Food, Family, and Murder

by Patti Benning

  “I know you've probably already heard it a thousand times, but I'm so sorry for what happened to Erica,” Autumn said in a quiet voice while Cate busied herself with coloring on one of the children’s menus. “How is the rest of your family doing?”

  “Most of us are relatively close, though Erica hasn't been keeping in contact much for the past few years. Still, even the people that she hasn't spoken to since the holidays remember her as the little girl they used to babysit or the girl whose graduation party they went to. It's… hard, knowing that she's gone, just like that.”

  “Sorry for the wait, we had a bit of an incident in the kitchen,” their waiter said, coming up to them slightly out of breath, thoroughly interrupting the conversation. “What can I get for the three of you?”

  “I'll have the –”

  “Sammy!” Chloe was staring at their waiter with surprise. “I didn't know you worked here.”

  Autumn blinked, focusing on their server for the first time. It was the young man from the family reunion picnic, the one that Nick had told her was an ex-boyfriend of Erica’s.

  “Oh, yeah,” he said, looking mildly embarrassed. “I work a couple of jobs, actually. I'm planning a trip soon and wanted to save up a bit for that.”

  “How exciting,” Chloe said. “Max and I have been talking about going on a road trip around the country when Cate is a bit older. She's so young that I don't think she would remember much about it now.”

  “I don’t really know how to feel about it now,” he admitted. “I was trying to convince Erica to go with me —”

  He broke off, and Autumn had to look away from the shattered expression on his face. Chloe, she noticed, looked away as well. The other woman blinked rapidly, then cleared her throat before saying, “I’m sorry, Sammy. I didn’t even think… you shouldn’t be at work today. I’m sure your boss would understand if you wanted to go home.”

  “There’s no one else who can come in,” the young man said. “And really, we haven’t been close recently. We just started seeing each other again, you know, going out for coffee and stuff like that. Still, it’s hard to —” He broke off again, then cleared his throat. “Can I take your orders, please?”

  The two adults looked at their menus and quickly decided upon what they wanted. Chloe ordered for Cate, and Sammy hurried away as if he was worried that they were going to start talking about Erica again.

  Chloe exchanged a guilty look with Autumn. “I feel bad now, coming in here like this and bringing her up. I honestly had no idea that he was going to be here. I know he said that they weren't that close anymore, but they used to be, and he obviously still has feelings for her.”

  “It's not your fault,” Autumn assured her. “You don't even live in town. There's no way that you could know he would be here. And besides, this is hard for you too.”

  “Yeah,” the other woman said with a sigh. “Hold on a second. Cate, can you go sit at that table over there for a couple of minutes? You can take your drawing with you. Mommy wants to have a grown-up talk.” She waited until her daughter got settled in the new chair and was bent over her paper again before continuing in a lower voice. “To be honest, I've been trying to keep my focus on Cate so I don't have to think about what happened to that poor girl. Max is a mess, Nick is a mess… I feel like it's up to me to keep things halfway normal for my daughter.”

  They both look toward the young girl who was still busy coloring on the menu. “She's lucky to have a mother like you,” Autumn said.

  “I'm lucky to have a child and husband like them,” Chloe said with a smile. “I really love my family. I couldn't have asked for a better one.” A shadow crossed her face. “Except… it must have been one of them that attacked Erica. Not Max or Nick, of course… but someone there.”

  Autumn didn't know how to respond. She had come to the same conclusion, of course, but she didn't want to sound like she was accusing Chloe's family of something. She could see herself becoming friends with the other woman, and didn't want to say anything to upset her. Thankfully, Chloe continued on. “I just wish I knew who it was. It's so hard to imagine any of them doing something like that. I mean, Sadie and Erica always fought like sisters, even though they were cousins, but they were still pretty close. Sadie even followed along to the same college that Erica went to. I can’t imagine Sadie having anything to do with it, but if she didn't, then she must know something. They were together for practically the whole picnic before the attack.”

  “I did see Erica talking to an older couple,” Autumn said hesitantly. “I don't know who they were. But a little while later, I overheard them talking to each other. It sounded like a conversation they didn't want anyone listening in on. Not that I was eavesdropping, of course, I just happened to be standing nearby.”

  “What did they say?” Chloe asked, looking curious.

  “I don't remember exactly. It didn't really make sense at the time. They were worried that someone had seen them, but they didn’t say who they were worried about, or what they were doing.”

  Chloe was frowning now. “What did the two of them look like?”

  Autumn thought back. “Well, the woman was older, maybe in her fifties, with long gray hair that was pulled back into a braid. The man looked to be about her age, with a good head of hair and a neatly trimmed beard. He was wearing a polo shirt, I think it was blue. And he had a bit of an accent. Like he wasn't from around here.”

  Chloe's frown deepened. “That sounds like my and Nick's Aunt Connie and Gregory. But Gregory is married to my mom's cousin, I don't know why he'd be talking to Aunt Connie like that. Those two sides of the family were never very close.”

  “Do you think that they might have something to do with what happened to Erica?” Autumn asked.

  “I don't know. I think when I get back I'll ask Max and Nick about it. There's definitely something going on. Thanks, Autumn. I can see what Nick sees in you. I hope the two of you stay together. You'd be a great addition to the family.”

  Autumn blushed at that, then smiled. Sammy returned with their food at that moment, and the conversation turned to lighter things as Chloe tried to convince Cate to eat her chicken nuggets.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  * * *

  Sunday nights at the nursing home were usually one of the busiest nights, with a lot of the residents having family or friends visiting them for the evening meal. It wasn't the best night to be distracted, but Autumn had had a lot on her mind ever since her meeting with Chloe. Their discussion about what had happened with Erica had been replaying in her thoughts the entire day. Was it possible that Erica had seen something between the older couple that they hadn't wanted her to know? While the thought of an affair between two members of Nick's extended family seemed far-fetched, she had to admit that the young woman's murder was no more plausible, and that had certainly happened. There was no escaping the fact that someone had killed Erica, which meant that someone had a reason to want her dead. Hiding an affair certainly seemed like sufficient motive to her, not that she had much experience with those sorts of things.

  What had been weighing her down the most was the question of what to do with this new information. Should she go to the police? She didn't really have any evidence, not of anything important. All she had was a half-overheard conversation. For all she knew, the two people that she had overheard had been planning a surprise birthday gift for someone. If she let her imagination run away from itself, she very well might end up doing her relationship with Nick's family more harm than good.

  She tried to push all thoughts of the mystery surrounding Erica's death out of her mind as she walked into the kitchen. Tonight, she was making shrimp and scallop alfredo pasta, with homemade alfredo sauce and a side of mashed sweet potatoes. The dinner rolls were the only part of the meal that she wasn't making from scratch; those were frozen and it would be a simple matter of heating them in the oven for a few minutes right before the meal was served.

  She was glad to see that Emily
was already in the kitchen. She was always grateful for the young woman's help, especially on the busiest nights. It was hard enough making meals for thirty people, but when the numbers swelled to nearly twice that, it would have been nearly impossible for her to do it all herself.

  She had to admit that she had gotten much better at all of this since she had started working at the nursing home. She no longer felt overwhelmed each time she started on a large meal for the residents and knew her way around this kitchen almost better than she did her own. There was no question that she loved her job. Still, she had to admit that that evening in particular, she didn’t feel like being there. There was so much else going on she could hardly focus on the menu in front of her. At least it was a Sunday and construction wouldn't start again until the next day. The last thing any of them needed just then was the buzzing of saws and jackhammers.

  “What should I start on?” Emily asked. “Do you want me to get dessert in the oven while you start on the alfredo?”

  “Sure,” Autumn said, giving the young woman a small smile as she tried to focus on the task at hand. “Remember to make double the amount that we usually make. That's a lot of pies. Let me know if you need help, all right?”

  “I will,” the young woman said. “I'd better get started on peeling the apples.” She wrinkled her nose. “Come to think of it, it's starting to sound like you have the easier task.”

  Autumn chuckled. “We can switch, if you want. The recipe for the alfredo sauce is printed out. Though, you do make great pies.”

  “I'll stick with dessert,” Emily said. “At least I know what I'm doing, and an apple pie is hard to get wrong.”

  A companionable silence fell as the two of them started their work, Autumn grating cheese into a bowl while the younger woman started washing and peeling the apples. It was relaxing, and though Autumn had consciously to keep her thoughts from wandering back to Erica's death, she was beginning to feel better. She had to keep reminding herself that it wasn't her responsibility to figure out what had happened to Erica. The police were on the case, and she had every confidence that they would be able to take care of it. Her job was to make things easier for Nick, and to keep things running smoothly in the Asheville Meadows kitchen.

  That was why it was important that tonight’s meal went off without a hitch and no one had any reason to complain directly to the director of the nursing home. Most of the residents knew her well by then, but their family members were a different story, and some of them were quick to file a complaint about the tiniest of details.

  An hour later, Autumn felt her own stomach rumble as she served bowls of pasta to her aunt and uncle. She didn't usually dine with the residents; most of the time, she spent the meals either helping the rest of the staff with serving or cleaning up the dishes she had used to cook, but today she decided to sit down with her family and chat. Westley Phillips was at their table as well and greeted her with a friendly smile.

  “You're quite the cook,” he complimented. “I’ll never stop being impressed with the food here.”

  “Thanks,” she said, grinning at him. She never quite knew how to respond to compliments like that. On the one hand, she knew that she was a decent cook. On the other, it felt odd to hear someone else say it.

  “How are you, dear?” Uncle Albert asked, his voice lower as he leaned toward her. “I know you ran off after breakfast. Is Nick all right?”

  “I think he's managing,” she said. She had only spoken with him once on the phone that morning. She didn't want to intrude on something that was supposed to be a private family matter. Though she had to admit, she had enjoyed her lunch with Chloe, even though it had given her a lot to think about.

  “Didn't you hear the news?” Westley asked, looking between them.

  “What news?” Autumn asked. She hadn't had much leisure time after her brunch with Chloe and little Cate. She had come directly back to the nursing home to make lunch and had had just enough time to run home and let Frankie out between lunch and dinner. It had turned out to be a busy day.

  “The local channel said that someone had been taken in for questioning about her murder,” Westley said. “Her name was Sammy, or maybe Sabrina…”

  “Sadie?”

  He nodded. “That was it. Sadie. A murder like the one that happened yesterday is big news, and the reporter got a picture of her coming out of the police station.”

  “Well, she was close with Erica, from what Nick's family said. They probably just wanted her to give a statement in case she might have witnessed something useful.”

  The older man shook his head. “They would have taken a statement from her yesterday, wouldn't they? And she looked terrified on the news broadcast. Now, I may not be an expert, but I do like to keep up on real-life mysteries as well as fictional ones, and it looks to me like she might be the lead suspect.”

  CHAPTER NINE

  * * *

  Autumn barely saw Nick over the next few days. She hadn't realized just how much she had gotten used to seeing him while she was at work. Without him there, she felt surprisingly lonely, though she knew it was only fair for him to be taking some time off.

  They did get together for coffee and for dinner, and once she went over in the morning to his house and ate a big breakfast with him, Max, Chloe, and Cate. Part of her wanted to spend time with him alone so she could talk to him about what had happened to Erica, but the other, more cowardly part of her was glad that his sister, niece, and brother-in-law were always hanging around. The simple truth was, she had no idea what to say to him. I'm sorry wouldn't cut it, but what else she could she say to someone who had just lost a family member?

  Nick had made sure that she had the whole day on Friday off for the funeral, even though the service didn't start until three. When she woke up bright and early Friday morning, and realized that she had absolutely nothing to wear to the service, she was glad for the extra time.

  She was also grateful that Alicia had a lot of free time on her hands and was able to meet up with her in town. Autumn enjoyed shopping, but she had never been very confident about her sense of style. She had no idea what would be appropriate to wear to a funeral, besides the knowledge that it should be something somber.

  “Thanks for meeting me,” Autumn said as she sat down at the small table in the café across from her friend. She had a warm cup of caramel flavored coffee in front of her and inhaled the scent eagerly. It was still too hot to drink, but she imagined that even just the rich scent gave her a boost.

  “I'm glad that one of my friends is an early riser,” Alicia said, grinning at her. “You know I’m always happy to go shopping. Though, I can't say that shopping for funeral attire is exactly at the top of my list.”

  “I know,” Autumn said with a sigh. “Everything's been such a mess since last Saturday. I've hardly seen Nick, people at the nursing home have begun gossiping about what happened, and the police still haven't arrested anyone for what happened to Erica. I keep telling myself that things will begin to get better after the funeral, but that's silly, isn't it? It's not like people just stop grieving once they bury their loved one. I'm not good at dealing with things like this. I've never had to just… be there for someone before. I don't know how to comfort Nick, or even if I should be trying to comfort him. What if he just wants to be left alone to come to terms with what happened on his own?”

  “Well, he's an adult, and I'm assuming that if that's what he wanted, he would tell you that,” Alicia said reasonably. “You're doing fine, Autumn. There is no rule book for how to deal with something like this. Although, if there was, having a decent outfit to wear to the funeral would probably be in there somewhere. We should get going. You can’t very well show up to a funeral in one of your flowery summer dresses now, can you?”

  Autumn loved Asheville, but the little town didn't have much in the way of shopping. Many of the small stores weren't even open that early in the morning, so she and Alicia opted to drive into a larger town a few miles no
rth of them.

  They spent the next hour walking around a clothing store while Alicia picked out potential outfits for Autumn to wear that afternoon. At last, Autumn settled on a plain black skirt and a maroon sweater. As she paid for the clothes, she felt something tight in her chest. In just a few hours, she was going to be standing next to Nick while they said their final goodbyes to a young woman whose life had ended long before it should have. It was going to be a hard day for everyone. Suddenly, she was very glad for her friend's company.

  “Would you mind if we got brunch before we headed back?” Autumn asked. “I'm not supposed to meet up with Nick until two.”

  “Sure, I’m always in the mood for brunch,” Alicia said. “Where do you want to eat?”

  “I'm not sure,” Autumn admitted. “I'm not familiar with the restaurants around here. Shall we just drive around until we see somewhere promising?”