Chapter 16
Dear Sophie,
I wanted my sister to make a butter board for a party, but she said it’s way too hard. Am I missing something? You smear butter on a board. How hard can that be?
Annoyed Sister in Sister Lakes, Michigan
Dear Annoyed Sister,
The difficulty in making a butter board is letting the butter soften. There are several methods, but one must take care not to melt the butter.
Sophie
That was a threat if ever I heard one! Karl’s dark expression, not to mention his foreboding words, took my breath away.
He turned and, suddenly all sweetness and cheer again, he smiled and wiggled his fingers at Wanda, who looked like she might throw up.
Chills ran through me. What had Orson said about Karl? Beware of him. Good advice. He was clearly able to play all sorts of parts. I would come to the same end? But why?
I figured I had two choices at that moment. I could stand up and leave or I could take advantage of being in a room where people mingled so I could engage Karl the snake to see what I could learn. He wouldn’t harm me in front of everyone.
Pretending that I didn’t care one whit about what he had just said and that I hadn’t noticed his chameleonlike ability to change in a heartbeat from Mr. Nice Guy to a devil, I asked, “What happened between you two to make you and Orson divide the store and go your own ways?”
He eyed me with surprise. “We disagreed on how to run the business.”
“Oh?”
“Orson was a silver-tongued con artist. I’ve never met anyone else with his ability to convince people that a worthless piece of junk was a precious antique. They believed him and came back for more. I knew it would catch up with him one day.”
“Really? Who had it in for him?”
He raised his eyebrows. “So you are concerned for your own well-being.” A sinister grin crept across his lips. “They do say the rotten apple doesn’t fall far from a slick tree. And I’ll tell you something else. That man had secrets. Deep, dark secrets.”
“What kind of secrets?”
He raised his palms and pretended to be innocent. “I’ll be doggoned if I know. He took them all to his grave.”
He stood and walked away, ending my little interview. All I knew now was that Karl had two faces, maybe more. And that instead of causing me to doubt Orson, I believed him even more. Beware of Karl.
Wanda was busy listening to someone tell a tale about Orson.
I was a little unnerved by his proclamation of my end. I wandered into the kitchen where I found Natasha looking much happier than I had seen her in a while.
“Sophie! I have had a eureka moment. For years I have been trying to find the right thing for me. But my talents are varied and plentiful. I finally realized that I shouldn’t be focusing on just one thing. That’s where I’ve been going wrong. There’s a word that encompasses it all—style! I’m a fashionista, I decorate houses, I invent elegant dishes to serve, I am a trendsetter! It all fits together under the word ‘style.’ I have style and my goal is to bring it to other people. Like you.” She eyed me. “I could do a before and after segment on you for my TV show.”
I nearly choked at the thought. When I caught my breath after a coughing fit, I rasped, “I’m not photogenic. You really should use someone else.”
“Why, Sophie. I had no idea you were so self-conscious.” Natasha handed me a glass of water.
I gulped half of it. “Thank you.” In an effort to move the conversation away from a public makeover for me, I said, “Your show will undoubtedly be even more popular than it is now. Good luck with it!”
“There’s much more to it. I need you to keep next Friday and Saturday open. I’m not sure which day it will be yet, but it will be amazing, and you simply must come.”
“Come to what?” It had better not involve a makeover.
“I’m not at liberty to say yet. I don’t want rumors to take over. It all has to be carefully planned, you see. Don’t worry. I’ll keep you in the loop.”
The sound of something crashing in the other room sent Natasha flying in that direction.
I quietly let myself out and went home.