Death of a Wicked Witch. Lee Hollis
younger. But the couple seemed to fit perfectly well together and Hayley found both of them utterly charming.
From the moment Bruce and Ted shook hands as they met in the parking lot of Mama DiMatteo’s restaurant at the top of Rodick Street, the two men found themselves immersed in a lively discussion involving a variety of topics including politics, sports, and the best rock bands of the 1970s and ‘80s, with Bruce arguing the merits of Fleetwood Mac and Ted defending the legacy of the harder-edged Led Zeppelin.
Hayley and Trudy exchanged smiles and chose to take a backseat to the conversation in order to allow these two new buddies to get to know each other. As Hayley took the last few bites of her garlic-crusted haddock and helped herself to a tasting of Bruce’s scallops in a coral vodka sauce, she decided she had heard enough about the genius of Robert Plant, having been more a child of the 1990s herself and a devotee of the Red Hot Chili Peppers. She gently steered the conversation toward a more neutral subject and inquired about the event that had brought the Lancasters to Bar Harbor in the first place: the impending retirement of Reverend Staples.
“I honestly never thought he’d retire,” Hayley commented.
“Yeah, he loves performing in front of a crowd too much,” Bruce said, smirking. “Which is why I was so surprised Lindsey Buckingham didn’t join Fleetwood Mac on their last tour...”
“Bruce, enough about Fleetwood Mac! I want to talk about something else!” Hayley cried.
Ted set down his dessert menu and leaned forward. “Well, this stays between the four of us...”
“My wife lives for conversations that start like that,” Bruce said.
Hayley playfully whacked him on the shoulder with her own dessert menu. “Let the man speak, Bruce.”
Ted laughed and then continued. “I’ve only been at the church a few days, and as I have slowly gotten to know Reverend Staples and his wife, Edie, I get the distinct impression that it is the reverend who is pushing the whole retirement thing. Edie doesn’t seem too happy about leaving the church.”
“Of course not. She loves the power of the pulpit and feeling important. Once Reverend Staples gives that up, they’ll probably never get it back,” Hayley said, grabbing the stem of her wine glass for a sip of Chardonnay.
Bruce turned to Hayley. “Since when have you become such a gossip?”
Hayley had just taken a gulp and nearly choked on her wine. She set the glass down and stared at Bruce, dumbfounded. “Do you have any idea who you married?”
Bruce patted her hand. “Yes, I was being sarcastic.”
She resisted the urge to slap him with the dessert menu again. “She’s probably also not looking forward to living on a fixed income.”
The waitress arrived and the two couples decided they were too full from their meals for a dessert each, and so Trudy suggested they share a tiramisu and a crème brûlée. An idea they all jumped at, and so the waitress scooted off to the kitchen to put in the order.
Trudy waited until the waitress was out of earshot before resuming their private conversation. “Well, personally I’m not a big fan of Edie’s.”
“Come on, you’ve only known her for a few days,” Ted said.
“I know, but I get the feeling she doesn’t like me. When I stopped by to bring you all sandwiches on your first day, she was actually kind of cold to me,” Trudy said.
Hayley raised an eyebrow. “Really? Usually if Edie doesn’t warm to somebody, she makes a point of covering her true feelings by being fake nice.”
“With me, she didn’t even bother doing that. She was downright rude. Reverend Staples told me she loves salmon so I made her this delicious wild salmon sub with provolone and a roasted garlic sauce, and trust me, it’s awesome, but when I gave it to her she didn’t even thank me, and as far as I know, she never ate it. She tossed it aside and wouldn’t even look at me,” Trudy said.
“That’s strange,” Hayley said.
“Not really,” Ted said with a shrug. “She resents Trudy.”
“Why?” Bruce asked.
Trudy sat up in her chair, surprised. “Yes, Ted. Tell us why.”
Ted smiled at his wife. “Because you’re younger and prettier, and she caught the reverend checking out your backside as you left the church on the first day we all met,” Ted said.
“Ted, that’s not true!” Trudy wailed.
“Yes, it is,” Ted said. “I saw him do it myself, and so did Edie. She knows her husband finds you sexy, and so now she considers you a threat.”
Trudy blushed and shook her head, not wanting to discuss Edie’s jealousy of her any further. Mercifully the waitress arrived with two plates and set the tiramisu and crème brûlée down in front of them. The foursome grabbed their dessert forks and excitedly dove in, ceasing all conversation as they shoveled in bites of the sweets with various moans of pleasure.
“Excuse me, we hate to interrupt your dinner, but we thought we’d stop by and say hello on our way out,” a woman’s voice said.
Hayley looked up to see a local couple, Mark and Mary Garber, standing next to their table. Hayley could see Bruce tense a bit because he found Mary rather loud and abrasive, but Hayley liked her. The Garbers had moved to town about eight or nine years ago. Mary worked at the bank and Mark was a contractor. Mary was in her mid-thirties, Mark a few years younger, and they tried hard to fit in, hosting happy hours on their deck, throwing holiday parties, getting involved as much as they could in the community by attending every fund-raiser and public event. Mary’s determination to become a central part of the Bar Harbor social scene had initially met with middling success. But finally, after years of trying, she had hit pay dirt. Three years prior, Mark and Mary had hosted a Halloween party at their house called the Witches Ball where all the women were encouraged to come dressed as witches. The men had a much more relaxed dress code and could show up in any type of costume they chose. Mary likened it to the reverse Oscars where most of the men arrived in black tuxedos whereas the women were free to express their fashion creativity by working the red carpet in wild and colorful designer dresses. At the Garber house on Halloween, the men were the real standouts. The Witches Ball quickly caught on, and was now an annual staple that everyone looked forward to attending. Mary had met her goal. She had established a local tradition, cementing her place in the Bar Harbor cultural scene.
“How was your dinner?” Bruce asked.
Mark opened his mouth to speak but Mary cut him off before he had the chance. “Mark had the crab spinach-stuffed shells, which he liked. I had the pan-browned gnocchi, but frankly, the ones I make at home taste better.”
“Mark, Mary, have you met the Lancasters?” Hayley asked, gesturing to their dining companions.
Mark shook Ted’s hand. “Mark Garber.”
“Ted Lancaster. Pleasure, Mark,” Ted said. “This is my wife, Trudy.”
Mark turned to Trudy and held out his hand but suddenly stopped short. His mouth dropped open and he just stared at her to the point where it began to get a little uncomfortable. It was obvious Reverend Staples wasn’t the only one who found Trudy Lancaster breathtakingly attractive.
Finally, in an effort to ease the tension, Trudy reached out and took his hand. “Nice to meet you, Mark.”
He didn’t say anything.
He just kept his eyes glued on her.
Mary, annoyed, nudged her husband. “Close your mouth, Mark. You’ll catch flies.”
Mark finally snapped out of his haze and nodded to Trudy. “Sorry. Nice to meet you too.”
Mary stepped in front of Mark. “Since my rude husband has forgotten I’m even here, I’m Mary Garber, the invisible wife.”