Read Murder on a Silver Platter (A Red Carpet Catering Mystery Book 1) for Free Online Page B

anyone there, though, right?”
    Penelope nodded, gazing at a spot over his shoulder. “No. No one from our school went there. But it worked out. I adapted, made a couple of friends in my cooking courses.”
    “That’s brave, going to a new high school in a different town. At least some of the guys at Joseph’s were from Immaculate Heart. I don’t think I could’ve started over with new friends back then.”
    Penelope glanced away from his gaze. She remembered Joey from grade school, likeable and funny, but shunned by some of their classmates for being overweight. She and Joey had sat next to each other in math class in fifth grade, and she knew he got in trouble a couple of times by trying to make her laugh during the lecture, the stern priest making him copy times tables on the chalkboard in front of the class as punishment.
    “I should be going,” Joey said, somewhat reluctantly. He brushed past her as he left the room, glancing briefly back at her over his shoulder as he went.
    Penelope watched him walk down the hallway and tried to forget how good he smelled. Like sandalwood and cinnamon gum.

Chapter 6

      
    Penelope drove slowly up her street, coming to a stop at the stone pillars that anchored the long driveway leading up to their house. She blew out a noisy sigh and hoped she had given Sam and Arlena enough time alone. After the hospital she had gone back to the set where her crew was finishing the dinner cleanup, breaking down steam tables and putting the kitchen and pantry trucks back in order. Penelope insisted the crew clean and arrange everything for the next day at the end of each shoot. Experience had taught her there was nothing worse than starting off the filming day disorganized. It always put them too far behind to comfortably keep up.
    Before heading home, Penelope made her produce and fish orders for the next day’s deliveries, signed off on payroll in the production trailer, and picked up the following day’s call sheet. After her work was finished, she went to South Point’s Main Street Wine Bar and had a big glass of Pinot Noir and some butternut squash soup with crusty bread for dinner to kill time.
    She ate at a small table for two near the big picture windows, making notes and sketching out future menu plans in a spiral notebook. Although she was exhausted she enjoyed the peace and quiet, the good food and wine. The small votive candle on her table flickered whenever a member of the wait staff walked by. She found herself watching them, judging how they were working as if they were her own staff. She forced her mind to relax again and took another sip of wine.
    Penelope thought back to when she and Arlena had met and become friends on a movie set a few years ago. Arlena was the lead actress and Penelope was one of the chefs on the catering crew. The film was Slash ’Em Dead Again! —the fourth installment in the Slash ’Em! movie series. Arlena was the top screamer, running from the terrible Slash ’Em monster for most of the movie. The movies were a huge success, terrified moviegoers eagerly lining up to pay their hard earned money to watch Arlena and other young actors and actresses chased, slashed, skewered and otherwise traumatized on the big screen.
    Penelope was assigned to take care of Arlena’s long list of culinary requests on the set: no fat, no processed food, no fruit after two o’clock, six coconut waters chilled in her trailer every morning, nothing containing sugar allowed anywhere near her plate, and the biggest one, absolutely no shellfish. Arlena also requested a fresh vegetable tray every morning in her trailer, and a protein shake every day at three. It was a long list of do’s and don’ts, but Penelope happily prepared her meals to order and catered to every request, excited to be working on her first big movie.
    Penelope’s dream was to own her own on set catering business, and when she graduated from culinary school she took every theatrical job she