said, drawing her into his chest so he could kiss the top of her head. “At least you didn’t inherit your mother’s cynicism.”
Hayley ignored the comment and continued watching the parade.
An eighth grader passed by dressed as Optimus Pint, basically a Transformer made of beer cans and cartons.
Hayley didn’t want to know where he got the materials.
He was followed by a gaggle of yellow Minions.
A boy dressed as Dr. Evil from the Austin Powers movies.
Six seventh-grade girls singing Spanish love songs dressed as a mariachi band.
The costumes seemed to get more clever with each passing year.
“Hey, I just got a text from Spanky,” Dustin said, eyeing his phone. “He’s at the ice cream shop across from the Village Green and they’re offering two-for-one ice cream cones today if you get one of their Halloween flavors like pumpkin spice or candy corn.”
“I’m so in. Come on, I’ll buy,” Gemma said, starting to head off.
“Wait,” Danny said, grabbing her sweater to stop her while reaching in his back pocket for his wallet. “I don’t want you spending your own money.”
“It’s fine, Dad. I’m a working girl now,” Gemma said.
He pressed a twenty-dollar bill in the palm of her hand. “You save your money for your college expenses. I’ll cover this.”
Gemma crumpled the money in her hand. “I’ll bring you back the change.”
“No, you keep it and split it with your brother,” Danny said.
“If you keep letting us keep the change, pretty soon I’ll be able to raise the whole budget of my first feature film,” Dustin said, perking up. “Thanks, Dad.”
“Thank his uncle Otis,” Hayley said.
She couldn’t help herself.
Danny flashed her an irritated look, but he wasn’t about to pick a fight.
Gemma and Dustin disappeared into the crowd of spectators.
Danny watched the parade for a few minutes in silence, but it was clear he was bugged by something.
Finally, he spun around to face Hayley.
“I’d really appreciate it if you stopped putting me down in front of my kids.”
Hayley was flabbergasted.
“Putting you down? I’m just stating the truth. They’re old enough to hear it,” Hayley said. “The money you gave them belonged to your uncle Otis.”
“And now it belongs to me. How many times do I have to tell you it’s what he wanted? And once that’s cleared up you’ll be apologizing for thinking I plundered from my own family!”
“How are you going to clear it up, Danny? Otis left no will. He never mentioned his wishes to anyone but you while you were both hanging out drinking. And frankly your past history doesn’t really instill a lot of confidence in people to give you the benefit of the doubt.”
“You never believed in me,” Danny said, genuinely hurt.
“Yes, I did, Danny. Time and time again. Even when you’d gamble away our rent money or surprise the kids with a trip to Disney World and not tell me you had sold my car to do it. Every time, I told myself this was the last time you were going to disappoint me. You would finally get your act together. But you never did. So it finally dawned on me that I was the problem. I believed in you too much.”
A pair of elderly women huddled close together, eavesdropping.
Danny noticed and turned his back on them and said in a hushed tone, “Okay, so I made mistakes. But doesn’t everybody deserve a second chance?”
“Yes. And a third. And sometimes even a fourth. I’ve given you countless chances, Danny. I lost track of how many, years ago. Now I don’t want you creating this false impression in front of the kids that everything is hunky-dory between us because it’s not. And they’re old enough to handle it.”
“Are we interrupting?” a woman purred behind Hayley.
Hayley turned and grimaced at the sight of Crystal Collier on the arm of Dr. Aaron, who looked supremely embarrassed to have happened upon Hayley arguing with her ex-husband.
Crystal, on the other hand, appeared utterly delighted.
“No, not at all,” Hayley lied.
Aaron forced a smile.
His eyes full of sympathy.
“I just love this time of year. The crisp fall air. The leaves in full foliage,” Crystal said. “Don’t you agree?”
Danny nodded, suddenly distracted by something.
“How long are you planning to stay in town, Danny?” Aaron asked, trying to keep the conversation light and breezy.
Danny didn’t answer.
He was focused on something.
Hayley tried following his gaze but she couldn’t tell exactly what he was looking at so she tapped him on the shoulder. “Aaron asked you a question, Danny.”
“What? Oh. I’m not sure yet,” Danny said before hooking an arm around Hayley and pulling her away. “Come on, let’s get a better view of the parade.”
“But we have a perfect view right here,” Hayley said before she was physically yanked away from Aaron and Crystal, who exchanged puzzled looks.
Hayley was still within earshot to hear Crystal say, “I think you dodged a bullet with that one.”
She never heard Aaron’s response.
And she wasn’t sure she wanted to either.
“Danny, what’s gotten into you? Slow down,” Hayley said, resisting his grip.
But he was a man on a mission, and he tightened his hand that encircled her wrist, pulling her faster along as he led the way.
She looked around and was about to call for help when she spotted two men about ten feet behind them, seemingly in hot pursuit, and quickly closing in on them.
Two large muscular men, one bald and goateed and the other with a thick head of wavy black hair and a tan complexion, possibly Hispanic.
The same two men who were at the Criterion Theatre when Danny got spooked.
And possibly the same two men who were in that car parked outside Hayley’s house presumably staking it out.
Suddenly, Danny broke into a run hauling Hayley along behind him.
“Danny, slow down, I’m wearing heels!”
They dashed into the middle of the parade jostling a boy in a giant blueberry costume and jumping over another little one dressed as Winnie the Pooh.
Hayley tripped over one little girl bedecked as one of the sisters from Frozen but she could never remember which one was Elsa and which one was Anna. As she tried to regain her balance, she twisted her ankle and felt a sharp pain.
She stumbled and Danny finally noticed and whipped his head around.
“Are you okay?”
“Yes. Now listen to me, Danny. I know you’re being followed and I have an idea about how we can get rid of them. Just stick close to me and keep your mouth shut!” Hayley said, limping down the street.
Danny swiveled back around to see the two goons almost on top of them and then skedaddled after his ex-wife.
Hayley knew a police cruiser always brought up the rear of every parade in Bar Harbor. And she was guessing the two men tailing them would not be so anxious to get too close to the cops.
There were just a few scattered children, mostly third and fourth graders, left at the tail end of the parade when Hayley spotted the squad car rolling along slowly behind the last kid who appropriately enough was dressed as a cop complete with sunglasses and a badge while eating a doughnut.
Hayley practically hurled herself on top of the hood of the police cruiser. “Stop!”
Sergio was behind the wheel and hit the brakes.
“Come on! Get in!” Hayley screamed at Danny as she opened the back door and jumped in the car much to Sergio’s surprise.
Danny followed, sliding in next to her and slamming the door shut.
The two musclemen stopped dead in their tracks and scowled as they watched Hayley and Danny drive past them.
Hayley watched as the two men immediately reversed course and disappeared back into the crowd of onlookers.
“Everything all right, Hayley?” Sergio asked, looking through the rearview mirror as Hayley massaged her bruised ankle.
“Who are they, Danny?” Hayley asked.
“Who?” Danny asked.
“Don’t play games with me. I know those two men have been following you ever since you blew into town and you better tell me right now what they want with you.”
Danny glanced at Hayley and then at Sergio, who was just as curious and anxious to hear how he was going to squirm out of this one.
Danny sighed. “Okay. Okay. Their names are Darryl Gillis and Logan Webster.”
“And . . . ?” Hayley said, folding her arms.
“And they’re a couple of guys I knew when I spent some time in Boston last month.”
“What kind of guys?” Hayley asked.
“Guys. They’re just a couple of guys,” Danny barked.
“So if Sergio radios the station and has one of his boys run those names through his computer, nothing out of the ordinary will turn up. Is that what you’re saying?” Hayley asked.
Sergio nodded. “I can do that right now if you want me to.”
“Yes. I think that would be very helpful, Sergio,” Hayley said.
Danny paused and then said quietly, “Okay. You might find out that they’re not exactly squeaky clean.”
“And why is that?”
It was like pulling teeth getting Danny to admit the truth.
And it always had been.
“They work for a businessman in Boston who might be slightly Mafia-connected,” Danny said, rubbing his eyes with the palms of his hand.
“Slightly? How is one slightly connected to the mafia?” Hayley bellowed. “And more importantly, how do you know them?”
“I got into a little trouble when I was there. I was trying to set up a new business venture. A real estate land deal. It was a sure thing . . .”
Hayley cut him off. “You can stop. I get it. You borrowed money from a loan shark and then skipped town instead of paying it back so Tony Soprano sent a couple of his goons to put a little pressure on you to come up with the money.”
“Something like that, yeah,” Danny said, eyes downcast, embarrassed.
“Stop the car, Sergio. I’m getting out,” Hayley said.
“Now don’t be mad . . .” Danny said, placing a hand on her shoulder, which she quickly shook off.
“I’m not mad, Danny. I’m tired. Tired of everything. Thanks for the lift, Sergio . . .”
“What about those two thugs, Hayley? You want me to send Donnie or Earl to keep an eye on your place in case they show up again?” Sergio asked as he pulled the cruiser over and put the gear in park.
“No, I’ll call if I see anything out of the ordinary. Thanks, Sergio,” she said before throwing open the door and jumping out.
She had momentarily forgotten about her ankle and another stinging pain shot through her leg as her heel hit the pavement.
Danny was out of the car in a flash and tried to steady her, but she didn’t want his help. She threw out an arm, pushing him away, warning him to keep his distance.
She balanced herself.
Took a moment to regain her composure.
And then slowly turned to Danny.
“You came here knowing some bad guys were after you. You knew you were in a dangerous situation and yet you show up at my house and you worm your way back into our lives. What if those thugs decided to use your children to get you to pay up? Did you ever think about that? What if they kidnapped Gemma as she left the office or grabbed Dustin when he got off the school bus? Did you ever think about that?”
“No. I mean I’m fairly sure they wouldn’t do that . . .”
“Fairly sure isn’t good enough, Danny. Fairly sure means it could have happened. When are you going to stop thinking about yourself? When are you ever going to take responsibility for your actions?”
“I’m trying to change . . .”
“You’ve been trying since the day I met you. It’s never going to happen. I know it. The kids know it. The sooner you realize it the better off we’ll all be.”
She was done.
She whirled around to storm off but never even got to take a step. Because right in front of her were Gemma and Dustin, holding waffle cones, the pumpkin-flavored ice cream dripping down their hands as they watched the very public and very messy scene between their parents.
Hayley couldn’t imagine feeling any worse.

Island Food & Spirits by Hayley Powell
My friend Mona popped by the house the other day for a cup of coffee. She timed her arrival because she knew I was making pumpkin muffins when she called earlier. Mona loved my muffins. She eagerly slathered one with a healthy scoop of cream cheese and gobbled it down. Mona had been eating these muffins ever since we were little girls and my mother was the one making them. Thankfully, Mom was willing to part with her secret recipe once I got married, and I’ve been happily baking them ever since. It was a much better wedding present than the toaster oven she bought for us that wasn’t even on our registry but that’s another story.
As much as I love pumpkin muffins, there was a time when I vowed never to make another batch as long as I lived. It was some years back when Danny and I were still married and I spent two whole days whipping up batch after batch of muffins for the town bake sale held every year in the lobby of the town office. The money raised from the event was donated to the Bar Harbor Pet Pantry, which helped people feed their pets during the cold, harsh winter months.
Being an enthusiastic animal lover, I was more than happy to take part and sell my pumpkin muffins mostly because it was for such a worthy cause. However, I have to admit there was a small part of me that yearned to finally win Town Baker of the Year. The way it worked was whoever brought in the most money for their baked goods at the end of the two-hour sale had their portrait taken by a local photographer and their picture would hang for a whole year in the town office lobby.
I had been secretly dying to win this award for what seemed like forever, but for the last five years since entering the contest, I was constantly edged out by Karen Applebaum, a food writer for the Bar Harbor Herald. Karen fancied herself as Bar Harbor’s go-to recipe expert, our local version of Julia Child, and despite my best efforts, Karen somehow always came out on top. This year, my ego refused to accept another defeat so I prepared like Rocky did for his big boxing match by baking and baking throughout the night until I had over two hundred muffins carefully placed in tins. I knew in my gut it was a winning recipe and I had the numbers. There was no way I could lose.
Stacking the tins in the back of my car, I drove over to the town office where everyone was already busy setting out their baked goods on assigned tables. I noticed Karen Applebaum was going to compete with her locally famous cherry pies. They all looked delicious but I was still feeling bullish about my muffins. Karen caught me staring. She gave my muffins a dismissive glance and looked away with a little condescending laugh.
She was trying to psych me out. Chip away at my confidence. But I was not going to allow that to happen. And as the townspeople began streaming in, many making a beeline for my muffins, I was confident I could pull out a win.
I put Mona in charge of grabbing more tins from the car as needed while I handled the cash transactions. With only a half hour left to go in the sale, I looked down to see just two muffins left. I was on a roll!
“Mona, I have two more tins in the back of my car! You better go get them!”
They were my reserve stash.
In case I needed them at the last minute to get me over the top.
Mona ran outside, but returned moments later, empty-handed.
Time was ticking.
“Where are the muffins?” I screeched.
“Your car’s gone,” Mona said.
“What?”
I noticed a last-minute surge at Karen Applebaum’s table as a gathering crowd plucked the last of her cherry pies.
I needed those muffins stat!
I ran outside with Mona and sure enough my car was nowhere to be found. There was a red Volkswagen in the space where I had left it.
“Who would steal my muffins?”
I guess I should have been more concerned about the car but I was too consumed with my Town Baker of the Year title slipping through my fingers.
In the end, Karen Applebaum squeezed out a victory, but only by a few dollars. I vowed to take her down next year!
By the way, my car wasn’t stolen. For once in his life, my husband, Danny, decided to surprise me and do an errand the first time I asked him instead of taking a day or two to get to it, which was his usual modus operandi. He had walked to the town office and taken the car across the street to the Shop ’n Save to do some grocery shopping before driving back across the street to pick me up and drive me home after the bake sale.
I should have been thrilled to discover the car was not stolen but I was inconsolable. When I got home I drowned my sorrows with a few Adult Pumpkin Milkshakes.
Yes, they’re as delicious as they sound!
 
Mom’s Pumpkin Muffins
Ingredients
¼ cup softened butter
½ cup sugar
¼ cup brown sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons molasses
2 tablespoons grated orange peel
⅔ cup canned pumpkin
½ cup buttermilk
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
¼ teaspoon salt
 
Streusel Topping
Ingredients
⅓ cup flour
3 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons cold butter
 
In a large mixing bowl cream together your butter and sugars until fluffy. Beat in the pumpkin, buttermilk, eggs, molasses and orange zest.
In a separate bowl combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice, and salt. Slowly add to the pumpkin mixture just until blended.
Fill your paper-lined or greased muffin tin ⅔ full.
 
To Prepare the Topping
In a bowl combine your flour and sugar. Add your cold butter and cut it in until the mixture is crumbly. Sprinkle the mixture over the tops of your muffins.
Bake in a preheated 375-degree oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Remove from oven and cool for about five minutes, then remove them from the pan and cool on wire rack.
Illustration
Adult Pumpkin Milkshakes
Ingredients
2 cups of your favorite vanilla ice
cream
½ can pumpkin puree
3 ounces of your favorite bourbon
⅓ cup half-and-half
2 tablespoons maple syrup
½ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
 
Place all your ingredients in a blender and blend well, then pour into frosty glasses and indulge yourself with this soothing treat with a kick!