Murder on a Silver Platter (A Red Carpet Catering Mystery Book 1) (9 page)

“I sure did, Penny Blue. You were always coordinating us into teams to play out in the schoolyard, making up your own rules, eliminating players at will based on your own judgments.” Joey chuckled slid closer to her, turning to face her. “You were ruthless.”

Penelope laughed out loud and thought it was probably the first time she had in at least a week. “You guys clearly needed someone to take charge and organize your fun for you.”

“We did have fun. I remember looking forward to going to school back then, for the playing, not so much for the learning. I always looked forward to seeing you.” Joey placed his hand lightly on her shoulder. “You were always nice to me, even when it wasn’t popular to be nice to the fat kid.”

Penelope wasn’t sure if it was the wine or Joey’s sudden openness, but it felt like it was much warmer in his apartment than it had been ten minutes earlier. Her cheeks flushed.

“Kids are jerks sometimes. You know that. You were always cool and funny. Everyone saw that once they got to know you,” Penelope said, taking his other hand in hers, entwining his fingers and laying it lightly on her thigh.

“But you didn’t wait to get to know me. You were nice from the get go, gave me a chance. You didn’t care about what anybody thought.” Joey searched her face, a faint smile of remembrance on his lips.

Penelope glanced down, embarrassed and at a loss for words. She had no idea how Joey must have felt back then, being on the outside looking in. She didn’t remember it being that way for him, but she guessed you never knew how others were really feeling, especially during those awkward preteen years. When she glanced back up, Joey was looking right into her eyes, still smiling. He leaned towards her and pulled her close, and hugging her tightly. He whispered into her ear, “I’ve never forgotten that about you, Penny Blue.”

A shiver shot through her body and she hugged him back, closing her eyes and breathing in his scent. His breath was hot against her neck, and he lingered there, smelling her hair. Penelope wasn’t sure she could keep herself from grabbing him by the shirt, throwing him down on the couch and violently making out with him if he kept this up. She savored the closeness of him for three beats longer then pulled away saying, “I should probably go.” She was proud of herself for keeping the shakiness out of her voice. She was cool as a cucumber on the outside but inside she was melting like candle wax.

“Are you okay to drive?” Joey reluctantly pulled away and relaxed back onto the couch. “I can take you home if you’re tired.”

“That’s sweet,” Penelope said, smoothing her hands down her thighs, readying herself to stand up from the soft leather couch. “It’s been a crazy week but I got a lot of sleep yesterday. Thank you for the offer.”

“Anytime.” He let out a long sigh, bringing himself back from their shared moment. “Thanks for coming. You helped me out tonight and I appreciate it.”

“No problem. I hope you can figure out who did this,” Penelope said. They both stood up at the same time, Penelope grabbing their empty wine glasses and heading towards the kitchen.

“You don’t have to clean up.”

“It’s no problem. Force of habit. You hand wash these or do they go in the dishwasher?”

Joey was gathering up the cheese tray and crackers and said to her over his shoulder, “I put them in the dishwasher. It’s got a special gentle cycle for winos like me with lots of glasses.”

Penelope opened the dishwasher. It was empty except for two plates stacked next to each other on the bottom rack. She pulled out the top rack and saw two more wine glasses that matched the ones in her hand. As she placed the glasses in the rack and slid it back into place, a glimmer of pink caught her eye. She pulled the rack back out to look again, glancing over her shoulder first to see if Joey was nearby. Seeing she was still alone in the kitchen, she took a closer look and her mood dipped. Along the rim of one of the glasses was an imprint of frosted pink lipstick. Penelope straightened up and slid the rack slowly back into place.

They said their goodbyes and Joey saw her to the door.

“I’ll be in touch,” Joey said, patting his pockets as if he was trying to remember something. “Maybe we can do this again sometime.”

“Sure.” Penelope brushed invisible lint off of her shoulder. The image of the frosted pink lipstick wine glass danced around her head. She opened the door. “Bye, Joey.”

“I’ll call you tomorrow. About the lip gloss.”

Chapter 14

Penelope walked through the back door of her house and into the kitchen twenty minutes later. She entered her passcode on the alarm keypad and dropped her bag onto the antique coat stand to the right of the door. Shrugging out of her coat, she hung it on one of the black iron hooks.

Sam’s Hummer was parked in the driveway. Most of the lights were off on Arlena’s side of the house so she assumed she and Sam were upstairs asleep. Penelope contemplated going upstairs and falling into her own bed. She was tired and relaxed from the wine at Joey’s place, but at the same time her mind was agitated from the visit.

“Pen is back,” Max whispered dramatically, suddenly entering the kitchen from the hallway.

Penelope jumped. “Max!”

He held his hands up in the air in mock surrender. “Sorry. I thought you heard me coming. What are you up to? Home from a hot date?”

“The question is what are you up to? Lurking around the house, jumping out at people?” They both kept their voices low.

“I’m getting ready to watch a movie. Want to join me?”

“I’m tired. I don’t know.”

“I’ll make popcorn,” he said.

Penelope wavered. “Okay. But nothing scary.” Maybe a movie would help her unwind and take her mind off of Joey.

“You got it,” Max said. “Go get comfy. I’ll meet you in the library in ten minutes.”

Penelope went up to her room, pulling her sweater up over her head as she slowly climbed the stairs. When she got to her bedroom she peeled off her jeans and laid her clothes on the large chaise lounge near her window. She made a mental note to drop the borrowed clothes at the cleaners before returning them to Kelley. She slipped off her bra and pulled on a black cotton tank top and grey yoga pants.

She pulled her hair up into a high ponytail as she went back down the stairs, and padded barefoot into the library. Max was sitting on one end of the couch. When he saw her come in he patted the cushion next to him, inviting her to come over and sit. He’d made a big bowl of popcorn which sat on the large slate coffee table next to an open bottle of wine and two glasses. There was a fire in the fireplace and a scented pillar candle burning on the far end of the table.

“More wine,” Penelope said. “I’ve already had half a bottle tonight.”

“So it
was
a hot date,” Max teased. He grabbed the bottle and poured some in a glass, handing it to Penelope. “Here you go, beautiful. Unless you’d prefer some champagne?”

Penelope rolled her eyes. “No thanks. And it wasn’t a hot date.” She took a sip and looked at the DVDs Max had fanned out on the table in front of them. She loved this room. It was full of comfortable couches and chairs, decorated in a modern style in soothing camel and burgundy tones, the walls lined with bookcases. A huge flat screen TV hung on the far wall which could be hidden behind a sliding book case when not in use. “Let’s watch this one,” she said, picking up and waving the case for
Soapdish
.

“Whatever the lady desires,” Max said, taking the case from her. He pushed himself up from the couch and slid the disc into the DVD player that sat on a clear glass shelf beneath the TV. When he sat back down he pulled a small wicker basket out from underneath the end table nearest him which held various remotes. He selected one of them and pressed some buttons, bringing the screen and then the player to life. Previews began to roll across the screen.

“Surround sound?” Max asked, selecting a smaller, white remote.

“Sure, why not? They can’t hear anything way up there,” Penelope said, glancing towards the other side of the house.

“She’s also got some medicinal help tonight.” Max winked. He activated the hidden speakers and rich sound filled the room.

“Did she seem okay when she got home?” Penelope asked.

“I think so. She was bumming because of her lips being all puffy and from everything that happened on set,” Max said. “Arlena’s tough, though. She’ll be fine in the morning.”

“You’re a good brother, Max. I know Arlena really cares about you.”

“I wish we had grown up together. It would have been cool to have a big sister like her looking out for me.” He grabbed the bowl of popcorn and settled back on the couch.

“How’s your mom?” Penelope asked, taking a sip of wine.

“She’s fine. She and her boyfriend are doing the hippie commune thing out there in Oregon. Living off the land, smoking weed. They’re happy.”

Penelope looked at the screen then back at Max. He was handsome in an easy-going, relaxed way. His cheekbones were high and sharp and he always looked like he was about to break into a smile. He was wearing black track pants and a soft red t-shirt with thick white socks on his feet. Turning sideways on the couch, she drew her legs up under her and reached into the bowl for some popcorn. The movie menu screen came on and Max selected Play.

He winked at her. “I get to host the second half of your date night, looks like.”

Penelope groaned. “It wasn’t a date. It was a visit with the detective who is working on Holly Anderson’s murder case.”

“A visit with a police detective and you had wine?”

Penelope sighed. “Yeah, but we used to be friends, we went to school together when we were kids. Anyway, I’m pretty sure he had another date right before I got there.”

Max raised his eyebrows. “A double feature? Looks like everyone is doubling up tonight. You think the detective’s a player?”

“I don’t know. Maybe. I’m pretty sure there was someone there with him when I called. Then I saw two dishes in the dishwasher and a wine glass with lipstick on it. Like he’d had dinner with someone. Ugly pink frosty lipstick,” Penelope added under her breath, reaching again into the popcorn bowl. “It’s not like we’re dating. Not even close. The man can have dinner with someone.” She put the handful of popcorn in her mouth.

“Wait, did you invite yourself over to his place?” Max asked.

“Not really…I called to talk to him about what happened today and he asked me to stop by. I had something for him, something to do with what happened with Arlena, and he asked me to drop it by on my way home.”

“Well, it sounds like he got rid of the pink lipstick lady when he knew you were coming over,” Max said, sipping his wine. “If I make dinner for a girl at my place I usually don’t want her to leave right after, if you know what I mean.”

Penelope contemplated that as they both turned their attention to the screen.

After a few minutes, Max turned the volume down and said, “What did he say about the girl?” He nodded towards the street in front of the house.

Penelope laid her head against the back of the couch. “He thinks she was trying to prove she was related to you. That maybe she thought she was your sister.”

“Oh, man.” Max shook his head and ran his hand through his unruly black hair. “I remember when I finally met Dad. I was five and he came and took me and my mom out to dinner. Stayed with us for a week. It was awesome. He took me to the zoo and we camped out in a tent in the backyard. Lots of fun stuff.” Max looked down into the bowl of popcorn. “Then he had to go, flew off to Helsinki to film a movie for six months. There were other visits and he took care of me and my mom. Always sent money, gifts on my birthday, Christmas, you know. That week was the best, though.”

“It’s nice you guys are close now. All of you.”

“But if Holly Anderson was really Holly Madison, I didn’t know about her. Dad never mentioned the name Holly to me. I heard about Arlena growing up. And Anthony, our brother in Texas. He’s still a kid, about twelve now, I think. And we have another ten-year-old sister in California named Saffron, but she’s never been in contact with us.”

“Do you know of any others?” Penelope stifled a yawn.

“No, but Dad’s been making movies for thirty years everywhere in the world. I guess anything is possible. I might have a sister in Helsinki.” He chuckled.

Penelope nodded, took a sip of wine and placed her glass back on the table. “Hand me that blanket?” she asked, pointing to a soft cashmere throw on the back of the couch. It was the same deep caramel color as the furniture. Max handed it to her and she draped it over her legs, turning her attention back to the movie.

“Penny,” a warm whisper tickled her ear.

“Hmm…” Penelope mumbled sleepily.

“You want me to take you to bed?” Max whispered to her.

Penelope’s eyes sprang open and she saw movie credits crawling up the big screen. The room was lit by the candle and the TV, the fire having died down to embers. The wine bottle stood empty next to the half-empty bowl of popcorn.

“Sure. You can take me to bed,” Penelope said wearily. “I can’t get up. I’m exhausted.” She closed her eyes again, drifting back to sleep.

Max flipped off the TV. He blew out the candle and scooped her up off of the couch, carrying her easily in his long muscular arms. Penelope curled into him, resting her head on his shoulder as he made his way out of the library, up the stairs and into her bedroom. By the time they got to her room Penelope was dozing off again. Max pulled back her soft down-filled comforter and laid her gently down on the bed, leaning over her to arrange the sheets over her. Penelope rolled onto her side, tucking her arm under her pillow and snuggling it to her face. She reached up and placed a hand on Max’s cheek. “Thanks, Max,” she whispered.

Max pulled Penelope’s comforter up to her shoulder and smoothed a strand of her hair back over her ear. He hesitated a minute and then leaned down, kissing her lightly on the cheek.

“Good night, Pen.” He stepped quietly from the room, turning off the light switch as he left.