Flipped For Murder

by Maddie Day

  “Why, though?” I shifted in bed. When I got a dull stab in my shoulder for my efforts, I truly regretted the move. At least the pain was a dull one.

  “He’s just not all right in the head.” He shook his head.

  “I guess.” I grimaced. “What time is it, anyway?” The room held more electronic devices than a modern kitchen, and not a one included a digital clock. With the Percocet circulating in my bloodstream, I’d happily lost track of time. But my stomach was growling; and through my haze I remembered Abe was supposed to be picking me up for dinner.

  Adele walked in and announced, “Time for you to go home. Doc out there says you’re cleared for takeoff.”

  I smiled and held out my good arm. “That’s the best thing I’ve heard all day.”

  She slid past Buck and hugged my unslinged side. “Sure glad you’re alive and kicking, Roberta. So to speak.” She grinned.

  “Our self-defense class came in handy,” I said.

  “I heard. So proud of you.”

  “Thanks. But, really, what time is it?”

  Adele checked her phone. “Six-ten.”

  “Oh, man.”

  “What?”

  “Can you find my phone? I left it in my shirt, but maybe they put it in that bag there.” I pointed to a white plastic bag hanging from a cabinet handle. “No, wait. I don’t think I have his number.” I slumped, which made my shoulder hurt again.

  “Whose number?” Buck asked. “Shermer’s?”

  “No, although I need to call him, too. Abe O’Neill’s. I was supposed to go out to dinner with him tonight.” At the narrowed eyes on Buck’s face, I added real quick, “As friends. Just dinner, Buck.”

  He poked his own phone, then he extended it to me. “Want to talk to him?”

  Adele shook her head. “No, she does not.” She looked at me and said, “This girl’s going home. You tell Abe what happened and that he’s welcome to call tomorrow to see how she is.”

  Tears filled my eyes as I gazed at Adele. “Thank you.” Going home was going to be heaven.

  Chapter 38

  I sat longwise on my couch the next day, with nothing to do but watch the sun play through the leaves and stroke a sleeping Birdy on my lap. I’d awoken from my own midmorning sleep a little while earlier, still propped up by pillows, since that was the only way I could get comfortable. Adele had taken superb care of me, bringing me water and food and the all-important pain pills. She’d reminded me to call Jim last night before she spent the night on this very couch, and this morning she set me up with a phone, a book, a TV clicker, and water before going off to do her chores. None of which I’d used, except the water.

  Adele now bustled in, smelling of fresh air. “There,” she said. “Sheep are all tended to and Samuel said he’ll take the end-of-day shift so I don’t have to go back again. I’m good here until the morning.” She held up a plastic bag. “Found this outside the back door.”

  I frowned. “Is it suspicious?”

  “I very much doubt that. Here’s the card that was on top.” She handed me a sealed greeting card, with Robbie, Pancake Queen written on the front.

  After I ripped it open and read the message, I looked up with as much of a smile as I could muster. “Apparently, that’s lunch. Abe made soup.” He’d also wished me speedy healing and said he was going to demand a rain check on dinner out. A man who could make homemade soup? Nice.

  Adele smiled. She took the bag into the kitchen.

  I took a long sip from the bendy straw in the glass of ice water. “Hey, Adele?” I called.

  After she popped her head back in, I said, “Can you get me my laptop? I’m so worried about Roberto. The last message I got from his daughter was that he was going into surgery for an amputation. It seems like a week ago, but I think it was yesterday. Or maybe Saturday?”

  She came back in a minute with the computer. “Why don’t you let me check for you? I have two hands.”

  I gave her the password and watched as she scrolled through my messages. My heart was a piece of cold lead. What if he hadn’t survived? Or if they’d found the infection was too widespread?

  “Here’s one.” Adele looked up. “Want I should open it?” At my nod she clicked, and then looked up with a big old grin. “Somebody named Graciela says he’s recovering well. That he’s going to be just fine.”

  I slid my eyes shut, the hot moisture under my lids matching my thick throat. I heard her snap the laptop shut and felt her hand stroke my hair.

  “I’ll be in the kitchen, honey. And in a couple months, I’m thinking you might be going to Italy for Christmas. You keep that in mind, now.”

  A tear slid onto my cheek, but I smiled. As I drifted into sleep, I pictured wandering around the Leaning Tower of Pisa with my dad.

  I awoke with a start when Adele called out, “Company.” I wiped the corner of my mouth and said “Umph” as I pushed myself to sit up straighter, rubbing my tongue over fuzzy teeth.

  Adele appeared a moment later, followed by Corrine and Danna. Danna carried a huge arrangement of fresh fruit. Slices of pineapple and melon cut into flower shapes stuck up on skewers, along with intact strawberries, grapes, and more—all of it arranged like flowers.

  “Hope we’re not bothering you,” Corrine said.

  “Not at all. I’m dressed. Sort of, if sweats and a robe count.” I gestured to them with my good arm. As I moved to get a little more comfortable, I winced, and Adele pointed to the pill bottle on the table. Birdy leapt off my lap and streaked for the door.

  “Time for another dose,” Adele said.

  I complied by downing two more pills with the rest of the water. Meanwhile, Danna set the fruit on the coffee table. She high-fived my good hand, then she sank to sitting cross-legged on the floor in one fluid move.

  “You showed Ed,” she said with a grin. “I am so glad that man isn’t going to bother me anymore, or any other girls.”

  Corrine slid into the rocker, crossing her legs. It was the first time I’d ever seen her wear pants, although she wasn’t exactly slumming, since they were perfectly tailored, black, and likely silk. If the woman even owned a pair of jeans, you could bet they were a designer label.

  “The man’s a criminal, through and through.”

  “Mom, you used to go shooting with him.” Danna frowned. “You had no idea?”

  “No.” Corrine shook her head, then tossed back her hair. She picked an imaginary piece of lint off her slacks.

  I laughed. “For awhile I wondered if you’d bumped off Stella yourself.” Oops, that isn’t very nice. Must be the drug talking.

  “Oh, it surely crossed my mind once or twice, let me tell you.” Corrine laughed out loud. “People have been saying for years I killed Danna’s father, too. It was an accident, pure and simple.”

  “Roy told me Stella was blackmailing you about it,” I said.

  “That pathetic man needs to have his mouth washed out with soap. Pure fabrication.”

  “Roy may be pathetic, but I sure hope he gets some help.” I frowned again. “Danna, how am I going to manage in the restaurant with only one arm?”

  She opened her mouth to speak, but Adele beat her to it. “Don’t you worry about a thing, hon. Danna’s got Samuel, Phil, and me, and we’ve all got your back. The show will go on until you’re able to return to work.”

  “Yeah,” Danna said, straightening her back. “You can sit on a raised platform and direct traffic. ‘Bacon here! Biscuit there!’” she mimicked with a smile.

  Another knock sounded at the back. Adele left and returned carrying a huge flower arrangement. Mostly yellow-and-red alstroemeria, it also included sprigs of white daisies, along with the ubiquitous baby’s breath and ferny greens. She plucked the little card out of its holder and handed it to me.

  “From Jim,” I said after I read it. I didn’t add that he’d signed it: Love from the frigid north. Your far from frigid admirer.

  “They’re beautiful. Here?” Adele set them on the bookshelf
across the room.

  I smiled, nodding. Birdy moseyed back in, consented to a few strokes from Danna, then jumped back up on my lap. As I stroked his smooth, warm back and he chirped his satisfaction, my eyelids drifted shut. I thought it would be okay to rest for just a minute, now my world was set right again.

  RECIPES

  Cheesy Biscuits

  (With thanks to The Tassajara Bread Book for inspiration)

  Ingredients:

  1 c whole wheat flour, plus extra for kneading

  1 c unbleached white flour

  1 T baking powder

  ½ t salt

  ½ c butter, cut in half-inch cubes

  2 eggs

  ½ c milk

  1 c grated pepper jack or sharp cheddar cheese

  Directions:

  Preheat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit. Mix the dry ingredients.

  Cut butter into the flour mix, until mostly pea-sized pieces. Make a well in the middle and add the eggs and milk, mixing with a fork in the well. Add the cheese and stir all with a fork, until liquid and cheese are just blended with the flour. Do not overmix.

  Sprinkle some flour on a flat surface and on the dough. Scrape the dough out of the bowl onto the surface, rubbing flour around the inside of the bowl until clean.

  Lightly knead the dough until it comes together.

  Flour a rolling pin. Roll the dough to a half-inch thickness. Fold in thirds. Roll, fold, and repeat several times.

  Cut with a 2-inch biscuit cutter or drinking glass and position on a baking sheet. You don’t need more than half an inch in between.

  Bake for about ten minutes or until risen and golden brown on top.

  Serve warm with miso or meat gravy, apple butter, or honey.

  Miso Gravy

  Ingredients:

  2 T miso

  2 T water

  2 T butter

  ¼ c flour

  3 c vegetable broth

  1 T tamari

  1 T nutritional yeast

  ¼ t black pepper

  1 t cornstarch, as needed

  Directions:

  Combine the miso in the water and whisk until the miso is dissolved.

  In a large skillet, melt the butter over medium-low heat and whisk in the flour. Add the miso, vegetable broth, nutritional yeast, tamari, and pepper.

  Allow to cook until thickened, stirring frequently. Add the cornstarch, if needed, to make the gravy even thicker.

  Whole Wheat Banana Walnut Pancakes

  [Serves 4–6]

  Ingredients:

  2 c whole wheat flour

  1 T baking powder

  1 t salt

  1 T brown sugar

  3 eggs

  2 c milk or buttermilk (of any fat content)

  ¼ c oil

  ½ c finely chopped walnuts

  2 bananas, thinly sliced

  Butter for cooking

  Good maple syrup

  Plain or vanilla yogurt, or sour cream

  Directions:

  Preheat a wide skillet or griddle to medium.

  Mix the dry ingredients together. Beat the eggs, then add the milk and oil. Stir in the dry ingredients and beat until smooth. Fold in the walnuts and bananas.

  Melt one T butter in the pan and spread it evenly.

  Form pancakes of the size you like and cook until bubbles form and pop. Flip the cakes and cook until done. Serve with warm syrup and top with yogurt or sour cream.

  Philostrate’s Kahlúa Brownies

  Ingredients:

  1½ c flour

  ½ t baking powder

  ½ t salt

  c butter

  3 (1 oz. each) unsweetened chocolate squares

  3 eggs

  2 c sugar

  ¾ c Kahlúa

  1 c semisweet chocolate bits

  Directions:

  Melt butter and chocolate in microwaveable dish. Pour ¼ c Kahlúa into a liqueur glass and sip. Beat eggs with sugar.

  Stir in chocolate mixture and ¼ c Kahlúa. Add dry ingredients and stir until mixed.

  Turn into greased 9 x 13 pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

  While warm, brush with ¼ c Kahlúa mixed with semisweet chocolate bits. Cut when cooled.

  Turn the page for an excerpt from Maddie Day’s next book,

  GRILLED FOR MURDER

  Coming soon!

  Chapter 1

  What had I been thinking, agreeing to cater a welcome-home party in my country store and restaurant tonight? I’d been working since six this morning serving up breakfast and lunch to wave after wave of hungry customers on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. I sank into a chair as the antique clock chimed. At least two o’clock was only half an hour until closing time, and just three people remained, lingering over their gourmet hamburgers. Two of them played a game of chess on the painted tabletop and the third read a newspaper, just the kind of scene I’d envisioned when I’d bought this old country store and opened Pans ‘N Pancakes.

  I gazed at the gleaming counters, the shelves full of antique cookware, the pickle barrel, proud that I’d accomplished most of the renovation carpentry myself. My mom had wanted to be sure her daughter would always have a trade, a trade that came in handy when I’d bought the run-down place in scenic Brown County, Indiana, last winter. Now that Turkey Day was over, I needed to get decorated for Christmas, but that could wait until tomorrow. After I got through this darn party. Oh, well. It was income, and my bank account could always use more of that.

  I glanced up when the bell on the door jangled. Sue Berry bustled in with her daughter Paula, the hosts of tonight’s shindig for Sue’s other daughter. I waved them over to my table.

  “Everything all set for tonight, hon?” Sue asked. She plopped down across from me, her short cap of bottle blond hair a little disarranged.

  “I think so. Have a seat, Paula,” I said to the daughter, a woman in her thirties.

  “Thanks, Robbie. I think I’ll stand. My back’s kind of bothering me.” Paula nestled her other hand in the small of her back, her pregnant belly pushing out a black knit shirt under her open coat. She wore her dark hair pulled back in a messy knot and her face was devoid of makeup, letting the high color of a woman carrying a child shine through, but also showing the dark splotches under her eyes.

  “Three months to go. I sure can’t wait to be a grandmother,” Sue said in a bright voice, beaming up at Paula and then turning back to me. “So the cupcakes are all ordered, and Glen and Max will bring the drinks over a little early. I’m just as thrilled as punch we can do this for our dear Erica.”

  Sue’s other daughter, Erica, had moved back to South Lick, our little town nestled in the hills of southern Indiana, a month earlier, and her parents were throwing a welcome back party for her at Pans ‘N Pancakes. Erica’s late husband had been my boyfriend’s twin brother, so I could hardly say no. I wasn’t quite sure why they’d waited a month to welcome her back, but I was happy they’d chosen me to cater it in the store.

  “I’ll have a veggie platter and a couple of dips out,” I said. “I’ve made up a pasta salad and a coleslaw, as we discussed. I have the mini-sliders ready to go, and a couple dozen hand pizzas ready in the freezer. I’ll pop those in the oven during the party so they can be served hot.”

  “What’s a hand pizza?” Paula asked. “Shaped like a hand, with fingers?”

  I laughed. “They’re just small. Like the size of a hand. Maybe I should call them single-serving pizzas.”

  “It don’t matter what you call them, they are going to be so yummy,” Sue said. Her blue eyes sparkled behind a bit too much eye makeup.

  “The mini-sliders sound interesting.” Paula cocked her head. “Just like your lunch menu, but smaller, right?”

  I nodded. Both women had been customers over the last month and a half since I’d opened. “Beef, turkey, and black bean. And my friend Phil is going to tend bar.”

  “Oh, good, so the guys can relax and enj
oy themselves.” Sue nodded her approval. “Hey, Robbie, you ever think about entering the log cabin competition?”

  “The what? I mean, I’m a carpenter, but I have my hands full with this building.”

  Paula grinned. “Mom means gingerbread log cabins, right?”

  Sue nodded and smiled. “It’s so gol’ dang cute. Everybody makes log cabins out of gingerbread and other edible stuff. They judge it over at the Brown County Inn.”

  “You could make a cabin of a country store and enter it,” Paula said. “I bet you’d win a prize and all.”

  “If I have time, I’ll look into it. It would be good publicity, I suppose.” It did sound like fun, but when could I fit baking and decorating a log cabin into my schedule? Monday, my day off, was the only possibility.

  The door jangled again and a frowning broad-shouldered man strode in. “There you are,” he said, spying Paula.

  Paula twisted her wedding band around and around. “Max, I told you I was going out with Mom.”

  “Max, honey, come meet Robbie.” Sue gestured to him.

  After Max approached the table, Sue said, “Robbie Jordan, this is Paula’s husband, Max Holzhauser. Max, Robbie.”

  He extended a big, meaty hand. “Nice to meet you, Robbie.” He barely got the glower off his face, which featured a jutting Neanderthal brow and heavy eyebrows now pulled together in the middle. His thick hair, tucked behind his ears, brushed his collar.

  I shook his hand. “Likewise. Sit down?” What was he so mad about?

  “Can’t. Let’s go, Paula.” He took hold of Paula’s upper arm. She wasn’t much taller than my own five foot four. He was not only over six feet tall, he was also stocky and heavy boned.