Eliza Starts a Rumor(76)
CHAPTER 42
Eliza
Everything is perfect, Eliza thought, while placing the last decorative gourd on her Thanksgiving table. She took a step back and thought it again: Perfect.
For holidays as big as this, Eliza did things very methodically. She had a typed-out schedule taped to the fridge specifying when each dish needed to go into the oven and when each was due to come out. She attached Post-its to all of her serving platters and bowls advertising their future contents and lit candles infused with dried apples and cinnamon an hour before the company was due to arrive. They were the ideal accompaniment to the smell of the turkey roasting in the oven. She’d made two kinds of stuffing, sausage and oyster; candied yams; orange-zest cranberry sauce; potatoes au gratin; skillet green beans; and buttermilk biscuits.
She chilled the white wine and opened up a few bottles of red to decant. In his typical over-the-top manner, Carson had sent her a case of each the day before. She was disgusted with him, of course, and she knew that disgust would not sit well with him. If it weren’t such good wine, she might have ceremoniously dumped it.
Carson had a soft spot for Eliza, who chalked it up to ugly duckling bonding, or the fact that she made him feel welcome when Mandy’s father did quite the opposite. At the time they thought he was just being overprotective, but in hindsight, father knows best. Either way, on the rare occasions when Carson would come east with Amanda, he would always stop by Eliza’s to say hello. He seemed to love her sarcastic sense of humor and she enjoyed playing to his audience.
“You’re the most interesting thing in this mind-numbing town,” he would say, while popping some fresh-baked morsel into his mouth.
It was one of those compliments wrapped in an insult that was hard to digest. But he was like that, always keeping you guessing about what he really thought. There would be no guessing involved this time, for either of them. When he looked at Eliza he would see revulsion in return, and she knew it would pain him. At the very least, it felt good to have that kind of power against a man like Carson.
As she attached the last place card to its ceramic turkey holder, she said a little prayer that her seating chart would allow for everyone to have a good time, or at least not kill one another.
The first guests, Alison and Olivia and their babies, arrived. Eliza was excited to have two babies in the mix. Luke and the twins were quick to get on the floor and make a contest out of who would roll over first. By the time the other guests arrived, they were taking bets. Of course, Mr. Barr and Carson came at the exact same time. What are the odds of that? Eliza thought, as Luke sent Mandy to answer the door just to mess with her.
“Thanks a lot!” she teased him afterward.
“You made that bed,” he said with a laugh.
She laughed, too. That Eliza confides in him, she thought.
Pippa and Sadie were all over their dad, which was good for all involved, and Mr. Barr was happy to talk to everyone. He knew Kayla, who had been in two of his shows in high school, and although not a huge football fan, he enthusiastically joined Luke, Kevin, and Mandy’s dad to watch the college games.
There were so many helpers in the kitchen that Eliza made everyone but Kayla and Mandy leave, and the three of them got everything set on the table and buffet. At five o’clock, Eliza announced that dinner was served. Everyone began to load up their plates in that artful way one does on Thanksgiving. The colors alone were enough to make their mouths water. Soon the phrases “This is delicious,” “Yum,” and “Pass the gravy” could be heard from every direction.
The conversation was light. No politics, and everyone knew to steer away from hot-button topics. Between Olivia’s recent drama and the ominous presence of Carson Cole, it was best to keep things upbeat. And that’s how it went.
“Are you excited for the play?”
“Have you two decided what you are going to major in?”
“How do you like living on Main Street?”
“Is your baby always this good?”
Until very innocently, and quite out of nowhere, Mr. Barr said, “Kevin, I never knew that Kayla had a twin. I guess you weren’t much of a theater kid.”
“No, not at all. I spent most of my time on the lacrosse field or in shop class.”
Mandy’s dad cut in: “Is that fellow Mr. DeLuca still the shop teacher? He was on my bowling team for a season or two. Single guy, used to flirt with all the ladies.”
Hearing his name spoken at her table felt like a quick punch to her gut.
“No,” Kevin said, “I had Mr. Delgais. Mr. DeLuca was a legend, though. Everybody said he was the greatest teacher—he died recently. They dedicated the auditorium to him at graduation.”
“Oh, that’s a nice honor.”
Eliza had a hard time getting air.
Mr. Barr put down his fork. “I was completely against that. In fact, it infuriated me.”
Mandy’s father made a joke. “Why? You wanted them to save it for you?”
“Let’s just say there were rumors about him being inappropriate with some of the students. Too many for it not to be somewhat true.”
Carson rolled his eyes. “Here we go,” he said under his breath.
Amanda looked right at him and shut him down with one word: “Don’t.”
He listened and filled his mouth with turkey. As he did, Eliza said quietly, but loud enough for everyone to hear, “I was raped by Mr. DeLuca when I was seventeen.”