Garden Vegetable Murder: Book 12 of The Darling Deli Series Read online

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  GARDEN VEGETABLE MURDER

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  Garden Vegetable Murder

  Book Twelve in the Darling Deli Series

  By

  Patti Benning

  Copyright 2016 Summer Prescott Books

  All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication nor any of the information herein may be quoted from, nor reproduced, in any form, including but not limited to: printing, scanning, photocopying or any other printed, digital, or audio formats, without prior express written consent of the copyright holder.

  **This book is a work of fiction. Any similarities to persons, living or dead, places of business, or situations past or present, is completely unintentional.

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  GARDEN VEGETABLE

  MURDER

  Book Twelve in the Darling Deli Series

  CHAPTER ONE

  “I’m going to miss you.”

  Moira Darling was standing in front of her deli, Darling’s DELIcious Delights, trying to keep smiling as Candice hugged her goodbye.

  “Me too, Mom, but I’ll be back soon. It’s just Ohio, it’s not like I’m going to another country,” the young woman teased.

  “I just don’t like the thought of you so far away from me. What if something happens?” She took a deep breath. “I know you’re an adult now, but ten days still feels like a long time.”

  “It’ll be fun. Don’t worry so much.” Her daughter gave her a bright grin. “I’ll let you know when we get there, and I’ll send you lots of pictures.”

  “All right, sweetie. Be careful. I love you.”

  “Love you too, Mom.” Candice picked up the bag of sandwiches that her mother had made for her to take on the road trip, gave Moira one last wave, and got in the car.

  “Thanks so much for the time off, Ms. D,” Allison said as she opened the driver’s side door. “I promise I’ll work extra when I get back.”

  And just like that, the two young women were gone. Moira stared after their car until it disappeared, then sighed and went back inside. She was glad that her daughter had the chance to take this trip, but knew she wouldn’t be able to rest easy again until Candice was back home.

  “I’ve got to admit, I’m jealous,” said Darrin when she walked through the deli’s front door. “I love Cedar Point.”

  “All of those rides just seem dangerous to me,” she told him. “I just don’t understand why people like being hurled through the air by machines.”

  “It’s the adrenaline rush,” he said with a grin. “Besides, they’re perfectly safe. The rides go through tons of testing before people are allowed on them.”

  “I know, I know. I’m just a worried mother.”

  The next ten days were going to be busy, she knew. With both Candice and Allison gone, she would have to pick up the slack—both at the deli and at Candice’s Candies. Though Logan, the teenager that Candice had hired to work at the candy shop, had proven himself a quick learner, and a dependable employee, he couldn’t very well be left completely in charge of the shop for a week and a half. Moira would have to stop by every day to see how he was doing and make sure things were running smoothly.

  Combined with the fact that Allison usually worked five shifts a week at the deli, that left a lot of slack for the deli owner to pick up. She hoped it would be a slow week, and with tourist season over, school started up again, and no catering events planned, it should be.

  When a familiar black car pulled into the deli’s parking lot half an hour later, some of her tension eased. She had been romantically involved with David Morris, a local private investigator, for a few months, and just being around him seemed to help her feel better when things weren’t going well. It was always a nice surprise when he stopped in unexpectedly to see how she was doing, and she was especially thankful for it today.

  “Hey,” she said, offering him a smile as he walked through the door. “Do you want anything to eat? The soup of the day is sweet potato and kale. I think we have some quiches left from breakfast, too.”

  “Sure, I’ll take whatever you have—if you’ll eat with me.”

  “Of course.” Her smile widened. An unexpected lunch with David? What could be better?

  She cobbled together a quick lunch, pulling the leftover quiches out of the fridge—luckily they were nearly as good cold as warm—and ladling the soup into a pair of bowls. Along with a couple of cups of coffee, it had the makings of a delicious meal.

  “So, how did the sendoff go?” he asked her as they sat down at one of the bistro tables by the front window.

  “They managed to get out of town all right,” she told him. “Though it looked like Candice packed her entire apartment for the trip. It’s going to be quite the drive down there for them, and I don’t think either of them are used to driving such long distances.”

  “They’ll be fine,” he assured her. “They’re both bright young women, and even if this is Candice’s first big road trip without you, I’m sure she’ll be able to figure things out. You did a good job raising her.”

  “Thanks. I know she’s a good girl… it’s just, if something does happen, I won’t be able to get down there quickly to help her. At least when she was at college, we were still in the same state.”

  “If something happens and she needs your help, I promise to drive down there with you,” he said. “Now, stop worrying. It’s a beautiful day, and we’ve got some awesome-looking food in front of us. It’s not every day that we get to enjoy a meal together without one of us being called away by work.”

  “True. I guess I should focus more on what’s in front of me.” Her smile returned, and she pushed her concerns for her daughter aside, determined to enjoy her lunch with David. She knew she was being overprotective, but she couldn’t help it. How could she not feel that way about her only daughter?

  “Any interesting stories from work?” she
asked him as she blew on a spoonful of soup.

  “Oh, nothing lately,” he said. “Fred hired me for yet another case. He wants help to find his great-aunt, who was disowned from the family fifty years ago. He wants to reconnect. Or at least visit her gravesite if she’s passed.”

  “That’s sweet of him,” Moira said. Fred Barry was an older man who had begun hiring David for minor cases, always paying him well and keeping himself involved with each case’s progress. He seemed to be infatuated with investigative work, and according to David, often tried to follow his own leads… which rarely led him in the right direction.

  He hesitated, then added, “There was something else I wanted to tell you, though.”

  “What is it?” she asked, concerned again. He wasn’t usually hesitant to tell her anything.

  “Well, Karissa finally found a place in town, and she’s making the final trip with her things on Monday. My mother is taking the opportunity to fly out and help her get settled in… and while she’s here, she wants to meet you.”

  Karissa was David’s sister, whom Moira had met a while ago. She was moving to Lake Marion, which meant that they would both be seeing a lot more of her. She had never met any of David’s other family members, though. The private investigator didn’t talk much about his past or his family, so Moira was happy with any information she could get.

  “That sounds wonderful,” she said. “I’d love to meet her, too.”

  “Do you want to come to dinner at my sister’s house Monday evening?” he asked. “The plan is for a late dinner, which should work even if you have to close the deli yourself that night.”

  “Of course. Should I bring anything? Is your mom allergic to anything? There’s a few new recipes I’ve been wanting to try—”

  “Whoa, whoa,” he said, chuckling. “Bring whatever you want, and don’t worry about allergies—neither of them has any that I know of. I also don’t want you to feel like it’s a command performance, Moira. I just told them that I would ask.”

  “Oh, I’d love to meet your mother.” She smiled, but the expression faded as something occurred to her. “Unless you don’t want me to meet her? If you’d rather I don’t go, that’s okay, I can make up some excuse—”

  “That’s not it at all,” he said, placing his hand over hers. “I just wasn’t sure about how you’d feel spending so much time with my family. I know I don’t really talk about them much, and you and Karissa didn’t exactly get off on the right foot. My mother can be… difficult. I didn’t want to put you in a position where you felt like you had to go.”

  “Trust me,” she said, meeting his eyes. “I would love to meet your family.”

  CHAPTER TWO

  The next two days gave her a chance to work herself into a ball of nerves. She wondered how much David had told his mother about her. Would she think that Moira was a troublemaker? Or had he only told his mother that she owned a deli? When Karissa first came to town, Moira had made the embarrassing mistake of thinking that David was seeing another woman. Hopefully he didn’t mention that to them, she thought. She wanted to make a good first impression, but it would be hard without knowing anything about his family.

  She scolded herself as she stared into her closet on Monday evening, repeating “David likes you for yourself—hopefully his mother will, too.”

  Although from David had said that this was to be a casual dinner, she decided to dress as if they were going on a date. Making a good first impression was important, and she would only get one chance at it.

  She eventually settled on black dress slacks, an olive green blouse that made her eyes pop, and her own mother’s diamond necklace. Her hair she left down, and she wore flats instead of heels in an effort to look less dressy.

  The dish that she had made was being kept warm in the oven, and she put it in an insulated bag just minutes before David was supposed to pick her up. Careful not to let the dogs get fur on her pants, she gave both Maverick and Keeva pats goodbye, then went out on the front porch, locked her door behind her, and waited anxiously for the private investigator’s car to pull up the driveway.

  “You look wonderful,” he said to her as she got into the car. “And whatever you made smells delicious.”

  “Thanks. I hope I didn’t overdo it. I’m more nervous than I thought I’d be, meeting your mother. Now I know what Candice’s poor boyfriends felt like when I made her introduce them to me.”

  David chuckled. “Well, we aren’t teenagers, and no matter what she thinks of you, it won’t change how I feel. But I’m sure the two of you will get along wonderfully. She’s been dying to meet you ever since I told her about you.”

  “Oh goodness, I hope her expectations aren’t too high.”

  “Moira, you have done nothing but exceed my expectations in all the time I’ve known you. You don’t have anything to worry about.” He smiled over at her and kissed her hand before putting his car into gear.

  Blushing from his compliment, the deli owner fell silent and gazed out the window. Dusk was falling, and under the trees it was already almost dark. She wondered what she had done to deserve such a wonderful man in her life. David was everything she could have hoped for, and more. She had never thought that—especially at her age—she would meet someone like him.

  Karissa’s apartment was on the bottom floor of one of the nicer buildings in Lake Marion. The air conditioning was blasting when David and Moira went in, and the apartment smelled like fresh paint.

  “Moira, it’s so good to see you again,” David’s sister said, coming over to give her a one-armed hug. “I’m glad you were able to make it this evening.”

  “Well, I’m glad you finally found somewhere to settle in,” said Moira as the other woman took the warm dish from her and carried it over to the counter. “Your place looks great. It’s so big—I’m used to apartments being tiny.”

  “Three bedrooms, a living room, a kitchen with a private porch, and a dining nook,” Karissa said. “There should be plenty of room to grow.”

  She opened her mouth to say something else, but at that moment a petite woman with short grey hair who looked to be in her sixties came into the room, pausing when she saw Moira. David stepped in quickly and introduced her.

  “Moira, it’s wonderful to meet you at last,” said the older woman as they shook hands. “My name’s Patricia, but I’m Trish to everyone except my kids.”

  “It’s so nice to meet you, too,” Moira said. “How long are you here for?”

  “Oh, about a week,” Trish told her. “Not anywhere near long enough, but at least I’ll be able to get a glimpse of what David’s life is like. By the sounds of it, you’re a big part of it. I can’t wait to hear more about what you do.”

  “Oh, it really isn’t that exciting,” she replied with a laugh.

  “That’s not what David tells me,” the older woman said. Moira noticed a strange, almost suspicious look flash across her face before Trish turned away and addressed Karissa, asking if she needed any help setting the table.

  The deli owner turned to look at David to see if he had noticed the exchange, but her boyfriend was busy examining his sister’s DVD collection. Feeling her gaze on him, he looked up and smiled at her.

  “Thanks again for agreeing to come,” he said. “I know this means the world to her.”

  He pulled her close for a kiss, then led the way into the kitchen where the other two women were putting the finishing touches on dinner.

  “Wow, Moira, these look phenomenal,” Karissa said as she served herself one of the little pasties from the dish that the deli owner had brought. Pasties were a Northern Michigan favorite. Beef, potatoes, carrots, and onions all stuffed inside a pocket of dough and baked to golden brown perfection; Moira didn’t know anyone who would turn down a good pasty. The recipe had been a favorite around her house growing up, and she had decided that it was best to stick with something tried and true for this dinner, especially since she desperately wanted to make a good first impression on
David’s mother.

  It seems to be working, she thought as she watched the older woman bite into one of the still-steaming handheld pies. I was probably just imagining that look she gave me earlier. She’s been perfectly polite to me since, and seems genuinely interested in my life.

  As if in tune with her thoughts, Trish put the pasty down, took a sip of water before saying, “So what made you want to open a deli, Moira? David tells me you’ve been quite successful. Have you always had a passion for cooking?”

  “Well, I had always enjoyed bringing snacks for whatever events were going on at Candice’s school, but it took experimenting with my own recipes before I realized just how much I enjoyed cooking. It wasn’t until my daughter, Candice, started becoming more independent that I started cooking as a hobby to fill my time.”

  She remembered back to the first time she had gone out on a limb and made up her own soup recipe. It had been an evening when Candice was staying out late and Moira, always the protective mother, had been unable to sleep until her daughter was safe at home. In an effort to keep her mind off of all of the terrible things that could happen to a teenaged girl driving home late at night, she had gone through her cabinets and fridge and began cooking. By the time Candice got home just past midnight, she had had her own version of chunky tomato soup boiling away on the stove, and mother and daughter had shared a nice middle-of-the-night meal together.

  “The idea to open the deli came when I saw the building for sale. By then, my daughter was away at college and I had already decided to start working more. It took some convincing from my daughter and a few of my friends, but eventually I went to look at the building and fell in love with the space. It was like it was made to be a deli. I could envision where everything would go… it was just perfect.”

  Smiling at the memory, she found herself almost missing those days back when she had been setting out on an exciting new adventure. Who could have guessed where her cooking hobby would have ended up leading her?