Past Lies. Bobby Hutchinson

a pause, a rustle of paper, and then Tom recited, “Theo suffered a severe myocardial infarction. He isn’t out of danger yet. There’s been significant damage to his heart muscle, and he’s going to need rest and rehabilitation. No one will say how long he might be in hospital.” There was a pause and then Tom said, “Not very good news, huh?”

      “No, not good.” Ivy swallowed hard and stuffed underwear into a plastic bag so she’d be able to locate it easily. “But at least he’s getting the best of care, Dad. Was Aunt Cait worried about the guests at the lodge?”

      “Yeah, she was. I told her you were heading out, and she was really grateful. Said to tell you it’s a big relief to her, knowing you’ll be there. She says Mavis isn’t too good at planning menus, that maybe you could do that?”

      Ivy’s heart sank. She had no idea how to even go about it. How did you judge quantity? “I’ll do my best,” she said in a confident tone.

      “Good girl.”

      Ivy’s eyes filled with tears. It was what he’d always said when she was little. Theo’s heart attack was making her aware that Tom was getting older, too.

      They talked for a few moments about schedules at Up And Away, and then Tom hung up. Ivy finished packing, emptied the fridge of milk and yogurt, and was adjusting the furnace thermostat when the phone rang again.

      When she answered, Frances said, “Ivy, it’s me. Tom told me what’s happened. He said Caitlin’s concerned about the menus. If you want to do them, that’s absolutely fine, but if you don’t have time, I’d enjoy working them out. I could put them on the computer at school each day and then e-mail them to Sage. It would be best not to tell Mavis I’m doing them, though. I suspect she’s rather territorial when it comes to the kitchen. What do you think?”

      It was a huge relief. “Great idea, Mom.”

      “That’s settled, then. Let me know if there’s anything else I can do.”

      She’d misjudged her mother, Ivy realized when the call ended. But all she had to go on was the past. And Frances didn’t really have much of a track record there, did she?

      Ivy soon learned Frances was right about Mavis. The eccentric little woman was not a happy camper with Caitlin absent. She resented any change in her routine. She was much more cantankerous and stubborn than Ivy had suspected she’d be, and she made it plain she wasn’t happy about taking direction from either Sage or Ivy. She argued with them over everything and bossed them mercilessly.

      By the third evening, Ivy had learned the hard way what a mad scramble it was to feed eight guests and a varying number of employees three times a day. Neighbors had learned of Theo’s illness and were beginning to send food. Ivy and Sage welcomed all donations with grateful hearts and profuse thanks. Mavis, on the other hand, resented the offerings. “They figure I can’t manage on my own?” she snorted each time a casserole or some baking appeared. “They figure I’m over the hill?”

      Ivy tried to calm her down by saying—truthfully—that she couldn’t imagine how Caitlin and Mavis did it, week in and week out, all during the season. And the dishes. There was a dishwasher, but it ran off the generator, and if guests were showering it took forever to put a load through.

      “You young folks can do the hand washing,” Mavis proclaimed the very first night, as if she was granting a gift, and as soon as dinner was served, she disappeared up the back stairs to her room. Ivy figured the older woman was probably exhausted and too proud to admit it. Lord knows she was exhausted, and she was only half Mavis’s age.

      Tonight, Sage was busy changing linens in the guest bedrooms for a new group arriving in the morning, so Ivy was on her own with a mountain of pots and pans. She was grateful when Alex appeared beside her. He gently shoved her aside and rolled up the sleeves of his sweatshirt.

      “You dry. My hands could use a good soak in hot water,” he said, handing her a tea towel. “I got grease on them from that motor Oliver and I were trying to repair.”

      “Did you get it fixed?” During the past several days, Ivy’d been impressed by Alex. Instead of heading back to Valdez as she’d expected, he’d stayed on, quietly and efficiently taking on whatever needed doing, from working in the kitchen to waiting tables to helping clean the boats and outfit them for the next day’s excursion. He was cheerful, and he seemed to have a sixth sense as to where he was needed.

      “Oliver thinks we did. I’m not so confident. Motors aren’t my area of expertise.” He carefully washed a pot, handed it to Ivy to dry and reached for another, his motions efficient and methodical. They worked in silence for a few moments.

      Ivy studied his hands. He had long fingers, calloused. And yet somehow his hands seemed refined, a workman’s hands but with class. That’s what this guy was, she decided, drying another casserole dish. Alex was classy blue collar.

      His voice snapped her out of her reverie. “That chicken stuff was fantastic, but this pan it baked in doesn’t want to come clean.” He reached for a plastic scrubber and rubbed hard.

      “A friend of Caitlin’s, Mary Louise Bell, sent that over,” Ivy said. “She runs Bell House, a B&B a few miles out of Valdez.”

      “Nice folks, bringing food. It’s a lot different here than it is in the city,” he remarked. “Two guys came by today in a boat, offered to help me dig the foundation for the cabins.”

      Ivy nodded. “Alaskans are like that, really neighborly.”

      “I’ve noticed.” Alex rinsed the pan and handed it to her. “I have a theory that it’s the climate. You know, man against nature.”

      He was studying her face as if he intended to memorize every feature. Ivy rubbed at a damp spot on the casserole dish and tried to ignore his gaze.

      “That and the fact that there aren’t many people in the state. 640,000, latest census.” How could you feel sexy about a man up to his elbows in soapsuds? But she did. “Even though where area is concerned,” she babbled, “we’re one fifth the size of the entire U.S.A.”