“Don’t worry,” Valerie said after catching the worried look on my face. “I know this is different from how things were when you competed, but I specifically designed the interview and volunteer portions to go first so we could eliminate the girls who weren’t taking this seriously. I’m confident that the ones who remain would all make a wonderful Miss Teen Shady Palms, so there are no more elimination rounds until the final event. From now on, it’s a point system.”
Which I’d read in the judges’ packet and totally forgotten about. In my defense, she was changing up things a lot and the guidelines she’d sent were longer and more thorough than the orientation packet I’d received when starting university. So maybe I’d glazed over a detail here and there.
“Now that that’s over with, I’m looking forward to seeing what the girls have designed for the athleisure wear event,” Valerie continued.
Despite the fact that she wasn’t a judge, Valerie had insisted on accompanying me, Beth, and Sana on all our volunteer visits, something that Beth was not happy about and made no secret of covering up.
“Yes, as the new head of the Thompson Family, I can’t wait to see if they’ve produced anything good enough for our new line,” Beth said, her words as pointed as the four-inch stiletto heels she wore everywhere, the red soles flashing like a warning sign.
Valerie’s sudden intake of breath was the only sign that Beth’s words had scored a direct hit. Continuing on as if she hadn’t heard Beth, she said, “Now that the Thompson Family Company has taken a huge blow, I need to be sure that nothing mucks up my family’s legacy.”
Sana and I hurried to our cars as Valerie and Beth continued their slightly passive and increasingly aggressive snipes at each other. “We finished way earlier than planned, so want to hang out for a bit? I need to decompress and ward off all that bad juju,” Sana said, as she unlocked her silver Prius.
I was supposed to meet up with Adeena and Elena later to debrief them on the volunteer visits, but figured they’d be cool with me inviting Sana along. They were already friends with her and we could save any sleuthing talk for later. Besides, I needed to get closer to Sana to see if she was connected to Rob’s death in any way.
“I’d like that. I’m meeting Adeena and Elena to go over possible menu additions and you can join us.”
“Can I come too?” Valerie popped up next to us, making both me and Sana jump. “Please? I really need something to do after dealing with her.”
Sana looked at me, eyebrows raised as if to say, What do you think?
I held in a sigh. It was going to be a lot less fun and relaxing with Valerie there, but what the heck. She clearly needed the company, and it would be good for me to get to know her better, too. She was still a suspect after all.
“Yeah, of course. We wanted to add some gluten-free treats to the menu, so you’d be the perfect taste tester.”
Valerie grinned. “Great! See you there.”
* * *
? ? ?
I finally figured out what to do with all that zucchini!”
I set out a loaf of zucchini-pandan bread, the green coloring from the extract adding an interesting tinge to the crumb. The grassy, floral taste complemented the neutral flavor of the zucchini well, and the turbinado sugar I’d sprinkled on top added a delicious crunch.
Adeena, Elena, and Sana all reached out to help themselves to slices, but I had to stop Valerie. “Your special dessert isn’t ready yet. I had to source a few ingredients from my aunt’s restaurant first, so you get to try Adeena’s ice candy while you wait for my dessert to come out of the oven.”
“Oh, this is just like an Indian dessert I had before, but in ice pop form! How fun,” Valerie said, a great big smile on her face. Nothing like a yummy ice pop to have even the most serious of adults grinning like a little kid. Seeing her delight made the somewhat fiddly process of constructing the ice candy totally worth it.
Glancing over at Adeena and Elena chattering happily with Sana, I realized this was the chance I’d been waiting for. But if I wanted info from Valerie, it was probably best to butter her up first. “Hey, so I’ve been meaning to tell you how much I love the changes you’ve made to the pageant. So much better than when I was a kid.”
“Really? You mean that? I mean, of course you do. Those were good changes I made. Really good changes,” she said, as if convincing herself.
I didn’t know what to say in response, so I just nodded in agreement and sipped at my drink, hoping I looked properly encouraging and sympathetic.