From her large bag, Daphne pulled out a basket. One of Iris’s. “I’m returning the basket, from the Fall Fair Committee meeting. Everyone loved your muffins and cookies and I thought Harold Wilson would fall into a diabetic coma after he scarfed most of the lemon bars. There wasn’t a crumb left. I felt very proud.”
“You didn’t have to make a special trip to bring back the basket.”
“I had some errands to run and I was happy to have an excuse to pop in and see how you are. I thought you looked a little pale the other day. You’re not coming down with something, are you?”
Iris’s color deepened and Marguerite could tell that it made her very uncomfortable not to tell Daphne about her pregnancy. There was a tiny pause as though she were debating whether to do just that and then she said, “No. I feel fine.”
But Daphne hadn’t raised eleven kids for nothing. She had a weird extra sense like a divining rod for lies. While Iris hadn’t exactly lied, she hadn’t told the whole truth. However, Daphne didn’t push the issue, and simply said, “Let me know if there’s anything I can do.”
“I will. Can I get you a tea or coffee or something?”
“I don’t want to interrupt you girls if you’re talking about something important.”
“No,” Marguerite said. “I needed some things at the health food store and decided to drop by.”
“All right then, I’d love to join you. I’ll have a coffee, too.” Iris topped up all their coffees. If Daphne noticed that she poured herself a decaf, she didn’t say anything.
“Well, the meeting for the fall fair committee went very well. You know I didn’t want to chair the committee this year, but if I hadn’t done it we might not have had a fair, and we need the money it raises to keep the after school program going for kids in need.”
Daphne had been helping children in need from the moment she stopped being a child herself. They both dutifully made supportive noises.
“Anyway, the one good thing about being the chair is that people tend to go along with my vision. I am determined to make the fair bigger this year, and add some new attractions. We’re going to advertise a little farther outside our own community. Lots of people from big cities want to experience a small town fall fair, so why shouldn’t we take their money? We’ll have the craft fair and of course the booths selling local produce. I’ve put Paisley in charge of games for the children. Then there’s—”
“Paisley’s coming home?” Iris interrupted. Paisley was their youngest sister who lived away at university. Paisley was the beauty of the family. If she were a flower, Marguerite thought she’d be an heirloom rose. Perfect to look at, with a divine scent, but more fragile than her hybrid cousins.
“I haven’t asked her yet, but she’s got a break then and it’s time she came home.”
“Can’t argue with that.”
“Where was I,” Daphne continued, her mind already off her youngest child and back in her role as chair of the Fall Harvest Fair. “Games for children, oh yes, and for the first time ever we’re going to bring in some food trucks.”
Marguerite choked on her coffee as horror and dread warred in her belly. Surely her mother hadn’t… “Food trucks?”
“Yes.” Daphne nodded, her blue-green eyes twinkling. “I asked Alexei first, and he seemed very enthusiastic about the idea. He put me in touch with some other truck owners and I think we’re going to have about four or five food trucks, right here in Hidden Falls. Isn’t that wonderful?”
Wonderful wasn’t quite the term Marguerite would have used. In fact she felt as though someone had sandpapered her esophagus. “You asked Alexei Vasilopoulos to bring his food truck here? To our fall fair?”
“Yes! He’s going to try to get his brother Matt as his helper. With the two of them serving food, the women of Oregon will be lining up for miles.”
Iris said, “Matt, the cardiothoracic surgeon, is going to help out in a food truck?”
“Sure! He and Rose will come down anyway for the fair and I think he’d get a kick out of it. He told me once that he paid his way through college by working in Greek restaurants. He probably misses it.”
Matthew Vasilopoulos was a gifted surgeon who had saved their father’s life, along with who knew how many other patients over the years. He was wealthy, busy, and currently dating their GP sister Rose. He did not seem like a guy who would enjoy spending a day slinging souvlaki at a country fair.
“This I’ve got to see,” Iris said.
Marguerite could only be grateful that she’d be running her own produce stand and way too busy to watch the lineup of eager women who wanted to taste Alexei’s wares.
A sound like a doorbell ringing emerged from Daphne’s bag. She dug out her cell phone and checked her text messages. “That’s Jack. He’s finished at his doctor’s appointment. I’m going to go pick him up now. Thanks for the coffee, darling.”
“You’re welcome.”
Marguerite waited until her mother had shut the door of the coffee shop before thrusting her hands into her hair. “She asked Alexei to bring his food truck to our fall fair? Did I actually hear that right or did I suffer a brain aneurysm thanks to this coffee?”
Iris looked sympathetic. “I’m pretty sure you heard correctly.”
“She’s trying to set me up, isn’t she?”
