Corned Beef Murder: Book Two in The Darling Deli Series (2 page)

“I don’t want to worry about you freezing while I’m gone,” Martha replied. “Is the cell phone I gave you fully charged?”

“Yes, yes, and it’s in my nightstand. I did manage to survive on my own for the last forty years, you know,” Emilia said in a gently chiding voice. “Plus, that repair man will be in and out to fix the burst pipe in the basement, as long as the roads are clear. He’ll keep an eye on me too.” She chuckled. “I feel like a two-year-old. I don’t need babysitting, you know.” Moira smiled at their good-natured bickering. She often wished that she had better relationships with her own family members, but her family had never been close. She had one older brother who had left for college before she’d started high school. While she still saw him a couple of times a year, they just didn’t have the same bond that the two sisters in front of her did.

When Candice returned with the two soups and the toasted sandwich, she and her mother bid the two sisters farewell. Moira watched as they exited the deli and walked carefully across the snowy parking lot to their old station wagon. Martha helped Emilia into the passenger seat, and then bent down to say something to her sister. A moment later, she was walking quickly back towards the store.

“Did you forget something?” Moira asked when the other woman had made it back inside. She glanced at the counter, but didn’t see anything that Martha could have left behind.

“No, I actually wanted to talk to you without Emilia around,” the sister replied. “I was hoping you could do a huge favor for me.”

“Sure,” the deli owner said. “What is it?”

“Well, I’m going down to Traverse City for a conference tomorrow. I’ll be gone for two days. Now, normally I wouldn’t worry about it, but with this big storm coming, and Emilia still not feeling so well, I don’t like the idea of her being all alone in that big house of hers for the whole time. Do you think you could stop by and check on her tomorrow, once the roads get plowed?” Martha asked.

“Of course, it would be my pleasure.” Emilia’s house, a huge ancient home that was often on the Historical Homes tour in the summer, wasn’t much farther from the deli than Moira’s own house was, though it was the opposite direction. It would be easy enough to stop there tomorrow after closing up the deli, as long as the winter storm was over and the roads were clear. She could even bring her old friend some warm soup for dinner, which would be a great excuse for a sudden visit.

“Here’s a key,” Martha said, reaching into her purse. “Just in case you need it.” She paused and glanced over her shoulder, as if to make sure her older sister wasn’t somehow listening in. Just… don’t tell her that I asked you to do this, okay? She hates it when I treat her like she can’t take care of herself.” Martha sighed. “She still wants to act like she’s thirty. One of these days, she’s going to bite off more than she can chew.”

Moira and Candice locked the deli up before they left. The sky was heavy with dark clouds by then, and flurries had started. Moira had made a sign for the front door that read
Closed due to weather, come back tomorrow
. She wasn’t certain that she would be able to open the deli the next day, if the storm was as bad as the man on the local radio station was making it out to be.

The wind was gusting around her car by the time she got home. The last few minutes of driving had been stressful; she couldn’t see more than a few feet in front of her, even with her brights on, and the familiar roads were almost unrecognizable in the snow. Her porch, which she had cleared that morning, already had a few inches of fresh snow on it, and drifts were starting to build up around her house. Once she and her daughter had gotten inside, they could hear the howling and moaning of the wind as it blasted against the house, finding tiny cracks and holes to force itself through.

Moira got started on dinner immediately, since she didn’t know how much longer the power would last. Once the wild rice and mushroom soup had reheated on her stove, and the crispy rye sandwiches with melted swiss were made, she called Candice to the table. She was just taking her first bite of the creamy delicious soup when the lights went dark.

She got up to fetch a few table candles which her daughter helped her light. They ate the rest of their meal in the warm, flickering candlelight.
Now all that’s left to do is to keep warm during the night, and hope that the power comes back on sooner than it did last year,
she thought, though she knew that there wasn’t a hope of that until the storm had run its course. She was thankful that she was at home, with her daughter, right now—there was nowhere else that she would rather be. Her thoughts went to poor Emilia, sitting all alone in her big house. She promised herself that she would stop by and check on her friend as soon as it was safe to do so.

It was still snowing heavily the next morning, although the winds had nearly stopped, except for the occasional gusts that picked up the loose powdery snow on the ground and pushed it into high drifts against trees, rocks, and her car.
I’ll have to do some digging to get out of the driveway
, she thought as she gazed out the front window at the snowy scene before her.
Though I’m not going
anywhere
until the plows come.
It was beautiful, though. There was no denying that. Each branch on the trees was coated in white, and the silently falling snow made the world outside her window look like a wonderland. The snowfall was so thick that she couldn’t even see her nearest neighbor’s house; with no power, the whole street was dark. Not a single car drove by as she watched.

“Hey, Mom,” a voice behind her said softly. She turned away from the window to find Candice standing behind her, biting her lip in a nervous expression.

“What is it, sweetie?” she asked.

“There’s something I wanted to talk to you about, and I figured that now was a good time, since neither of us is going anywhere.” Her daughter was rarely this hesitant about talking to her, and she couldn’t help but wonder what was going on.

“Of course we can talk.” She followed her daughter to the kitchen table, where they both sat down. She noticed that a thin blue folder was waiting for them; it seemed that Candice had planned their discussion.

“Well, you know I went to school for business,” she began. “And I’ve been thinking a lot about what I want to do with my life. You know I love working for you, don’t you?”

“I know that,” Moira responded. “And I love working with
you.
But I also want you to follow your heart and do what you really want to do.”

“That’s what I want to tell you. I know what I want to do, Mom. I even drew up plans for it, made a budget, everything. I know it’s a big undertaking, but just hear me out.” She took a deep breath. “I want to open and run my own business in Lake Marion.”

Moira was surprised, but not completely astounded. She had always known that her daughter was interested in running a business; in fact, Candice had done a lot of the research required for Moira to get all of the right permits, take out a small business loan, and create a successful image for the deli. There was no doubt in her mind that her daughter would be good at running her own business, but she knew that there was a large amount of luck involved when it came to a successful store, not just skill.

“Mom?” Candice asked when she didn’t say anything for a few seconds.

“Sorry… I think it’s a good idea, I really do. But, well, it’s a huge commitment.” She gave a small laugh. “You’ve seen how much time I spend at Darling’s DELIcious Delights. Are you really ready to spend that much time, or more, at your own store?”

“I am. I really want to do this, Mom. I already spoke to the same guy that helped you out with your loan, and he said he’d be able to give me good rates on a similar one… if you cosigned.” Her daughter looked down, embarrassed. “I know it’s a lot to ask, but it would really mean the world to me, and I promise I won’t miss a single payment—”

“Honey, of course I’ll do it.” Moira smiled at her daughter. “Let’s see all of those plans of yours. I want to know what we’re getting ourselves into.”

With the aid of a few candles and a glass of juice—no power meant no coffee, unfortunately—the two of them pored over the papers that Candice had printed off in preparation for approaching her mother with her request. Everything seemed to be in order. The budget would be tight, but they could do it. There was just one thing missing.

“This doesn’t say what sort of store you’ll be opening,” Moira pointed out after flipping through the papers again.

“That’s because I’m not sure yet,” her daughter admitted. “I know I want to do something with food. I don’t want to run an actual restaurant, though. Other than that… I just don’t know.”

“Well, you have time to figure it out,” she said. “If you’re completely sure that this is what you want to do, I’ll support you completely, Candice. But we’ll have to wait a few months to apply for the loan—the deli brings in a lot more money during the tourist season.”

“I know, and I plan on spending the time until then making sure that I have everything planned out.” Her daughter grinned at her. “Thanks so much, Mom. You don’t know what this means to me.”

“I’m glad you’re following your dreams.” Moira wrapped the younger woman in a hug. “Just one thing. You said you want to open the store in Lake Marion. Does that mean you plan on moving there?”

“I think so. I’ll want to be close to the store, and I think it will be easier to get to know the people there and really connect with my regulars if I live there too.” She gave her mother a reassuring squeeze. “Don’t worry, we’ll still see each other all the time. And now you’ll have an excuse to stop by and see that handsome detective more often.” A cheery tune made them both jump. It was Moira’s cell phone, the noise strangely out of place in the silent house. She gave her daughter a quick smile to let her know that they would finish their conversation later, and then took the phone into the kitchen.

“Hello?” she asked. The other line was filled with crackling static, but she could just barely make out a voice on the other end. She pulled the phone away from her ear for a second to turn the volume up, and then asked if anyone was there.

“Moira?” came a shaky voice. “Can… hear me?” The call kept cutting out. She walked around the kitchen, trying to find an area where her phone would receive better service, but the call quality didn’t change. The issue must be on the other end.

“Who is this?” she asked.

“This… Emilia.” That part came through clearly, and Moira breathed a sigh of relief just before the static started up again. “I think someone… here… watching me… saw someone outside.”

“What? Emilia, I’m sorry. I just can’t hear you. Is everything all right?” She waited, but only heard static. A moment later, her phone beeped, letting her know that the call had been dropped. Biting her lip in concern, she tried to think of what to do. There was no question of her driving to Emilia’s house to check on her, not until the roads had been cleared. She tried redialing the older woman’s number, but the call went straight to voicemail. Frustrated, she slipped the phone back into her pocket and went back into the dining room to continue discussing her daughter’s future.

The plows didn’t begin to clear the roads until late that evening. It was still snowing, but not as heavily as before, and the flakes spiraled slowly down from the heavens. Moira watched as the loud vehicles shoved the snow into towering mountains that bordered the roads. When she went outside to begin digging her car out of the shoulder-high drift that had piled up against it, the snow reached the middle of her thigh in some places.

Candice helped her, and together they cleared the driveway enough that she would be able to back her car out. She was reluctant to leave her house, but she needed to check on Emilia. If it hadn’t been for that call, she would have put off the visit until tomorrow, but she was worried about her friend. Besides, it would give her a chance to drive through town and see if anywhere had power. If the gas station was open, she might buy some iced coffee drinks to tide her over until she could make her own coffee again.

To her disappointment, the whole town was dark. She saw only one other car besides the snow plows, which were out in force. The deli’s parking lot hadn’t even been touched yet, and Moira didn’t dare try to drive her car through the deep snow. It felt weird to pass by the closed, dark building without stopping in to check on things. Luckily, the low temperatures would keep the building cool enough that even though the freezers and refrigerators would be off, none of her goods would spoil.
As long as they get the power back on before the pipes start to freeze, everything should be okay,
she told herself. A burst pipe was the last thing that she needed.

Emilia’s driveway wasn’t plowed either, so Moira parked on the street, hoping that she had managed to get far enough over to let the plows get by. She waded through the snow, grateful for the tall, warm boots that Candice had given her last Christmas. When she finally reached the large porch, she took a moment to brush the worst of the snow off her legs, and then knocked on the front door. She felt bad for not bringing any warm food, but right now the entire town was going to be making do with what they could eat cold. There was no answer, so she knocked again, starting to feel the cold seep through her many layers of clothing.