Carlos’s face turned red as he put away his pages, fumbling a little. “I don’t know... I mean, I like stories about space. I’ve always loved sci-fi—”

  “It’s silly,” Crawford interrupted. “Do you want to write a novel your sci-fi nerd friends will like, or do you want to write one that gets published? Listen to what we tell you. Randall’s latest mystery topped The New York Times bestseller list, and I’ve got a book deal. We’d never have gotten this far without knowing a thing or two about writing good fiction.”

  Carlos’s face went from red to purple. No doubt, had it been just the two of them, fists would be flying by now.

  The charged atmosphere made my skin prickle. Thank goodness it was almost lunchtime. A timeout and some good food might help reduce the hostility.

  Unfortunately Valeria and Kevin had disappeared into the back room.

  Ever since Kevin started working at Kathy’s Bakery, Valeria had been distracted, often vanishing into the back with him and leaving a line of customers at the front.

  I pushed my chair away from the table, wondering where my sister was and why it always fell to me to save the day.

  Valeria and Kevin were in the back room alright, locked in a make-out session that would put most steamy romance novels to shame. Not something you ever want to see from the people serving you your morning coffee.

  I started to retreat back to the café, then stopped.

  This was all kinds of wrong and it had to be dealt with. Especially since my sister wasn’t around to do it.

  I sighed. I was being too hard on Kathy and that wasn’t fair. She was probably in her tiny basement office downstairs, going over the books and accepting cake orders for the week. Even with the café closed to customers she would still be making her nightly deliveries, and with Jeff out of the picture she needed my help now more than ever.

  I gave a quiet cough to let the love birds know that they weren’t alone. Which got me nowhere, so I upped the volume.

  They finally broke apart and stared at me.

  I put some authority into my voice. “You do know we’re waiting for those sandwiches up front, right?”

  Valeria grinned, unapologetic. “Yo, gangsta! Just taking a little break, no biggie. Don’t rat me out to your sis, okay?”

  She play-punched me on the arm as she headed back to the café, making me wince at what was surely a bruise-in-the-making. I often wondered if Valeria honestly didn’t know her own strength, or if she just couldn’t help displaying it.

  At least Kevin had the decency to look embarrassed as he followed her out.

  I hung back a few moments, my neck stiff with tension.

  Was this competition a big mistake? Kathy had signed up for it on my advice, trusting my judgment. What if my judgment was wrong this time?

  I took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

  This venture had to pay off. It simply had to. I couldn’t let my sister lose the one thing that meant so much to her. Today hadn’t gone well, but that didn’t mean things couldn’t still pick up. Right?

  My hopes fizzled as soon as I entered the café again.

  Hyde was leaning forward on the table with a leer aimed at Shannon who had apparently just told the class that she was married.

  “You know, no pressure or anything, but if you ditch your hubby and go out with me, I can make sure your novel gets to the right acquisitions editor.”

  Shannon stared at him, looking rigid.

  I shut my eyes. My earlier assessment of the workshop had been too optimistic. It wasn’t off to a rocky start.

  It was a full-on disaster.

  Chapter 2

  Daylight barely turned to dusk over the city when the hanging lights of Luce della Vita’s rooftop restaurant sprang to life, bathing the tables in their soft glow and wrapping the patrons in a warm embrace like some enchanted vines in a distant fairyland.

  A waiter carrying a tray of votive candles made his way over to our table of twelve. The tiny flames flickered in the breeze as he set the candles down, and so did his smile. He quickly turned on his heels and hurried back to his station at the small auxiliary bar near the stairs, no doubt sensing that his candlelight wasn’t enough to dispel the clouds of tension over our group.

  The dinner had been scheduled into the workshop ahead of time, a sort of let’s-get-acquainted initiative. Like today’s workshop, it was failing to live up to the expectations.

  Hyde and Crawford, the only ones who looked at ease, were getting intimately acquainted with the wine bottles collecting at their end of the table. The more they drank the more their conversation, which at the start of dinner could have passed for intellectual, began to resemble troll-speak from The Lord of the Rings. I made a mental note to call them an Uber back to their hotels so they wouldn’t be left to stagger the city streets and turn to stone at sunrise.

  The rest of us sat around sipping from our wine glasses—except for Naveen whose religion prohibited alcohol—and smiled stiffly at one another. For once in my life I found myself envying Kathy for being out on deliveries, the part of the bakery business I usually hated.

  “My husband was against my coming to the workshop,” Shannon said suddenly in a low voice. “I’m starting to think I should’ve listened to him.”

  “Is he waiting for you back home?” Robin asked.

  “Oh, no. When I told him I was going anyway, he decided to come along. He’s American, but it’s been years since he’s seen the city, so he was looking forward to catching up with old friends. He’ll be at the hotel waiting to hear all about the workshop.” She sighed. “At least, he’s not the type to say I told you so.”

  Robin gave her a sympathetic nod and asked if her husband had relatives in the U.S.

  I didn’t hear Shannon’s reply, distracted by the sudden lull in the troll-like grunts at the other end of the table. Crawford had finally talked himself into a sleepy stupor and sat with his head propped up on his fist, listening with rapt attention to whatever the wine bottle was telling him. Abruptly, he got up and headed away from the table on unsteady feet, then paused and looked around in confusion. As a waiter hurried past him, he grabbed him by the forearm as if clinging to a lifeboat and said something slowly, nose poking the other in the ear.

  The waiter leaned away from him, wiping the look of disgust from his face and rearranging his features to express detached professionalism, then said in a rather loud voice that the bathrooms were located on the first floor.

  Crawford stared at him, looking dismal. “That’s too far, man. My legs protest at the thought of such a long trek and my joints scream in despair... But it can’t be helped. Just got to do it...”

  He shook his head to rally himself for the long journey and resumed his unsteady walk to the stairs.

  The others began to wander off, too. Some headed for the bar, others downstairs to play pool.

  A woman at the next table whose blind date had failed to show up caught Hyde’s attention and it didn’t take him long to convince her to migrate over to us. She took Crawford’s chair, chortling loudly as Hyde filled her glass with what was left in his bottle, then decided that Hyde’s lap would make for a more comfortable seat.

  With that, I knew it was time to follow the others’ example and head downstairs. Maybe I could hang out with my boyfriend, if the main bar wasn’t too crowded. With all the preparations for the workshop lately, Liam and I had barely spent any time together.

  As I passed the auxiliary bar near the stairwell, I saw Crawford leaning against the counter in the corner. He was talking to the empty chair next to him, trying to convince it that his book was destined to hit the bestseller lists on publication.

  I hurried past him, wondering if he’d ever made it to the bathroom, or simply forgot he had to go, and was halfway down the stairs when I heard heavy footsteps behind me. I walked faster in case it was Crawford, having finally remembered about his bladder. The last thing I wanted was to have to carry him all the way downstairs.

  The next moment David, the astronomer from North Carolina, caught up to me, panting and out of breath.

  “Dear me, you’re a fast walker! I had to practically run after you.”

  “Oh, sorry! I didn’t realize it was you.”

  “No harm, no foul.” He shook his head thoughtfully. “So here we are, eh? Second day. Gotta tell you, Hyde’s exactly the same as he was the last time. Don’t know why I thought this would be any different.”

  I stopped in my tracks. “You mean, you took a class with him before?” I had assumed this was everyone’s first time with the famous guy.

  David nodded. “He’s a big deal in the publishing world, even if on a personal level... well, you know. Last time he told me to invest in his friend’s editing services, said it would improve my chances at publication. Hasn’t happened yet but I guess Hyde would say nothing is a sure thing. Thought he’d at least remember me. Not even that.” He gave a soft chuckle. “Let’s hope the rest of the week goes better than today.”

  We reached downstairs and David headed into the back room where our fellow students had commandeered the pool table.

  I looked into the bar, but Liam was busy with a rowdy crowd toasting someone’s birthday, so I wandered into the back after David. Naveen leaned over the table to break while the others stood back against the wall waiting for their turn.

  As I walked in, Carlos and Robin acknowledged me with friendly smiles. Carlos took the blue chalk and began to polish his pool cue. “So. A bummer about first books not getting published. Did you know about that before today?”

  I was about to tell him that my first novel was actually due to be published next month but then thought better of it. He might think I was being boastful like Crawford.

  “It’s not a hard-and-fast rule,” I told him instead. “It’s just that everyone’s experience is different.”

  Robin stared ahead with conviction. “I don’t care what those two goons back there say. My book is going to be published. And soon.”

  “Yeah?” Carlos raised an eyebrow at her. “How do you know?”

  “The Universe has been sending me signs everywhere I go. Also, my tarot reader confirmed it. And she said this workshop was going to be important for me.”

  A tarot reader? Carlos and I exchanged dubious glances, unsure how to respond.

  “Wish I had your conviction,” Carlos said. “After today I don’t even know where I am anymore.” He nodded at someone over my shoulder. “What about you, man?”

  Glancing behind me I saw Thomas Middleton, the fifty-year-old architect from Canada. He was very tall and had light-blue eyes, half-hidden behind rimmed glasses. The twenties aviator mystery he was writing got torn to shreds in class, but he seemed completely unaffected by it. The perpetual uplift of his mouth gave off the impression that he was privy to some secret knowledge to which he alone had access. He rubbed his hands together and smiled more broadly.

  “You ask me what I think. I think... everything is for the best in the best of all worlds.”

  Carlos frowned at him. “If you say so. But what makes you think this is the best of all worlds?”

  “He’s quoting Candide,” I explained. “It’s an old French satire that pokes fun at positive thinking. So I’m guessing Thomas is being sarcastic.”

  I glanced at the man for confirmation but he just kept smiling enigmatically.

  It was Carlos’s turn to play, and he stepped up to the pool table and took his aim while Naveen leaned against the wall.

  “Maybe I need some of that positive thinking,” Carlos said. “I feel like I’ve had it with that Crawford guy. If he takes one more dig at me I swear I’m gonna punch him. Hyde, too. Don’t know if I’m coming back tomorrow. I could just call the Guild and ask for my money back.”

  And so it begins. I took a deliberately slow breath. This was exactly what I’d been afraid of: the students running for the hills.

  “I was upstairs earlier and had to leave,” Naveen said as he propped his cue against the wall. “Hyde had that woman sitting in his lap and was feeding her olives. It’s offensive.”

  “He’s had too much to drink,” Thomas said with a shrug. “As our friend Ray Chandler once said, ‘I’m an occasional drinker, the kind of guy who goes out for a beer and wakes up in Singapore with a full beard.’”

  We laughed but Naveen just smiled sadly. “The man is obviously looking for love and hasn’t found it yet, if he can behave in that way. I hope he finds it. Love changes people.”

  We all nodded vaguely and for a while no one said anything. I wasn’t sure if I agreed with Naveen about Hyde, but I felt touched.

  “Crawford’s even worse,” Carlos went on. “I really can’t stand him. You heard what he said about my book?”

  I judged it best to walk away from the conversation. We had four more days to spend together if everyone didn’t pull out by tomorrow and talking about Hyde and Crawford could only add fuel to the fire.

  Besides, it looked like there was finally a lull at the bar up front. The rowdy birthday bunch had left, probably decided to move their party to the next venue. Some people could bar-hop all night, not that I ever counted myself among them.

  There were now only two couples left, sitting far enough apart to have ample privacy. Liam was mixing a complicated drink for one of the young women.

  I stopped at the other end of the bar to watch him work. Absorbed in his task, he bent his head over the drink, his longish, light-brown hair obscuring part of his face. Even after months of dating, seeing him like this gave me a pleasant flutter.

  Just then, Liam looked up and saw me standing there. A smile instantly lit up his face as he gave me a wink.

  “Be with you in a moment, ma’am.”

  He grabbed an electric lighter from under the counter and brought the flame to the amber liquid in the glass, igniting it in a flash, then waited for the flames to subside. He placed the drink on the coaster in front of the young woman who clapped her hands in delight. Her date put a twenty on the counter.

  “Keep the change, man. That was awesome.”

  Liam blew on the extinguished lighter as if it were a pistol and put it away with a flourish, then strutted over to me, looking pleased with himself. “And that’s how it’s done.”

  “Hats off to the master.”

  I hopped onto the barstool and he leaned in over the counter to give me a kiss, then looked me in the eyes. “You okay? I hear the workshop’s not going so great.”

  “News travels fast.”

  “A guy from your class told me, the one who only drinks club sodas. Apparently, the problem is there’s not enough love in the air.”

  I snorted. “Naveen.”

  I glanced back toward the pool room. Robin was cleansing her pool cue with a clear crystal before breaking.

  “They look like a colorful bunch,” Liam remarked.

  “Yeah. But I like them. Besides, they’re not the problem.” I told him about Crawford and Hyde, and their boorish behavior that afternoon. “I can’t blame the students for wanting to leave. I’d feel the same, if I were them. The worst part is if the workshop gets canceled, it’ll be all my fault for dragging Kathy into this.”

  “I get that but don’t lose hope yet,” he said. “It’s only day two, things could still pick up.”

  “Thanks for trying to cheer me up.” I traced a line on the back of his hand with my finger. “Are you coming over after work? I could wait up.”

  He gave me an apologetic smile. “Would love to but I can’t—early class tomorrow. I’ll be lucky if I get an hour of sleep. Here until four, if I can get everyone out after last call, then home for a quick shower and then school.”

  I sighed. “I’m looking forward to when you graduate. It’ll be so much easier once you start teaching.”

  I bit my lip. We’d never really talked about our future that far down the line. Was it presumptuous of me to assume we’d still be together three years from now?

  Liam grinned. “What can I do? Us millennials, we’re taking things slow. At least I don’t have to move back in with my parents like some guys I know.” He cleared his throat. “Speaking of parents, my mom might be coming down this weekend.”

  My stomach did a summersault. Liam had been talking about going to Hartford together so that I could meet his mother. I wasn’t sure why, but the thought gave me the jitters and I kept finding excuses to postpone the trip. If his mother was coming down, there’d be no getting out of it this time.

  “She’s only been to the city once and never got to do any touristy stuff,” Liam went on. “If she comes down, will you join us for dinner? She’s been asking to meet you, and I think it’s about time. Don’t you?”

  “Yeah, but...” My mouth felt suddenly dry. “What if she doesn’t like me?”

  He laughed. “That’s impossible. Look at you, of course she’ll like you. She’ll have no other choice, not with all the nice things I’ve been telling her about you.”

  “Things, like what?” I was feeling more nervous by the minute. Now, not only would I have to make a good first impression, I’d have to live up to the picture Liam had painted of me.

  Liam never answered because his phone vibrated at that moment. He glanced at the text message and rolled his eyes.

  “The boss wants me in the office. Guess it’ll kill him to come down for once. I swear, that guy gets lazier every day. By the way, here’s my new number. I lost the old phone and had to get a new one.” He pressed a button on his phone and a call from an unknown number lit up on my screen.

  “Got it, thanks.” As I saved the number to my contacts list, I saw it was almost nine-thirty. “I should get back upstairs, call Crawford an Uber and—”

  A scream cut off my last words and pierced icicles through my insides. The door to the stairwell flew open and a woman in high heels stumbled out, her eyes popping with shock and terror.

  Behind her at the bottom of the staircase Jack Crawford lay in a crumpled heap. His neck was bent at a funny angle and his eyes stared at me fixedly.

  Except the eyes weren’t really staring at all. Unblinking and unseeing, they were the eyes of a dead man.

 

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