A Quiche To Die For: Book 17 in The Darling Deli Series
TABLE OF CONTENTS
A QUICHE TO DIE FOR
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
EPILOGUE
A Quiche
To
Die For
Book Seventeen in the Darling Deli Series
By
Patti Benning
Copyright 2017 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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A QUICHE TO
DIE FOR
Book Seventeen in the Darling Deli Series
CHAPTER ONE
* * *
Moira Darling walked into the deli for the first time in two weeks, and was surprised by how good it felt to be back. Who would have thought ten years ago that she, a single mom, would one day have a job that she loved almost as much as she loved her new husband?
She had met David Morris, a private investigator, a little bit over a year and a half ago. They had been married since summer, but had only recently found the time to go away for their honeymoon. The two weeks they had spent in Europe had been like a dream for the deli owner. The food tour had been David’s idea, and she loved him all the more for it. She had come back inspired to create even more new recipes for the deli, and couldn’t wait to get started.
“Welcome back, Ms. D!”
Moira stopped in her tracks and looked up. She realized that she had been daydreaming about the honeymoon instead of paying attention to what was going on around her. Hanging over the deli’s counter was a banner that read Welcome Home! in colorful letters, and two of her employees were waving at her from beneath it.
“Or is it Mrs. D now? Or Mrs. Morris?” Darrin asked. “Either way, welcome back. How was the trip?”
Darrin was the manager of her deli, Darling’s DELIcious Delights. He was the person she trusted to handle everything while she was away, and so far had never let her down. Standing next to him was Jenny Goodwin, one of her newer employees. The brunette had been working there since shortly before Moira’s wedding, and had quickly proven herself a valuable member of the team.
“Mrs. D is fine for now. We’re still discussing whether I should change my name or not, since it’s tied in to the store,” the deli owner told them. “And the trip was wonderful, thank you for asking.”
She and David had been involved in quite a few discussions about whether or not she should take his last name. He thought that it would be better for business if she kept her current last name, Darling. In his opinion, it was more marketable and made sense to keep it, especially if she was ever going to open another store elsewhere. She understood what he meant; her last name was a strong tie to the deli, and she wouldn’t want to lose that.
On the other hand, the romantic part of her wanted to take his name. It was the tradition that she was used to, and it felt odd to her to be married to someone without sharing his last name. Luckily, it wasn’t a decision that she had to make immediately. She had time to think it over carefully, which was always a good thing to do before making such a big decision.
“You’ll have to tell us all about it,” Jenny said. “I know Meg is just dying to go to Europe. She’s going to want to hear everything.”
“Well, she’ll be glad to hear that I took a lot of pictures,” Moira said. “Even better, I came up with tons of new recipes I want to try. I had some of the most amazing food over there.”
“Well, you know that we’ll be happy to be your taste testers,” Darrin said. “Speaking of food, do you want to try the soup and salad combo of the day? It’s something Candice came up with.”
“Candice? Really?” the deli owner said, surprised. “I thought she would have been too busy to spend much time over here.”
Her daughter, Candice Darling, had opened her own store the year before. It was a small candy shop in the neighboring town of Lake Marion, and was doing much better than anyone had expected ever since they had opened up a website that accepted custom orders. Candice’s Candies shipped chocolates and other sweets nationwide for various events and businesses, and the result was a very fast paced, but profitable, business.
Not only was the young woman still learning how to manage her time and balance her business life with her personal life, but she had also gotten engaged to her boyfriend a few months previously. Moira knew firsthand how much time it took to plan a wedding, so she was surprised the young woman had any time to spare whatsoever.
“I guess she had this soup at some restaurant when she went to out of town and liked it so much that she made her own recipe for it when she got back,” Darrin said. “She stopped in a couple days ago and had us all try it. Here, I’ll get you a bowl, and you can have lunch while you look over the sales reports from the last two weeks. Everything went well while you were gone. I think you’ll be happy to see just how well.”
Feeling a bit befuddled, Moira sat at the table nearest the register. Here she was, being served in her own deli. Just two years ago, she had had only two other employees, and one had been her daughter. Now it felt like the deli barely needed her to function. She knew that she should be happy that it ran so smoothly without her — and she was — but it also left her feeling a little bit lost.
The sight of the food that Darrin brought out a few minutes later pushed her worries to the side. She had no idea what sort of soup it was, but it looked good and smelled even better. There was a light side salad with a variety of greens, shredded carrots, and some sort of crushed nut. It took her a moment to identify the dressing.
“Ginger?” she asked, as he set the plate in front of her.
Darrin nodded. “It was tough to find something that would go well with the creamy peanut soup. We decided to go with something simple. The crushed peanuts on top really tie it together. The soup is rich, so the light, fresh salad pairs really well with it.”
Moira had never had peanut soup before in her life. She tasted a small spoonful, and was surprised by how flavorful it was. Darrin was right; it was very rich, and she couldn’t imagine eating more than a single serving, but it was perfect for the chilly winter w
eather.
“I love it,” she said. “I’ll have to remember to tell Candice thanks. Did she happen to leave the recipe?”
“Yep, it’s already in the binder,” he said.
“It looks like you’ve got everything handled,” she told him, laughing. “Thanks Darrin, I don’t know what the deli would do without you.”
She spent the next few minutes going over the sales report for the past two weeks. She was surprised by how well they did. They had made almost twice as many sales as they had been making at this time last year. She knew a lot of that could be put to the fact that they had so many more menu options now — the breakfast quiches had definitely been a hit; there had been a huge sales boost after they expanded their hours — but many of their sales had been made simply through word of mouth. More people knew about the deli now, and it wasn’t unusual for people driving through town on their way up north or downstate to make a detour specifically to stop in at the deli.
Even though she was happy to see that the deli’s sales hadn’t dropped off at all while she had been out of the country with David, it drove home the realization that the deli didn’t really need her anymore. That left her with the important question of what she would do now. She had originally decided to open the deli to give her something to do in her spare time, but it had grown to be so much more than that. Sooner or later, she would have to decide whether she wanted to see where all of this could lead and continue expanding the business, or be happy with what she had already done and enjoy her new life as a married woman without the stress that would come with growing the deli.
Just like the matter of her last name, it wasn’t a decision that she needed to make immediately. For now, she was going to enjoy her soup, make a cup of coffee, and enjoy the next few hours helping out in the deli. It felt good to be back in Maple Creek.
CHAPTER TWO
* * *
“Settle down, you two. Didn’t we get this all out of your systems last night?”
Moira pushed the two overly excited dogs back far enough that she could shut the door behind them, then put her purse on an end table and attempted to take off her coat without tripping over one of the pooches. Maverick, the big German shepherd that she had rescued from a dog thief the year before, slipped between her legs and the wall, nearly knocking her over in his excitement. Keeva, the even bigger Irish Wolfhound that had showed up on her doorstep shortly after she had moved into the little stone house, was a bit more polite and kept back further, despite the fact that her tail was whipping back and forth in a blur.
During her honeymoon, her daughter had stayed at her house to watch the dogs. Moira knew that they had been well cared for; Candice was one of the few people that she would entrust the two dogs to, and they both seemed to like her plenty. That hadn’t stopped the dogs from being overcome with excitement when she and David had gotten home the night before. She hoped that things would go back to normal soon. If she could have, she would have explained to the dogs that she wasn’t going away on a vacation again any time soon, and she would have reassured them that she would be back every evening just like usual, but she knew that they wouldn’t understand her.
“All right, all right, let’s go get some treats. No, Maverick, don’t jump up. There you go, good boy.”
She reached up and pulled the bowl on top of the fridge down. Inside was a handful of homemade dog cookies that Candice had left behind. They looked good enough for her to eat herself. Her daughter had assured her that they were made of human grade ingredients, but with flavors like beef and liver, they probably wouldn’t taste too good to a human palate.
She tossed each dog a cookie, and while they were eating she went upstairs to change. It still felt odd to see David’s things alongside hers. It had been so long since she’d shared a bedroom with anybody, and she had forgotten how much extra space another person’s entire wardrobe could take up.
The decision for the two of them to live together in her house had been an easy one. David’s apartment in Lake Marion was far too small for the dogs, and it was double the distance from the deli. She had only bought the house the year before, and neither of them wanted to sell it, even if that would have meant they could have purchased a larger home together. With just the two of them, they didn’t need much space, and they both loved the little stone house in the middle of the forest.
Changed and feeling refreshed, Moira went back downstairs in time to see a vehicle pull up the driveway. She recognized the flashy car that she had helped Candice get for her birthday the year before. A split second later, the dogs came running out of the kitchen straight towards the front door. They had an uncanny ability to recognize the sound of familiar engines, and always seemed to know when she, David, or Candice were pulling up.
Smiling to herself, Moira hurried into the kitchen to preheat the oven, then went to let her daughter in.
“Hey, Mom. Eli says he’s sorry that he couldn’t make it, but we’ll have you over for dinner later this week. Things have been insanely busy lately. Where’s David?”
“He’s still working,” Moira said. “I just got home, and he should be here within the hour. Do you want to help me with dinner?”
“Sure. I can’t wait to hear more about your trip.”
As the two women began to prepare the ingredients for the family dinner, Keeva and Maverick watched them from behind a baby gate. Outside, it was nearly completely dark, and had begun to snow. By morning, Moira knew that the woods would look like a winter wonderland. Maybe she and David would have time to take a walk with the dogs before work. There was something so magical about a fresh layer of pure, unbroken snow.
“So, does David have a lot of work to catch up on?” Candice asked as she began trimming the fat off the chicken breasts.
“He had a few cases waiting for him,” Moira said. “I know he said he’s thinking of hiring an assistant, someone who will be able to do some of the foot work for him.”
“That’s neat. I doubt he’ll have a hard time finding someone. A lot of people think it would be cool to be a private investigator. Is he working on anything interesting right now?”
“He mentioned something about investigating a robbery,” the deli owner said. “I don’t know who his client is, of course, but they gave him a list of what was stolen and he’s going to keep an eye out in the local pawn shops and online for items that match the description. So, if he finds someone selling the stolen items, he’ll get the police involved and hopefully the person that was stolen from will get their stuff back.”
“He has such a neat job,” Candice said with a sigh. “If I wasn’t so busy at the candy shop, I might see if I could be his assistant. I just wouldn’t have time, though.”
Moira pulled a baking tray out from below the stove and put a layer of foil over it so her daughter could begin laying out the chicken. She watched Candice as she did, a thought occurring to her.
“Are you still happy running the candy shop?” she asked.
“Oh, yeah,” Candice said. “Definitely. It’s just turning out to be a lot different than what I expected. I thought it would be kind of like the deli is, you know? Slower paced, and you get to know all of your customers. But since most of our sales now are online, it’s a lot different. It would almost be easier to only have online sales; on the other hand I really like having the storefront.”
“I think it’s nice to have a place where your customers can go to buy candy in person,” Moira said. “Besides, I’m sure you get a lot of business from tourists. In the summer, they can go to your store, then when they get home they can order from you.”
“That’s true,” her daughter said. “At least the shop is doing well. I shouldn’t be complaining. Is that David?”
Moira looked around to see both dogs standing up and staring down the hall towards the front door. She heard the sound of a car door close, and a moment later both dogs were running to greet the private investigator. The deli owner followed behind them, glancing in the
hall mirror to make sure she didn’t have any marinara sauce drips on her blouse before opening the door for her husband.
“Hey, you,” David said, smiling as he pulled her close for a kiss. “Something smells delicious. What are we having for dinner?”
“Chicken Parmesan with homemade red sauce and some sautéed squash,” she told him.
“Sounds wonderful.”
He bent down to pat the dogs, then straightened up and shrugged off his coat and hung it up in the hall closet. He turned and raised an eyebrow.
“What?”
Moira had been gazing at him. She looked away, embarrassed. “Nothing… it’s just good to see you. It feels weird being back, doesn’t it?”
“I know what you mean,” he said. “I got used to having you around all the time. My office feels lonely now.”
“Bring Maverick with you,” she suggested. “He’d love it. He may not be as good for conversation as I am, but he’s a great listener and gives world class cuddles.”