“Mrs. Grover?” Carrie said as she knocked on Jen’s neighbor’s door. She hadn’t seen the woman in years—at least not more than her nose against the window as the curtains twitched. But the idea had struck her that it was the perfect place to spy on the open house, and when Jen had agreed to the plan, they knew that Nana’s muffins would be the key.
“Mrs. Grover, are you there?” Carrie knocked one more time and finally, the older woman opened the door. Just a crack, but she did.
“Hello, Carrie. I haven’t seen you in ages.” Mrs. Grover opened the door a little bit more, but squinted and looked from Carrie’s face to the bag and back up again.
“Hi, Mrs. Grover. I was wondering if I could come in for a minute. I brought you something. Muffins from Nana. Well, not Nana. Jen made them. But Nana’s recipe.”
She held out the bag, and Mrs. Grover’s eyes lit up. She opened the door wide, beckoning for her to come in.
“How lovely. Would you like to stay for tea?”
Carrie breathed a sigh of relief and looked out the window, choosing the best seat to watch from.
“I’d love to, Mrs. Grover.”
She settled on the settee nearest the window and opened the curtains. Mrs. Grover put a kettle on and Carrie leaned forward, watching people climb the steps of Jen’s house. She frowned when Dirk welcomed them with a smile and a handshake.
Utensils clinked in the kitchen, and eventually Mrs. Grover appeared with a plate of muffins and a pot of tea. She’d used her best silver tea tray, and the small pot with sugar and the little pitcher with tea matched perfectly.
She set the tray on a lace doily that covered the coffee table, and Carrie thought of Nana.
“I’m so glad for the company, and it was so sweet of you to bring over some muffins. I’ve missed them sorely.”
“I bet. They’re delicious,” Carrie said, craning her neck to see over Mrs. Grover’s shoulder. She sighed as another young family came to the house, walking all around the deck.
“And I’ve missed my friend, too,” Mrs. Grover added in a much more quiet voice.
Carrie paused, her teacup halfway to her mouth, and looked more closely at Mrs. Grover. Jen’s nana and Mrs. Grover had been close friends. They’d walked together every day, and Carrie was suddenly struck with what a shock it must have been for Mrs. Grover to have suddenly lost her best friend. If something happened to either Faith or Jen, she didn’t know what she would do, and a wave of understanding washed over her.
She spent the next few hours filling Mrs. Grover in on what was happening, her heart light at giving the older woman something to talk about. Together, they watched through the window, and when it was all over, Carrie gave Mrs. Grover a very sincere hug.
“Thank you for spending your afternoon with me, and letting me be a spy.”
Mrs. Grover waved her hand. “Think nothing of it. I enjoyed your company, and it’s not as if I’m a novice at it.”
She giggled and covered her hand with her mouth, and Carrie smiled as she left.
Carrie glanced at her watch and knew she’d have to hurry to get to the restaurant. She’d stayed a while after Dirk had locked the house and left, and she’d need to step it up.
He waved her over from the upper deck of the Lighthouse Café. The replica of an old lighthouse had been beautifully designed. A circle of mirrors with lights behind them spun at the very top of the tall ceiling, and it was one of Carrie’s favorite places, new as it was.
“Hi,” he said as she slipped into a chair at the table set for five. The others would be along shortly.
“Hello. How’d it go today?”
“Ah, not that interested in the fundraiser, eh?”
Carrie fiddled with her napkin and then set it in her lap. The waiter asked for her drink order, noting that it was happy hour. She ordered a chardonnay—and one for Carrie and Faith. She knew they’d be as nervous as she was.
“I’m definitely interested in the fundraiser, but I am more interested at this moment in the open house.”
“Well—” Dirk started, “Don’t you think we should wait for Jen? I don’t want to tell the story twice.”
“Oh, jeez,” Carrie groaned. “Okay. Fine. So, Jen was going to see our friend Joe today about some donations. His late father had quite a Disney collection, and I think we’ll get a big donation from that.”
Dirk set his menu on his plate. “That’ll be great. They always get high dollar.”
Carrie nodded. “Good, then. And I already gave you the other donations we’ve received. How have you done?”
Dirk leaned back in his chair, his fingers intertwined behind his head. He grinned like the Cheshire Cat and Carrie leaned forward, wondering what the donation was.
“I got a trip for two to Hawaii. A week’s timeshare, and an airline donated, too. Free tickets.”
Carrie raised her eyebrows and slow-clapped. “Nice. Very nice.”
Dirk nodded. “Thank you. I hope to get a pretty good sum for it at the auction. The children’s wing really needs this.”
“I know,” Carrie said. “It feels good to help. Speaking of the auction, how does that work?”
“Well, we need an auctioneer. Your mother said you might be interested.”
Carrie held her palms out toward Dirk. “No, no, no. I told her no funny business. I would collect donations, and that was it. And come to the event, of course.”
Dirk speared a shrimp with his fork—an appetizer he’d ordered with drinks—and dipped it into the spicy cocktail sauce.
“I thought you might say that. What if we just stick with a silent auction? You know, the kind where people bid on paper. Much easier that way.”
“Great. That works for me. All the preparation in that is in advance, and we can just monitor it as we go. We’ll need an announcer for the winners, though,” Carrie said as she reached for a shrimp. They were cold and sweet, almost like lobster. The menu said they were from the Sea of Cortez in Mexico—the best around.
“Perfect. I’ll take care of it. But the fundraiser’s only a month away. I think we ought to meet more regularly, don’t you? I mean, we still need to coordinate all of these baskets and things. Get them wrapped up.”
Carrie swizzled another shrimp in the spicy cocktail sauce. “So, you won’t tell me anything about the open house?”
Dirk laughed and shook his head. “No. You’ll just have to wait.”
Carrie leaned over toward the floor-to-ceiling window and sighed with relief as she saw Joe and Jen heading for the door. She didn’t think she could wait any longer.