by Beth Byers
“Your restaurant really does need to improve if you want to stay in business,” Peter Culver said.
I grinned at him and cocked my head as I asked, “And you’re an expert in running small businesses?”
“Anyone can see that you need to improve.”
“Mmmm,” I said and then asked Zee, “Would you say that we’re the most successful restaurant in Silver Falls?”
She shook her head and said, “That stupid pizza by the slice place beats us out. But they pay their people under the table and less than minimum wage.”
“Not a terrible idea,” Peter said. “If you keep your overhead low…”
“Then my staff couldn’t afford to live,” I snapped. “You might be ok with seeing the people you work with need to eat for free at their workplace in order to have food, but I’m not. I want to see my people flourish and be happy.”
“That kind of bleeding heart thinking….”
“If I didn’t pay my staff well,” I snapped, “I wouldn’t have any workers at all. There is a shortage of staff who are reliable in Silver Falls, but you know all about that, don’t you? Since you’re an expert on small businesses and the ins and outs of our local economy?”
Carver snorted and Peter turned to him and snapped, “What’s so funny. I suppose you get paid by the city and they overpay you since you have that—no doubt—internet diploma.”
“Last I heard,” Carver said mildly, “University of Washington was a bit more respected than that, but regardless, my pay is really none of your business.”
“Excuse an old family friend for wanting to know that you can take care of Zee,” Nancy snarled.
“Nancy,” her husband and Fionnula, the nice sister, snapped.
“I think we’ve had quite enough of this drama,” Zee’s mother, Helen said. “That is quite enough out of you as well.”
It took me a moment to realize she was speaking to me, and I blinked.
“Mother,” Zee started.
“No,” Helen said, slashing her hand, but Zee rose and said, “Rose is my friend. My boss, and she’s provided our family several meals for free as well as housing Talfryn and his family. Let alone putting up with that cow, Nancy.”
Nancy gasped, but Zee didn’t slow down. “She’s closing her business early to give our family a place to linger. Her losses are more than anyone else has spent coming here.”
I hadn’t even considered that.
“Let alone,” Zee snarled, “that you made this big deal of me never coming home and then had the gall to bring Peter to this.”
“You know…” Helen snapped, but Zee was the one who slashed her hand this time.
“No! What I know is that Peter Culver hasn’t been someone I wanted to even be around since I was twenty. And you spend more time trying to force something that will never happen than accepting that I have a different life.”
“I won’t be spoken to like this,” Helen said.
“I won’t allow you to run my life,” Zee shouted. “For the love of all that is holy, I never have. Why would you think I would let you choose my partner? I won’t let you push my kids around or me. Why do you think I left home? Are you dense, Mother?”
She leaned back as Zee leaned forward “I wanted to live my own life! I’d have gone anywhere. But, I love it here. In case you weren’t aware, Rose and Simon and Carver and Az are my family now.”
Carver had risen and he was standing next to Zee. He didn’t say a word, but he placed a very gentle hand on her back. I stepped back myself, so I was by her side and out of the corner of my eye, I could see Az and Simon in the doorway watching Zee.
“Zapphirah, I said that is enough.”
“Mother,” Zee said back, suddenly sounding exhausted. “I hope you know that I love you. But my heavens, I can’t stand you.”
Zee spun and stormed out of the diner, through the front door, it slamming behind her. Carver went after her while Az and Simon faded back into the main dining room.
“I hope you're happy with what you started,” Nancy told me silencing the mutters of Zee’s family after she left.
I cocked my head and then said, “Zee is prickly and rude. But she’s also the kindest woman I have ever met. I’m sad for you all that you’ve made her a villain in your family instead of a hero.”
I didn’t wait and I wasn’t going to be waiting on them any longer. I was tired of them all anyway, but I suddenly understood why Zee never, ever, went home. And I understood why, outside of her children, she had crafted a new family. I was just honored that she let me be part of it.
Chapter Six
Simon was in the dining room after I awkwardly exited the backroom. We had never used it since I bought the diner, and it wasn’t nearly as nice as the rest of the diner. Going back into the regular dining area was almost like walking into the sunset, but maybe it was the tense silence in the party room rather than the difference in the decor. It was just being broken by Zee’s daughter as I left. I didn’t need to know more about what was happening. I already felt like I shouldn’t have said anything.
I supposed that antagonizing Nancy had been unnecessary even though Zee had participated. Maybe, though, this was an event that was doomed to failure. What did they expect? Why would any parent keep pushing the same man on their child for like…what? Thirty plus years? That was crazy. I didn’t get it. But it seemed as if they liked Peter Culver far more than they liked Zee.
What I didn’t understand was how you could be in the same room with Carver and Peter and not see how any woman would prefer Carver. It wasn’t even that he was more handsome—though he was. It was how he carried himself, and how he treated Zee. He treated her like a human. Whereas, Zee’s mom and Peter seemed to think she needed someone to take care of her as though it was the 1800s.
Was it that she was a waitress, I wonder, as I cleared a series of tables and flipped the closed sign. I didn’t even care that we were supposed to be open until 11:00 am and it was barely 9:30. I was done. I wanted to go after Zee, but Carver had. I could let it go, right? Give her the space she needed to probably kick a tree to death.
I plopped myself down next to Simon, leaned my head onto his shoulder, and whispered, “What the heck?”
He shook his head silently. Even though I couldn’t see it, I could feel his movement. As I snuggled closer, I said, “That was too much drama. I need waffles.”
As if anticipating my needs, Az took the other side of the booth. He set down a tray that held a simple ham and cheese scramble that was certainly for Simon. Plain hash browns. Wheat toast, butter, grape jelly on the side. Simon, Simon, Simon. Az was eating the savory special of a breakfast gyro. They were good, but nothing compared to a waffle swimming in butter and toppings. Mine had strawberry syrup, whipped cream, and chocolate shavings. A trio of chocolate covered strawberries topped it.
I had a side of bacon and eggs over medium to balance out the sugar, but maybe with enough emotional eating and a good nap before the tea, I could face Zee’s family. I wasn’t sure this was really all that healthy, but I didn’t care.
I pulled out my phone and messaged Zee instead.
Me: Are you ok?
Zee: I’m fine. Don’t worry.
Like I wasn’t going to worry. I scowled at my phone and then glanced up when I saw that Maddie was knocking on the window of the diner. She pointed to the closed sign, but I waved her in.
“What happened?” Maddie asked, plopping down next to Az and stealing one of Simon’s pieces of toast. “I saw Zee storming by and Carver a second later.”
I placed my finger over my mouth as Zee’s family started to exit the diner. They walked out in groups, with only Talfryn and his son stopping to thank me for breakfast. The final two to leave were Zee’s mom and daughter, Helen and Laney.
Helen and Laney stopped by the booth where we were eating. Helen glanced me over, with a scowl on her face and then said, “I suppose I should thank you for being there for Zapphirah when I am not. However, it’s people like yo
u that keep her from coming home.”
I blinked and Maddie choked. Az shifted but held his tongue. Mine was burning with the desire to say that the reason Zee didn’t go home was in Helen’s mirror every day.
“I, on the other hand,” Laney interrupted, “have no problem being grateful that you all are Mom’s family in Silver Falls.”
Helen sniffed meanly and Laney shot her grandmother a nasty look before Laney leaned down to press her cheek to mine and whisper, “Thank you.” As she stood she asked, “Did you need any help with the get together this afternoon?”
I shook my head and Helen said, “I suppose that you won’t mess with Nancy’s food? She really does have the most awful gas after eating sausage.”
Maddie choked again and bit her lip as I lied, “I don’t really know what you’re talking about. But, I can tell you that the food Zee prepared is all buffet style. Nancy is the captain of her own fate when it comes to what she chooses to eat.”
“She has an absurd love of sausage,” Helen said, “And then we all suffer. Zee knew just what she was doing when she told you to give it to Nancy.”
I blinked innocently and Helen’s examination of my face told me that the woman who had raised Zee was far beyond my capacity of lying. I would never admit to anything despite what Helen knew.
“They never did like each other. Not in grade school. Not in high school. Not when it tended to be the four of them, Nancy, Peter, Talfryn, and Zapphirah spending every moment together.”
“Ok,” I said. As far as I could see Talfryn had terrible taste and Zee had well escaped her own high school romance.
As soon as they left, Maddie breathed out and then started giggling. “So you and Zee have been giving the gassy chick sausage?”
“Yeah,” Az and I said.
“She’s evil,” I told Maddie, “She talks about how my place is dirty because of the dogs and had the gall to ask me to keep them outside entirely. I don’t even feel comfortable leaving them home.”
“You are paranoid when it comes to the dogs,” Simon told me. “You’re gonna be a crazy mom.”
“Not as crazy as Zee’s though,” Maddie and I said and both started laughing.
“So what needs to be done for the tea?” Az asked. “I have the sauces done. And the spread for the sandwiches. I have the cucumbers sliced, but I don’t want to start anything too early given how Zee said her mom is so picky. We can’t have things drying out.”
“Now that we’ve met her, I can see Zee’s point. I’m not sure Zee cares so much anymore, though,” Simon said. He placed his hand on his stomach and shook his head. “My parents might be in Florida, and they might be nosy, but they’d never, ever act like that.”
“They don’t want you to dump me and hook up with the mayor?” I joked.
Simon shuddered. He’d dated the town’s mayor for a while, and she still didn’t like me because of it, but it had all been over before I ever moved to town. I think Roberta, the mayor, had just assumed they would eventually get back together. That obviously hadn’t happened since Simon and I were engaged, but it had made for more than one awkward encounter.
“Never,” Simon finally answered. “They’re excited to come up for the wedding and meet you at last.”
“You know,” Az said, “with the diner closing even earlier, I have time to whip up something else. I think…” He rose and cleared our plates, taking them back to the kitchen.
“That sounded a little ominous didn’t it?” Maddie asked, staring after Az. I looked at her and then after Az. There was something in Maddie’s gaze that glinted. Was she? Did she? Like Az?
Then I considered what she asked. His normal dark chocolate and honey voice had had a little spice in it. My lips twitched.
“What do you want to bet,” I asked the others, “that he’s making something loaded with sausage?”
“We’re gonna have to replace our guest bed,” Simon said, laughing.
“We were going to anyway,” I said, “before your parents come.”
We both grinned.
“It’s too bad I like Talfryn,” Simon said, “Or I could get in on this messing with them business. He asked me today to set up the tent in the yard for his son and family. Said, ‘they’d enjoy their visit with a little more distance between Nancy and them.”
“Oh my goodness,” I said, thinking about how much I disliked the woman as a house guest and then said, “Can you imagine her as your mother-in-law?”
Maddie shook her head frantically and Simon shuddered again.
“I got the stuff out for them. The kids were excited to set it up near the fire-pit, and they asked about making s’mores and cocoa. I think they’re taking back their vacation.”
“Good for them,” I said, looking at my phone. Still no more messages from Zee. I needed her to be ok. The diner had emptied out while we’d chatted and all of the backroom was empty too.
I sighed and said, “Let’s give this place a good glossing.”
Maddie helped me clean the diner, and we worked with the radio blaring. I moved towards the women’s bathroom since I wouldn’t ask my friend to clean the bathrooms. The women’s bathroom was worse than the men’s always, so I started there. I moved quickly, not focusing, but using an excess of bleach and then moved onto the men’s bathroom, frowning when the door was locked.
I tried the handle again and then knocked, but no one answered.
“Simon? Az? Lyle?” I tried. Az and Lyle were in the kitchen when I’d headed into the women’s bathroom and they all answered my call. Simon appeared in the doorway and asked, “Is everything all right?”
I shrugged and then said, “Looks like someone thought it would be funny to lock the bathroom door. I’m not sure if I have any of those door unlocker thingies.”
He laughed at me and said profoundly, “Police officers have all sorts of skills.”
“Which criminal did you learn to pick locks from?” I asked suspiciously.
Simon slipped his keys from his pocket and started fiddling with the door before he said, “Funkiest little 10-year-old I’ve ever met. He taught me while we waited for him mom to come get him. He had hitch-hiked from near Eureka.”
“By the redwoods?” I gasped. That was hours and hours away.
“Yep. I still talk to him. He’s backpacking Thailand right now. He was one of my first cases.”
A second later, the door swung up and Simon looked towards me in victory. I, however, had been caught by what was behind him. Peter Bradford Culver was laying across the bathroom floor in a puddle of blood.
“Oh,” I breathed, losing the capacity to form a sentence.
Simon turned, saw what I saw and cursed for me. Then he shut the bathroom door and said, “It’s too late. He’s dead.”
Chapter Seven
“Carver? It’s Rose,” I said.
Simon was herding us towards the side of the diner while talking to the police station on the phone. I shook my head as I waited for Carver to acknowledge me. I couldn’t believe that this had happened and yet I could. I had become far to familiar with murder, and there was no question that Peter Culver had been murdered.
“Rose, now isn’t a good time,” Carver said. I could hear Zee’s angry murmurs in the background. “Look, I gotta go.”
“Carver,” I said, cutting in with a tone that demanded attention.
“Rose, I’m…”
“Carver,” I snapped, “Peter is dead.” There was utter silence on the other side of the line.
“What?”
“He’s laying in a pool of blood in the men’s bathroom at the diner. Simon is here.”
Carver cursed and then said, “Well I guess this changes everything. I need you to keep out of this one, Rose.”
“Keep out of what one?” Zee demanded. I could hear the snap of her voice, but I bet it was more of an instinctive question than her not knowing. What else would Carver tell me to keep out of but another murder investigation.
“I’m gonna
be really honest here, Carver. There is no chance of that.”
“Rose,” Carver started.
“No,” I said. “Absolutely not. Some of them are in my home. Zee’s happiness is on the line here. This is her family.”
“I am the sheriff, Rose.”
“Ok,” I said, disregarding the sentiment.
Simon glanced at me, probably understanding the conversation without needing to hear it. It wasn’t like Simon and I hadn’t had it a few times ourselves as well. I was sure it wasn’t his favorite thing that I’d somehow gotten sucked into the series of murders that had occurred in Silver Falls.
It wasn’t my fault. Though to be fair, most of the time it was Zee’s instigating me. It made sense that this time she wouldn’t have to. I wasn’t even sure that Carver could be legitimately involved. They basically were in an endless series of sleepovers and in the process of introducing each other to their children.
“You should probably stay out of it,” I countered, watching Simon wince. I went on unrepentantly. “You don’t want to ruin the case against whichever of Zee’s crazy relatives killed Culver.”
Carver cursed and I heard him move the phone, probably covering it, to tell Zee what had happened. I could hear a streak of cursing in her low, angry voice.
Carver hung up on me, but Zee called a moment later.
“When did my daughter leave?” Zee demanded without greeting.
I flinched and then said, “Towards the end, I think. I was avoiding eye contact.”
Zee laughed her mean grunt and then said, “Do what you do. Clear my daughter.”
“Zee,” I said, “I love you like the day is long, and if it’s your daughter, I will cover the crime if I have to put lime over the entirety of the diner and then set it on fire.”
Simon cursed and then said, “Geez, Rose.”
“Simon will help,” I told her and he cursed again.
“Or at least Az will,” I said.
Simon shook his head while Az said, “You know it, Rosie luv.”
The other police officers arrived while Az and I were planning on covering up the murder and the look Simon shot us told me that he wasn’t amused. The cops knew me well enough by now given both the fact that I was engaged to Simon and that I had been involved in far too many of their cases.
