Chapter Sixteen
Auntie Zee wasn’t back by dinnertime. And Calisa witnessed firsthand exactly how much her great-aunt did behind the scenes at The Faraway Inn.
It was Mulligan who came into the kitchen with a request first.
Calisa was perched on a stool, studying a new cake recipe in the cookbook and wondering what she could substitute for milk if Auntie Zee didn’t get all the supplies, and Jack was scowling at the innards of a malfunctioning bathroom fan—he had the pieces splayed out on the butcher block island.
“I hate to intrude on your reverie,” Mulligan said, “but is it known when Auntie Zee will return with my cocoa? There’s a new variation I wish to try tonight, for Zef.”
“She should be back soon,” Jack said.
Calisa glanced at the clock. It was close to eight, and the wooden bird on the clockface was preening its wooden feathers. They thumped together lightly, in rhythm with the minute hand. “We’ll let you know as soon as she’s back,” she promised.
Mulligan executed a tight bow and retreated.
Quietly, Jack said, “She said she’d be back by now.”
“Is that…Should we be worried?”
“Probably not. It’s Auntie Zee.” He looked worried.
She’d noticed that Jack had two standard expressions: deeply concerned and delighted at the world.
She imagined that both were an outgrowth of living in a magical inn.
Or maybe it was just Jack’s personality.
He cared a lot—about the inn, his dad, Auntie Zee, the guests—and he wasn’t afraid to show it.
Earnest, that’s what he was. It was nice.
But it did make clear when he actually was worried.
“I’m sure she’s fine,” Calisa said.
“It’s not her I’m worried about,” Jack said.
Next to complain was Kendra, who swept into the kitchen and regarded the parts of the bathroom fan as if they were filth covering the island. “I have not received my dinner.”
“Auntie Zee will be back—” Jack began.
“I will have chicken potpie,” Kendra declared, “as well as a glass of chardonnay. For dessert, I desire pudding. You will add a swirl of whipped cream on top.”
Calisa and Jack glanced at each other.
Jack looked slightly panicked. “Um, I don’t…”
“It is in my agreement with the Faraway Inn,” Kendra said sharply. “I am guaranteed dinner. If Auntie Zee is not available to provide it, then it falls to you. I hope you will not disappoint me.”
Calisa flipped through the cookbook, searching for a chicken potpie recipe. How hard could it be? It was just pie crust with vegetables and chicken inside. Cornstarch for thickening? “It has to bake for almost an hour. Would you rather—”
“I will wait,” Kendra said, and spun to sweep out of the kitchen.
She swallowed. “I don’t know yet if we have all the ingredients….” Kendra was already gone. She wasn’t the type to stick around to hear excuses, even valid ones.
Jack jumped off his stool. “You read. I’ll check.”
“Chicken and vegetables, first off,” Calisa said. “Then: salt, pepper, celery seed, garlic powder, bullion, milk, egg…I know we’re out of milk, but I can use cornstarch with water instead.” They scrambled to assemble the ingredients, and Calisa began to mix the dough for the pastry crust.
Her fingers were deep in the butter and flour when Melidor raced into the kitchen. “Auntie Zee didn’t replace my sheets, and mine are full of mulch.”
“I’ll check the laundry,” Jack offered.
“Also, she promised me vegetable soup for dinner tonight.”
Calisa had no idea that Auntie Zee provided dinner as well as breakfast at her B she’s just late. She’s been late before. Every so often, she does this. Vanishes for a while.”
“Why?” Calisa asked. “Does she say what she does or where she goes?”
“Auntie Zee isn’t big on explaining,” Jack said. “You may have noticed.”
“Someone should tell her it’s not okay.”
“Yeah, that won’t be me. Until then…we just do what we were going to do today, and try to keep everything running okay until she gets back.” He added, “And we keep it from the guests.”
She raised her eyebrows. “Lie to them?”
“If they know she isn’t here and that we have no idea when she’s coming back, they’ll leave,” Jack pointed out. “You saw how they were last night—they like things the way they like them. So, we have to pretend we know what we’re doing, and that it’s supposed to be this way.”
“Fake it until we make it. A time-honored tradition for people who are completely in over their heads and know it.” She and Jack had gotten through last night. Even the potpie hadn’t turned out terrible. They could keep the inn running until Auntie Zee returned, couldn’t they?
Jack nodded. “How about we tell them she had to go farther afield for supplies this time, and she’ll be back in a day. Two days?”
“A week?” Calisa suggested. There was so much worry in his eyes that she added quickly, “She’ll be back sooner than that. This is just what we tell the guests.”
He looked relieved.
“Okay, I guess since we can’t garden today, I’m going to clean the library?” There was no point in just waiting for Auntie Zee, and it was next on Calisa’s list of rooms to improve.
Jack scraped his half-eaten pancake into the compost bin and washed his plate. “She’ll be back soon.” He sounded as if he was trying to convince both Calisa and himself.
She tried to think of what to say, but there wasn’t anything to say that would make it better.
Someone really needs to tell Auntie Zee she can’t just vanish.
She’d be happy to be the one to do it, if she had any idea where her great-aunt had gone.
If I could go bring her back right now, I would.
But Calisa didn’t know how or even where to begin.
She did, however, know how to clean a bunch of bookshelves.
After the breakfast dishes were washed, Calisa claimed several dustrags, a broom and dustbin, and a cleaning spray that smelled like lavender. She carried them through the lobby to the library and deposited them on the window seat.
Out the window, on the porch, Steve was pressed against the glass. He looked in at her with wide, sad eyes. Apparently, he didn’t like the rain.
“Don’t drip on the books,” she told him as she opened the window.
Steve waddled inside, hopped down to the window seat, and circled like a cat before settling on a pillow.
He let out a happy chirp as he folded his wings on his back, wrapped his tail tight around his body, and closed his eyes.
He was snoring in seconds. Leaving him on the pillow, Calisa began to clean the library around him.
As she worked, she chewed on a question: If Auntie Zee didn’t return on her own soon…could they find her and insist she come home? Calisa had dismissed that as an impossibility, but what if it wasn’t?
The most immediate roadblock to that was how to figure out where she’d gone. It was clear Jack didn’t know, and she doubted any of the guests did either. As Jack had said, Auntie Zee wasn’t big on sharing information.