Chapter 3
The next morning Donna dressed carefully in a conservative navy suit with a pleated skirt. Downstairs, she found a note on the kitchen table informing her that Kristen was out and that she should help herself to breakfast. While the coffee was brewing, she pulled out her laptop and looked up the addresses of the people she needed to talk to, noting them carefully in a small notebook. After a quick breakfast of toast and coffee, she set out for Bream and Associates, Kristen’s accountants.
The accountants were in a large office building not far from the downtown area. Donna parked in the nearby lot. The lobby was a glassed-in area. A bank of plants and a shallow fishpond ran along the front windows beside a row of patio tables, creating a garden effect inside the building. Nobody seemed to be around except a woman tending to some of the plants. Donna spotted a bank of elevators and a building directory across the lobby.
According to the directory, Bream and Associates was located on level four. As Donna stepped off the elevator, she saw a reception desk, staffed by a young Asian woman, across a spacious waiting area. Donna crossed to the desk. The receptionist’s name was Ashley, according to the sign on her desk.
“Hello, Ashley. I’m Donna Zimmer and I need to see the accountant working with the Ross Meredith Estate.” Donna realized immediately that she should have asked Kristen for the name before coming, but of course, she hadn’t seen Kristen since she stomped out of the room the night before.
The receptionist frowned. “I’m not sure which of our accountants that would be. Excuse me a minute and I will find out.” The receptionist was gone for considerably more than a minute, and when she returned she didn’t look happy.
“Ms. Freeman is the person you want to see, but she is tied up in a meeting right now. Would you care to wait?”
“All right, I can wait,” Donna said. She crossed the terrazzo tile floor to a chair near the window and pulled out her laptop, hoping to begin organizing her thoughts while she waited. She made notes of all the people she needed to confer with and the questions she needed to ask them, which took a considerable amount of time.
Donna looked at her watch. She had been waiting for over an hour. She looked over toward the receptionist who carefully did not meet her eyes, but did leave her chair and disappear down the hall. When she returned she approached Donna.
“Ms. Freeman says she will only be another ten minutes or so. Would you like coffee or tea?”
“No thank you. I’ll wait,” Donna said.
Fifteen minutes later a woman walked toward Donna. She was a short heavy woman, probably in her late fifties, who carried herself as stiffly as the figurehead of a Viking ship. “I am Candace Freeman. What can I do for you, Miss…?”
“Donna Zimmer.” Donna stood and extended her hand. “I am here at the request of Kristen Meredith.”
Ms. Freeman frowned. “Please come with me to my office, Ms. Zimmer.”
Donna obediently followed her down the plush carpet of the hallway into a small but pleasant office. The carpeting in here wasn’t quite as plush as that in the hallway. A print of an English landscape hung on one wall, the others being covered with tall gray filing cabinets. Ms. Freeman indicated that Donna should sit in one of the straight chairs in front of the desk. She shut the door behind them and walked around to seat herself behind the desk. Donna noticed with amusement that, although she was at least three inches taller, from her chair she had to look up at Ms. Freeman. Ms. Freeman probably had a box for her feet under the desk so that she could push her chair seat up that high.
“Would you like some coffee, Ms. Zimmer?”
“No thank you. I just had some questions about one of Kristen’s accounts.”
“I’m afraid that we are unable to discuss confidential business of one of our clients without their express permission,” Ms. Freeman said.
“Hasn’t Kristen told you about me?” Donna asked.
“She did mention that she had a friend or relative coming that might want to talk with me, but she didn’t give her express permission.”
“Then why don’t you simply call her and get her permission?” Donna suggested. “And then we can get to my questions.”
“It is our company policy to have the permission in writing before we can give out any information.”
“Of course it is.” Donna’s voice was resigned. She couldn’t blame them, entirely. In a big firm like this, everyone soon learned to “cover your butt.” She rubbed her forehead, trying to massage away the headache that was starting there. “Do you have a preprinted form, or do I need to write one up?”
“I believe we have a release of information form available. I’ll have the receptionist…” Donna narrowed her eyes and glared. Ms. Freeman changed her mind. “I’ll print you one out now. It will only take a minute.” Five minutes later Donna was riding down the elevator, the form tucked into her satchel.
Thank God I don’t work in a big firm like that anymore, she thought. She had started with a large firm, but left and started the small partnership with Susan as soon as she could afford it. Then she remembered how slow business had been lately. Would she have to go back to work for someone else? She hoped it never came to that.
Anyway, back to business. Once she was in the car, she dialed Kristen’s cell number, thoughtfully provided by the travel agent along with directions to the house. The phone rang four times and rolled over to voice mail. “Kristen, I need you to sign a form so your accountants will talk to me. Please call me back.” She waited a few minutes to see if Kristen would get right back to her, but no luck there. Where would she be?
Donna glanced at her watch, twelve-fifteen. She remembered Pauline had told Kristen to be at the caterer at noon. Kristen’s fiancé was coming too. Donna was eager to meet Matthew, to find out what sort of a person she was dealing with. She made up her mind to crash their catering date.
What was the name of that caterer? Something in the name had reminded Donna of picnics. That’s right, Blue Sky Catering. Donna checked the address on her iphone. The caterer was only about half a mile away. Her stomach growled. Maybe there would be enough samples to share.
Donna thought back about her own wedding so long ago. She had been head-over-heels in love with her husband when they married and she had assumed he felt the same way. Their first year was wonderful, with the excitement of a new marriage, new jobs, a new apartment. After that, Donna got pregnant with Rachel and parenthood consumed them both for the next few years.
It wasn’t until Rachel was in elementary school that Donna began to notice that she seemed to be the only one putting any effort into the marriage. Only she planned dinners out or created celebrations for special days. The only couples they socialized with were Mark’s friends and their wives, since Mark didn’t like her friends. Although Mark was happy to enjoy her special dinners or little gifts, he never felt the need to surprise Donna with any special attention.
Predictably, Donna tired of pouring energy into the empty well of their marriage and began to shift her focus. That was about the time she left the big accounting firm and started the partnership with Susan. Starting up the business consumed a huge amount of time and energy and whatever energy Donna had left went to Rachel. Mark hardly seemed to notice the difference and they had drifted along, not exactly happy but resigned, at least until Mark decided to leave her for someone half his age. The experience had left Donna somewhat cynical about men and love.
The catering business turned out to be close to downtown, in a converted Victorian house. Just inside the front door was a small dining room with four or five tables. Kristen sat at one of them with Pauline and a young man, presumably Matthew. Someone in an apron was bringing them a tray of food.
Because the caterer was between them and the door, they didn’t notice Donna immediately, which gave her a minute to study them. The man had thick blond hair with an endearing cowlick and soft brown eyes. Donna could certainly understand his appeal to Kristen, but did he love her
as much as she loved him?
Matt bit into a tidbit of food and exclaimed over it. He picked another from the tray and reached across to feed it to Kristen, delighted when she nodded that she liked it.
Kristen looked up as Donna approached. “Hi, Donna. Matt, remember I told you that Donna would be coming to stay and help me with everything?” Apparently, Kristen was over her fit of temper from last night because she seemed pleased to see Donna.
Matt stood and extended his hand. “Hello. Matt Arlyn. Nice to meet you Donna. Now you are Kristen’s aunt or something?”
“No nothing like that.” Donna shook his hand. His handshake was firm but gentle. “I was a friend of Kristen’s dad. I’m very glad to meet you.” Donna turned and nodded a greeting at Pauline. “Hello Pauline.”
Pauline wiggled her fingers in greeting, indicating that she was on her cell phone.
“Please join us, Donna. They are about to bring out another sampler of appetizers.”
“Well, I’d love to if you don’t mind. I did bring something for you to sign, but it can wait.”
Pauline ended her phone call and stood up. “Sorry I have to go now, but I have another appointment at twelve-thirty. All your choices are made and everything is arranged here. They just want you to sample everything ahead to make sure you like it. If you do have any problems with any of the food, please call me right away so I can handle it.”
“That’s fine, Pauline. Thank you for coming.”
Pauline sailed out of the room, and everyone seemed to breathe a collective sigh of relief. Matt looked at Kristen and rolled his eyes. Kristen began to giggle. Donna couldn’t help joining in and they were all laughing when the caterer returned with another tray of bite-sized goodies.
“What’s so funny?” she asked.
“Nothing really. We just feel like kids playing hooky when Pauline leaves.”
The caterer nodded. “I know exactly what you mean. She brings us a lot of business, but sometimes I wonder if it is worth it to have to deal with her. She doesn’t make unreasonable demands about the food and she’s very organized but her Queen of the Universe act is hard to take.”
“Exactly.” Kristen nodded toward Donna. “It’s okay if my friend stays and samples too, isn’t it?”
“Of course. May I get you something to drink?”
“A glass of water would be perfect, thank you,” Donna replied.
“So you’re coming with me to my shower tomorrow night, aren’t you?” Kristen asked Donna.
“I haven’t been invited.”
“It will be fine. I’ll call Jen and let her know. Jen is my matron of honor. She’s invited a few people we knew in high school, and Matt’s mom is coming. We’ll have fun.”
“All right. That sounds nice,” Donna said.
“Great. It’s at five, so I’ll meet you at the house at four-thirty tomorrow and we can drive together. Oh, here’s another tray.”
They tasted for the next hour, starting with a green salad with feta, walnuts, and cranberries, followed by a selection of several vegetable and side dishes along with chicken Kiev and filet mignon.
“I thought about serving trout,” Kristen said, “but Matt talked me out of it.”
“I love fresh trout, but I don’t think it would hold up on a buffet steam table,” Matt explained to Donna. He turned to Kristen. “Once we’re back from our honeymoon let’s go camping over by Show Low. I promise to catch you some nice rainbows. Fry those babies up right out of the river, and you’ll never taste anything better.”
“I’ll hold you to that,” Kristen told him.
The meal ended with a tray of tiny pecan tarts. “Aren’t you having a wedding cake?” Donna asked.
“Of course, but pecan pie was my dad’s favorite and I couldn’t resist serving them too. I know how much he would have liked that.”
“That is sweet.”
The caterer sat down at the table. “So, is it all to your satisfaction? Anything you want to change?”
“I think it was perfect,” Kristen said. “What do you think, Matt?”
“I’m pleased too. You got the seasoning in the potato casserole just right.”
“Matt is a great cook,” Kristen said proudly. “All I can do is chop vegetables and make salad. Matt knows all about sauces and seasonings. I want him to teach me.”
“We’ll cook together. You can be my sous chef.” Matt kissed Kristen on the cheek and turned to the caterer. “We appreciate you going to all this trouble for sampling.”
“No trouble at all. It is all included in the price. It’s been great working with you, and we will see you at the wedding.”
Outside, Donna turned to Kristen. “I almost forgot – I need you to sign this release of information form so your accountants will talk to me.”
“Oh, right.” Kristen took the pen Donna offered and signed. “Donna’s an accountant. She’s checking the books for me while she’s here for the wedding,” she told Matt.
Matt frowned. “Why, has there been a problem?”
“The accountants are concerned about something, but I don’t think it is anything serious. Donna will take care of it. Do you want to go on a bike ride with me this afternoon?”
“I’d love to, but I really need to get back to work. I’d better drop you off and get going. It was nice to meet you Donna. I’m sure I’ll see you again soon.”
“Good to meet you too, Matt. Goodbye, Kristen.”
Driving back to the accountant’s office, Donna reflected on Matt. She liked him. Donna had half expected a slick gold-digger, but if Matt was faking his feelings for Kristen, he should win an Oscar. On the other hand, considering what happened in her marriage, Donna wasn’t sure she was the best judge of a man’s true feelings. Besides, even if Matt was in love with Kristen that didn’t mean he couldn’t have stolen or mismanaged money. Time would tell.