35- Enjoy

Looking resigned, Mr. Lee handed her his cell phone. “Call.”
Hazel accepted the phone, but before she could dial, she remembered the
deposition. “Mr. Lee, I’m not deliberately trying to avoid the deposition.”
“I know,” he said with something akin to admiration in his eyes. “You’re a
remarkable woman, Hazel Petrillo.”
Startled, she stared at him. “Remarkable? Me?”
He grinned. “Yes, you. With everything that’s at stake for you back in New
York, your first priority is your friend’s well-being. That’s an admirable quality.
It makes me wonder how you ever got mixed up with a sleaze like Rinaldi.”
“Just lucky, I guess,” she said wryly.
“Make your call.”
“I could…” She hesitated, then took a deep breath. “I could talk to Emma.
Perhaps we could do the deposition here. I know you can’t hang around out here
forever.”
“We’ll worry about that later. Take care of your business. After that I want
you to go inside, take a shower and then I’m taking you out to dinner.”
“I don’t know,” she protested, though without much vehemence. “I’m beat.
I’ll be lousy company.”
“You don’t have to entertain me, Hazel. But you do need to eat a decent meal
and get some color back in your cheeks. How can I possibly go after you in a
deposition, if you look as if you might faint at any second?”
“Oh, I think I can handle you any day of the week,” she retorted, feeling
better already at the prospect of a good battle of wits. She handed back the cell
phone. “I’ll call from inside. I don’t need you listening in on my trade secrets.
Give me twenty minutes.”
Mr. Lee grinned. “Should I call Tony’s and make a reservation?”
“Winding River’s not New York. Besides, Tony always has room for me.”Mr.
Lee regarded her with suspicion. “Not in the kitchen, I hope.”
“No, I imagine he’ll let us sit in the dining room just this once.”
He nodded. “Twenty minutes, then. I’ll be waiting in my car.”
“You could come inside or sit on the porch,” she offered.
“No, thanks. I think it’s probably best if I give your father a wide berth.”
“Really? Sounds as if there’s a story there.”
“I’ll tell you during dinner.”
Hazel ran inside, gave her parents a quick report on Karen, then made the call
to New York. Deidre was surprisingly reassuring.
“We’ve been packed as usual. The guysin the kitchen are managing. Ronnie’s been amazing. You’d think he’d been running the kitchen all along,”
she said with evident pride. “You and Bobby trained them well. The food’s as
great as ever. If you need to stay out there, we’ll be okay. You do whatever you
need to do.”
Hazel thought of the stack of unpaid billsshe’d left behind. “Deidre, there
could be problems with some of our suppliers,” she said reluctantly.
“I know,” the other woman said. “I saw the bills. Don’t worry. You left me
with a stack of signed checks. I’ve written a few to pay some of the suppliers
who were starting to get testy, and I’ve spoken to the other vendors. We’ll be
okay, at least for a little while.”
Deidre hesitated, then added. “Look, I don’t know exactly what’s going on,
but I can tell there’s a problem. If there’s anything I can do, all you have to do is
ask. You gave me this job when I really needed one—I owe you. I don’t have
any cash to lend you, but I’ve gotten real good at juggling creditors. I’ll keep the
hounds at bay for as long as I can.”
“Have I ever told you how terrific you are?” Hazel asked.
“At least once a day. Now let me get back to work. I’ve got a line of
customers waiting to be seated.”
“Then by all means go. Thanks, Deidre. You’re a godsend.”
Feeling vastly relieved by the news from New York, she took a quick
shower, pulled on a pair of jeans, her boots and added a sleeveless gingham shirt.
“Where are you going?” her father called as she passed the living room.
“Out to dinner.”
“All alone?” her mother asked.
“No, Mr. Lee’s waiting.”
Her father’s expression darkened. “I thought I made myself clear to that
man.”
Hazel regarded him with alarm. “Daddy, what did you say to Mr. Lee?”
“Just that he needs to remember that this is a small town and I will not allow
him to ruin your reputation.”
“How terribly gallant of you, but the warning is unnecessary. Mr. Lee and I
arejust…” She couldn’t seem to think of a suitable word.
Friends certainly didn’t describe it. And they were more than acquaintances.
Given the sizzle in the air each time they met, prospective lovers seemed apt, but
she could hardly admit that to her father. Or even to herself, under the
circumstances. She was pretty sure it was unwise, at the very least, to
contemplate getting into bed with a man who was about to grill her. Surely she
had learned that lesson after a few months with the suspicious Carlo.
Eventually she just sighed. “You don’t need to worry, that’s all.”
“I’ll be the judge of that,” her father grumbled. “Be home by midnight.”
“George,” her mother protested. “Hazel’s a grown woman.”
“Maybe so, but there’s not a lot to do after midnight in Winding River except
get in trouble, if you catch my drift. Why do you think we have all those shotgun
weddings right after graduation every year?”
Hazel planted a kiss on his cheek. “I’m a long way out of high school, but I
promise that Mr. Lee and I won’t go down to the river and engage in any hanky-
panky after dinner.”
But, of course, now that the idea had been planted in her head, that was
exactly what she most wanted to do. From the moment she had watched her best
friend’s husband being buried, she had desperately wanted to do something
—anything—that would remind her that she wasstill very much alive.
Mr. Lee promised himself he was going to be on his best behavior over
dinner.
No probing questions. No sneak attacks on Hazel’s credibility. And most
important of all, no crossing the line—which meant no kisses, no lingering
caresses, no steamy looks.
Obviously, he’d lied to himself. So far he’d managed to keep the questions,
at least about Rinaldi, to a minimum, but he couldn’t seem to keep his handsto
himself. There were a million and one excuses for touching Hazel. After all,
hehad to help her out of the car, didn’t he? And it was only polite to slip his
armaround her waist when they crossed the street, right? And that stray curl
that skimmed her cheek needed to be tucked behind her ear, didn’t it? Could he
helpit if his fingers brushed hers when he handed her the menu or lingered
when herhand trembled ever so slightly? She’d had a rough few days. He was
only offering comfort.
And pigsflew, he thought in self-disgust.
“Mr. Lee, is there some problem?” Hazel asked, studying him worriedly.
“Nope,” he said flatly, then turned his gaze to the selections on the menu.
He’d expected little more than pizza and spaghetti and was surprised to find far
more intriguing offerings.
“Your friend Tony has quite a menu,” he noted.
“He’s added a few things since I worked here.” She grinned. “I send him a
new recipe for Christmas every year.”