A Cold Brew Killing

by Lena Gregory

  Willow finished filling salt and pepper shakers and headed into the back room.

  Gia followed. “You’re awfully quiet this morning. Is everything okay?”

  Keeping her back to Gia, she nodded.

  “Willow? What’s wrong?”

  She turned and flung herself into Gia’s arms, crying softly, reminding Gia how young she really was, even though she’d always seemed so much more mature than her years.

  Gia rubbed her back. “What happened, Willow? Is your mom okay?”

  She nodded against Gia’s chest.

  “Are you all right?”

  She sniffed and nodded again, then stepped back. “I’m sorry.”

  Gia grabbed both of her arms. “Sorry for what? You haven’t done anything.”

  “I didn’t mean to blubber all over you.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous, Willow. I’m here for you anytime you need a shoulder to cry on. Now, what’s wrong?” She led her into the office and closed the door behind them. Savannah would cover for her until she pulled herself together.

  “I talked to my mom last night. She told me you came to see her, said you told her she should be honest with me about everything.”

  Uh-oh.

  She wiped her eyes. “Thank you for that.”

  Gia nodded, unsure what to say since she didn’t yet know how the conversation had gone. Since Willow was there crying her eyes out, it was possible it hadn’t gone well. “What did your mom say?”

  “She told me everything.”

  Gia didn’t know what to ask. It seemed stupid to ask if she was okay when she clearly wasn’t. And how could she be, under the circumstances?

  “My mother is a strong woman, and it breaks my heart she had to go through that alone.”

  Gia yanked a few tissues from the box on her desk and handed them to Willow.

  “Thank you.” She wiped her eyes again and blew her nose. “It also makes me realize how lucky I am. My mom would always stand by me, no matter what. I could tell her anything, no matter how far-fetched or unbelievable, and she’d believe me. And even if I was wrong, she’d still have my back.”

  “Yes, she would.” Gia had no doubt about that. Skyla would protect her child with her last breath.

  “I don’t understand how her parents could have turned their backs on her. And how she could have raised me with so much love after they did.”

  Skyla was everything to her child that her parents hadn’t been to her. A flare of hope surfaced in Gia. She’d always been afraid she wouldn’t be a good mother because of the way she’d been raised. But maybe it was just the opposite. “I think sometimes, when our parents hurt us very badly, we go out of our way to make sure we don’t repeat their mistakes with our own children.”

  Willow nodded. “I guess that makes sense.”

  “Your mother loves you very much.”

  “Yes, she does, but I don’t understand why she took so long to tell me everything.” She lowered her voice to a whisper. “Or why she lied about my father. Why didn’t she trust me?”

  “Did she explain that situation to you?”

  “What he did to her?” Shaking her head, she tossed the tissue in the garbage and grabbed another. “Yes, she did.”

  “I honestly don’t think it was a matter of not trusting you. I think she just didn’t want you to be hurt.” Gia stared into her eyes, trying to gauge how she felt.

  “I would never believe a word that man says.”

  Relief rushed through her. “Now, you wouldn’t, after knowing the truth about him. I don’t think your mother wanted to keep secrets from you or lie to you. I think she wanted to protect you, to shelter you from knowledge that would hurt you. She’s a good mother, Willow, and she did what she thought was best for you, even though I’m sure she would have liked someone she trusted to confide in.”

  “I hadn’t thought of it that way.”

  “Sometimes, keeping something from the people we love is harder than sharing the burden would be.”

  Willow sniffed. “I saw the news when I was getting ready for work this morning, the same story that was on out front. Another of her friends was killed yesterday.”

  “Did Skyla see it?”

  “Yes.”

  “How did she react?”

  “Are you kidding me? She freaked out. Totally blew a gasket and started packing our bags.”

  “Then what are you doing here?”

  “I’m not running away. This is the home my mother chose for us, and this is where we’ll stay. My mom is a good person, and there’s no reason for anyone to hurt her.”

  While altruistic, it was also naïve. “If your mother doesn’t think the two of you are safe here, maybe you should listen to her and take off for a while.”

  “We’ll see what happens. By the time I’d left, she’d calmed down and seemed to be thinking more rationally.”

  “Did she tell you why she thought you were in danger?”

  “No. But she did mumble something about everyone knowing what happened. I don’t know if she was talking about what happened with her and Anderson or something else.”

  It seemed to Gia that Skyla was still keeping secrets.

  “You are welcome to stay and work, if you want to, but if you feel threatened or scared at any time, you don’t leave alone. Understand? Tell someone and we’ll get Hunt or Leo over here to help.”

  Willow swallowed hard and nodded.

  “I’ve been thinking of hiring a new waitress, anyway.”

  Willow’s eyes went wide. “I thought you said it was okay for me to stay?”

  “Oh, no, I didn’t mean to replace you. I was thinking of hiring someone part-time to help you out when it gets crazy busy.”

  She pressed a hand against her chest. “For a minute I thought you were going to fire me.”

  “Never, Willow. You’re my best employee. But don’t tell Cole. Or Earl. Or Savannah. Definitely don’t tell Savannah.”

  Willow laughed a little but sobered quickly.

  It hurt to see her so sad, to see so much responsibility weighing on her. She was beginning to understand why Skyla had made the choice she’d made.

  “Do you really think my mom could be in trouble?”

  “I honestly don’t know what’s going on, but I’m going to try to find out.”

  “Thank you, Gia.”

  “If you and your mom don’t want to stay home, you’re welcome to use the upstairs apartment or stay with me at my house.”

  “Thank you. I’ll call her and let her know.”

  Gia hugged her. “Are you okay now?”

  “Yes. I’m good. Thanks.”

  “Good. Now get back to work.” Gia grinned.

  “Yes, ma’am.” Willow saluted, then spun and headed for the door. She opened it and started through, then looked back over her shoulder. “You know, I’m not only lucky to have my mom. I’m lucky to have you too. And Savannah, and Earl, and Cole. My mom’s friends abandoned her when she needed them most. Mine will rally together to help.”

  Gia swallowed the lump in her throat and nodded, remembering very well how it felt to be on the receiving end of a loyal friend’s help.

  Chapter 23

  Gia enjoyed the rare pleasure of being able to do whatever she wanted while at work. With Cole manning the kitchen and Earl pitching in when it got busy, and Willow running the dining room with Savannah to lend a hand when needed, Gia felt almost unnecessary.

  But it did give her time to play around with more cold brew recipes, so she couldn’t complain. With Trevor’s shop shut down, she’d ended up stuck with all of the coffee, and it wasn’t selling like she’d hoped. She was going to have to start advertising it more. She should have done that in the first place, but she’d hoped word of mouth would be enough. Advertising cost money.

>   When the door opened, and Scott and Meredith Harper walked in, Gia waved Willow off, grabbed two menus, and greeted them with hugs. “How’s my favorite snake wrangler doing?”

  Scott laughed. “Haven’t had many calls lately. I guess you’re settling in?”

  “Either that or the snakes are too scared to show up at my house now.” There was a time, not very long ago, that she’d never have believed she’d one day be joking about snakes. She shivered. “Come on, and I’ll treat you two to breakfast.”

  “Oh, you don’t have to do that.”

  “I know, but I want to.” She grinned. “That’s the beauty of being the owner. I can do whatever I’d like.”

  She showed them to a table against the side wall, chatted for a minute about the new access road under construction at the back of their development, then left them to look over their menus.

  She stuck her head into the kitchen. “How’s everything going back here?”

  “Couldn’t be better.” Cole flipped three pancakes, poured warm syrup in a small bowl and set it on a plate, then piled the pancakes next to it and stuck the plate on the cutout for Willow.

  “How’s things out there?”

  Gia checked that everything was stocked in the warming trays. It was. “Under control.”

  Cole turned his back to her, but not before she caught his grin.

  “What’s so funny?”

  “You wanted a chance to be out from in front of the grill. Now you have it, and where are you?”

  “Ha ha.” She opened the refrigerator. Diced ham bin, full. Tomatoes, full. Onions and peppers, both full.

  “Earl came back a little while ago and diced everything up to make sure we’d have enough to get through lunch.”

  She closed the refrigerator and sighed.

  “Why don’t you go get a pad and pen, and we’ll do up the menu for Saturday?”

  “You don’t have to coddle me.”

  “Yes, I do, or you’re going to drive me crazy lurking around doing nothing.”

  “Fine.” She ran to her office and grabbed a legal pad and a pen. She considered writing up the ad for a waitress, then dismissed the idea. Willow hadn’t seemed all that eager to share her position. Besides, it seemed the staff she had was enough to keep things running smoothly. Why rock the boat?

  She returned to the kitchen and pulled a stool up to the counter. “Ready.”

  “First off, who’s coming?” Cole flipped two eggs, then cut open four rolls and set them on plates. He scanned the order tickets, then squirted ketchup onto one roll, slid two eggs and a pile of bacon on top of the ketchup, and piled a western omelet on the next roll. He dropped three breakfast sausages onto the third roll and bacon onto the fourth and added scrambled eggs to both and a slice of cheese to the bacon. He slapped the tops back on all four rolls, cut them, and stuck the plates on the cutout.

  The man made working the grill into an art form. No wasted moves, every minute used to its fullest advantage.

  Gia realized she could learn a lot from him.

  “Did you hear me?” Cole asked.

  “Uh, yeah, sorry. My mind wandered.”

  “Oh, yeah, where to?”

  “I was just thinking how lucky I am to have you and how much I enjoy watching you work.”

  He laughed. “Well, thank you. I enjoy working for you. Very much. I’m glad you offered me a job.”

  “Seriously? You were retired, living the peaceful life, until I mucked it all up on you. Do you ever miss it?”

  “You know how you’ve been feeling for the past few hours? Wandering around aimlessly, no pressing business to attend to, nowhere special to be, that feeling of not being needed?”

  She nodded. He’d nailed it perfectly.

  “That’s pretty much how I felt ninety percent of the time. Sure, it was fun when I occasionally hung out with a friend or something, but most of my time was spent alone. So, thank you. You really are a great friend, and you have given me exactly what I needed.”

  “Someone pointed out recently that family doesn’t have to be related by blood.” She got up and kissed his cheek.

  He blushed clear up to his hairline.

  “Now, let’s figure out who’s coming Saturday.”

  Cole recovered, though his cheeks still remained flushed. Could be the heat from the grill. “Since you’re obviously not going to the Keys this week, do you want to switch it to Friday instead?”

  “Nah. Let’s leave it Saturday. I was thinking of going to Ron Parker’s wake on Friday night after we close.”

  “Oh, yeah? What for?”

  She didn’t really know. Maybe to see who else was there. “I just figured I’d go pay my respects.”

  “Gia…” It seemed Cole was starting to know her as well as Savannah did.

  “Oh, all right. I’m curious to see who shows up.”

  “Fine, then. We’ll do steak and eggs Saturday and the wake on Friday.”

  “You’re coming with me?”

  “Well, I’m certainly not letting you go alone.”

  “Thanks, Cole.”

  “Anytime.” He gestured toward the pad with the spatula. “Now let’s get that list done before it’s too late to send you out shopping.”

  “Me?”

  “Yeah, you. I’m busy working the grill.” He shot her a cocky grin and lowered his voice to a stage whisper. “Don’t tell anyone, but my boss is a slave driver.”

  “Yeah, right.” She laughed.

  “You’ll want Earl and Savannah.”

  Gia jotted the names onto the pad. “Hunt and Leo. And I’ll ask Willow if she and Skyla would like to come.”

  “Don’t forget to count you and me.”

  “Right.” She scribbled their names, just to be sure she got the count right. “Oh, and Cybil.”

  “Is that it?”

  She thought of inviting Donna Mae but decided against it. Though she liked her, she didn’t really know her all that well, and until she knew what was going on, she’d hold off on getting any closer. And Trevor was, of course, out of the question at the moment. “Yup.”

  “You can always ask Trevor at the last minute after you see how things play out,” Cole said gently.

  It was her turn to blush, and she simply nodded.

  “And how many dishes would you like to try?”

  “I don’t know. I was thinking maybe three or four. What do you think?”

  “That should work. I’ll do an omelet, a pan-seared steak with eggs on top, a country-fried steak, and eggs with gravy and biscuits. That should be a good variety, then I’ll do a vegetable scramble and home fries with scrambled eggs as sides.”

  “That sounds perfect.”

  “We’ll do it buffet style. Each person can taste a bit of each and give you feedback. Just remind everyone this is a dinner item, not breakfast. You want it to be a little more substantial.”

  “Got it.” Gia ripped off the page and folded it in half. “I’m really excited about this, Cole. Thank you.”

  “Anytime. I’m hoping it will pull in the dinner crowd you’re hoping to get.”

  “Me too.” She crossed her fingers and held them up.

  “Now, go make yourself useful.”

  She left him to cook and headed out front.

  The dining room was in full swing, most tables full. Willow and Savannah rushed around taking orders, filling drinks, and ringing up customers.

  Gia headed for the register. If she rang, Willow and Savannah would be free to spend more time on serving customers.

  “Hi.” She smiled at a gentleman in a business suit. “Did you enjoy your breakfast?”

  “Very much. Thank you, ma’am.”

  “You’re welcome.” She took his check and money, rang him up, and handed him his change. “Be sure to come
again.”

  “I will, thank you.” He met up with a woman who was waiting by the door and left.

  An undercurrent buzzed through the café, and a number of customers shifted their attention to the muted TV.

  “Excuse me,” a woman sitting at the counter said, “could you turn that up for a minute, please?”

  Gia turned to see what was going on, grabbed the remote, and turned the volume up enough to be heard but not enough to annoy those who might not be interested. She probably need not have worried, since almost all eyes turned to the TV where Gabriella Fischetti was being led toward a police cruiser, flanked by Hunt and Leo.

  “…a new twist as the victim’s wife, Gabriella Fischetti, is taken in for questioning.”

  The camera zoomed closer to Gabriella, giving the world a bird’s-eye view of her being led away by the police with blood—presumably her husband’s—covering the front of the same shirt she’d been wearing at Xavier’s the evening before.

  “Holy cow! Are you kidding me?” Savannah stood, tray filled with food balanced precariously, staring wide-eyed at the television. Her gaze shot to Gia. “No way.”

  “I can’t even believe it.” Never in a million years would she have pegged Gabriella for a killer. “Do you think it’s possible?”

  Savannah recovered her senses and strode toward the table full of customers waiting for their breakfast. “Anything is possible.”

  “I guess.” But Gia still had a hard time wrapping her head around Gabriella as a killer. Especially after she’d seen her and her husband together. Even after being together since high school, Gabriella had still looked at Bobby as if she adored him. She waited for Savannah to finish what she was doing.

  Gia had told Savannah numerous times she didn’t have to pitch in while she was supposed to be on vacation, but Savannah blew her off every time. She enjoyed hanging out in the café, mingling with the customers, catching up on the latest gossip, and Savannah came from a home where you stirred the pot when you walked by, so there was no way she’d sit around doing nothing.

  Gia grabbed her on her way back to the kitchen with the empty tray. “Would you be okay here for a little while?”