by Lynn Cahoon
Saturday morning, she quickly fed the circus, then sat down to write out the recipes from the trials she’d made on Thursday. Angie wanted to bring at least one of the dishes to her crew and see if they could add a special to tonight’s menu. She’d make all of them for Felicia today for lunch and see which one her partner liked best. A knock on the kitchen door made her look up.
Erica stood at the door. She had a notebook in hand. “Hey, do you have a minute?”
“Come on in. Can I get you a glass of iced tea?” Angie stood and took her own glass to the counter. When Erica nodded, she poured a second glass over ice and refilled her own. She returned to the table with the drinks. “What’s up?”
“I wanted to bring you this notebook. It has all of Granny’s medications, when she takes them, her doctors names and phone numbers, and Delores’s information. I didn’t want to give it to her when I bring her over tomorrow night. It seems so, I don’t know, childish. Like you’re babysitting or something.”
“That’s nice of you trying to keep her dignity.” Angie took the notebook and flipped through the pages. “You have a lot of information here.”
“It makes it easier. Besides, I can take that to school with me and if something happens, I have all the phone numbers I need.” Erica sipped her tea, not meeting Angie’s gaze. “I feel guilty leaving her just to have fun.”
“Everyone needs a break know and then. Don’t worry. She’ll be fine over here. I’m here most of the day. And when I’m working, most of that time she’ll be asleep.” Angie put the notebook in her tote. “She’ll never know I have this.”
Erica laughed. “I really appreciate the help.”
After the woman left, Angie wondered if she really knew what she’d got herself into. She didn’t have any training dealing with the elderly. Nona hadn’t called her home when she’d gotten ill. She’d hired a live-in caretaker. Maybe her grandmother had known something that Angie didn’t know about herself. Or maybe, the internal voice of reason spoke up, she knew you were busy building a life and a career.
Angie knew the second voice was rational and probably true, but it didn’t keep her from second-guessing her choices. She returned to her work and by the time she needed to leave for town to meet Felicia at The County Seat, she had two new recipes ready.
Felicia was already downstairs, working on her laptop, when Angie arrived. When the door opened, she looked up, worry creasing her brow. “Hey, I was about to call you. Everything okay?”
“I got stuck behind a line of cars following a tractor. I know it’s Saturday, but some people work weekends, right? I don’t know why they don’t move those machines on a day that’s not busy.” Angie dumped her tote out on the counter, looking for the recipe notebook she carried around at all times.
Felicia walked over and picked up the spiral notebook Erica had given Angie that morning and opened the cover. “Are these instructions for Mrs. Potter? I thought you were going to tell Erica you couldn’t do it?”
Angie couldn’t meet her friend’s gaze. “Don’t judge. I know I told you I was uncomfortable with the whole thing, but I want to do this.”
“You don’t owe this to Nona.”
Her friend’s words struck home, and finally, Angie looked straight at her. “Maybe not, but I can be a good neighbor and a friend to Erica when she needs help. Anyway, how much trouble can one woman cause in a week? By the time Erica gets back, we’ll be best friends.”
“Doubtful.” But Felicia didn’t press the issue. “What can I do to help?”
They cooked lunch together, adding the two appetizers that Angie had developed that week. When they sat down to eat, the discussion turned to staffing and restaurant business. Like Angie’s kitchen team, Felicia was happy with her front-of-the-house staff. “Although, Jeorge’s vacation had taught me that we’re too dependent on too few people. I’d like to hire a part-time server who could also be trained in bartending. That way, if someone calls in sick or goes on vacation, we don’t have to settle for who the temp agency sends us.”
“It’s a great idea. We kind of have that built in with Hope. The week Estebe’s gone, I’m moving her out of her dishwasher duties and into a prep chef. Nancy will cover for Estebe, but I’ll need a temp dishwasher. That shouldn’t be hard to find.”
They had just finished the meal and were beginning to look at the numbers when Angie’s phone rang. She looked down at the caller ID and groaned. There was only one reason he’d be calling her. Estebe wasn’t showing up for work tonight. She tried to keep her disappointment out of her tone when she answered. “Hey, Estebe, what’s going on?”
Felicia started cleaning the dishes from the chef table. By the time Angie was off the phone, the dishes were in the dishwasher, waiting to be run. Felicia returned to the table. “Do we need to call the temp agency?”
“Yes.” Angie looked at the recipe she’d been planning on adding to tonight’s dinner menu. “We might need to hold back on adding the bruschetta.”
“Why? Just because Estebe called in sick?” Felicia shook her head. “I think you count on him too much. I’m sure Nancy can run his station fine.”
“Estebe’s not sick.” Angie took a deep breath. “His cousin asked him to go out to the farm. He doesn’t know when he’ll be done there.”
“Seriously? He’s ditching us for a family meeting?” Felicia sank into her chair next to Angie. “He needs to set some priorities. No wonder he hadn’t worked in a real kitchen for years.”
“It’s not that.” Angie held up a hand, stopping Felicia from continuing her tirade. “His cousin’s girlfriend was found dead this morning.”
“OMG. Did she have a heart attack?” Felicia’s eyes narrowed. “Wait, is this the player cousin? I thought you said that girl was Hope’s age. What did she die from?”
“She was killed outside the Red Eye Saloon down the street late last night. Heather, that’s her name, was found in the parking lot behind the bar just after closing.”
“I must have been out. I didn’t hear any of the commotion.” Felicia shook her head. “That poor girl. So Estebe’s helping Javier with the funeral arrangements?”
“Actually, he’s trying to bail him out of jail.” Angie leaned back into her chair. “They think Javier killed her.”
Meet the Author
Lynn Cahoon is the author of the NYT and USA Today best-selling Tourist Trap cozy mystery series. GUIDEBOOK TO MURDER, book 1 of the series, won the Reader’s Crown for Mystery Fiction in 2015. She also pens the Cat Latimer series. A STORY TO KILL, FATALITY IN FIRELIGHT, and OF MURDER AND MEN are available in mass market paperback. She lives in a small town like the ones she loves to write about with her husband and two fur babies. Sign up for her newsletter at www.lynncahoon.com
Who Moved My Goat Cheese?
A Farm-to-Fork Mystery
Angie Turner hopes her new farm-to-table restaurant can be a fresh start in her old hometown in rural Idaho. But when a goat dairy farmer is murdered, Angie must turn the tables on a bleating black sheep …
With three weeks until opening night for their restaurant, The County Seat, Angie and her best friend and business partner Felicia are scrambling to line up local vendors—from the farmer’s market to the goat dairy farm of Old Man Moss. Fortunately, the cantankerous Moss takes a shine to Angie, as does his kid goat Precious. So when Angie hears the bloodcurdling news of foul play at the dairy farm, she jumps in to mind the man’s livestock and help solve the murder. One thing’s for sure, there’s no way Angie’s going to let some killer get her goat …
A Story to Kill
A Cat Latimer Mystery
Former English professor Cat Latimer is back in Colorado, hosting writers’ retreats in the big blue Victorian she’s inherited, much to her surprise, from none other than her carousing
ex-husband! Now it’s an authors’ getaway—but Cat won’t let anyone get away with murder …
The bed-and-breakfast is open for business, and best-selling author Tom Cook
is among its first guests. Cat doesn’t know why he came all the way from New York, but she’s glad to have him among the quirkier—and far less famous—attendees.
Cat’s high school sweetheart Seth, who’s fixing up the weathered home, brings on mixed emotions for Cat … some of them a little overpowering. But it’s her uncle, the local police chief, whom she’ll call for help when there’s a surprise ending for Tom Cook in his cozy guest room. Will a killer have the last word on the new life Cat has barely begun?
Guidebook to Murder
A Tourist Trap Mystery
In the gentle coastal town of South Cove, California, all Jill Gardner wants is to keep her store—Coffee, Books, and More—open and running. So why is she caught up in the business of murder?
When Jill’s elderly friend Miss Emily calls in a fit of pique, Jill already knows the city council is trying to force Emily to sell her dilapidated old house. But Emily’s gumption goes for naught when she dies unexpectedly and leaves the house to Jill—along with all of her problems … and her enemies. Convinced her friend was murdered, Jill is finding the list of suspects longer than the list of repairs needed on the house. But Jill is determined to uncover the culprit—especially if it gets her closer to South Cove’s finest, Detective Greg King. Problem is, the killer knows she’s on the case—and is determined to close the book on Jill permanently …
