Grilled Rye Murder: Book 16 in The Darling Deli Series (2 page)

“Oh, not really,” the deli owner said. “Which is a good thing. We’ve got mostly everything figured out for the wedding, so I’ll hopefully be able to take a few days to relax before the next crisis. I do have a meeting with Zander the day after tomorrow—the deli’s liquor license just got approved, and I’ve got to tell him the good news.”

Zander was one of the farmers that she did business with. He also owned a microbrewery, and wanted her to start selling some of his beers and ales at the deli. She hadn’t been completely on board with it at first, but he had been a good business partner and she figured that it wouldn’t hurt to do this small favor for him. Besides, David was a fan of Zander’s Pine Mountain Ale; she was certain he would appreciate being able to grab a bottle whenever he stopped by the deli.

“It’s awesome that the deli’s branching out even more,” Candice said with a smile. “This place has changed so much over the last couple of years. It’s amazing what you’ve done.”

Moira agreed. Even though she had been there for every twist and turn the deli had taken as it grew, she was still shocked sometimes at how different the little shop was from how it had been when she first opened it. These have been an amazing few years, she thought. But now I’m ready to start a new chapter to my life. I only hope that what lies ahead of me will be just as amazing as everything I’ve already been through.

“Whoa, you two. Slow down. You almost trampled the arugula.”

Moira gathered her trowel and bucket, which was now filled with weeds, and stood up. Maverick and Keeva, who had just run helter-skelter through her garden, stared at her guiltily from a few feet away.

“Oh, come here. I forgive you.” She gave each dog a quick scratch behind the ears before heading towards her porch. “It’s better than the time you ate
all
of the sugar snap peas off the vine. Who would have thought that two big carnivores like you two would have such a taste for veggies?”

Maverick, a black-and-tan German shepherd, cocked his head, his long tongue flopping out the side of his mouth. Keeva, a huge gray Irish wolfhound, was more dignified. She blinked her big brown eyes, then shoved her muzzle into her owner’s hand for more skritches. Moira chuckled. It was hard to stay mad at either of them, even after they did something wrong. She loved them fiercely, and had never once regretted adopting the two of them. They were her constant companions around the house, and she felt safer knowing they were there.

It’s a good thing David likes dogs
, she thought as she brought her gardening tools inside and began washing up.
They’ll love having him around all of the time once we’re married.

Thoughts of her fiancé made her glance at the clock; she only had half an hour left before he would be there to pick her up. If she wanted to wear something other than her gardening jeans and old tee shirt on their date, then she had better hurry up.

She had just put the finishing touches on her makeup when a knock at the door sounded. She could hear the dogs whining happily downstairs, and smiled. David and Candice were the only two people they didn’t bark at; somehow they must recognize the way each car sounded when it pulled up.

“Come on in,” she shouted. “I’m almost ready.”

A minute later she walked down the stairs to find the man she loved sitting on her couch with both dogs half on his lap.

“I think they missed me,” he said with a grin.

“Of course they did. You’re their favorite person in the world… but look, they’re getting you all furry.”

She gave him a quick kiss, then handed him the lint roller—an essential tool in her house. The dogs, back on the floor, watched with interest as she walked to the kitchen. She returned with two treats, which she handed to each of them in turn.

“Be good, you two,” she said. “I’ll be back in a couple of hours.”

The dogs ignored her words, instead sniffing at her hands for more treats. When they didn’t find anything, Keeva heaved a big sigh and lay down on the rug in the living room, while Maverick stood by the front door hopefully, as he always did when Moira went somewhere.

“I think he wants to come,” said David with a laugh.

“Denise may be one of my best friends, but I don’t think even she would be too happy if I brought a dog in for dinner.” She patted the German shepherd’s head. “We’ll go to the park sometime this week, all right, buddy?”

They left, closing and locking the door behind them. The deli owner glanced back when she was halfway to David’s car, to see two furry faces staring longingly out of the living room window at her. She felt a swell of emotion for the dogs and for the man beside her. How could she be so lucky?

The Redwood Grill had made it through its first snowy Michigan winter by cutting back its hours and the number of employees, but now, in the middle of tourist season, business was back in full swing. Couples walked through the oak front doors arm in arm, and the hostess greeted each of them with a smile. The delicious scent of sizzling steak permeated the warm summer air around the restaurant, and Moira felt her stomach growl at the thought of the scrumptious food that awaited them inside. The Grill was her and David’s traditional date spot—they had gone here nearly every week for a year and a half. The menu was changed up every month or two, which kept their dinners interesting, and everyone that worked there knew them by name.

“Your regular table’s available, Ms. Darling, Mr. Morris,” the hostess said. “Right this way.”

She led them through the busy restaurant to a private booth in the back. David took the menus from her and Moira opened hers eagerly when he handed it over.

“Mmm, Denise updated the menus already,” she said, looking at all of the new dishes being offered. “I don’t know what to choose.”

“I know what I’m getting,” he said, giving her a sheepish grin. “The sirloin steak with a fried egg and mashed potatoes.”

She laughed, shaking her head at what was one of many small differences between them. She loved trying all sorts of new food, even if it wasn’t the sort of dish that she usually liked, but David tended to stick with his favorites. He loved steak, and didn’t see any reason to risk trying something else that he might not like as much.

“Well, I think I’m going to go with the pesto and shrimp pasta,” she said. “I’ve always loved the pesto here.”

Within minutes, their waiter had brought them their drinks—white wine for Moira, and a pale ale for David—and had taken their order, as well as telling Moira that Denise would stop by in a little bit to say hello.

“It still amazes me that you two are friends,” the private investigator said after tasting his ale.

“Why?” She was surprised. She and Denise had been friends for over a year, and had a lot in common. Both of them were in the food business, both had lost close family members, and both of them had been in bad relationships. Denise had recently finalized her divorce with her husband, who had cheated on her multiple times with different women, and Moira was the only one out of their group of friends that really understood what she had been going through.

“Well, because she’s so competitive,” David said. “Your deli has been doing such good business, it must be impacting her sales quite a bit.”

“I don’t know… the deli isn’t really a restaurant, not like the Grill is. We have a couple of specials available each day, and some warm food in the morning, but other than that we mostly just sell cold cuts and cheeses.” She took a sip of her wine, wondering secretly if David had a point. Her business
had
been growing lately. Was she stealing customers away from Denise? She didn’t really want to think about it just then; she wanted to enjoy this date with her fiancé. Casting around for a change in subject, her eyes landed on the ale that he was drinking, and she brightened.

“Oh, did I tell you that I’m meeting with Zander tomorrow to discuss selling some of the beer and ale from his microbrewery?”

“Really?” David grinned. “I’ve got to admit; I’ve been pretty excited ever since you told me you got your liquor license. Zander’s really gifted, and it will be great for him to have some local exposure.”

“It feels good to help another small business,” she agreed. “He’s been a good friend this past year, and I’ve never had one complaint about the produce that he delivers. I’m sure his brewery products will be just as high quality.”

“You know,” David mused, “you could think of expanding. The deli’s doing so well, and Darrin’s a great manager. You could open up a second shop in another town and—”

“Wait,” Moira cut in. “Are you talking about… moving?”

“It’s just something to think about,” he said with a shrug. “I’m open to it if you are.”

She frowned, turning the idea over in her head. It wasn’t a
terrible
idea, in fact from a business standpoint it was a pretty good one. It was the thought of leaving all of her friends here in Maple Creek that made her so hesitant. She had gotten so close to Martha, Denise, and Karissa. And how could she even think of moving farther away from Candice? Sure, her daughter had her own business and her own house now, but… she still needed her mother. And Moira needed her daughter.

On the other hand, the prospect of opening a whole new deli in a new town was a tempting one. She wouldn’t make as many mistakes this time around as she had when she first opened Darling’s DELIcious Delights, and she would already have a strong reputation to stand on. Darrin
was
a great manager.…

“Let’s talk more about this later,” she said with a smile as their food came. “Right now, I want to focus on the wedding and our future together. Have you thought any more about where you want to go for our honeymoon?”

“As long as you’re there,” he said, taking her hand, “I could go anywhere.”

She set out for her meeting with Zander the next morning with a yawn and a thermos full of coffee. She and David had stayed up late talking about their plans for the future, and she was exhausted.
Next time I have an eight AM meeting, I need to go to bed earlier,
she thought. Still, despite her fatigue, she had had a lot of fun the evening before. There was something wonderful about being able to completely let go and be yourself with another person.

Zander’s farm was only about half an hour away, and the drive was a nice one: rolling fields dotted with old barns and the occasional pasture with horses, cows, and in one case, alpacas. Keeping up a good relationship with her suppliers was important to her; not only did they tend to give her better prices when they knew her personally, but it also made it easier to ask for the occasional rush delivery or delayed payment. It was worth the occasional trip out to the countryside, especially to see Zander. He was younger than most of the other farmers that she worked with, and got along well with everyone at the deli. Not only that, but his dog, a little yellow lab mix, was one of the puppies that Moira had raised last year. She was always happy to see the little pup, who had a permanently cheerful disposition and a tail that never stopped wagging.

When she pulled up to Zander’s old farmhouse, she took one last swig of coffee from her thermos, shut her engine off, then started across the lawn to the large, square, windowless building that the farmer used as both his office and his brewery. She paused for a moment when she saw a large black van that she didn’t recognize parked near his house. Did he have company?
He didn’t call to cancel our meeting
, she told herself.
And he’s nearly as much of a workaholic as I am. Even if he has someone over, he’ll probably be in the brewery by now.
She wasn’t surprised when he didn’t answer her knock on the door; he had a tendency to listen to loud music while in the back working on his brews. After rapping on the door once more, hard enough to make her knuckles sting, she gave up and let herself in. No doubt he would remember the time and come up front to his office soon enough.

“Hey, Flower,” she said as she opened the door. The little yellow dog rushed up to her, her entire body wriggling with joy. Sunflower, called Flower for short, had been the runt of the litter and had never gotten quite as big as her litter-mates, but didn’t let her small size stop her. Moira knew that the dog went everywhere with Zander, who owned two farms and a small herd of dairy cattle.

“Where’s your owner, hmm?” she asked, crouching down to pet the dog. She was rarely anywhere but at Zander’s side.

The dog whined and turned her head to lick at Moira’s hand. The deli owner frowned. Was that blood on the dog’s muzzle?

“Did you cut yourself on something, sweetie?” she murmured. She gently turned the dog’s head to the side, her eyes searching the dog’s face for any sign of an injury. She didn’t see one, but perhaps the dog had somehow managed to bite her tongue or lip.

“Let’s go find Zander,” she said.

To her surprise, the dog gave another low whine, then dashed off—not towards the heavy door that lead back to the brewery, but to the left, where Zander’s office was. Moira followed the dog to the office door, which was open just enough for the dog to slip inside. The deli owner pushed it open the rest of the way, then paused at the threshold to the dark room. She slapped blindly at the wall for a few seconds before she found the light switch and flicked it on. What she saw made her gasp in horror and stumble backwards.