Killer Green Tomatoes

by Lynn Cahoon

  “It’s the Diaz family knife.” Estebe meet Angie’s eyes. “It shouldn’t have been on Javier’s farm, and it shouldn’t be here. This does not look good for my cousin.”

  Chapter 13

  Felicia pulled her aside. “I need you in the dining room. We have a problem.”

  Dinner service had started almost on time with Sheriff Brown and his guys taking the box filled with the knife and a few tomatoes from the kitchen a little over an hour ago. Finally, Angie was able to get the shocked crew steady enough to start cooking. “What is it this time? Did someone fall over dead in their soup bowl? Because if it’s not at that level of problem, I don’t want to be disturbed.”

  “Don’t be such a diva. You need to nip this in the bud, now.” Felicia took the whisk out of Angie’s hand and gave it to Estebe. “Cover for your boss for a minute, will you?”

  “Yes, ma’am.” Estebe took the utensil and then turned away, apparently hoping to miss the fire that Angie knew was coming out of her eyes as she glared at him.

  As they left the kitchen, she grumbled, “Yes, ma’am? What, do you have my kitchen staff afraid of you too?”

  Felicia laughed, a sweet sound that mimicked birds chirping. “But of course. Since I’m the nice one, they know when I’m demanding, they better listen.”

  “So being nice means you could be a royal…” Angie didn’t finish the sentence as they’d stopped in front of a table. An older woman sat alone with a bowl of Nona’s chicken and dumplings in front of her. Felicia nodded toward her, giving Angie some secret sign that she couldn’t read at all.

  “Mrs. Eisenhower, this is our chef, Angie Turner.” Felicia turned toward Angie. “Mrs. Eisenhower has a problem with her meal.”

  “I don’t have a problem with it, I just want to know how you got my recipe.” The woman’s eyes flashed and Angie could feel the anger flowing off her in waves. “I come to this overpriced diner because all the women in my church group are raving about the food, and find you’re serving my chicken and dumplings?”

  “I’m sure a lot of dishes are similar, Mrs. Eisenhower.” Felicia lowered her voice in an attempt to get the woman to calm down or at least quiet down a bit.

  “It’s not similar, it’s exact.” She pointed a finger at Angie. “Did you steal my cookbook? I haven’t even let the church group put this into their annual cookbook.”

  “Ma’am, I’m sure this is a misunderstanding. This was my Nona’s recipe. Maybe you knew her, Margaret Turner?” Angie hoped by throwing out her grandmother’s name, the woman would calm down. Instead, it had the opposite effect.

  “Margaret Turner? I should have known.” Mrs. Eisenhower stood and threw her napkin on the table. “I never did trust her. Don’t expect me to pay for my own food.”

  Angie and Felicia stood by the table as Mrs. Eisenhower marched out of the restaurant, her white purse tucked under her arm and her polyester pantsuit making noise as her thighs rubbed together. Diners at nearby tables watched the show, then returned to their meals, apparently bored by the outburst.

  “I can’t believe she thought Nona stole her recipe. I found it in her journal just last week.” Angie looked at the door. “Do you think I should go out and apologize?”

  Felicia grabbed her by the arm and pulled her out of the dining room and into the servers area. “What are you thinking?”

  “Well, if the recipes are close…”

  “The woman is insane. She ate all but a few bites of the dish, then threw a fit when the server tried to hand her a bill. It’s a scam. She just didn’t want to pay for her supper.” Felicia shook her head. “I should have realized that before I let her yell at you. We just haven’t had any complaints since we opened, I thought you’d want to deal with the first one.”

  Angie poured herself a glass of Coke. “Seriously, all I want is for this day to be over. I like being a chef. Just a chef. And I don’t want to deal with murder weapons in the pantry or screaming lunatics in the dining room.” She drank the soda, then filled the glass again. “Is that too much to hope for?”

  Felicia gave her a hug. “Sorry, I didn’t realize you were this stressed. You know the sheriff doesn’t think you had anything to do with the murder, right?”

  “You mean, not like last time?” She gave her friend a hard stare. “I move back to town and there are two murders in less than three months? Why wouldn’t he look my way? Or yours?”

  “Because we’re nice, upstanding members of the River Vista community. Besides, he loves your bread.”

  Angie narrowed her eyes. “Wait, has he even been in the restaurant?”

  Felicia squirmed. “I guess I’ve been taking him over a lunch a few days a week.”

  “Don’t let his wife find out. I think she likes being in charge of his eating habits.” Angie finished off the rest of the drink. “I’ve got to get back in there. Anything else you want to tell me?”

  “You look amazing?” Felicia grinned. “Do you want me to come over tomorrow morning for breakfast so you don’t have to entertain Mrs. Potter alone?”

  Relief filled Angie. She’d been dreading spending the entire day with the woman. And then she felt guilty. “Would you? That would be awesome.”

  Felicia checked her hair in the mirror above the ice machine. “No problem. What are friends for?” She glanced toward the door. “New customers, I need to play hostess.”

  Angie watched her friend cheerfully greet the young couple that had walked into the restaurant. She blinked when she saw who it was. Stephen and Kendra stood chatting with Felicia. She tucked into the kitchen before they could see her staring.

  After washing her hands, she stood by Estebe and took over stirring the gravy. He glanced her way. “Everything all right?”

  No, everything was not all right, she thought, but she didn’t want to alarm him. Besides, Stephen had a right to eat wherever he wanted. And he probably wanted to support Estebe in his new job. “Fine, just fine. A woman just accused me of stealing her recipe for the chicken and dumplings.”

  “That is impossible. I saw you adjusting as you were cooking it yesterday. This recipe came from your heart and mind, not by being copied.” He shook his head, his tone taking on a sadness. “Sometimes, people just don’t think about how their words will affect another person. It’s all me, me, me. Like Javier. He always put himself first above all else. He would have made a terrible leader for our community.”

  “What do you think about Stephen?”

  Estebe paused, plated an order, and then wiped an imaginary spot from the edge of the plate. “Stephen is young and sometimes impulsive, but he will be a better choice than Javier ever was. And I believe his Kendra has settled him.”

  “So you like them?” Angie didn’t know how far she could push the questions before he got suspicious, but she was going to try before she blurted out that the couple was in the dining room.

  A smile curve Estebe’s lips. “I do like them. I think they make a nice couple. Did you meet them at the breakfast?”

  “I met Kendra and her mother there.” Angie decided not mentioning where she had met Stephen was a better choice.

  “Her mother is…” Estebe handed a plate to the server who was waiting at the pass. “Table fourteen.”

  “Her mother is what?”

  He glanced around the kitchen, but it appeared everyone else was busy and not listening. “Her mother is crazy.”

  “That seems to be going around.” Angie waved away the confused look and took over the expediting. “Let’s just work and be happy. We have the best job in the world. Besides, happy cooks make happy food.”

  “There is no proof of that.” Estebe handed her a plate. “I’ve known chefs who were miserable who put out amazing food.”

  Angie shrugged. “My kitchen, my rules.”

  “Did you hear your chef?” Estebe called out to the rest of the team.
“It’s a ‘don’t worry, be happy’ day.”

  Hope grinned as she ran another load of dishes into the stainless-steel washer. “I totally agree. No wonder I love working here.”

  Angie smiled at the young woman who just hours before had been shaken by her discovery. The fact the knife probably was the murder weapon hadn’t occurred to her until Sheriff Brown had sat her down for a quick interview. Then the implications were clear, even to their naïve Hope.

  “I’ve got someone who wants to talk to you.” Felicia stood next to her. The volume of the music in the kitchen had made it easy for her to come in without Angie noticing.

  “Me or…” She jerked her head toward Estebe.

  Felicia narrowed her eyes. “I thought you saw them come in. When I turned around, you’d disappeared.”

  “I had to get back into the kitchen.” Angie knew it was a lame excuse, but right now, it was the best she had. “Busy night.”

  “Whatever. Anyway, they want to see you. They think you played some magic with their reservation and moved it up to tonight.” Now Felicia was watching her.

  “I don’t mess with your reservation process. I don’t think I’d know how now that you went to the online booking.” Angie felt bewildered and broadsided. If she hadn’t changed their reservation… Both she and Felicia stared at Estebe.

  He sat a plate on the warming table and frowned. “What?”

  “Did you pull some strings to get Stephen and Kendra a table tonight?”

  “Pull strings? With who? You two are the only ones I know who deal with reservations.” He glanced toward the door. “I suppose I should go say good evening. Stephen is family.”

  “Hold on a moment, let me talk to them first.” Angie took Felicia’s arm and led her out of the kitchen. She paused before they entered the dining room. “Who got them a reservation?”

  “I don’t know, but I’m going to be looking into it right after service tonight.” Felicia glanced at the table where Stephen held Kendra’s hand. “It’s weird, right?”

  “Most definitely.” Angie couldn’t think of any other excuse to delay the conversation so she weaved her way through the candlelit tables, smiling and greeting people who had become regulars in the short time the County Seat had been opened. Finally, she arrived tableside, and both Stephen and Kendra looked up and smiled at her. “Are you enjoying your visit so far?”

  Kendra held up the corn bread Angie had placed on every table when the guests arrived. “I love corn bread, but this is heavenly. You are such an amazing chef. Estebe raves about you all the time.”

  “He does?” Stephen and Angie said in unison, then he laughed.

  “I didn’t realize you and Estebe talked all that often, love.” He reached her hand to his lips and kissed it.

  “Just recently, since I’ve been helping out with the festival. I’ve probably seen him every day. The man’s a hard worker.” She smiled up at Angie. “You must be happy to have him on staff.”

  “Estebe’s an amazing chef. I’m sure he could do anything he put his mind to.” Seeing the discomfort in Stephen’s eyes, she smiled at Kendra. “So what did you want to talk to me about? It can’t be just your love of corn bread.”

  “Almost.” Kendra smiled, and Angie knew why Stephen had fallen for the attractive blonde. She almost lit up the room when she smiled. She’d noticed she was pretty at the breakfast, but now she just radiated beauty. “We wanted to thank you for rearranging our dinner reservation.”

  “I’m not quite sure what you mean.” Angie stepped out of the way of a server with a pot of coffee heading to a table and not watching where he was going.

  “When I called to get a reservation, you were booked more than three weeks out. Then this morning, I got a call from someone saying you’d had a cancelation and did I want to come in tonight.” She squeezed Stephen’s hand. “Since we had to be at a bed-and-breakfast down the street anyway, this worked out perfect.”

  “Oh, why are you staying at a B-and-B?” Angie wasn’t sure what the story was, but she knew she had to keep Kendra talking to try to find out.

  “My mother had to have the house fumigated. She found a roach.” Kendra shivered. “So she paid for me and Stephen to have a little staycation, here in town.”

  “Don’t get all creeped out. I sincerely doubt she actually found a roach. Idaho isn’t known for roaches. That’s more a warmer climate bug.” Stephen took a sip of his wine. “But I’m not complaining. Kendra and I have been talking about doing a getaway to relax before the wedding, but with everything that’s going on, it’s hard to get away.”

  Kendra giggled. “Eighteen months and I’ll be Mrs. Stephen Easterly. Isn’t that insane? And there’s so much to do before that. I don’t think I have enough time.”

  “Well, there’s no way I’m letting you push out the date.” Stephen shook his head. “Being engaged for two years is way too long. I can’t believe we let your mother talk us into this.”

  “Mother’s very traditional,” Kendra explained.

  “Well, congratulations. And thanks for stopping into the County Seat.” She glanced toward the kitchen. “I guess I better check on your dinners.”

  “Tell Estebe hi from us. He doesn’t have to come out and slow down the kitchen.” Stephen took out his phone and started going through texts. Angie had been dismissed.

  The man clearly thought he was someone important. How Estebe had grown up fairly normal with family like that, she didn’t understand. But she hoped repeating Stephen’s directive wouldn’t hurt his feelings. She’d seen the flash of jealousy when Kendra had mentioned Estebe. Even though it had been innocent, Angie thought he didn’t like to share her with anyone. Including her mother.

  She hadn’t needed to worry, Estebe just brushed off the slight with one comment. “Stephen is very protective of the time he gets with Kendra. I can understand his reluctance to share the company of such a beautiful woman, inside and out.”

  They got back to work and Angie was just feeling the magic of the flow when Felicia came back into the kitchen.

  “No. Whatever it is, the answer is no. Unless the building is on fire, I’m not going back into that dining room tonight.” Angie didn’t let her talk, just handed a plate to the server waiting on her other side.

  “You’re going to want to see this. It’s sweet.” Felicia took her arm. “I’m stealing her one last time. We’ll be right back.”

  This time Estebe didn’t even respond, just nodded and moved in front of the cook line, taking over expediting. The team was actually working as a solid unit.

  “Next weekend, you’re going to have to leave me be since Estebe won’t be here to step in like he has tonight.” Angie followed Felicia into the dining room. She scanned the room, seeing people eating, servers floating between the tables, and Jeorge, the bartender, chatting up a red head sitting at his bar. Nothing out of the ordinary. “What is it now?”

  Felicia pointed to a table near the door. There Ian sat with Mrs. Potter, who saw Angie and waved her over. “He bought her here.”

  “He’s such a sap.” Angie shook her head as she headed toward the table. When Ian stood and greeted her with a kiss on the cheek, she slapped his arm. “You could have told me you were eating dinner here and turned me down for lunch.”

  “And miss seeing you in your natural element?” He moved a section of hair away from her face and tucked it behind her ear. “Mrs. Potter and I are having a lovely time.”

  “It is such a beautiful place.” Mrs. Potter reached her hand up and waited for Angie to lean closer before kissing her on the cheek. “Margaret would have been so proud of you. It’s a joy to eat here.”

  Angie stepped back as the server brought out their dishes. Mrs. Potter had ordered the chicken and dumplings. She used her spoon to move around the flat dumpling noodles and examined the dish. “If I didn’t know better, I would hav
e said your Nona made this. She loved taking this to the church potlucks. It reheats really well.”

  Ian had chosen the pot roast, which she knew was too heavy for summer, but she loved making the tender meat and red wine sauce. “We won’t keep you from your work. I told Felicia that we’d talk later, but the girl has a mind of her own.”

  “She does at that.” Angie turned toward the kitchen, then paused and turned back. “Thanks for bringing Mrs. Potter here, Ian.”

  “Best place in town to eat. And I didn’t really feel like hitting the drive-in again.” He touched her upper arm. “It’s my pleasure.”

  She turned toward Mrs. Potter. “I feel like I’ve been a bad hostess for your stay.”

  “Nonsense. You have a job, you need to do it. Erica doesn’t hover around me twenty-four-seven.” An old-fashioned phone rang from Mrs. Potter’s purse. “I think that’s her. She should be getting on the plane first thing in the morning.”

  Angie said a quick goodbye and left Mrs. Potter to get an update from her granddaughter. As she passed by Felicia, who stood in the server area, watching her, she paused. “Thanks for making me come out.”

  “You shouldn’t have missed it.” She met Angie’s gaze. “He’s a keeper. You know that, right?”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Angie hurried into the kitchen so she didn’t have to think about Ian and his status as a keeper in her life. Because when she did, her stomach twisted, and she didn’t need any digestive issues. Not tonight.

  Chapter 14

  “Come have a drink with me.” Felicia kicked off her shoes and put her feet up on the chair across from her.

  “I have to drive home, and as tired as I am, if I have even one drink, I’ll be sleeping on your couch. Mrs. Potter needs me at the house, just in case.” Angie scrubbed her face with her hands. “Besides, I smell like I’ve been cooking for hours. I need a shower before I see real people.”