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“As you will continue to have,” she said serenely, in contrast to how I felt about unanswered questions. “Gisella has been cooking for several needy families, and I promised I would help her pack the meals. You can assist.”
“Mrs. Parens—”
“Are you aware that Gisella was a protégé of Ulla Dobey, the long-time cook at the Elk Rock Ranch and Keefer’s mother?”
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Gisella’s stalwart form commanded her immaculate kitchen with ease.
It was hard to believe how clean it was, considering the array of food waiting to be wrapped up and divided into boxes. She had to clean each speck as it appeared.
Amazing.
She put Mrs. P and me to work immediately. I was in charge of the plastic wrap.
I have never plastic wrapped better in my life. I don’t know if it was because I and the plastic wrap container were cowed into submission, but there was only one slight hint of twisting wrap and none of the blobbing tangles I too often encountered. Without them, it was actually rather relaxing.
As was talking with Gee. No drawing impressions and opinions out of her with a pair of pliers.
Get her started and let ’er rip.
“With the three of them up there at Elk Rock Ranch for long, long stretches... Some would say they’re surprised there hasn’t been a death before now. And this time of year most likely to bring it on. You’ve got all the build-up from going through the worst of winter — though nobody could say Keefe got cabin fever, because he was out in any kind of weather. Still it wears on most people and maybe even him a little, and there’s still a good long stretch to go, especially before the guests come and add a sort of cushion between them, if you know what I mean.”
“Are you saying... There was a romantic triangle?”
She stared at me a beat then burst out laughing. “No. No way.”
It wasn’t that far-fetched. “Wendy made a comment that Brenda resented her.”
With a grin lingering on her mouth, her eyes went thoughtful. “I suppose she did. But not over Keefe.”
No credit to me for asking the next question. “Over what then?”
“I suppose you could call it sibling rivalry for Chester’s attention and affection. Like Keefe, Brenda was basically brought up at Elk Rock. Had the run of the place. And a lot of Chester’s attention.”
“Keefe didn’t have his attention?”
“No. Oh, I’m sure Chester was fond enough of him, but Keefe wasn’t ever a talker. He’d sit and stare off and you felt like you weren’t in the same hemisphere as far as he was concerned. He’d watch the birds, watch the horses, watch the cattle, watch the critters. Sit there so still and silent, even wildlife would get back to acting normal, walking past him, paying him no mind. That row next, Elizabeth, so Emmaline can finish those boxes.”
I swear she didn’t even breathe before continuing, “Saw it myself when he was real young and I went up in the mountains with him for a report for school. I was a senior in high school and he was little — third grade, maybe even younger. But he said he’d guide me and he did.” Her focus softened into memories. “Amazing.”
Hearing her own word seemed to pull her out of her reverie.
“And that was with me there. Probably fidgeting. Surely not smelling like a mountain creature, which he did more often than not if someone wasn’t on him about it. Later on, one of the guests got him to wear one of those cameras they use to film stunts and such. Only this one showed him barely doing anything — walking and sitting. But then, if you watched long enough, things started to happen around him. Like he’d been a stone dropped into a pond, setting off ripples, but after a while the pond settles back into normal, like the stone wasn’t ever there.
“The guy — the guest — put it up online, along with footage of Keefe he took. Might still be there somewhere. Pretty boring to start and for stretches even after the ripples smooth out.” She blinked, not focusing on me. “Don’t suppose Keefe would ever have said it was boring. Not to him. He was one-of-a-kind.”
“You knew him through his mother?”
Gee looked at Mrs. P immediately, simple recognition of my source, with no shred of blame or censure.
“Yes. That’s how I ended up going out with him in the woods that time — I was talking about the project while I helped Ulla in the kitchen and he piped right up that he’d take me out.”
“How often were you in the Elk Rock kitchen?”
“As often as I could be. Even when I wasn’t working there.”
“You worked there?”
