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Dean walked into thekitchen and froze trying to figure out why the room was filled with a white cloud. At first, he thought it was a new apparition that had come to visit, until he heard the two ladies coughing in the middle of it. Confused he glanced at Kim with raised brows. She squinted at him then back at the sight before them.
“I don’t think she’s gonna be able to do this,” she whispered, as she watched in awe.
He absently sat the hand blower on the counter he’d been using to clean the air return grates and nodded, “I’m going to have to agree with you on that.”
The ‘she and this’ they were talking about was Destiny Tremblay, Desi for short, who was currently standing in the middle of the inn’s kitchen looking like a ghost herself. Only she was covered in flour while trying to make biscuits for tonight’s dinner that she would be judged on.
Dean had thought Kim was crazy last week, when the girl who looked not a day over 20 but claimed she was 29, had shown up on their doorstep. Not only did Kim offer her a place to stay for free, but she also hired her as the inn’s cook and caterer for Abbi and Ben’s wedding in a couple of weeks. He thought it was a total mistake, but who was he to say.
“Ohmagosh! I’m so sorry,” Desi gasped, blinking rapidly as she tried desperately to clear her vision.
“Here, let me help you with that.” Kim rushed over to the sink and turned the tap on. Grabbing a handful of paper towels, she stuck them under the running water and rung them out. She then scooped up the hand blower, took hold of the young woman’s chin and said, “Hold your breath and close your eyes.” Air blasted from the handy tool and scattered flour dust in every direction. Once done to Kim’s satisfaction, she handed the air blower to Dean and held the paper towels out to Desi.
She took them from Kim and wiped her face clean. With downcast eyes, she whispered, “I... I don’t know if I can cater this wedding for you.”
“Of course, you can.” Kim patted her on the back, “We will hire some help for you, won’t we Dean?”
“Ah, yeah.” Dean nodded sheepishly, “Sure if you need help Destiny, absolutely we will hire a few people. Just say it now so we have time.”
“That’s not it. I mean as cook for the inn. I don’t think I can do it.” She didn’t dare tell them that she couldn’t concentrate because of the real reason she was in Pearl Lake. Her cat Nala was stolen, and she was desperate to get her back. Even going as far as pretending to be something she wasn’t... a cook. “Really.” She waved a hand around the kitchen, “I mean look at this.”
“Pfft! You have everything ready but this... mess. And the rest of it does smell delicious.” Kim guided her away from the island and pointed her in the direction of the hall. “You got a little something there in your hair. Why don’t you go get yourself cleaned up while Dean and I tidy up? Then you can take another go at the biscuits.”
Destiny was on the verge of tears as she stepped into the hallway and headed towards the main staircase. The kindness Kim was showing her was just about her undoing. She hadn’t felt anything like that since she had lived with her grandparents back in Montreal. She had been devastated when they had been killed in a car crash. And she felt like such a liar, not telling Kim and Dean about her cat. The last thing her grandparents had gifted to her. She was sure if she told them they would think she was off her rocker for going to such lengths over an animal. Taking a steadying breath, she climbed the steps, two at a time, and was only slightly winded; compared to the first time she had made the ascent.
The inn was a glorious manor from days gone by that her employers had restored it to its former beauty. Dean had bought it, unbeknownst to Kim, for her. She hadn’t a clue that he was secretly in love with her for the better part of a year before he bought the dilapidated home. It just so happened that Kim was about to be homeless, and the timing was perfect. Only issue was, it apparently had a few otherworldly residents still living within its walls. So far, Destiny had yet to meet any.
She stepped into her room, the first door on the right in the west wing and walked straight to the adjoining bathroom. She looked at her reflection in the mirror and had to laugh. A badly made-up clown with dough stuck in her hair stared back at her. She wet a facecloth and wiped the remnants of flour from her face and then pulled the gooey mass free from her hair. Wiping her fingers clean, she decided to skip the shower that she wanted to have and get her butt back down to the kitchen to complete the meal for Kim’s family. She may have a hard time dealing with the loss of her beloved cat, but she was not a quitter!
But first she would take the opportunity to see if she could find anything out about her ex, Brian O’Neil. The snake who had left her, then one day while she was at work had taken Nala. When he did, he left a note using the excuse that she was too fat for his liking. As if. It wasn’t her fault he was a skinny ass beanpole of a man.
But she had been lucky when she came to the inn; Kim had wanted her to settle in before she tried to make a trial meal for Abbi and Ben. It had been a full week since her arrival, and it had given her a little time to scope out the area for the creep. She pulled up the mapping app on her phone and zoomed into a few points of interest. Before she left Montreal, she had been told by Brian’s friend Pete, that Brian was headed to Pearl Lake. He also told her he had Nala in a carrier the day he took her and had plans to sell her to a local. Being a Snow Lynx Bengal, she was a highly desirable and rare breed. It hadn’t taken Desi long to quit her job and hightail it to the lakeside village.
The day after she arrived, she had gone to the only café in town and talked to Mack, a lovely old man that had been more than forthcoming with information of the locals around the area. One of particular interest was an emu ranch. Only they didn’t have any emu’s, it would be the perfect spot for an underground, black market selling ring of rare and exotic animals. Mack had told her it was about a five-minute drive out of the village to the east. Desi scanned the topical map but couldn’t see anything for the highly forested area. The only way to be sure would be to go there and check it out in person.
A tap on her door had her stuffing her phone in her pocket, “Coming.” She crossed to the door and opened it half expecting to see Kim standing there. She peered around the door frame, looking in both directions and was mildly shocked to see not a soul in sight. “Huh... I guess that’s my cue to get my butt in gear.” She pulled her hair back into a ponytail and closed the door then headed down the hall to the stairs.
––––––––
“THERE YOU ARE! AREyou feeling less... flustered now?” Kim stood there wringing her hands together, while Dean sat at the table reading a newspaper and eating an apple.
Desi nodded, “I am. Thank you.”
“Thank God. Let’s get these biscuits made.”
Kim started measuring out the flour and dumped it into the bowl. “Abbi called while you were upstairs. They will be here in about an hour and there will be an extra mouth to feed with them. Lane’s here.
Dean looked up from his paper. “Lane? I thought he wasn’t supposed to be here for another week.”
Kim nodded as she measured the rest of the dry ingredients and added them to the bowl. Passing Desi the buttermilk and the measuring cup, she started to mix the contents of the bowl and nodded, “Yeah, he was, until Abbi called him and asked him to come up early.” She looked at Desi, “You two should get along, he’s about your age. A bit stuffy at times but in his line of work I could see why.”
“Oh? What kind of work is that?” Desi asked as she added the buttermilk to the bowl.
“He’s a private investigator... or, well, he was at least until he sold the business.” Kim shrugged, “Now who knows what he’ll do.”
Destiny’s brows shot up. He’s a P.I... someone she could use help from. All she had to do was convince him.
