delivered a little later than she'd originally planned. It wasn't ideal but it would work.
And she was looking forward to seeing her mother again!
"You don't think she'll want to spend the afternoon relaxing after her trip do you?"
Grandma Ellie snorted. "Not likely. I've never known your mother to spend a minute more relaxing than she absolutely had to. She hasn't had a chance to see you in action! Something tells me she'll want to see everything."
Which meant she might want some time to relax before the day was out. Maxine did love her mother. Just – it was complicated. Sometimes they seemed to get along better when they weren't together.
Her mother had already been upset when her local news station had reported on Julianna's brush with death. She'd been on the phone before Maxine knew she'd made the news.
"Darling, at least this time they're not considering you a suspect. You simply have to stop having incidents like this at your events."
"It wasn't something I planned Mother," she'd said more sharply than she intended.
"I realize that, but you've had enough," her mother's voice took on a note of distaste, "deaths at events catered by you earlier this year. You have to make sure you're not involved in any more."
"You're not seriously suggesting I had any way of knowing anything like this was going to happen are you?" she'd said.
"Of course not dear but maybe you can hire more security for future events. Just until these 'events' stop happening at occasions you've catered."
"I'd already convinced Kevin he needed more security for the wedding-"
"So you did know there was potential for trouble," her mother had declared triumphantly.
"I knew there was some bad blood between the families. Certainly I never saw anything like this happening!"
"As a business owner you have to prepare for the worst! Darling I have a media consultant who's an absolute genius at risk management. You simply must talk to her."
"Mother you're talking about someone who specializes in publicity for oil spills and other disasters. I'm just a caterer. I'm not going to turn events catered by me into affairs patrolled by armed guards. And I'm not going to employ a media spin expert."
"Darling, if you'd just-"
"No. Mother I'm not going to talk about it." She'd hung up. Which made her all the more anxious about picking her mother up only to dash off to make deliveries.
Although, of all people, her mother should understand. And she might. She'd probably even enjoy it. If Maxine were to allow her to take over and do it her way.
She took a deep breath in, aware her Grandma Ellie was watching her. "I do love her."
"And she loves you," Grandma Ellie said. "You need to learn how to relax with your mother."
"You just said she doesn't like to relax," Maxine pointed out.
"Neither of you do," Grandma Ellie said. "The truth is you're more like than either of you like to admit."
"Bite your tongue," Maxine said.
Grandma Ellie just smiled at her. "Maybe I'll be able to talk her into spending the afternoon Christmas shopping with me after we've picked her up."
Maxine gave her grandmother a look of heartfelt thanks. "That would be perfect!"
"I can't promise," Grandma Ellie said. "But I'll try."
Which was good enough for Maxine. Maybe, just maybe, she'd make it through Christmas without having a nervous breakdown.
Or maybe not she thought the next day as record business filled her store front and threatened to have them out of Christmas goodies leaving customers disappointed before the day was over.
It was all hands on deck with Jane filling orders and taking payments along with the help of Ally while Maxine divided her time between the kitchen where Heath had a production line going of Chocolate Yule logs while Marcus was finishing up a batch of truffles.
She hurriedly dipped pretzels in chocolate and broke huge sheets of Christmas bark into pieces between trips downstairs to fill orders and give breaks to Ally and Jane. Customers continued to
And she was looking forward to seeing her mother again!
"You don't think she'll want to spend the afternoon relaxing after her trip do you?"
Grandma Ellie snorted. "Not likely. I've never known your mother to spend a minute more relaxing than she absolutely had to. She hasn't had a chance to see you in action! Something tells me she'll want to see everything."
Which meant she might want some time to relax before the day was out. Maxine did love her mother. Just – it was complicated. Sometimes they seemed to get along better when they weren't together.
Her mother had already been upset when her local news station had reported on Julianna's brush with death. She'd been on the phone before Maxine knew she'd made the news.
"Darling, at least this time they're not considering you a suspect. You simply have to stop having incidents like this at your events."
"It wasn't something I planned Mother," she'd said more sharply than she intended.
"I realize that, but you've had enough," her mother's voice took on a note of distaste, "deaths at events catered by you earlier this year. You have to make sure you're not involved in any more."
"You're not seriously suggesting I had any way of knowing anything like this was going to happen are you?" she'd said.
"Of course not dear but maybe you can hire more security for future events. Just until these 'events' stop happening at occasions you've catered."
"I'd already convinced Kevin he needed more security for the wedding-"
"So you did know there was potential for trouble," her mother had declared triumphantly.
"I knew there was some bad blood between the families. Certainly I never saw anything like this happening!"
"As a business owner you have to prepare for the worst! Darling I have a media consultant who's an absolute genius at risk management. You simply must talk to her."
"Mother you're talking about someone who specializes in publicity for oil spills and other disasters. I'm just a caterer. I'm not going to turn events catered by me into affairs patrolled by armed guards. And I'm not going to employ a media spin expert."
"Darling, if you'd just-"
"No. Mother I'm not going to talk about it." She'd hung up. Which made her all the more anxious about picking her mother up only to dash off to make deliveries.
Although, of all people, her mother should understand. And she might. She'd probably even enjoy it. If Maxine were to allow her to take over and do it her way.
She took a deep breath in, aware her Grandma Ellie was watching her. "I do love her."
"And she loves you," Grandma Ellie said. "You need to learn how to relax with your mother."
"You just said she doesn't like to relax," Maxine pointed out.
"Neither of you do," Grandma Ellie said. "The truth is you're more like than either of you like to admit."
"Bite your tongue," Maxine said.
Grandma Ellie just smiled at her. "Maybe I'll be able to talk her into spending the afternoon Christmas shopping with me after we've picked her up."
Maxine gave her grandmother a look of heartfelt thanks. "That would be perfect!"
"I can't promise," Grandma Ellie said. "But I'll try."
Which was good enough for Maxine. Maybe, just maybe, she'd make it through Christmas without having a nervous breakdown.
Or maybe not she thought the next day as record business filled her store front and threatened to have them out of Christmas goodies leaving customers disappointed before the day was over.
It was all hands on deck with Jane filling orders and taking payments along with the help of Ally while Maxine divided her time between the kitchen where Heath had a production line going of Chocolate Yule logs while Marcus was finishing up a batch of truffles.
She hurriedly dipped pretzels in chocolate and broke huge sheets of Christmas bark into pieces between trips downstairs to fill orders and give breaks to Ally and Jane. Customers continued to
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