Chapter 3: Leftovers
No sooner had Dotty had closed the door and returned to the kitchen to begin dinner preparations when the phone began ringing again. Dotty cradled the receiver between her ear and shoulder as she took out the ingredients for the pot roast.
"Hello, Mother?"
"Oh, Amanda, I was just beginning to make your favorite dinner. We have a special dessert tonight to go with it; Pilgrim's Peach Puff. Edna Gilstrap brought it over. She knows how hard you have been working and wanted to do something to help."
"That was very kind of her, Mother, but..."
"Yes, it was," Dotty stated cutting Amanda off and quickly continuing, "We had a lovely chat this afternoon when she brought it over. She told me she saw that fancy silver sports car that I mentioned to you. You know. The one that was parked outside the house the other night? Anyway, she said she had been using her new bird watching binoculars to see if the robins had begun nesting again in our tree out front when she saw a very good looking man get out of it. So good looking, in fact, she fainted at just the sight of him and ended up in the hospital getting a heart stress test. Can you imagine a man that good looking to cause Edna Gilstrap to faint? Look, I know you said you didn't see anything or anyone that night, but I told her I would ask you again just in case you remembered something."
"No, Mother, really, I didn't see any heart-stoppingly handsome man in our neighborhood that night. Remember? I was too busy trying to catch the Fergusons' dog, again. Besides, you know how Edna likes to exaggerate and stir up neighborhood gossip. And anyway, I told you I think she got those binoculars just so she can spy on the neighborhood in the first place," Amanda finished taking a deep breath to control the giggles that were threatening to bubble up at the mere thought that Lee could cause Edna to be rushed to the hospital.
"Are you sure, Amanda? Absolutely sure? No one? Now think back carefully. Maybe the Fergusons' dog got out again because that man riled him up. You know how that dog is able to get through that old loose board in the fence since the Fergusons refuse to fix it. If Edna saw that man in front of our house, then where do you think he went? You don't think he got into our house when you went out to get the dog? Do you?" Dotty asked with obvious anxiety in her voice.
Amanda could feel herself beginning to shake with laughter. Her voice rose in an agitated response, "No Mother, I am absolutely sure I didn't see any strange man in the backyard that night, and there was absolutely no sign of a strange man lurking inside either."
Before Dotty could continue to question her, Amanda cut her off, "Look, Mother, dinner and that dessert sound delicious, but that was why I was calling. I have work late again in the editing room. I know I said that I would be home tonight for dinner. So, why don't you save a large plate with some Pilgrim's Peach Puff, too, in the fridge for me? Alright? And tell the boys to do their homework and that I love them, please."
"But Amanda…."
Dotty thought she heard Amanda stifling a giggle before she continued, "I have to go now. I don't know when I will be home so don't wait up," Amanda quickly finished.
Before Dotty could get another word in edgewise, Amanda had already hung up, and the phone line was dead. Looking at the receiver still in her hand, Dotty muttered aloud, "Well, why am I not surprised."
A thought then struck Dotty suddenly as she rinsed off the succotash in the sink. "Now that I think about it, I could've sworn I saw two sets of plates and cups in this sink that night. I wonder..." Shaking her head clear from the thought, Dotty continued dinner preparations as she began playing back her conversation with Amanda. "So, why does she want a large plate of leftovers? Who is she planning to feed? The dog? Why? To catch him?" With thoughts of dogs and plates dancing in her head, Dotty took out a large platter just in case the dog she was trying to catch just happened to be six feet tall with thick wavy straw-colored hair and sparkling hazel eyes.