As I started driving back through town, I remembered that Henry had let it slip that he knew my father professionally.  All of Dad’s old records were stored with Ralph and Fanny, so I once again headed to the Clean Plate Club to see if I could dig up any old files.  They were technically…

Chapter 37 I moved away from the bridge tables quickly, but had lost sight of Simba.  As I looked frantically around I heard my name. “Liza, fancy meeting you here.  This cannot be a coincidence.” “Grimes, are you here for a little bridge?” “No, I don’t play bridge, but that was quite a show with…

The next day was bright and sunny.  The working world must have been elated that this perfect day fell on a Saturday.  The beach would be crowded with body surfers and beach volleyball, and the bike path full of bikers and roller bladers.  But this was shaping up to be an intense work day for…

It was now about 5:00 and I was beat. I desperately wanted to avoid talking with Simba today – I needed at least an evening to collect my thoughts and figure out how to approach this fragile woman. This was the type of strategy session that Ralph and Fanny loved, but I didn’t want to…

Chapter 33 I left the car in the visitor’s parking lot and crossed the busy street to Sylvia Wister’s studio. The store front windows featured a display of her Family Photography Project with a description of the program. Funded by the National Endowment for the Arts, the program provided an opportunity for students to take…

Chapter 31 I picked up the plates to bus them into the kitchen.  As I walked in, Ralph waved a fifty dollar bill in my face.  “Look at this,” he said, “your new best friend gave us a tip – Fanny’s coffee cake is great, but fifty dollars?” “I think that tip might represent a…

Chapter 29 By the time I got back to my car, it was almost 4 PM, and even though I had been on the job since 6 AM that morning, I instinctively began to think about my next steps.  This was one of the traps of working as a consultant – billable hours.  I don’t…

I had about an hour to kill before I was scheduled to meet Simba, so I wandered over to the bookstore across the street.  I asked the reference desk if there was a section on local history and the women showed me a section of paperbacks devoted to the histories of different coastal communities, including…

Chapter 26 My nap at Ralph and Fanny’s had put me off kilter and I was wide awake at 5:30 AM, the kind of wide awake where I knew that I might as well get up.  I made some coffee and prepared the bill for Sam Todd.  I thought that I’d make it four days…

Chapter 24 It was 5:30 as I headed back along the coast highway.  It was an absolutely spectacular sunset.  A veil of clouds hovered over the horizon sending luminous beams upward.  When I was a kid, my father used to take me to the beach to watch the sunset.  It was the only time he ever…