“Oh, you have to keep it on the menu! I’d come every day just for this. Not that the coffee isn’t amazing as well,” Valerie hastened to add. “But this is something you can’t get anywhere else in Shady Palms, you know?”
“Your little shop is so cute,” Mary Ann Randall cooed, as she helped herself to another ube butter mochi. “Love seeing what you’ve done with the place. So much more personality than the previous cafe.”
She wouldn’t . . . not even Mary Ann Randall would be so tactless as to talk about what happened in the previous cafe, would she? Luckily, I was saved from finding out when Beth materialized next to us, her eyes dancing with delight as she took in the space.
“I would never have imagined finding a place like this in Shady Palms. I love it! The vibes! The snacks! The fantastic drinks,” she said, sipping at Adeena’s special of the day, a lavender chai latte. “Would you be able to provide the drinks for Rob’s memorial? I know it’s short notice, but the food is already taken care of so you don’t need to worry about that.”
I glanced over at Adeena, who was nodding so hard she looked like a bobblehead. “Sure, Beth. We’re honored that you’d hire us for such an important event. Do you have time now to talk over the details or—”
“Oh no, I’m much too busy now. I have another meeting with the board tonight and need time to freshen up. I’m sure we can chat after the event tomorrow, and if not, here’s my card.” We exchanged business cards, the quality and design of hers as expensive and elegant as its owner, and then she left the shop, not bothering to say goodbye to anyone, not even Jae.
“What an ice queen. You’d think she’d at least pretend to be sad about her husband,” one of the momtestants said, not bothering to lower her voice.
Mary Ann laughed. “Yeah right. She must be thrilled he’s gone. Leaves her free to find a new boy toy, after all.”
If I hadn’t already been looking at Valerie, I would’ve missed the exact moment Mary Ann had pushed too far. One second, Valerie was enjoying her dessert and seemingly ignoring the momtestants, the next she was on her feet and in Mary Ann’s face.
“That’s my family you’re talking about,” Valerie said, wobbling for a moment before her mobility device steadied her. “So I’d be careful about what you say in such a public place. As Beth mentioned, we have another event soon. Maybe I should talk to the rest of the committee about the slander I heard here.”
The momtestants all looked at each other in a panic, and Mary Ann rushed over to Valerie, who strode toward the door at amazing speed after her speech. Mary Ann reached for the door, but Valerie knocked her hands away. “I may have poor coordination, but I’m more than strong enough to open my own door.”
Valerie flung the door open with such vehemence, Mary Ann jumped back so as not to get hit by it.
Sana sighed and stood up. “I’d better make sure she’s OK. Thanks for your hospitality. I’ll see you all again soon.”
“I don’t see how she gets off acting all wounded like that. As if she hasn’t been scheming to break up Rob’s marriage and take over her brother’s position for years,” Mary Ann said, her chin thrust out as she attempted to save face in front of all the momtestants.
Her second-in-command （I’d already forgotten her name） picked up the thread. “She doesn’t know that we know that she was the one who pushed Rob into seducing Oskar Weinman’s wife. All so she could kick Oskar off the judges’ panel and make Rob look bad in the process.”
“Why would she want to do that?” I asked. As much as I hated it, this gossipfest was exactly what I’d been looking for. Well, I hated the source of it, but the gossip itself was juicy AF.
“To convince the Thompson Family board that Rob was unfit to lead the company, of course. Why else would she be coming up with so many initiatives and taking lessons from Sana? She’s an instructor at Shelbyville Community College, you think she needs high-priced business coaching?” Mary Ann said.
Throughout this exchange, Adeena and Elena played the perfect role of the solicitous-but-otherwise-invisible server. Adeena went around topping up drinks, while Elena held out trays of baked goods and her herbal teas as free samples to our valuable customers. Even Jae played his part, making a big show of browsing the wares and piling bags of Adeena’s hand-roasted coffee beans and Elena’s scented bath salts next to the register, loudly proclaiming he couldn’t wait to get home for a nice soak once he was done with his last patient.