Hearty Homestyle Murder: Book 9 in The Darling Deli Series (3 page)

Candice and Eli arrived shortly after David did, with Dante hot on their heels. Moira still found herself wishing that the shy young man had wanted to be part of their little employee-only soup contest. He had proven himself to be a genius in the kitchen—his quiches were a big hit and nearly always sold out during their breakfast hours. She couldn’t blame him for being busy, though.
Goodness knows, I’m way too busy myself these days
, she thought.
Especially now that I have to cater Elli Willis’s engagement party.
The card that the mayor had given her was still burning a hole in her pocket; she hadn’t had a chance to call the other woman yet, and until she did she wouldn’t have the faintest idea of whether she was going to be preparing food for ten people or for a hundred.

“Okay, Ms. Darling, we’re ready,” Allison said from the kitchen doorway, startling Moira out of her thoughts.

“All right, Allison. You and the others can come and sit down out here. Dante and I will bring the bowls out.”

Each of her three employees who had decided to take part in the competition had made enough soup for eight people. Each of them—her, David, Candice, Eli, Dante, Alison, Meg, and Darrin—would be getting three small bowls of soup, but only David, Candice, and Eli would be judging the soups. Moira would, of course, have the final say later, but for now she was happy just to sit back and enjoy someone else’s cooking.

They pushed two of the deli tables together and pulled up enough seats for all eight of them, then brought the soups out. Once everyone was seated, Moira raised her glass of fresh orange and mango juice—her latest innovation was an industrial juicer, and since it had been installed, she had enjoyed playing around with different combinations—and toasted to the three employees who had worked so hard on their soups.

“I can’t wait to start eating,” she told them. “Each of these soups looks delicious.”

It was true. Each of the soups fulfilled the simple requirements of being a hearty, homestyle dish using simple ingredients. The bowl on her left held a creamy chicken and noodle soup that smelled temptingly of rosemary. When she took a bite of it, it was every bit as good as it had smelled, and the chicken was so tender that it practically melted in her mouth.

The bowl in the middle held a rich beef soup, with dark broth flavored with a dry red wine and bite-sized, flavorful dumplings. She had been certain that the chicken soup would be her favorite—she had always been partial to chicken noodle soup—but after tasting the delicious, savory flavor of the beef and dumpling soup she wasn’t so sure.

The final soup was some sort of gumbo, chock full of vegetables. She tasted it warily, concerned that it might be too spicy compared to the others, but the heat was mild and was balanced perfectly by the sweet kernels of corn that burst between her teeth. Noticing the square of cornbread sitting on the plate next to the bowl, she tore a small piece off and dipped it in the gumbo before popping it into her mouth. Scrumptious. This was going to be a hard decision for her three judges to make; she thought that each of the recipes was amazing.

“It’s a tough choice,” David said at last after taking one more considering bite of the gumbo. “But I think I’m ready to cast my vote.”

“Me too,” Eli said. Candice nodded in agreement.

“You go first,” David said to her.

“Well, I loved everything,” she began. “Seriously, you guys are really good cooks. But I think my favorite was the gumbo. I like that it’s a bit different, but still uses normal, everyday ingredients. Plus, it’s one of the best vegetarian soups that I’ve ever had.”

Moira was startled; she hadn’t even realized that the gumbo had been lacking a meat. The thick slices of portobello mushrooms plus the other vegetables had been hearty enough that it hadn’t felt like something was missing.

“I’m torn,” Eli admitted. “I liked all of them too, but the creamy chicken noodle and the gumbo were my favorites. I really can’t decide between the two; they’re so different, it’s like comparing apples and oranges. Don’t get me wrong—I liked the beef soup too. I think I just prefer the thicker soups.”

All eyes turned to David, who looked uncomfortable to be put in the spotlight. He stalled by taking another small bite of each of the two soups, then sighed, shaking his head.

“It really is a hard choice,” he said. “I think any of these is good enough to be served in the deli. But something about the gumbo really gets me. I’m usually not a vegetarian guy—I like meat. But I hardly notice there’s no meat in the gumbo, and the heat is perfectly matched with the sweetness of the cornbread. So… I guess that’s my choice.”

“Well it looks like we have our winner,” Moira said. “Two and a half votes for the gumbo. The half vote is Eli’s, since he was torn between that and the chicken noodle soup. Now I think it’s time to find out who made what.”

“The beef soup was mine, and the creamy chicken one was Allison’s,” Meg said. Her eyes turned towards Darrin, who looked embarrassed but happy.

“The gumbo is mine,” he said. “I really won?”

“You sure did,” Moira said with a grin. “Congratulations, Darrin. We’re going to enter your gumbo in the fair.”

Things seemed to pass quickly after that. Moira had a lot to do, not only to get ready for the fair, but also to prepare for the engagement party she’d agreed to cater. Elli Willis had told her that she was expecting around eighty people to show up. She wanted ingredients for people to make their own sandwiches and salads, which was easy enough for the deli owner to do—it just meant ordering extra cold cuts, bread, and produce from her usual suppliers. The soups would be the most difficult part. Elli had requested three different varieties, though the specifics were up to Moira as long as one of the soups was both vegetarian and gluten free. Her thoughts had immediately gone to Darrin’s gumbo, but she decided to wait until after the soup competition at the fair to ask him to make it. They all had enough on their minds until then. Each of them would be working overtime with the need to staff both the deli and their booth at the fair.

This is always the busiest event of the year
, she told herself the morning of the soup competition.
But in just a few days it will be over, and life will be back to normal. At least Maverick and Diamond can come with me while I’m at the fairgrounds.
She had enjoyed spending more time with the dogs. She had bought an exercise pen for them so they could relax in the shade of the booth while she served people food and handed out her business cards. The dogs enjoyed being out of the house, and she didn’t have to worry about running home to feed them and let them out.

When she got to the fairgrounds, she was happy to see a few familiar faces already there and setting up. The grounds were closed to the public until eleven, but vendors and volunteers were able to get in a few hours early to prepare. There was a festive vibe in the air already—this was the last full day of the fair, and events were planned from when the gates opened at eleven right up until close.

With the electrically heated crocks of soup set up and a selection of cheeses, cold cuts, and sausages laid out on the ice in the coolers, Moira sat down in the folding chair and unscrewed the cap from an ice-cold water bottle. She had only a few minutes before the fair opened to the public, and she was determined to enjoy what would likely be her last break until late this evening.

A splashing sound made her turn around in her seat to find Diamond and Maverick standing over a water bowl that had somehow gotten tipped over. The little black-and-white dog’s front paws were wet, and she glanced up at Moira with a sheepish look on her face.

“Silly girl, what were you trying to do… swim in it?” Rising, Moira grabbed a second water bottle and let herself into the eight-by-eight-foot pen. It had worked well to keep the dogs in line, giving them the freedom to walk around a bit while still keeping them under control and away from any chance of bothering other people.

She dumped the cold water into the dish then took a few moments to pet each dog. They had both been on their best behavior all week, making her wish once again that she could take Maverick to the deli with her. However, the fact remained that there just wasn’t a good place to put him. It wouldn’t be sanitary to have a dog around while preparing the food for her customers, so he couldn’t stay in the kitchen. The only other options would be to gate him behind the register, where she knew he would be underfoot constantly, or let him roam around the dining area.

“At least you get to come to the fair with me,” she said, giving him a last quick scratch behind the ears before stepping out of the pen and latching the gate behind her. “Now, you two be good. No more swimming in the water dish if you can help it, okay, Diamond?”

Smiling, she returned to her seat and took a swig of her own water just as she heard the church bells in town strike eleven. She took a deep breath and did her best to wipe everything from her mind except for thoughts of the fair. The soup competition would begin in a few hours, but before then she had food to sell and potential customers to win over.

“Hey, Moira. Taking a break?”

Moira jumped, shooting a guilty look over at the booth where Meg and Dante were busy making sales before turning to face David, who had seemingly appeared out of nowhere. She had been taking a break in the shade next to the dogs, exhausted from the heat and feeling grimy from the constant dust.
A rainstorm would be perfect right now
, she thought.
Or even a light breeze
.

“Yeah. It’s been a busy week, and it’s starting to wear me down, to be honest,” she admitted, pressing her water bottle to her forehead. It was her third, or maybe her fourth, she couldn’t remember. Regardless, the cold condensation felt like heaven against her hot skin. “I thought you weren’t going to be able to make it until just before the competition started?”

“My one o’clock canceled,” he told her. “I thought I’d stop by and see if there was anything I could do to help you.”

“Luckily, I think Dante and Meg have got it handled,” she said. “Though I wouldn’t say no to a snow cone. The vendor is on the other side of the fairgrounds, and I haven’t had time to walk over there.”

“Let’s go together,” he suggested. She opened her mouth to tell him that she had to stay and keep an eye on things, but he held up a hand to stop her. “Let your employees take care of things. That’s what they’re there for, isn’t it? Come on, tell them you’ll be back in a few minutes and walk around the fair with me.”

“You know what, I will,” she said. “The fair only happens once a year. There’s no sense in missing all of it because I’m working the whole time.”

Glad that David had come to find her, Moira paused to let Dante and Meg know where she was going, then fell into stride next to the private investigator. He took her hand, and she smiled up at him.

“Where to first?” he asked. “Snow cones?”

“Sure, but let’s stop and look at the animals first. I love the baby sheep and goats.”

She had forgotten how much she enjoyed the fair. The constant background sound of the auctioneer shouting his numbers, the sight of the towering carnival rides, even the pungency of the farm animals… all of it brought back memories of childhood.
I can’t believe I let myself get so consumed with work all week that I forgot about this
, she thought.
When did I forget to actually
enjoy
life?

David bought them both snow cones, which they ate slowly as they walked back towards the vendor’s area. They passed Candice’s booth on the way back and paused to talk with her. Moira was glad to see that her daughter seemed to be doing very well at the fair; Candice’s Candies was quite a hit.

Shortly before three, she and David headed back towards her own booth. Dante was gone, replaced by Darrin who had brought a large crock of gumbo with him from the deli. He had been working on it all morning, and looked both proud and anxious. Moira felt a rush of nerves. No matter how often she told herself that having fun was the important thing, she couldn’t deny that she really did want to win. Darrin’s vegetarian gumbo was good, but was it good enough to win the ribbon?

As she watched, he opened the top, stirred it, then said something to Meg. She nodded and bent over to look for something in one of the coolers under the table. While Meg’s focus was elsewhere, Darrin slipped a small brown bottle out of his backpack and slid it into his pocket. She couldn’t see what it was—the bottle had no label.

“All set?” she asked as she approached. He nodded.

“As ready as I’ll ever be, anyway.” The young man took a deep breath. “Do you really think we have a chance?”

“I definitely do,” she told him. “Come on, we should head over to the event tent.”

A smiling woman took the crock of gumbo from them at the entrance to the tent. Moira waited while Darrin told her what ingredients had gone into making the gumbo, then she filled out the form that would officially enter Darling’s DELIcious Delights in the contest. Once everything was ready, the woman directed Moira to the front row of chairs inside the tent, facing the judges’ table. Darrin volunteered to stay and help her—the woman looked harried. She accepted his offer, and Moira went inside alone.

Most of the judges were already there. Denise Donovan, Moira’s friend and fellow restaurateur, waved to her from her seat at the table. Moira smiled back, but didn’t say anything; it was against the rules for contestants to speak with the judges before the contest began.