Catered Catastrophe (A Willow Crossing Mystery Book 3) Read online

  The door opened and Joanna looked at the ladies, “Can I help you?”

  “Hi, Ms. Halburton?”

  “Yes,” she answered slightly quizzically.

  “My name is Ruby and I’m a teacher over at the high school,” Ru then looked at Rosa and back to Joanne, “This is Rosa. We would love to talk to you about Beck.”

  “Beck? Please, come in.” The ladies entered the house and Joanna asked, “Can I offer you some tea?”

  “That would be great, thank you,” Rosa answered. She signaled for the ladies to follow her into the kitchen.

  While Joanna made the tea, Rosa and Ru sat at the kitchen table while Opal sat on the floor at Ru’s feet. There was an awkward silence as Joanna wondered what her son had done and the other ladies wondered exactly how they would begin the conversation. They watched the woman working in the kitchen and realized that when she’s not spreading gossip, she’s rather beautiful. Joanna moved swiftly, but with grace. She was dressed stylishly but still comfortably, and even in a ponytail, her hair looked ‘done’. Her makeup was flawless and she looked much younger than her actual age of 54.

  Joanna brought a tray over to the table, sat down and slid a cup to each of the ladies. “I didn’t know what you like in your tea, so I brought over a little of everything. Help yourself.”

  After a slight pause, she continued, “So, you said you’re here to talk to me about Beck?”

  “Yes. I’m a little concerned about him. I don’t have him in any of my classes, but he does work for my catering company…”

  Interrupting, Joanna said, “Oh! You’re Mrs. Delgado!”

  “Yes,” Ru said smiling.

  “He hasn’t done anything bad has he?”

  Ru found it odd that she would ask that question. Before she could say anything, Rosa spoke, “The whole town is talking about the fact that you are dating Moe. They think that Moe’s influence might be rubbing off on Beck.”

  Ru shot Rosa a look that told her to stop talking. “I’m sorry.”

  “No, don’t be sorry. If my son is causing problems, I want to know about it.”

  “Well, from what I’ve been told by other employees, he can be quite a bully. He’s always very respectful of adults, but when it comes to the other students, he isn’t as nice.”

  With a look of embarrassment and worry on her face, Joanna responded, “I’m so sorry you had to come here. He has been in trouble a couple of times lately. I guess he stole some of signs from the diner, and he TPed some cars in the bank parking lot. Please tell me he didn’t do anything at your catering company.”

  Feeling bad for the woman, Ru said, “Well, we aren’t sure who did it, but some of our equipment was tampered with this past weekend at the high school. We were catering an alumni event and Beck was the only one alone with the equipment. My husband and one of our other employees also saw Moe outside of the school.”

  “Oh, dear. I am so sorry about this. If it was Beck, he will definitely pay for it. I will talk to both of them when they get home.”

  Ru could tell she was mortified that her son would do something like that to an employer. To ease the tension in the air, Ru changed the subject to something completely neutral and not about her son or boyfriend.

  “Would you look at this dog!”

  The ladies looked down to the floor where Opal was passed out, lying on her back, legs up in the air. They all laughed for a moment but then the mood changed when the front door opened and Beck walked into the kitchen.

  “Beck,” Joanna said. “I didn’t know you were coming over today.”

  Beck looked at Rosa and then at Ru, “Mrs. Delgado, what are you doing here?”

  “Beck, is that any way to speak to your boss?”

  “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean anything by it. I’m just surprised to see her here.”

  “I came by to talk to your mother because I am worried about you,” Ru said softly.

  “Worried about what?”

  “Well, I’ve heard some things that made me a bit uneasy.”

  “What did you hear?” He asked. It was obvious to all present that he was worried.

  “It has come to my attention that you tend to be a bully when it comes to other students and employees.”

  “Who told you that?”

  Rosa jumped into the conversation and said, “Don’t worry about who said it. Have you been doing bad things for Moe Cranston?”

  “What? Why would you even ask that? Who are you?”

  Ru held out her hand to Rosa, keeping her from talking. “Beck, you were the only one who was alone in the van at the alumni event. That same day two pieces of equipment were tampered with. Moe was there. He was seen outside of the school.”

  “So you think I did it because he wanted me to? Why would he even want me to do something like that?” Beck was getting angry.

  Ru tried to calm the situation, speaking softly. “Beck, I’m not here to upset you. I’m only here to find out the truth. We think you did those things because you were trying to help Moe.”

  “Why?” He asked.

  “Because it’s no secret he wants to open a huge grocery store that offers catering. If we look bad, people will give him their catering business. If our equipment is failing, we will look bad.”

  “That is crazy,” Beck said, this time a little more on the calm side.

  “Is it? It seems pretty logical to me,” Rosa said.

  “First of all, I don’t even know you. You definitely don’t know me, so please stay out of this.”

  “Beck!” Joanna said sternly. “You apologize for speaking like that to a lady.”

  Beck looked at Rosa, and then at his mother and Ru. A look of defeat came over him and he sat in the only remaining chair. For a moment, nobody spoke. It was obvious Beck was collecting his thoughts, and the three women allowed him some time. Beck opened his mouth a couple of times to speak, but then quickly stopped himself. Ru wondered if the boy was trying to formulate a lie, or if he was just afraid to speak the truth.

  “I didn’t do it for Moe. He didn’t manipulate me, he didn’t bribe me, and he didn’t even approach me about doing what I did.”

  Ru spoke next, “So, you admit that you did it?”

  “Yes.”

  “Why, Beck?” Ru and Joanna said at the same time.

  All of a sudden, Ru felt a sharp pain in her abdomen. It was startling and it doubled her over. Rosa instantly jumped up out of her seat and went to Ru’s side.

  “Ru, what is it?”

  “I think something is wrong. It really hurts.”

  “Is it the baby?” Rosa asked, almost panicked.

  “Baby? You’re pregnant?” Joanna asked worriedly.

  “Yes, she is.” Rosa said.

  “Call Esteban, please,” Ru said. Her voice small and frail.

  “Rosa, you call Esteban, I’ll call an ambulance,” Joanna said.

  “Mrs. Delgado, oh my gosh, I’m so sorry,” Beck said. “This is all my fault.”

  “We’ll worry about you and what you’ve done later. Right now I need you to help Rosa get Ru to the living room where she will be more comfortable. I’m calling 9-1-1 right now.”

  Chapter 8

  After what seemed like an eternity for Rosa, Joanna and Beck, Esteban came out of the emergency room and found them in the waiting area.

  “She’s going to be just fine.”

  “Thank God,” Rosa said. “What about the baby?”

  “The baby is fine, too. The doctor’s say that the stress of the moment was a bit much for Ru. Thank you for acting so quickly to get her help.”

  “We’re just glad she’s okay. Is there anything we can do for you?” Rosa asked.

  “Well, she’s asked to see Beck.”

  “I don’t know, Mr. Delgado. Maybe she should rest first. I’m the reason she’s here.”

  “The doctor said that as long as you keep it short and calm, you can go back,” Esteban responded.

  “Can my mom come with m
e?”

  “I don’t see why not. Maybe that’s a good idea.”

  Esteban led Joanna and Beck back to Ru’s room. When they walked in, Ru greeted them with a weak smile and waved Beck over, “Come here, Beck. Don’t worry, it’s okay.”

  Beck slowly moved closer to the bed and said, “I’m so sorry, Mrs. Delgado. I didn’t mean to make you sick. I’m sorry.”

  Ru could see the teen was near tears and reassured him, “It’s okay, Beck. I’m fine and the baby is fine. The doctor said that it wasn’t all because I was upset. It seems that this baby doesn’t like the caffeine in the tea I was drinking. So, you see, it’s not your fault.”

  “It is. I upset you because I am the one who messed with your equipment.”

  Esteban asked, “It was you? Why, Beck?”

  “Well, Mrs. Delgado thinks it’s because I did it for Moe, but that’s not why. I’m the kid at school who always is pulling pranks on people. It’s what everyone in Willow Crossing expects from me, and at school, if it’s a prank, it was me. I’m going away to college next year, and I wanted to be sure to leave a passing legacy…something someone else could take over. I wanted to be remembered.”

  Ru spoke first, “Beck, part of growing up is not wanting to be remembered as a pest or a fool. Don’t you want to be remembered for the good things you’ve done?”

  “I guess so.”

  “If you wanted to pull pranks on Griffin and the others, then why do it with the equipment at work?”

  “I thought that Julie would be running the smoothie machine, and I thought it would be a funny story to tell at school if she got covered in the stuff. And the cart, well, I thought it would be funny if Griffin spilled the food all over.”

  “I’m sure in your mind it would have been funny, but it really just made our company look bad. Do you understand that now?” Ru asked.

  “Yes, Ma’am, I do, and I’m sorry.”

  Esteban stepped toward Beck and the teen flinched. “Son, I’m not going to do anything to you. I just want to talk to you.”

  “Yes, Sir.”

  “Are you positive you didn’t do what you did to help Moe?

  “Yes, sir. He had nothing to do with it.”

  “Then why was he there that day?”

  “I don’t know,” Beck said.

  “I didn’t even see him there. I just messed with the stuff in the van and then unloaded it. The rest of the time I was inside, waiting for the … you know.” He held his head low.

  “Okay. Well, since you ruined two pieces of equipment, we’re going to expect you to pay for it.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Joanna said, “If you’ll allow Beck to continue working for you, he will do so for free, until he pays you for the two new pieces of equipment.”

  “I think that’s fair,” Ru said, looking at her husband.

  “Yes, I suppose that’s fair.”

  “Thank you. I promise I won’t mess with any more of your stuff, and I will talk to Moe. Maybe I can get him off your back, Mr. Delgado. I don’t want you to lose your store.”

  “Thank you. That would be great,” Esteban responded.

  Joanna said, “I’ll make sure the three of us sit down and talk when we get home. I’m sure we can come up with something that will suit everyone.”

  She looked at Beck and said, “Come on, let’s give Mr. and Mrs. Delgado some privacy. We have some serious talking to do.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “Ru, Esteban, please let me know if there is anything we can do for you.”

  “We will, thank you,” Ru said smiling. “Don’t worry, Beck. It all will work out fine.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  ~~~

  Joanna drove in silence, Beck in the seat next to her. Beck knew his mother was angry, but couldn’t understand why she wasn’t yelling at him. He figured it was best if he didn’t question it; her not yelling was better than him not getting a word in edgewise. It was the longest fifteen minutes of his life, and he was glad when they pulled into her driveway. He was even happier to see Moe’s car in the open garage. Beck figured his mother would be just as upset with Moe for trying to make the Delgados’ store fail as she was at him for messing with their equipment.

  They walked inside and found Moe sitting in the living room on the couch. “Where did everyone go? I got here and there was nobody home.”

  “We were at the hospital,” Joanna said.

  “The hospital? What happened?”

  Beck looked at his mother and said, “Maybe you should tell him.”

  “Tell me what? What in the world is going on here?” Moe obviously was concerned and a little annoyed that nobody was telling him what happened.

  “Come on, let’s go in the kitchen. I can clean up the tea and start making dinner while we talk.”

  The three went into the kitchen and Beck helped his mother clear the table while Moe watched them intently. He knew he wasn’t going to like what he was about to hear and with each second that passed, he became more and more impatient.

  “Can someone please tell me what happened?”

  “Beck, you can start,” Joanna said.

  “Well, I messed with some of the equipment at work as a prank. They thought I did it to help you make them look bad. Mrs. Delgado came over to talk to me about it and while she was here she got upset and had to be taken to the hospital.”

  “Oh, my God. What did you do?” Moe asked.

  “I didn’t do anything. She’s pregnant and thought she might be having a miscarriage. She’s fine and the baby is fine.”

  Moe then asked, “She thought you were doing it for me?”

  “Yeah. She thought you wanted them to look bad so that when you built your new store with the catering service, people would want to go to you and not them to cater their events.”

  Joanna spoke from the other side of the room, “Moe, Ru said you are trying to get rid of her husband’s store and their catering business.”

  “Ru? Oh, my God. Is Ru also called Ruby?”

  “I think so, why?”

  “She came to my office trying to get me to look into a different business opportunity. I didn’t think anything of it at the time, but now it makes sense.”

  Beck asked, “Why were you at the school on Saturday?”

  “What?”

  “They said they saw you over by the school the day that I messed with their stuff. Why were you there?”

  “I went there to see what kind of competition I would have if I chose to start a catering service in the store I was planning.”

  Beck took on a worried look and then calmly said, “You can’t build a grocery store.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because Mr. Delgado is the manager. If you build your store, theirs will suffer and close. And, oh my God, if you offer catering, their business will fail. They will lose everything, Moe.”

  Moe sat quietly for a moment and then Joanna spoke, “What business opportunity did Ru tell you about?”

  “She mentioned something about the antique mall in town. She said it was suffering and could use someone to step in and turn it around. She even gave me the owner’s name.”

  “Is that something you would consider doing?” Joanna asked.

  Before Moe could answer, Beck finally realized something, “Moe, this town was built on the businesses of its residents. If you come in and put up some huge chain store, the whole town will suffer. You can’t do it.”

  “Son, it’s my job. That’s what I do. I build big companies. I bring services to towns that need them.”

  “But Willow Crossing doesn’t need a big company. They need to continue on the way they’ve done it for years. The town isn’t failing. It isn’t in need of saving.”

  Moe looked at Beck and thought for a moment. He looked at the face of a teenager who seemed to have grown up while at the hospital.

  “You know what? You’re right. Everything you said makes perfect sense.”