Spicy Lasagna Murder: Book 13 in The Darling Deli Series

by Patti Benning

  “Well, I don’t plan on making any changes to whoever he has hired to take care of the livestock, so you shouldn’t have to worry about that. How big were your monthly orders from him, usually?”

  She told him how much she usually ordered, and then the prices he had quoted her for each variety of produce. He seemed to accept what she said outright, but whether that was because all of this was for show and he wasn’t actually planning on selling her anything, or he truly believed that she was an honest person, she didn’t know. At last he smiled and reached across the desk to shake her hand.

  “I think we’ll work together just fine, Ms. Darling,” he said.

  “Me too,” she said. “Thank you for taking the time to meet with me, Mr. Marsh.”

  “Oh, call me Zander,” he said, laughing. “I like to be on a first name basis with everyone. Last names make me feel old.”

  Feeling like she would be rude if she didn’t return the sentiment, she said, “Well then, call me Moira, I insist.”

  “Well thank you, Moira, for being willing to give me a chance. I promise to uphold the same standards that Mr. Samwell had, and then some.”

  He walked her out to her car and stood outside his brewery, watching as she drove away. The deli owner kept him in sight of her rearview mirror until she turned out of the driveway. She couldn’t decide whether she had just had a successful business meeting with an honest man, or a tense meeting with a murderer, but either way she was glad that it was over. Her arm was aching, and she wanted nothing more than to go home, check on the puppies, then lie down and take a nap.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  “Thanks so much, Logan,” Moira said, pausing at the front door as she shrugged on her jacket. “I know that between work and school, you’re pretty busy. I hope this isn’t cutting into your study time.”

  “Nah, I can do my homework here, Ms. D,” he said. “You know I love hanging out with the dogs. I’ve missed them.”

  “I think they’ve missed you too,” she said with a smile. Keeva and Maverick had greeted the teenager so enthusiastically at the door that they had nearly knocked him over. “The vet’s number is on the fridge, so if something happens don’t hesitate to call them. I think everything will be fine, though. Hazel has been great with the pups.”

  “Okay, will do,” he promised. “I’ll keep a close eye on them.” He glanced over the gate at the squirming nest of puppies, and Moira recognized the warmth in his expression. The surest way to tell that someone is a good person is whether or not they like animals, she thought. Some of the worst people she had ever met mistreated animals, like the dog thief that had owned Maverick before she had taken him.

  “I shouldn’t be back too late,” she promised Logan.

  “Okay. Don’t worry about it, though. I can stay as late as you need me to. The nice thing about working at the candy shop is that I never have to wake up early on the weekends.”

  Moira smiled at that. She wasn’t a huge fan of early mornings either, though by necessity she often did wake up with the sun. Before she had expanded the deli’s hours to include breakfast, she had rarely been up before ten.

  After saying her final goodbyes to the boy and the dogs, she got into her SUV and started it, glad that she was finally able to use the fingers on her right hand for basic gripping and support without sending shocks of pain up the limb. Driving with one hand wasn’t fun, but it was legal as long as she could operate all of the vehicle’s controls safely, which she could. Luckily, Misty Pines wasn’t too far away, and she was looking forward to this dinner with Candice, Eli, and Reginald enough that she wouldn’t miss it just for a little pain.

  The assisted-living home was located in a beautiful swath of pine forest a few miles outside of Lake Marion. It was one of the nicest places of its sort that Moira had ever been to. In fact, her only complaint about it was the food, which of necessity was always soft and bland.

  She waited at the second set of doors for only a minute before one of the aides came and punched in the code to let her in. The second she set foot in the dining room, her daughter waved her over to the small round table where the three of them were already seated.

  “I’m glad you could come,” Candice said. “Logan’s with the pups?”

  “Yep,” she told her. “It’s so nice not to have to worry about them. I know they’re in good hands.”

  “I still have to stop by and see them sometime,” said Eli, Candice’s boyfriend.

  Eli ran the ice cream shop in Lake Marion. His grandfather, Reggie, who was now also a friend of Moira’s, owned it. Both men were good at heart and honest, and the deli owner couldn’t have been happier for her daughter and Eli, who had become nearly inseparable over the months. Besides, she and David got free ice cream for life after helping rescue Reggie from a psychopath a few weeks ago, and ice cream was one of Moira’s weaknesses.

  “You know you’re welcome over any time, Eli,” she told him.

  “I want to see the puppies too,” said Reggie. “I miss having a dog.”

  “Maybe I can bring one or two over for a visit in a few weeks once they have their first round of shots, if it’s okay with the director,” she said. “They don’t even have their eyes open yet, though.”

  Misty Pines did allow the residents to have pets as long as the resident in question could reliably handle most of the care for the animal. Unfortunately, Reggie did not fall into that category. He was prone to forgetfulness and confusion, and the nurses would have had to be completely in charge of feeding and watering his cat or dog as well as cleaning up after it.

  “That will have to do,” he said reluctantly. Eli reached out and patted his hand before changing the subject.

  “I showed my grandfather that video of you running into the burning barn to save somebody,” he said. This perked the old man right up.

  “That’s right, you did,” he said. “That was quite heroic, I must say. Did you do it? Did you save someone?”

  Moira was reluctant to look into his hopeful eyes and tell him the truth, but lying to him would be even worse.

  “No,” she told him sadly. “I was too late.”

  The old man’s expression faded into a sad, faraway look, and Moira sighed. Even though she knew that she shouldn’t, and knew that she had tried her hardest to save the men, she couldn’t get rid of the guilty feeling. She kept wondering if there was something she could have done to save them. Would it have made a difference if she had run straight in without hesitating? She would never know, but she knew she would torture herself with it for weeks and months to come.

  “I knew Samwell,” Reggie said suddenly, surprising all of them.

  “I didn’t know that,” Eli said.

  “I’ve got lots of friends you don’t know about, boy,” he said, in a matter-of-fact, not annoyed tone. “And Luke was one of them. He used to come by for lunch sometimes. We got to know each other back when I first took over the ice cream shop. It was milk from his cow that I used for the ice cream, back when his focus was still on dairy.”

  The old man had a lost expression on his face as he relived his memories.

  “He had some of the best dairy cows around, and the best prices, too. It was too bad about the cancer. Even if he wasn’t murdered, he wouldn’t have been much longer on this earth.”

  Moira blinked. This was new. Could she trust Reggie to have his wits about him enough to be a reliable source of information?

  “He had cancer?” she asked.

  He nodded. “Pancreatic. He told me about it just the week before he died.”

  Moira remembered how unusual it was for him to be driving around in such bad weather, and his comment about having a doctor’s appointment he could no longer put off. Was that what he had been talking about? Does this change anything? she wondered. Surely if he had been diagnosed with a cancer with such a high mortality rate, the killer would have been better off just waiting for him to pass away naturally. Unless the killer didn’t know, she thought. He pro
bably hadn’t told many people about his diagnosis; he didn’t seem like the type to go around talking about his medical issues publicly. Somehow this just makes his death that much sadder.

  “I’m sorry about the loss of your friend,” she told the old man. “It must have been shocking news.”

  “That sort of news isn’t very shocking by the time you reach my age,” he said matter-of-factly. “Once you’re this old, every time you see an old friend, you act as if it’s the last time, because it just might be.”

  Moira bit her lip and took a sip of water to hide her emotions. She hoped that when she was his age, she had someone like David by her side to keep her from getting so lonely and fatalistic. She never wanted to be used to old friends dying.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  With only a couple of months left before the farmers’ market closed down for the winter, the stalls were busier than ever. Squashes, melons, and even some early pumpkins were piled high, and bushels of apples gave the entire open air market a fresh scent. A mule from the team of one of the hobby farmers blinked at Moira as she walked past with Keeva at her side.

  I bet they’re glad it’s not hot out any more, she thought. It must be miserable for them to pull that cart in the middle of summer. Keeva looked over her shoulder, enthralled by the mules, and Moira chuckled.

  “We need to get you out of the house more often, don’t we?” she said. Though she spent a lot of time with both dogs together, she didn’t spend nearly enough with them one on one. She had decided to bring Keeva along to the farmer’s market with her today, and was proud to see how well the dog was doing. She knew they were attracting a lot of attention; not many people were used to seeing a dog the size of a small pony.

  “Can I pet him?” a little girl asked.

  “She’s a girl, and her name is Keeva,” Moira said. She glanced at the girl’s mother, who nodded. “Yes, you can. She’s very gentle, even though she’s so big.”

  She asked Keeva to sit, which the dog happily did. She was still a good head taller than the little girl, who was grinning from ear to ear as she patted the big grey Irish wolfhound’s chest.

  “She’s so pretty,” the girl said. “Thank you!”

  Moira smiled as she watched the mother and daughter walk away. She was glad that her dogs brought joy to people. Every smile made her heart lighter.

  “Moira?” a familiar voice called out. The deli owner turned to see David’s sister, Karissa, waving at her from a stand that sold local honey.

  “It’s great running into you here,” she said, walking over to the other woman. Keeva tugged at the leash in her hand, eager to greet Karissa. Both dogs seemed to like her quite a bit, and she returned the sentiment.

  “Aww, hi sweetie. How are you doing?” she said, crouching down to be on Keeva’s level.

  “Both she and Maverick are doing well. They’re a bit obsessed with the new additions, though. I’m guessing David told you about the puppies?”

  “Oh, yeah, he thinks they’re the cutest things. I think he sort of wants one, but doesn’t know how raising it would go with his work schedule.”

  “I’d love it if he took one. It would almost be like keeping one myself, but without all of the hard work. He also mentioned that you might be interested in one.”

  “Well I’d at least like to come and see them sometime,” the other woman said. “A puppy is a lot of hard work, and I’m not sure if I’m settled enough to be ready for that. Although I just might change my mind when I get a chance to hold them.”

  The deli owner chuckled. “All right. When do you want to come over? I’ve actually got this afternoon off, as well as tomorrow evening.”

  “I can come over right after we’re done here,” said Karissa. “If that works for you.”

  “That’s fine.” She smiled. “Maverick will be thrilled.”

  She finished up her shopping as quickly as possible, buying only what she needed for dinner tomorrow. As she was paying for a package of freshly ground, grass-fed beef, she saw a familiar tall form a few stalls away. It was Zander Marsh, and he was talking to the honey seller.

  Moira finished paying for the meat as quickly as possible, then took her package and sidled around the stall and hopefully out of sight. She still wasn’t comfortable around Zander, and didn’t want to deal with yet another long, drawn-out conversation with him. If she weren’t suspicious that he was a murderer, she might have said hi, but as things stood, she didn’t want to risk drawing his attention to her even more.

  She found Karissa a few minutes later and told her she was done shopping.

  “We can go now, if you’d like,” she said. “You can just follow me if it’s easier.”

  Half an hour later, the two women were at her house. Moira put the groceries away while David’s sister sat next to the kiddie pool with the puppies.

  “Oh my goodness, how can anything be so cute?” the other woman exclaimed. “I just love them. I could never choose which one to take. Moira, how can you resist keeping them all?”

  “Because I don’t want to try to house train six puppies at once,” she said, chuckling. “I like my house to stay at least semi-clean.”

  Keeva and Maverick were both lying on the floor outside the baby gate that blocked off the mudroom, watching Karissa sadly as she gave all of her attention to the new arrivals. The deli owner slipped them each a dog treat, not wanting them to feel left out, then stepped over the baby gate to join her friend.

  “Hazel likes you,” she said. “She seems perfectly comfortable with you handling her babies.”

  Sure enough, the chocolate lab was laying contentedly by Karissa’s side, her head resting on one of the woman’s knees, and her eyes half shut.

  “She seems like the sweetest dog,” the other woman said, putting down the chubby black puppy that she had been holding so that she could give some attention to the mother. “You don’t have any clue who dropped her off?”

  “None,” Moira said. “And I don’t want to go asking around. I think it was a kid, and I don’t want to get them in trouble. Whoever it was, their dad sounds like a piece of work.”

  “I’m so glad you were able to take her in,” David’s sister said. “I hate to think what might have happened to her otherwise.”

  She petted the dog for a few more moments, then stood up slowly. “Do you mind if I use your bathroom?”

  “Of course. You don’t have to ask.”

  The other woman smiled her thanks and stepped over the baby gate. Moira watched as Hazel got up and made as if to follow her. The dog leaned her chin on top of the gate and whined.

  “Hush, girl, what are you doing?” Moira said. “Come back and be with your babies.”

  The dog ignored her and kept staring after Karissa. When the other woman finally returned, the dog’s tail began wagging faster than Moira had ever seen it go.

  “She really likes you,” she commented. “She hasn’t been like that with anyone else.”

  “Really?” David’s sister put her hand out, and the lab rested the side of her face against it, staring up at the woman with her soulful eyes.

  “Yeah, she definitely likes you more than she seems to like most people.”

  “Hmm.” Karissa met the dog’s gaze for a long moment, then smiled. “Maybe this isn’t the right time for a puppy, but it might be the right time for an older dog. You said you’re trying to find her a home, too?”

  “Yes,” Moira said.

  “Do you think maybe I could take her? Once she’s done raising her puppies, of course. It does seem like we have a special bond, and I’d love to have her keep me company when I’m at home alone.”

  “Of course,” the deli owner exclaimed. “I’d be thrilled if you did. I was worried about finding her a home, since she’s not a cute little puppy, and it would mean the world to me to know that she’s going to a good person… especially since I’ll still be able to see her.”

  Moira smiled to herself at the sight of Karissa and Hazel. She h
ad solved one problem tonight, at least. Now just to find good homes for the six little puppies. She wasn’t worried, though; she had almost two months to do it.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  By six o’clock, the stone house was redolent with smells of tomatoes and garlic. Moira clicked the oven light on and peered through the little window, her stomach growling hopefully as she eyed the lasagna. Nothing compared to a good, home-cooked meal, especially when most of the ingredients had come fresh from the farmer’s market the day before.

  A soft whine came from the mudroom, behind the baby gate. The deli owner looked over to see Hazel poking her head over, her floppy ears perked up as she gazed imploringly at Moira.

  “What do you need, sweetie?” she crooned. “Want to go outside?”

  Judging by the way the lab’s rear end began to wiggle back and forth, the answer was yes. Gingerly, Moira stepped over the gate and bent down to pet the puppies. All six of them were chubby and healthy, and when she stroked them they made small sounds as their mouths nuzzled her hand.

  “Mom will be back soon,” she murmured to them. “She just has to go outside to potty really quick.” She picked up the runt and gave her a quick kiss on the head before checking that the heating pad was still on. Satisfied that the pups were warm enough, she opened the back door and let their mother out. She was so glad that Hazel had found a home with Karissa; letting her go once the puppies were weaned would be so much easier knowing that she would still see her pretty often.

  After letting Hazel back inside, she went to the front door and let Maverick and Keeva out to go to the bathroom. It was a pain not being able to let them go out the back door the way she used to, but she didn’t want to disturb the puppies. Besides, both of her dogs were big and prone to clumsiness; she didn’t want to risk one stepping on the pups.

  She had just gotten them back inside when she saw Candice’s sleek silver convertible pull up the driveway. She stood on the porch waving as her daughter and Eli got out of the car.