Pancakes & Pandemonium - Culinary Competition Mystery #6

Chapter 18

(Carla)

"I can't believe Amy's mom said that. What was the point of complaining that Amy wouldn't be a part of a wedding that never happened and seemingly won't happen anytime soon?" Carla asked her mother.

"I think she was upset seeing how easily Amy and I interact with each other when things are so strained between two of them. Complaining about a nonexistent wedding was a very strange way to express her frustration though."

"That would be hard. The realization that she hasn't been a good mother might finally be sinking in. I know I'd feel bad if I were in her shoes. I can't imagine treating Macy the same way she raised Amy. How can a person choose to get drunk over taking care of their child?"

The light from a trio of flickering, battery-powered candles sitting on the end table glinted on the silver beads scattered throughout her mother's dreadlocks as she shook her head. "Everybody has issues. Some are worse than others."

"When Amy talks about her childhood, I sometimes can't believe she survived, let alone turned out to be such a kind and caring person."

Carla watched her mother slowly rocking with the baby in her arms. When Amy was an infant, her parents had left her behind at a party. One of Amy's aunts had told her about the incident when she was a teenager. Amy had shrugged it off the only time she had ever talked about the incident, but Carla didn't understand how she could be so calm about having been treated like a coat. Apparently it was just one of many irresponsible parenting instances, so that was why she wasn't particularly upset about that particular incident. Now that Carla was a mother, she was so glad she'd had a normal, somewhat mundane, childhood. It had taught her how to be a mother herself, even though that had been an unexpected surprise.

She smiled at her mom, who was now a grandma, snuggled under a plush, white blanket with Macy. Would her mom's wedding dress be white? She had no idea. In fact, she didn't even know if her mother had a gown yet. The wedding was slated to be a casual event, whenever and wherever it might end up being thanks to the bed and breakfast being severely damaged. Carla hadn't had anything to do with organizing the affair to fit her mother's idea of the perfect wedding. She figured it was just easier that way since their aesthetics were very different. Serving doughnuts was the only creative idea she'd had for her own wedding. Surely her artist momma would come up with a unique and memorable ceremony.

The light on the end table turned on.

"Finally!" her mom said as she pulled the blanket up around Macy's head. "Literally some light at the end of the tunnel."

Carla chuckled at the goofy statement. She felt a bit giddy herself though. The electricity was back on—a big step toward getting back to normal life. She ran out the back door and shut off the generator. All around her she could hear other generators also being extinguished. The cacophony of sputtering small engines was mercifully dwindling. The sound of the generators had been one of the worst parts for her—inescapable and monotonous torture.

Back inside the house, there were other motors running. One of the bathroom exhaust fans rumbled behind a closed door. The humidifier that kept the family from resembling lightning rods in the winter was whirring, once again adding much-needed humidity to the dry, soon-to-be heated air. Best of all, the electric baseboard heaters were ticking as they warmed. No more grumpy babies who had lost patience with being put to bed in attire that made her look more like a polar bear cub than a human child.

"Do you want to spend the night here? I'd bet the electricity isn't on everywhere, and you're probably tired of camping at Mick's place." Carla checked the thermostat. The temperature was already climbing. "His trailers are cute, but I can't imagine living in one."

Her mother laid Macy, who was sound asleep, in the portable crib. "Thank you for the offer, but I'll pass. It's actually very cozy and romantic in the vardo with Mick. I think this week has really strengthened our relationship."

"So you agreed to marry a man you didn't have a solid relationship with? That's not very...responsible."

A raised eyebrow from her mother conveyed everything without a word being spoken. Carla was being obnoxious, for no good reason, and she knew it. She just didn't know why she had climbed on her judgmental horse and was galloping it around the room.

"Mick and I love each other. We are both grownups. We're positive that getting married is what we want to do. Living in a small vardo this week has just reinforced our commitment to each other. The evenings and nights have almost been like a pre-honeymoon."

The conversation was climbing to new heights of awkwardness. Carla really didn't want to know more about her mother's sex life beyond that mostly benign mention. She didn't want to get into a fight either, especially since she wasn't sure why she was being so freaky about her mom getting married again. They all were adults, but she wasn't acting like one.

"That's great, Mom. I'm glad you found a silver lining to the storm. I'm sorry to be so prickly. I don't know why I said that."

"Are you pregnant again?"

"No! Why would you think that?"

"You've been very moody concerning my wedding. I figured fluctuating hormones could be the reason."

Carla tried to remember what she had felt like emotionally when she got pregnant with Macy. She did recall feeling like a different person sometimes because the way she had responded to things was so unlike her. But her cycle had been regular like clockwork lately. She couldn't be pregnant...but there were plenty of documented cases of women whose cycle continued, even though they were pregnant. She'd studied the cases herself when she was in nursing school.

"I can see your point, but I don't think that's what's going on. I'm just tired from trying to juggle everything in my life. I guess I'm not handling stress as well as I used to. I haven't meant to upset you."

"I remember how much work you were as a toddler. You just can't juggle all of the balls all of the time. Don't be too rough on yourself...or me either, please." Her mom smiled as she plucked her winter coat off the back of the couch, where she'd deposited it when she had arrived. As she shrugged into it she said, "I'm going to see if the electricity is on at my apartment then head out to Mick's. Is Bruce going to be home soon?"

"Yes. He was planning on heading out of town on his way home to get take-out for us for dinner."

The electricity had only been off for a day right after the storm hit in all of the other nearby towns. Kellerton was the unlucky target that had received the most damage. Now that the roads were cleared, many people were traveling twenty to thirty minutes to other towns to get hot meals, refill gas cans for generators, and buy supplies to repair damage to their property. Even with the electricity starting to come back on, it would be a while before restaurants and stores could replenish their perishable food supplies.

"That'll be a nice treat for both of you." Her mother kissed her fingers then pressed them to Macy's cheek. She looked at Carla. "Maybe, once things are back to normal, we can go look at dresses for the wedding. I have one being custom-made for myself by a friend, but I thought that perhaps you'd like some help picking out yours. I'm doing special bouquets to match your and Amy's dresses, so I'd like to make sure I have time to make them depending on what you choose."

Her mother had given her free rein to pick out any dress that she wanted. Any dress she felt comfortable in—color and style didn't matter. Yet with all of the options in the world available, Carla had still procrastinated on buying a dress.

"It's not that I don't want to get a dress." Carla tucked a section of her short, cinnamon brown hair behind her ear. "I just haven't had the time."

"Okay...I understand. Don't worry about it. I'll check back in with you tomorrow." She pulled a red knit hat onto her head. "Have a good night. Enjoy the electricity!"

After her mother walked out of the front door, Carla sat down on the couch. They had been talking about how terrible Amy's mother was. The elephant in the room was that Carla was being an insufferable downer to her mother for no good reason. Maybe taking a pregnancy test would be a good idea. Just in case.