The Wicked Waffle: Book 1 in The Diner of the Dead Series

by Carolyn Q. Hunter

  “I made your favorites,” her mother announced, hands clasped happily at her waist.

  “Thanks, I’m really not hungry,” Sonja lied. She was starving, and those waffles looked heavenly, but she was far more exhausted than hungry. She could always eat later.

  “Not hungry? Nonsense,” her mother insisted, pushing her gently into a chair. “Have a waffle.”

  Sometimes, you just couldn’t argue with the woman, and, quite frankly Sonja didn’t have the energy that resisting would require. She took the crispiest looking waffle from the stack and put it on a clean plate. It was still warm and had perfectly browned edges. With a little more butter and some thick, warm, maple syrup, Sonja was in waffle heaven.

  “I thought you would be here hours ago.”

  “I would have been,” Sonja said through her first mouthful of waffle. She swallowed, and chased the bite with a slug of fresh coffee. “Sorry. I would have been here late last night. But I stopped at Alison’s Diner on the way in.”

  “I thought she had closed the place down.”

  “Yeah, but I didn’t know that. No one told me. And no one told me about the wedding or the baby.”

  “Eat your waffle, dear.” Sonja’s mother said. That was her way of saying, “we aren’t talking about this right now.”

  “Well, anyway. The place was dark, but I just wanted to see it again. When I peeked in the back door, I thought I saw someone inside.”

  “What?” her mother put down her coffee cup.

  “Yeah, I was surprised, too. So, I called Ally about it.”

  “In the middle of the night? What were you thinking, sweetie, she has a new baby.”

  “I didn’t know that then, remember? No one told me,” Sonja gave her mom a pointed look.

  “Anyway, so you called Alison…”

  “Yes, she came out to meet me and have a look around. When we went into the diner it just seemed empty.”

  “So you got her out of bed for no good reason.”

  “Mom, do you want to hear the story or not?” Sonja was exasperated.

  “My apologies. Go right ahead, dear.”

  “We looked everywhere, and the last place we checked was the freezer.”

  “Why would anyone go in there?” her mother interrupted again.

  “I know, it didn’t make sense to me either, but the body of Ronda Smith was inside.”

  Her mother’s jaw dropped. “Ronda Smith?”

  Sonja nodded, taking a bite from a bacon strip.

  “Did you call the Sheriff?”

  “Mom, we found a dead body. Of course, we called the Sheriff.”

  “Ronda Smith…oh my,” her mother looked like she was in shock.

  “Who is Ronda Smith? What makes her such a big deal? Everyone seems to know exactly who she is but me.”

  “Ronda was Leonard Smith’s new wife.”

  “The eccentric rich guy who hides in that ridiculous mansion at the top of the mountain? He got married again?”

  “He’s dead, be respectful, sweetie.”

  “Sheesh. I go away for a year and everything changes,” Sonja raised her eyebrows.

  “He was old. He’d been on his way out for the last few years anyway. But he did marry Ronda right before he died.”

  Sonja’s pursed her lips thoughtfully, digesting that little tidbit of knowledge. Did he die right after the marriage? That was like something out of an episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents.

  “How did he die?” she asked.

  “A heart attack. Nothing out of the ordinary, like I said, he was old,” her mother shrugged.

  It still seemed odd to Sonja.

  “Anyway, Ronda has inherited his fortune and has since been trying to take over the town.”

  “Take over the town?”

  “She’s bad news if you ask me,” her mother clucked with disapproval. “She was trying to buy out or force out anyone who got in the way.”

  “Got in the way of what?” Sonja put her fork down, listening attentively.

  “Building apartments and hotels throughout the town, developing every parcel of land. She wanted to turn Haunted Falls into a tourist trap,” her mother grimaced.

  “Sounds like a good way to make some enemies.”

  “She had just about everyone in this town in an uproar, and wasn’t above using sneaky tactics to get her way. I hate to say it, but I’m not surprised she ended up dead.”

  Chapter 5

  After she finished her waffle, Sonja went straight upstairs to her old bedroom. It was a small room with a slightly sloped ceiling, but it was home. She slept for most of the day, not waking until nearly four in the afternoon. Feeling much better, she trotted downstairs and found her mom sitting in her favorite chair by the window, reading a book—The Cowboy’s Promise, some sort of romance novel.

  “Ah, finally awake,” her mom beamed, glancing up from her book.

  “You enjoy reading that?”

  “Each to their own, sweetie,” her mom waggled her eyebrows comically.

  Sonja smiled, happy that at least some things always seemed to stay the same.

  “Alison called, to invite you to dinner at her house.”

  “Cool, what time?”

  “She said around five.”

  “Yikes, I’d better call her back,” Sonja replied, pulling out her phone.

  “I already told her you’d be there. I knew you wouldn’t want to miss out on dinner with your best pal.”

  Sonja smiled, “Thanks, mom.”

  “And I took your luggage out of the car and put it in the guest house.”

  “The guest house?” Sonja was surprised.

  The guest house was a tiny little cabin, more like a shed really, behind her mother’s house, which backed up to the woods.

  “You are a guest after all, and you deserve your privacy,” she asserted, her nod to the fact that her little girl was now an adult.

  “You’re offering me privacy?” Sonja grinned.

  “Of course. You’re an adult,” her mother smiled, and pretended to go back to reading.

  Even things that seemed the same were actually changing. Sonja was sure that her privacy would still be at a minimum, but it was a nice gesture. “I accept. Thanks, Mom.”

  “And you’re welcome to stay there as long as you want.”

  Which actually meant ‘you should stay forever.’

  * * *

  Sonja headed out to the guesthouse and found her pitiful little suitcase sitting on the twin-sized bed that her mother had made up. Most of the guesthouse was filled with miscellaneous storage items - gardening tools, Christmas and Halloween decorations, old craft supplies. The small, but well insulated building had been used as a shed for quite some time, but it was a heck of a lot better than her dull, white-walled apartment in New York had been.

  There was a cute little bathroom, decorated in log cabin style, complete with a tiny moose dancing across the bottom of the towels, which had a standing shower. There was also a separate—if small—kitchen area, with a full-sized olive green fridge and stove that both looked like they’d stepped right out of the 1970s. There was even a loft that would make either a perfect area for storing things, or perhaps a tiny writing garret.

  With a little work, Sonja could definitely make the guest house a cozy home, but at the moment, she had a dinner to go to, so she quickly pulled out some clean clothes and headed for the shower.

  * * *

  Alison lived in a small home, close to the lake, which was nice, considering that homes on the lake were far more expensive. She enjoyed all of the ambiance of lake living, without the ridiculous price tag. Sonja pulled into the driveway and saw Ally sitting on the porch, holding her baby. This was going to take some getting used to—her best friend having a baby, being married – she was still trying to wrap her head around it. Alison waved.

  Sonja waved back and got out of the car. “Hi.”

  “Hey, girl,” Alison gave her a hug and turned toward the house. “A
lex, Sonja’s here,” she called.

  “Alex?” Sonja asked.

  Alison smiled and nodded.

  “As in Alex Sorenson, Vic’s son?”

  Sonja gently touched the cheek of Ally’s beautiful baby girl, marveling at the soft sweetness of her, and sure enough, Alex Sorenson came out the door. “Hey, Sonja, long time no see,” he grinned affably.

  “Come on in,” Alison said, kissing her daughter’s silky curls. “Dinner is ready.”

  Sonja followed Ally inside and sat down with her and Alex at the kitchen table. He’d made fried chicken, and mashed potatoes with white gravy - his father’s recipe. It was like eating at the diner again. The chicken was perfectly seasoned and crispy, and the sides were a perfect complement to an already delicious meal.

  “Your cooking is just as good as your dad’s.”

  “I try,” Alex said with a smile. “He taught me well.”

  “He also had lots of practice, helping out in the diner,” Alison added.

  “Who would have guessed?” Sonja said, grinning and shaking her head, trying to take it all in. “You two, together. Married. Alison and Alex - and with a baby, no less.”

  “Yep, we’re happy.” Alison leaned over and kissed her husband’s cheek.

  Sonja looked away, happy for them, but unused to seeing the two of them together like that. After dinner, Alex took the baby for a walk by the lake.

  “Make sure that he doesn’t get cold, and don’t be gone too long,” Ally cautioned.

  “We’ll be fine,” Alex chuckled, heading out the back door.

  The two friends plopped down on the couch in the living room.

  “Well, you seem very content with things,” Sonja observed.

  “Yeah, I am,” Alison said with a soft smile.

  Sonja paused, for a moment, not wanting to create drama, but her curiosity was killing her, and to be honest, her feelings were a little hurt too.

  “Why didn’t you tell me about…everything?” she asked, finally.

  Ally’s smiled faded.

  “I’m sorry, I didn’t tell you,” she sighed, her eyes pleading for understanding. “Things were just more complicated than I expected.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I just want to be happy after all that I’ve been through this last year.”

  “You got married and had a baby – what’s happier than that?”

  Alison paused. “You have to swear that you won’t tell a soul…” she bit her lip uncertainly.

  “Of course, that’s a given, silly - I promise I won’t tell anyone,” Sonja assured her.

  “Alex and I…well…we got pregnant before we were married. He’d been helping his dad out in the diner for a while and we fell in love – spent all of our time together – it was perfect. We were trying to keep it quiet because we didn’t want rumors spreading all over town, but, then…well, things happened and I got pregnant,” Ally blushed from her neck to the tips of her ears.

  “Well, you were in love and were planning on staying together anyway, right? Was it really that big of a deal?”

  “There’s is no way that I wanted the whole town to know what had happened, especially Pastor Williams. I wouldn’t have been able to stand going to church on Sundays and looking him in the eye if he had known.”

  Sonja cleared her throat, searching for something appropriately supportive to say. She hadn’t been to church since she left for New York, and hadn’t missed it a bit.

  “I’m sure Pastor Williams would have been understanding and supportive.”

  “But I would have died of embarrassment,” Alison said, shaking her head. “So, Alex and I just took off one night, drove to Vegas and got married. We came back two weeks later and told everyone that what was most important to us was our promise to each other, and we didn’t need to spend a ton of money on a lavish ceremony in order to make that promise.”

  “That makes sense, actually. I’ve always thought that the whole wedding and reception extravaganza that everyone expects is kind of pointless, but I still wish that you would have called me.”

  “I didn’t want to bother you,” Alison said, her eyes brimming with tears. “You were so caught up in getting out of town to fulfill your dream of being a writer, that I just assumed you wouldn’t be interested in talking to me about my small town drama.”

  “Oh, Ally, that’s just crazy,” Sonja exclaimed, before bringing her in for a hug. “You’re my best friend and always will be. You can always come to me, no matter what.”

  “I know, I was just so confused at the time – I couldn’t even think straight. You’ve always been there for me, and I know that I can always trust you…that’s why I want you to have the diner.”

  “Have it?” Sonja’s eyes went wide. “I thought you just wanted me to manage it.”

  “No, I want it to be yours. It seems like it’s just one of those things that was meant to be. I needed you, and here you are. I didn’t know what to do with the diner – I couldn’t bear the thought of selling it, but to know that it’s in your hands would make me happy. Even if I wanted to now, I couldn’t take care of it, I don’t have the energy. I’ll be much happier staying home with my baby.”

  “I can’t just take the diner. I have to pay for it somehow,” Sonja insisted.

  “Pay for it with what? I know you spent a lot of money trying to make things work in New York.”

  Sonja nodded, somewhat sadly. “Yes, I did.”

  “So, forget about paying me and just take it,” Ally implored, her smile genuine.

  “I could take out a loan,” Sonja mused.

  “You can pay me in free hamburgers.”

  Sonja shook her head. “I can’t in good conscious just accept the diner from you. It is worth money that could help you and Alex out. How about this…you stay on as a partner—you won’t have to do hardly any management or work, just advise me when I need a little help—and then you can still receive a percentage of the profit that the diner makes.”

  Alison looked at her best friend with admiration and affection, then smiled, “It’s a deal.”

  * * *

  When Alex returned with baby Cyndy, and was putting her to bed, Sonja and Alison decided to go for a walk along Black Lake themselves. The setting sun cast beautiful hues of color on the water.

  “I talked to the Sheriff again today,” Alison said.

  “Really? Why?” Sonja skipped a stone across the smooth surface of a small inlet.

  “He said that they’ve cleared up everything in the diner, and you can start it back up as soon as you’re ready.”

  “Well, that’s good news,” Sonja said, a bit scared, but eager to get going on her new business adventure.

  “I’m not sure if I’ll ever get over seeing that dead body in there,” Ally shuddered.

  “I know, it was pretty shocking.”

  “Some people in town would say that she got exactly what she deserved though.”

  “Ronda?”

  Alison nodded.

  “Did you know her?”

  “I . . . I guess you could say that,” Ally grimaced.

  “You didn’t like her?” Sonja asked, raising an eyebrow.

  “Don’t look at me like that,” her friend sighed. “No, I didn’t like her, not at all. I suppose it doesn’t matter if I tell you now.”

  “Tell me what?”

  “Ronda Smith was blackmailing me.”

  Sonja stopped dead in her tracks. “What?”

  “She found out somehow that Alex and I had conceived Cynthia before we were married. I actually don’t even really know if she knew – I think maybe she was just guessing – but when she accused me, it was written all over my face. She was threatening to tell Pastor Williams and the rest of the town if I didn’t go along with her plan.”

  “What plan?”

  “She wanted the diner,” Alison’s eyes began to well. “My dad’s diner.”

  “Why on earth would a rich woman like Ronda Smith want a h
ometown diner?”

  “She was planning to rip it up and use the land.”

  “I never even met the woman. and I don’t like her,” Sonja shook her head. “How did she even suspect that you were pregnant?”

  “Somehow, her assistant overheard Alex saying something that made her suspicious – that man can’t keep a secret for anything. Then she confronted me about it, and I was all emotional and basically confirmed it because I thought that she already knew.”

  “Wow.”

  “Yeah,” Ally nodded bleakly. “I didn’t even know her, aside from having heard the news that she married Leonard Smith. Then, out of nowhere she is calling us out, trying to blackmail us.”

  Sonja thought for a moment. “Does the Sheriff know this?”

  “Of course not. If he knew about the baby, it wouldn’t be long at all before the whole town knew. I shut down the diner, and almost signed the land over to Ronda Smith, just to keep things a secret, but, thankfully, that doesn’t have to happen now. It sounds awful, but whoever killed her did me a huge favor.”

  “You and a bunch of other people in town, according to what my mom had to say. But, if you have nothing to worry about now, why aren’t you the one reopening the dinner? I shouldn’t be the one doing it, it belongs to your family.”

  “I was devastated when I had to close the diner, but, after I did, it felt like a great weight had been lifted from my shoulders. While I hated the thought of her ripping apart my father’s legacy, I didn’t have to worry about how I was going to raise Cynthia and run the diner at the same time. I’m happy to be a partner with you, because, to me, you’re family,” Ally smiled.

  “And what about Ronda? What about what happens with all her plans, her estate?”

  Alison shrugged. “Who cares? I don’t have to worry about her anymore.”

  Chapter 6

  Sonja headed out to the diner, excited at the possibilities that this new chapter in her life might bring. She’d taken the rental car back, and was using her mother’s ancient, but dependable, sedan instead. It was a clunker but got around the streets of the Haunted Falls just fine.