Chapitre 70: Chocolate Season (February) Part 2
Rick Santo pulled into her driveway a few minutes later and went right to the pie kitchen.
"What's going on, Lisa?" he asked, then looked around. "Wow. I should rephrase that. What happened?" Lisa was starting to clean up the ruined pie shells and chocolate from the floor. The torn cuff was on the counter. Lisa told the police chief what had happened.
"Do you think I should get a restraining order?" she asked. Rick shook his head.
"I don't think so," he said. "Most guys like Carl view those as a challenge. Or it just makes them mad and things get worse. I think your dog is all the deterrent you need; I don't think he'll be back." He picked up the cloth and looked at it thoughtfully.
"What?" Lisa asked.
"Nothing. May I take this with me?"
"Sure," she said. "One less thing for me to throw away here." She finished sweeping and dumped the dustpan into the trash. She put the bowl into the sink and filled it with hot water, then got two pie shells from the freezer. She pricked the bottoms and set them into one of her ovens to bake.
"I'll make sure we keep a closer eye on you," Rick told her. "Since Carl was fired, he's sort of a loose cannon."
"I am so tired of worrying and being afraid!" Lisa complained.
"I know. If someone else had hired him, he probably wouldn't be so bad. But nobody seems to need truck drivers right now."
"Dante Carrillo started a delivery and transport company," Lisa said. Rick laughed.
"Somehow, Lisa, I don't think that Dante would hire Carl. Dante has some old-fashioned ideas about how women should be treated, and Carl seems to think that women are put here to amuse him in whatever way he pleases."
"You know Dante?" Lisa was pleasantly surprised. Rick grinned.
"Pretty well," he said. "Another reason why Dante wouldn't hire Carl. Guess who got hired by the Morenos to take Carl's place?"
"I wondered. Dante will be perfect for that job. I'll have to congratulate him next time I see him."
The Mowery kids might not all look alike, but they all have such weird names that it's really difficult to tell who's who! They're good kids, though. Very well brought up, considering.
"Wait, Ransome!" Forrest Mowery called. "Come here." His older brother turned. Forrest was looking at something in the creek, and Ransome went to see what had distracted his brother.
"Look at that," Forrest said, pointing. "Isn't that where the pipe is that goes to the orchard irrigation system?" Ransome looked, squinting his eyes to see better. He felt a cold that came from within and had nothing to do with February chills. Where there was usually an opening for the creek water to flow into the pipe leading to the irrigation system for the orchard, there was a pile of stones and other debris, effectively blocking it.
"I thought the creek looked a little different today," Ransome said, his jaw clenched. "Go get Dad."
"Why would somebody do that?"
"Probably has something to do with that guy who's trying to take Lisa's property. Go get Dad, Forrest. I don't know how long it's been like this and I don't want it to hurt the trees. I'm going to start clearing this. Bring Dad."
Forrest took off at a sprint up the road to the schoolhouse. He returned with his father, who looked the situation over and called Ransome. Ransome looked rebellious for an instant, then sloshed over to join them.
"Looks like someone went to a lot of trouble," he said. "I suspect I know who it was, too. What if we turned the tables?"
"What do you mean?" Ransome asked. He was obviously impatient to get back to clearing the pipe. In Ransome's mind, the trees were like goldfish flopping on the floor and he wanted to get water into the system as quickly as possible so the trees wouldn't die.
"We need to make it look like they succeeded. Come with me, boys. I think I have just the right supplies to handle this job."
"Dad! The trees!" Ransome protested.
"They'll be all right, son," Dennis told him. "This was intentional. We need to fix it, but it has to look like it hasn't been fixed. Otherwise, whoever did this might do something else that nobody finds until it's too late. The trees are dormant right now, Ransome. A few days without irrigation isn't going to hurt them. How do you think they manage when this all freezes up?"
"Sorry, Dad. I hadn't thought of that."
"Calm down and let's get to work. Apparently whoever did this doesn't know about dormant trees, either."
Valentine's Day is a big deal here. The most in-demand restaurant is the Tavern. The new Italian place might give it some competition, though. It's romantic, too.
"Well, that's appropriate," Pablo grinned. "Chocolate pie for Valentine's month." Lisa laughed.
"I used to do cherry things for Washington's birthday when I was a kid," she said, "but nobody seems to do that any more. I also prefer to work with cherries when they're in season."
Pablo cut a small piece of the chocolate pie and tried it. He let out a moan that made Lisa blush and his eyes rolled back into his head.
"Would you like to be alone with that?" she asked him, laughing again.
"Lisa, this is the best chocolate pie I have ever put in my mouth," he said. "I could keep you busy making these. It's incredible!"
"I enjoy making those," she said. "It's one of the easier pies I do."
"How close are you to a driver's license?" he asked her.
"I took my test a week ago. I passed; I'm waiting for my license now. After it arrives, I'll start looking for a car."
"Great. I have a list of places you should call. Several friends and colleagues of mine would like to make an appointment with you. You should prepare a sample assortment, like you did for me."
"Amy is helping me with promotional stuff."
"Good -- she's an excellent choice. Any ideas for a name for your new business?"
"I can't think of a thing. Amy said she might have some ideas. She's still on maternity leave and stir-crazy as anything."
"So what are you doing for Valentine's Day?"
"I'm not sure. Fabian has been acting mysterious. This is my first one that I'm part of a couple, so I'm looking forward to it."
"Let's get my order for chocolate pies out of the way before I forget."
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
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