Baked Alaska (42 page)

¾ cup flour

1 cup whipping cream

2 cups of cooked, flaked salmon (not smoked)

Place potatoes in a large pan, cover with salted water and bring to a boil. Cook until potatoes are tender. Drain in colander and set aside. (Do not return potatoes to original pot.)

In the pot you used for the potatoes, sauté bacon on medium-high heat until it just begins to crisp. Add onion and celery and sauté until vegetables are tender. Add milk, chicken broth, parsley, salt, and pepper. Heat through, but do not boil after adding the milk.

In a medium saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add flour and stir constantly for 1 minute, allowing to brown slightly. Add whipping cream slowly and stir constantly until thickened. Do not burn.

Stir flour-cream mixture into soup, stirring constantly. Add cooked potatoes and salmon. Let simmer 10 minutes, until soup is thick. Keep on low heat.

Serves 20 (feel free to double as necessary).

Note: Substituting chicken, turkey, ham, or corn for the salmon creates a variety of chowders.

Note: A touch of mustard brings out the flavor of the salmon—but just a touch.

Note: Don’t tell Shirley or Debi, but canned salmon works in a pinch.

Enjoy this sneak peek of

Rocky Road

Coming Fall 2013

Chapter 1

Bittersweet Anniversary

On the two-month anniversary of Dr. Trenton Hendricks’ disappearance during a hiking trip in the Paradise Point area, his wife, Anita Hendricks, has announced a memorial service to be held in his honor on Thursday, June 20, at 2:00 at the Bloomington Funeral Home.

Dr. Hendricks was last seen on Saturday, April 8,when he set out on an overnight backpacking trip alone. “He is an experienced hiker,” his wife said on April 12. “And he often takes to the backcountry in an attempt to clear his head following a busy workweek.”

When Dr. Hendricks failed to return from the hike, Mrs. Hendricks contacted Search and Rescue on Monday afternoon. Dr. Hendricks’ car was found at the Chuckwalla trailhead, but after six full days and thousands of man-hours, the official search was called off.

The memorial service will be held just one day prior to the Red Rock Cancer Walk, a Breast Cancer Awareness fund raising event that Dr. Hendricks and his business partner, Dr. Jacob Waters, began nine years ago. Though rumored to have been cancelled this year due to Dr. Hendricks’ disappearance, Mrs. Hendricks has confirmed that the event will take place as it has in previous years. When asked about the decision to continue with the event, Mrs. Hendricks said, “It is what Trenton would have wanted. He was passionate about his work, and I take comfort in knowing that while the hole he has left in so many lives will never be filled, he left this world a better place than he found it.”

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Red Rock Cancer Fund, an organization which provides free breast cancer screenings to low-income women in Iron and Washington Counties.

Community members are invited to join the event this Friday at 7:00 p.m. The 12-hour Night Walk will begin at 7:30 and end with a pancake breakfast Saturday morning at 8:00 a.m. Entry for the walk is $25 per person. Each participant will receive a T-shirt and a gift bag containing contributions from local sponsors.

This paper would like to officially extend our condolences to the Hendricks family. The staff grieves for your loss—one that is shared by many in this community.

Sadie finished reading the article and looked up at Caro, Pete’s cousin and Sadie’s friend. She and Caro had just checked into their hotel room in St. George, Utah, as part of an extended girls’ weekend they’d planned last month—before Sadie’s unforgettable cruise and unexpected trip to Anchorage. If she’d felt she could have stayed home without hurting Caro’s feelings, Sadie likely would have—she’d been traveling for most of the month of June—but she loved spending time with Caro and didn’t know when she’d have another opportunity to visit with her like this.

Was it Sadie’s imagination that Caro had been a little too excited to have her read this article as soon as they got into their room? And did Caro also seem too expectant of Sadie’s response?

“That’s too bad about Dr. Hendricks,” she said, refolding the newspaper carefully and placing it beside her on the bed.

“It
is
too bad,” Caro said from where she sat on the other double bed. “And weird, right?”

“Weird?” Sadie repeated, wondering at Caro’s pointed interest. “Weird how?”

“He
disappeared
. . . . And everyone seems to be assuming he’s dead, but there’s
no
proof. I read some other articles about it, and no one has found anything. Not his pack, a shoe—nothing.”

“Disappearances are always hard to deal with,” Sadie said, ignoring what she feared was behind Caro’s comments. Caro wanted to investigate; Sadie could feel it, but she didn’t share her friend’s anticipation. Sadie had come to St. George to enjoy a few days with her good friend, not to investigate the disappearance of a man she’d never met.

“He was Audrey’s doctor, you know, when she found the lump. She said he was really great—sympathetic and up-to-date on the latest treatments. She and many of his other patients are really heartbroken over this.”

Sadie put her hands in her lap and pondered a few seconds before speaking. “Please tell me this isn’t why we’re here,” she said with a faltering smile. “Please tell me we came to attend some plays and eat yummy food and be part of the walkathon with your cousin?”

“Of course that’s why we came,” Caro said, looking sheepish. “Audrey and I have participated in this walkathon every year since she was first diagnosed, and I’m so excited that you’re with us this year. You’re going to love Audrey; she’s so much fun.” She looked at the newspaper still beside Sadie on the bed. “I didn’t think much about Dr. Hendricks’ disappearance when Audrey first told me about it either, but the more I read about it and talked with her, the more I thought . . . well, here, let me get the other articles for you. Audrey gave me a whole stack when I got here Monday.”

Caro hurried for her suitcase by the door. Once her back was turned, Sadie let out a breath, wondering how best to tell her friend that her interest level in solving mysteries was at an all-time low. A glance at the diamond ring on her left hand initiated the familiar zing she felt every time she looked at it. She was engaged. Engaged!
To be married!
Though eager to seal the deal, planning the wedding required some flexibility on her and Pete’s part if they wanted their families to be there—which they did. July 26 was chosen as the big day—but that was still five weeks away. For that reason, it was probably a good thing that Sadie had plenty to do between now and then, this trip with Caro being one of the things that would fill her days while she waited to become Mrs. Peter Cunningham.

“Sadie?”

Sadie blinked and looked up to meet Caro’s bemused expression. “What?”

Caro was sitting on the bed across from Sadie again, holding a stack of papers in both hands—the articles, Sadie assumed. “I asked if Dr. Hendricks’ disappearance seems strange to you. Have you dealt with anything like this before?”

“Not like this, no.”

Caro nodded, but seemed disappointed in Sadie’s response. Caro was a natural when it came to investigative work. She was detail-oriented, smart, and uninhibited when it came to sneaking around. Plus, she found it all very exciting. When she’d helped Sadie with an investigation several months ago, Sadie had loved those qualities about Caro. But Sadie’s head was in a different place now—she had a wedding to plan, a married life to prepare for.

“I wonder,” Caro said, boldness coloring her words, “if you and I could look into things while we’re here, ya know? Answer some of the as-yet-unanswered questions and figure out what happened to Dr. Hendricks.”

“Search and Rescue looked for six days, Caro.”

“I don’t mean searching the backcountry. You and I both know that’s only part of the mystery. I mean, why did he go out by himself? And why hasn’t anyone found any of his gear? And what was his personal life like? Professional life? Was anyone angry with him? Did he have debts to hide from? St. George isn’t a big city, and the people are nice. I bet we could gather a lot of information.”

Sadie tamped down the curiosity that began to stir in response to Caro’s questions. Her own investigative instincts were never far below the surface. Instead of giving into the tingle and pull, however, she shook her head and tried to think of what Pete would say. “I’m sure the police are investigating, and you’re jumping to some pretty extreme conclusions with no evidence. Did Audrey put you up to this?”

“Not really,” Caro said in a tone that clearly meant Audrey
was
part of this. She’d gathered all the articles and had given them to Caro for a reason. Did Audrey know about Caro’s forays into investigation work?

“I’m happy to share my concerns with Audrey,” Sadie said, “but if you’re thinking of trying to investigate this disappearance, you’ll have to count me out.” She smiled in hopes of softening her words, though she meant every one of them. “Most people who know my history don’t believe it, but I don’t go looking for mysteries to solve—especially now. I have a wedding to plan, and you know what happened on that cruise. I realize that this is a difficult time for the people who cared about Dr. Hendricks, but I’m really not interested in pursuing this, Caro, I’m sorry.”

Caro bit her lip while looking at the pile of papers in her lap; her disappointment was impossible to ignore. Sadie felt bad shooting Caro down, but she had told her the truth and so refrained from apologizing again.

“What if . . .” Caro started just as the silence was becoming awkward.

Sadie waited for her to continue, but Caro seemed to be thinking hard about what to say, or perhaps, whether to say it at all. Caro couldn’t know what her delays did for Sadie’s curiosity, which was growing by the moment. What if Dr. Hendricks
did
have a reason to disappear?

Sadie prompted Caro to finish her thought. “What if,
what
?”

Caro looked up from the articles she was holding tight in her hands and met Sadie’s eyes, a distinctly guilty look on her face. “What if I already found something?”

Acknowledgments

In May 2012, I found a fabulous deal on an Alaskan cruise, I asked my husband if he wanted to go, and he said “Heck yeah!” We cruised the Inside Passage in June, and then I pretty much put this book off until September. The cruise made all the difference in helping this story come together, and Debi and Shirley, of Sweet Mermaids, made my day when they agreed to let me print their recipe for Salmon and Red Potato Chowder, which truly was the best meal I had that whole week; that is saying a lot since the cruise had fabulous food. Big thanks to them for inspiring the end of this story and for letting me share their recipe with my readers.

The other recipes were finely tuned by my amazing test kitchen: Danyelle Ferguson (Chef Ferguson’s Stuffed Mushrooms), Don Carey, Katie Kennedy, Megan O’Neill, Lisa Swinton, Sandra Sorenson (Sandra’s Sweet and Sour Sauce), Whit Larsen, Annie Funk, and Laree Ipson. These guys are simply amazing, and I owe them so much for making the recipe portion of this book possible. My sister, Crystal White, donated the caramel popcorn recipe, my friend Kara Monroe let me use her delicious bread pudding recipe, Becki Clayson gave me her recipe for glazed salmon, and Sara Wells and Kate Jones of
Our Best Bites
generously allowed me to use their recipe for Lemon-Zucchini Fettuccine. Thanks, ladies, I so appreciate your help.

I am so grateful for my writing group: Becki Clayson, Ronda Hinrichsen (
Betrayed,
Covenant, 2014), Jody Durfee (
Hadley, Hadley Bensen,
Covenant, 2013), and Nancy Campbell Allen (
The Grecian Princess,
book three in the Isabelle Webb series, Covenant, 2013). They are absolutely priceless both in the critique process as well as the necessary brainstorming that goes into each story. Thank you also to Crystal White and Jenny Moore for beta-reading this story. And a big thanks to Gregg Luke for giving me a method for murder.

Thanks goes to the staff at Shadow Mountain for all their hard work to turn my words into an actual book: Jana Erickson, product director; Lisa Mangum (
After Hello,
Shadow Mountain, 2012), editor; Malina Grigg and Rachael Ward, typesetters; and Shauna Gibby, designer. They make me look and sound so good.

Thank you to my friends and family who cheer me on, my readers who keep wanting more, and my writing networks that enhance the writing experience so much.

The foundation for my ability to do what I do is my amazing husband and fabulous children. Thank you for being nothing short of wonderful. Each one of you are such a blessing in my life. I thank God for you each day.

Author's Note

Sweet Mermaids is an actual café located on Front Street in Ketchikan, Alaska, that opened for business on April 4, 2011. The owners, Debi Hanas and Shirley Solaas, were awarded the Rotary Club Business of the Year for Ketchikan 2012 for their Spirit of Entrepreneurship.