Hearty Homestyle Murder: Book 9 in The Darling Deli Series Read online

  “No need to thank me, I’m just glad you’re all right,” the private investigator said. “How’s your arm?”

  “It will be fine. The doctor said it was just a graze. I was lucky that the bullet wasn’t an inch farther to the left, or it might have shattered the bone or hit an artery.”

  “He’s probably the only person left on this planet who would call you lucky,” he replied. “Have you considered rethinking your career? You could try something less dangerous… like lion-taming or skydiving.”

  “Ha. Ha.” Moira said dryly. “You know; I actually am pretty lucky. I mean, I’m alive. It could be worse.”

  “You’re right,” he said, suddenly serious. “It could be worse. You got lucky, but you won’t always. Moira, I worry about you. And I feel terrible—you wouldn’t have been shot if I hadn’t knocked Sandy’s hand to the side.”

  “I’m fine, David, honestly. I don’t blame you—you did what you had to to save the mayor’s life. The doctor said I’ll be as good as new in a week or two. Even Sandy will be all right—the car that hit her after she ran out into the road wasn’t going that fast. She’ll be in the hospital for a few weeks, then will be taken to prison.” Despite everything, she was glad that Sandy wouldn’t die. The woman would spend her life in prison, getting the punishment that she deserved.

  “She got lucky too, then.”

  “She already admitted to painting the graffiti on the store,” Moira added. “She was doing everything she could to make it look like someone at the deli had killed Reuben. If I had to guess, I’d say she called in the anonymous tip about Darrin too.”

  “She’s a dangerous woman,” the private investigator said with a shake of his head. “What are you going to do now? You should take a few days off to rest, even after you get out of the hospital.”

  “Yeah, I know. I’m not in any condition to run the deli right now. I was actually thinking about having Darrin, Dante, Allison, and Meg over in a few days, before I get back to work. And of course you and Candice, and Eli if he wants to come. I still have all of that extra food from that catering contract that got canceled, and there’s no point in letting it go to waste. Besides, I have an announcement that I want everyone to hear.”

  ***

  One thing that she loved about her little stone house in the middle of the woods was that it was perfect for entertaining. There was ample parking space, plenty of room on the counters for food and drinks, and the rooms were big enough that people wouldn’t feel crowded.

  She had ended up inviting Martha and Denise as well. The former had come, bringing Diamond along too, though Denise had declined, unable to get away from work for the evening on such short notice. Everyone else had come and Darrin had brought his sister, Danni, a cheerful young woman with straight brown hair and a quick smile. Since Candice had brought Eli, it was a pretty full house by Moira’s standards.

  She had put out more food than they would ever eat, but hoped that by asking people to bring the leftovers home that most of it would be used. Earlier in the day while unpacking everything, she had wondered for a moment if she should save the food in case Mayor Willis decided to rehire her to cater the engagement party. In the end, she had decided not to accept even if he offered. Right now all she wanted was a break from the busy past few weeks, and catering an event would be the exact opposite of relaxing. She still had to be careful of how she moved her arm, or the stitches would pull and send spikes of pain through her, and the dull ache in her head hovered insistently at the edge of her awareness.

  Happy to see her friends and family enjoying themselves, Moira made her way through the kitchen to where Darrin was standing, chatting animatedly with David. Moira couldn’t make heads nor tails of their conversation, which was either about trucks or fishing, or maybe both. The looked up as she approached, and when David met her eye he grinned.

  “Darrin, can I borrow you for a second?” she asked. He nodded and allowed himself to be led away into the other room.

  “What’s going on?” he asked her.

  “You’re my best employee,” she began. “I’ve been constantly impressed with how hardworking you are. You know the deli almost as well as I do, and you always do so much more than you have to.”

  “Are you firing me?” he asked, with a concerned expression. “This sounds like the beginning of the nicest firing speech ever.”

  “No, no, the opposite,” she assured him. “I want to offer you a promotion, to manager. You’ll be doing pretty much what you do now, but you’ll be paid more for it.”

  “Really? Oh man, I’d love to,” he said.

  “Are you sure? Because if you take the job, I’d like you to stay around for another few years at least. You’ll probably get more responsibilities as time goes on. I’d like to continue expanding the types of food that we sell, and maybe take on more catering jobs in the future. That may mean hiring more employees, which would give you even more to do.”

  Darrin’s concerned expression had been replaced by a huge grin as he took in Moira’s words. “I’m positive. I would love to continue working there and continue being a part of the deli as it grows and changes.”

  “Good,” she said with a smile. “The job is yours, then. We can talk about the specifics tomorrow. Let’s rejoin the others, I have an announcement to make.”

  Back in the kitchen where everyone else was gathered, she stood next to David and took a deep breath. Her body ached and she was tired. She cleared her throat and all eyes turned towards her.

  “I’ve got an announcement to make, everyone,” she began. “First, I’d like to congratulate Darrin, who has just accepted the position of manager of Darling’s DELIcious Delights.”

  She paused while people congratulated him, then continued after silence fell again.

  “Second, I’m planning on stepping back from the deli a bit, at least for now. I’ll still be involved, of course, and I plan on coming in a few days a week at the very least, but I think you guys will be able to handle most of the day-to-day things that come up.” She looked at each of her employees, more proud of them than ever. “When I first opened the deli, I planned on it being a part-time shop, just something to keep me out of house. A hobby, more than anything. I wasn’t even expecting to make a profit on it, at least not for a while. But here we are. The deli hasn’t even been open for three whole years yet, and already it’s more successful than I ever thought it would be. And frankly, a lot more demanding. I had a full-time job for eighteen years raising Candice.” She grinned at her daughter, who rolled her eyes but smiled. “And when I first opened the deli, I wasn’t planning on it turning into another one. I want some time to enjoy what I have now, before I get too old to enjoy anything, but I also don’t want to hold the deli back. I want to see it thrive and grow to its full potential, and I think that this is the best way to do that.”

  She raised her glass of sparkling water to her lips and smiled as people started talking again. She felt like she had lifted a huge weight off her chest. She loved the deli dearly, but one could only take so much of being shot at, kidnapped, and threatened before needing a break. For now, she would focus on her relationship with David, keeping Maverick company, and spending time with her daughter. Hopefully her life would settle down a bit. She had had enough of murder and mayhem to last a lifetime.