1 Catered to Death Read Free Page B

air and almost causing me to drop the herb butter on top of my brand new right sneaker.

Chapter Two

    “My goodness, you startled me.” I put a hand to my chest and tried not to look like I was going to pass out. An extremely attractive man stood in front of me, his arms crossed across his chest as he leaned against the frame of the door. He was dressed in khaki slacks and a light blue V-neck cashmere sweater with the sleeves pushed up. He was wearing the sweater alone without a shirt or T-shirt under it, a look that was both sophisticated and oddly macho on him. He had piercing green-blue eyes, a head of thick silver hair and a slim athletic build with very broad shoulders. I guessed that he was a few years older than me, somewhere in his middle fifties. It was easy to see that in his prime this man had been very good looking in a Burt Reynolds, lady killer kind of way. He was still quite handsome and looked nothing at all like any teacher I had ever had when I was in high school. All the male teachers I’d had were paunchy and constantly harassed looking. This man looked like he wouldn’t know the meaning of harassed.
    “Sorry I scared you,” he said but his eyes told me that, on the contrary, he wasn’t sorry in the least. If anything, my jumping up into the air when he said ‘hello’ had amused him quite a bit.
    “That’s all right. It’s good for my heart to have a shock every so often. I’m DeeDee Pearson. I’m the caterer.”
    The man straightened up and stepped forward into the faculty lounge with one hand extended, fingers spread in an open, friendly style that reminded me of someone running for public office. “Frank Ubermann. Director of Eden Academy.”
    So he wasn’t a teacher; he was the boss. “I’m pleased to meet you, Mr. Ubermann.”
    “Frank, please. And I’ll call you DeeDee, if that’s all right. Such a cute name. It suits you.” Frank Ubermann’s blue-green eyes twinkled at me and I felt my cheeks turn red.
    “Thank you. It’s short for Denise.”
    “I like DeeDee better. I’ve heard through the grapevine that you’re going to be serving up a gourmet meal for all of us today.”
    “That’s my goal,” I told him. I was about to add that I was a little nervous because this was my very first catering job but I caught myself in the nick of time. There was no point in advertising that I was a newbie. As a matter of fact, I’d way prefer it if Frank and the rest of the staff saw me as an old hand in the catering game. After all, no one wants to eat a meal prepared by somebody who’s still wet behind the ears.
    “So you’re here to give Junebug a fitting send off?” Frank’s voice was deep and velvety, like a late night disc jockey’s.
    “Yes, I understand that she’s retiring.”
    “And not a moment too soon,” Frank said dryly.
    I looked at the food I had spread out. “It’s too late now but I suppose I should have brought a cake for dessert since this is a retirement party but I made triple chocolate brownies instead.”
    “Well, I wouldn’t worry about it. Junebug will be grateful that we’re doing anything for her. We really aren’t too big on celebrating at Eden Academy. Christmas, Valentine’s, Easter—I’m not a fan of any holidays.”
    Wow. How could anyone not be a fan of Christmas? To each his own, I supposed. “How long has Junebug been teaching?” I politely asked.
    “At Eden Academy for about ten years. Before that, who knows? She’s one of those ageless types.” Frank dropped his voice so that it was even lower. I had to lean over to hear what he was saying. “Between you, me and those brownies you just mentioned, it’s about time she hit the dusty trail, if you know what I mean.” He tapped a silver temple. “Not fully loaded anymore. Sad, really.”
    “That is sad,” I agreed.
    “I hope that when my time comes, I’ll have the good sense—not to mention the good taste—to leave gracefully. Personally I can’t wait to