Recipe for Disaster

She asked, "Have you told Eva and Eric?"

"Just a few minutes ago. Eva's worried about showing her face at work. She was planning to come here for Labor Day anyway. I believe I can talk her into coming here a few days earlier."

"I hope you can. I'll be there as soon as I can get a ticket. That is if you don't mind."

"I meant it when I said you are always welcome. Come as soon as you can and stay as long as you want."

"Thank you, my son. I'll let you know when I have my ticket. I love you."

"Love you, too, Mom."

Having completed what needed to be done that morning, he got ready and left for work. Knowing this was coming and after being consoled all weekend, he was actually feeling okay and got a lot of work done.

When he arrived at the foodbank in the afternoon, he delivered to Morgan a large arrangement of flowers and another one for her to take home to Julia as a thank you for the previous weekend.

He told Morgan, quietly, so the girls couldn't hear, what had happened that morning. She empathized with him and told him to let her know how she could help.

He worked until the food bank closed that night at 7:00 pm, something he didn't usually do. He watched as many of the people that he had seen before picked the same pick-up bags full of preselected foods and thanked God for his current situation, which clearly could be much worse.

He thought about the hurt that Cat had inflicted on him and others and wanted to find a way to help his family and friends. He wondered if he could do something for them and help out the food bank at the same time. He spent a lot of time that night thinking about that.

________________

On Tuesday he called Scott and Tina and directly asked them to bypass Pittsburgh and fly straight to Asheville. He had something that might be of interest to them.

It was a tough week for Eva. She called him from her car nearly in tears on Wednesday morning. She had taken Monday and Tuesday off. When she went in on Wednesday, someone had printed, in color, a picture of her mom from one of the websites and left it on her desk. At the bottom of the pictures they had written, "Nice Rack! Like mother like daughter?"

After she told him what happened, he told her, "Here's what you need to do. Take that picture back inside, go to the manager of HR, slap it down on their desk, and say that you want the person found and reprimanded. Then tell her you are preparing to file a harassment charge with the EEOC. That will let them know that you've spoken with someone who understands the situation, probably an attorney. Then say that you won't be returning to work until they've resolved the situation. Finally, pack a couple of bags and come here. You may want to fly, but I suggest you drive because I'm hoping that you will be staying for a while."

"Okay, Daddy. I'll leave in the morning and arrive there tomorrow afternoon."

"Why don't you call Eric and both of you come together in your vehicle, and I'll fly him back."

"Sounds good."

It was after midnight the next night when Eva and Eric arrived. When Eva walked into the kitchen the next morning, she exclaimed, "Nana!" and ran over to hug her grandmother, who she hadn't seen in almost a year. Marelys had arrived the afternoon before, and Hank hadn't told his kids that she was coming, hoping for a pleasant surprise.

Tina and Scott arrived late Friday, and Hank had a house full of guests for the Labor Day weekend. On Saturday, he laid out his ideas for getting Scott and Tina reemployed, and what he hoped would be Eva's involvement. They would need a big assist from Julia, but she was curious and willing. Marelys, Morgan, and the girls were all in. Tina and Scott were cautiously optimistic, also. They spent the Saturday and Sunday of Labor Day weekend working through various suggestions, ideas, and plans. Hank and Julia would need to talk to the owners of her restaurant soon, probably during the upcoming week.

Monday, Labor Day, just before lunch, the adults were kicking around more ideas in the large kitchen and dining area while Marelys was entertaining the girls when they heard the front door open, and Cat walked in. They were all surprised by her arrival. No one, not even Marelys, rose to greet her.

The silence was deafening. Amber and Bella simply stood and stared at the 'celebrity' standing there, not understanding what the problem was.

Hank asked, "What are you doing here?"

Cat replied, "It's Labor Day, and I wanted to spend it with my family, who all gathered here without telling me."

"Oh, so you have a family now?"

Before Cat could reply Julia called the girls to meet her outside.

Hank asked, "Where are you going?"

Julia replied, "It looks like you need to have a family discussion."

"Exactly, so where are you going?"

Morgan and Julia both liked that implication, but Julia still responded, "The girls aren't quite old enough for the conversation that you need to have, but thanks for including us in that statement."

Hank nodded and Julia ushered the girls out back. Morgan and Bill remained.

Cat exaggeratedly put her hands on her hips. "What was that about? Have you replaced me already?"

"I could ask you the same thing?"

"I didn't sleep with him." There wasn't a single repentant sound in her voice.

"Once again, you fail to see how your actions have affected others. Even if you didn't sleep with him, and only you and your boyfriend know the truth regarding that, nobody else on the planet believes that you didn't."

"You can't mean that."

So far all the onlookers were going back and forth between them like spectators at a tennis match.

Hank asked, "Mom, what do you think? Did Cat sleep with her boyfriend?"

"Hank please don't make me answer that question."

Cat's eyes bugged out after hearing her mother.

"Ok. Then how about this. Before you flew here, did any of your friends think that she hadn't slept with him?"

Marelys shook her head no.

Hank said, "Okay everyone, with a show of hands, who thinks Cat did NOT sleep with her boyfriend."

Nobody raised their hand.

Cat was hurt that her kids didn't raise their hands. She huffed, "He's not my boyfriend, but he is about to become a business partner. He's retiring from soccer, and we are going to redo several of his family's villas together. I was spending the week with him to work out the details."

"On your back?"

"Hank!" Marelys pleaded.

Hank looked at Marelys and rolled his eyes, "Fine." He turned back to his wife and asked, "Why are you here, Cat?"

"Because my family is here, and I told you that I wanted to work on our marriage when I returned."

"Then why did you lie to me about visiting with your mom in one text, while saying you wanted to work on our marriage in the next? Since we both know the first statement is a lie, it makes me think the second one is a lie, also."

"I knew you would be upset about my spending time on his yacht. Nothing happened. We were examining which villas we should do first."

"I'm sure you were...topless. The pictures online made it clear that you were giving him plenty to examine."

"I'm sorry that those pictures were posted online, but if you hadn't had me served there then the paparazzi wouldn't have taken them. Besides, in Spain being topless on the beach is no big deal. Before the kids were born, I was topless with you on the beach several times and you didn't seem to mind."

"True, and afterwards, who did you sleep with that night?"

She growled, "I didn't sleep with him."

Hank shook his head. He asked, "If your family or your marriage is so important to you, why did it take you a week to get here?"

"I was helping our new business partner do damage control. Then I had to fly to New York to meet with executives there and then Pittsburgh to meet with some of my sponsors."

She didn't tell Hank that one of the New York execs she met asked her point-blank if the yacht pictures were a setup. Because of the network and who the exec was, she didn't deny it, and the exec didn't seem to mind.

Hank scoffed, "Let me guess. You needed to do some damage control with your long-term Pittsburgh sponsors because their audiences might not appreciate how you were negotiating with your new business partner while your clueless husband was still in the States."

He nailed it. Catalina didn't know how to defend that statement, so she went on the offensive.

"I still cannot believe that all of you, my family, are willing to throw me under the bus so quickly. Don't I deserve at least a little benefit of the doubt?"

Scott said, "Don't go there, Cat. Your behavior on set the last few weeks eroded much of that."

"Thanks, Scott. For that remark, the two of you are fired. Besides, I was just acting. You know it wasn't real."

Tina said, "Cat, we don't care what you do as long as the check clears. We were planning on quitting before you replaced us with a New York crew."

Once again, Cat was surprised that the people in the room seemed to know more about her behind-the-scenes movements than she thought they should.

Marelys spoke up and said, "Then, daughter, you are one hell of an actress. While filming, you had me convinced that your interest in him was more than just as a business partner. I'm sure your PBS audience, who know that you are still married, will think he is more than that, too."

That put her back on her heels.

"Why are all of you ganging up on me?"

Eva replied, "We aren't ganging up on you, Mom, but we can't understand why you would just show up after years of neglect and what you did this week and expect us to simply welcome some stranger into the fold. Hell, strangers have been less harmful to our lives than you. Also, you haven't been part of this family for a long time, and you continue to refuse to see how your public actions affect our private lives."

"What are you talking about?"

Eva said, "First, it's been all about you for years. You haven't been available for almost anything since my senior year in high school, which is when I really wanted to do things together with you, my friends, and their moms before I left the house to go to college. Nana came over to help me pick out my senior prom dress because you didn't have the time. I can list another dozen examples over the last several years of when you weren't there for me."

Cat's mouth was open at that inconvenient memory.

"Then this week, someone at work printed out a picture of you topless on the yacht and put it on my desk. Thanks to you, in everyone else's mind, you just lowered my IQ by at least twenty points. With my figure looking so much like yours, I already struggle to try to get people to take me seriously, but now they'll never look me in the eyes again. They'll be staring at my chest wondering how it compares to yours. Thanks, mom, you may have helped your career, but who knows how many years you set mine back." Tears were beginning to form in Eva's eyes as she finished her statement.

This was not going the way that Cat had expected. She knew she would have to do some ass-kissing with Hank, but she hadn't even thought about everyone else. She tried a different tactic.

"But Sweetie, I was doing it for all of us. With the money I make, we can do so many things. Don't worry about your career because you can come work for me."

The look of disgust that crossed Eva's face let Cat know that wasn't going to happen any time soon.

Eva continued, "Mother! Do you know who contacted me on Friday? Hmm? That newspaper in the UK that posted pictures of you reached out to me to see if I would be willing to do a mother-daughter topless spread. Great. Just what I need. I can only imagine who's going to be calling me next."

Cat was mortified over that. Hank didn't know if that was true or not, but he wasn't about to ask at that moment.

Eric spoke up, "Gee, Mom if you just wanted to be famous, or infamous, why didn't you and that guy just produce a sex tape? You could have jumped straight to the front of the line like some other celebrities."

This was a direct hit. Cat couldn't believe that her children were ganging up on her. She couldn't hold back the tears any longer.

Marelys didn't think the conversation was going to improve from there, so she decided to step in.

"Catalina, come with me for a minute. Please."

Marelys walked by Hank and squeezed his arm. Then she gently turned Cat around and escorted her out the door through which she entered. Five minutes later she came back inside with tears streaming down her face. She walked up to Hank, holding her arms out, needing comforting.

He asked, "Are you okay, Mom?"

"I will be. I just told my daughter that she needed to leave before she or we started saying things we can't take back. I'm afraid we already did. I offered to spend the day with her tomorrow, but I'm staying here tonight because Eric is leaving in the morning, and I may not see him again for who knows how long. I haven't heard her rental car start, so she may still be sitting there crying. I don't know. I believe she is finally beginning to realize what her actions have cost her.

She continued, "Do me a favor, Hank. Please. Don't be mean to her. Ignore her. Protect the kids. Protect yourself. But don't be mean to her. I know that she doesn't deserve any favors from us, but I'm asking you, as a favor to me; please be kind to my daughter."

He hugged her back, "Sure, Mom. I promise that I'll try."

Morgan went out and told Julia that they could come back inside. When the girls came in, they hugged Hank. Julia thought he needed cheering up. Hank whispered into the girls' ears, and soon they were hugging Marelys.

The look Julia was giving Hank let him know that it was a good and appreciated suggestion.

It was a tough night for everyone. Being the Labor Day weekend, it took her a while, but Cat eventually found a so-so hotel room about twenty minutes away. She cried until she checked into her hotel room. Then she opened her laptop and got to work. If her family didn't want her anymore, she'd show them. She would still be a success.

The next morning Hank, Eva, and Marelys drove Eric to the airport. Marelys was already missing her grandson whom, before this trip, she hadn't seen for nearly a year. Before he said his final goodbye, he told her. "Nana, just stay here, with us. When I graduate next year, I'll move down here, or near here, and then you can be with us all the time."

"But Barcelona's my home. I've lived in or near there for my entire life."

"I know it isn't an easy choice, but it's one that we would love for you to consider."

"I will think about it. For my grandbabies."

They hugged, and Eric went through security. Hank and Eva then drove Marelys to Cat's hotel. A minute after dropping her off, Eva's phone rang. Apparently, Cat had already checked out. A few hours later, Marelys would learn that Cat caught an early flight back to New York.

______________

Chapter 5

Things moved quickly after that.

Hank, Morgan, and Julia approached the owners of her restaurant with the idea to have a benefit on one of their less busy nights shortly before Thanksgiving to help the local food bank. Eva, Tina, and Scott's new marketing firm would promote the event, and while the restaurant was already popular, the promotion would help get their name out there more. Scott offered for his company to cover the cost of the food so that all proceeds would go to the food bank. The owners agreed to host the benefit, and everyone began to make preparations for that.

Hank was trying to kill several birds with one stone. He sought the support of and received input from everyone that was at his house on Labor Day. First, he was looking to personally fund a few projects for Scott and Tina in the Asheville area. In addition to the event at the restaurant, he planned to have Scott and Tina do a complete series of in-depth interviews with those involved in the foodbank, including Morgan and some of the families that needed the foodbank's services. Several commercials that could be used would be created also. Hank offered to pay the tuition at Asheville's highly regarded community college for the families Morgan had selected to be in the foodbank videos if they were interested.

Prior to having Cat served, Hank had his attorney shift the division of assets in the revised divorce agreement to favor him a little more to help pay for this work. Even with that shift, the division of assets was still in Cat's favor.

When the problems arose at Eva's work, he felt like she was a gift falling into his lap. While he hated that she had problems, her being there grew the idea that he originally had. He knew that he wanted Eva to stay in Asheville near him. He hoped she would be interested in that. He encouraged her, Scott, and Tina to start their own marketing company. He would provide startup funding for the business, including the first year of salaries, and they would do what they knew best.

Scott and Tina could still produce professional video content but could work with Eva to either sell their services to clients that Eva brought in or could use Eva to help market whatever clients they developed. Everyone was eager to give it a try, though they were very nervous, except for Tina. She could see this leading to a chance for her and Scott to have kids, with less of the travel that they had following Cat all over the place.

The person most reserved regarding Hank's suggestions was Julia because he would need her knowledge and skills. Hank wanted her to develop two cookbooks, which she had never done before. However, Hank had been involved in the development of several. Scott and Tina had been intimately involved. With that support, she agreed to give it a try.

She did say, "Hank, you know the last thing this world needs is another cookbook. Right?"

He didn't try to persuade her that it did as much as he convinced her that it was for a good cause, and they had the right team, Tina, Scott, and Eva, to make it a success.

The first book was to be entirely for the benefit of the foodbank. In a play on one of the greatest ads of all time, "Got Milk?" Hank wanted the book to be titled "Got Gravy?" The cover would have a cropped picture of someone's face from below their eyes to their chin, and instead of a milk mustache, they would have a gravy mustache.

It was an obvious play on the famous ad, but it was for a good cause. It wouldn't be a cookbook of only gravy recipes, because honestly, how many gravy recipes are out there? It would include gravies and sauces, which have much greater variety and purposes.

The marketing of that cookbook was to be the marketing company's first job. Once the list of recipes to be included was finalized, Tina and Scott planned and videoed the entire production, with Julia's food plated perfectly, plenty of pictures taken, and helpful videos added to the foodbank website.

By the time of the foodbank benefit at Malta, they could begin promoting the book with an anticipated launch date.

The second cookbook Hank requested was to be a Mediterranean cookbook featuring variations of the recipes that Julia cooked at Malta. Hank was planning for the marketing company to promote this book also. Instead of adding the videos to the foodbank website, Hank had a website created for Julia. Again, there are already thousands of these types of sites out there, but most of them didn't have what Julia would have available to her, professional resources, and Hank had his reasons for wanting her to do this.

A couple of weeks before Thanksgiving was the night of the fundraiser at the restaurant. Hank had Scott film Julia as she was cooking and had her on camera talking about her assistance in helping the executive chef develop new menu items, evaluate new suppliers, and ensure consistency and quality in their finished product. The owners watched most of this and were pleased to hear what Julia had to say. None of it surprised them because they had known her for years and knew her to be a skilled professional.