by Lynn Cahoon
“Oh, yes, I should let you go. Besides, Steve will be home soon. I like to be there when he comes home so we can talk about our days.” Tanya smiled. “Thank you again for all you did.”
“I really didn’t do anything.” She watched as Tanya winked at her.
“You keep telling people that.”
Tanya strolled out the front door. Angie almost ran after her and threw the dead bolts, but she thought she might be overreacting. Just a bit. Felicia met her in the middle of the dining room.
“So what did the queen want to tell you?”
Angie explained how she wanted to thank her for saving her life. “And then I told her to go to counseling.”
“And she didn’t hit you with that purse?”
Angie shrugged. “Surprisingly not.”
Angie went back into the kitchen and stood in the middle of the room for a minute, watching her team work. Hope was helping Nancy with the night’s desserts. Matt and Estebe were talking about the football season and why the Broncos would be underestimated yet another year. She and Felicia had built this life, brought these people together and made a work family.
And even though bad things happened in the world, they didn’t happen in this kitchen. Even having a killer hold her and Hope hostage hadn’t changed the power of the County Seat.
She heard the door open behind her, and strong arms encircled her. She took in the smell that meant Ian and leaned back into his arms. “Did you come to have dinner with me before we open?”
“I decided I need to make sure I find time to be with you. You tend to get yourself in dangerous situations. If I’m around, maybe danger will pass you by.” He kissed her neck, then stepped around her. “Estebe, I hear you might have access to some football tickets for next weekend?”
Angie smiled as the men started bantering back and forth. Prep was almost done and it was time to gather around the table and eat. Like a family.
Felicia came into the kitchen. “Do you mind if I eat with you guys tonight? I don’t want to go upstairs alone.”
“Of course. In fact, you should always eat with us. Your servers start showing up as soon as we finish, so this way, you’re ready for them.” Angie went over and grabbed the platters that Matt had started to set on the warming shelf. “Set the table for seven.”
They worked together for a few minutes, then Angie called the others to the table. “Let’s eat.”
Ian sat next to her. Felicia started to pull out the chair on the other side of her and Estebe took it from her.
“Let me.”
She slipped into the chair and smiled up at Estebe, who then sat next to her. “Thank you.”
His face turned a darker shade, and Angie wondered if he was blushing. “You are most welcome. I would like to ask a personal question if I may? I was wondering if you were still dating Taylor.”
“Actually, Taylor and I are done.” Felicia took the platter that Angie handed her and filled half of her plate with a blue cheese, pear, and walnut salad with leafy greens. “I know, you wanted to tell me what a jerk he was. And yeah, you were right.”
He took the salad and passed it on to Matt, who was listening to the conversation.
“That wasn’t why I asked.” He took a deep breath and then glanced at Matt, who nodded his encouragement. “I was wondering if I could take you to dinner on Tuesday.”
Angie dropped the serving spoon she’d been using to get some scalloped potatoes. The clatter made Felicia jump. “Sorry.”
Felicia looked at Estebe for a long time. Then she took the platter from Angie. “Dinner would be nice. Pick me up at six.”
And then the rest of the table started talking about anything and everything except for the fact that Felicia and Estebe were going out on a date. Angie picked up her fork and started eating.
Ian leaned close and whispered in her ear. “Did you know about this?”
“Not at all.” She watched the group as they ate. The world had just changed again. And for some reason, Angie thought it might not be a bad idea at all. And since she didn’t want to make a big deal about it, she addressed the entire table. “I’ve been meaning to talk to you all about an idea Felicia and I have been bouncing around.”
From the author:
One of my favorite recipes is Idaho Potato Pie. It’s quick and easy to make but feels like a real meal rather than just sandwiches or a bagel. I grew up in Idaho, so I’m a potato girl and proud of it. I have an old picture of me at about two years old sitting with the bag of chips out on the front step. I look happy. My favorite school field trip was to the potato chip processing plant.
One day as I was thinking up a new recipe to make, I thought about how much I loved quiche. But I didn’t want a salad with it, I wanted hash browns. The shredded kind that get so crisp and tasty? I came up with the following recipe. I hope you love it as much as I do.
Enjoy,
Lynn
Idaho Potato Pie
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
Line a pie plate with a premade pie crust. (You can make your own here but on most Sunday mornings, I’m looking for ease and speed.)
Inside the pie crust, layer the following:
2 cups of frozen shredded hash browns
1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup of one of the following precooked meats
Ham
Bacon
Sausage
In a bowl mix the following:
6 eggs
¼ cup of whole milk
Salt
Pepper
I like to add parsley or another herb here to brighten the flavors.
Pour over the mixture in the pie crust.
Bake for 30 minutes until the middle of the pie is set. Let cool 5-10 minutes and serve with a garden salad or put on the brunch table.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
New York Times and USA Today best-selling author Lynn Cahoon is an Idaho expat. She grew up living the small town life she now loves to write about. Currently, she’s living with her husband and two fur babies in a small historic town on the banks of the Mississippi river where her imagination tends to wander. Guidebook to Murder, Book 1 of the Tourist Trap series, won the 2015 Reader’s Crown award for Mystery Fiction.
The time seems ripe for success as Angie Turner opens her farm-to-table restaurant in her Idaho hometown—until her new tomato supplier is accused of murder and Angie has to pick the real killer…
To Angie, nothing tastes more like summer than her Nona’s fried green tomatoes. Eager to add the recipe to the menu at the County Seat, she’s found the perfect produce supplier—her sous chef Estebe’s cousin, Javier. Just one problem: ladies’ man Javier’s current hot tomato, Heather, has turned up dead, and he’s the prime suspect. Somehow, between managing her restaurant and navigating a romantic triangle between Estebe and Ian, the owner/manager of the farmer’s market, Angie needs to produce evidence to clear Javier—before this green tomato farmer gets fried…
Angie Turner hopes her new farm-to-table restaurant can be a fresh start in her old hometown in rural Idaho. But when a goat dairy farmer is murdered, Angie must turn the tables on a bleating black sheep . . .
With three weeks until opening night for their restaurant, the County Seat, Angie and her best friend and business partner Felicia are scrambling to line up local vendors—from the farmer’s market to the goat dairy farm of Old Man Moss. Fortunately, the cantankerous Moss takes a shine to Angie, as does his kid goat Precious. So when Angie hears the bloodcurdling news of foul play at the dairy farm, she jumps in to mind the man’s livestock and help solve the murder. One thing’s for sure, there’s no whey Angie’s going to let some killer get her goat . . .
Former English professor Cat Latimer is back in Colorado, hosting writers’ retreats in the big blue Victorian she’s inherited,
much to her surprise, from none other than her carousing ex-husband! Now it’s an authors’ getaway—but Cat won’t let anyone get away with murder…
The bed-and-breakfast is open for business, and bestselling author Tom Cook is among its first guests. Cat doesn’t know why he came all the way from New York, but she’s glad to have him among the quirkier—and far less famous—attendees.
Cat’s high school sweetheart Seth, who’s fixing up the weathered home, brings on mixed emotions for Cat…some of them a little overpowering. But it’s her uncle, the local police chief, whom she’ll call for help when there’s a surprise ending for Tom Cook in his cozy guest room. Will a killer have the last word on the new life Cat has barely begun?
In the gentle coastal town of South Cove, California, all Jill Gardner wants is to keep her store—Coffee, Books, and More—open and running. So why is she caught up in the business of murder?
When Jill’s elderly friend, Miss Emily, calls in a fit of pique, she already knows the city council is trying to force Emily to sell her dilapidated old house. But Emily’s gumption goes for naught when she dies unexpectedly and leaves the house to Jill—along with all of her problems…and her enemies. Convinced her friend was murdered, Jill is finding the list of suspects longer than the list of repairs needed on the house. But Jill is determined to uncover the culprit—especially if it gets her closer to South Cove’s finest, Detective Greg King. Problem is, the killer knows she’s on the case—and is determined to close the book on Jill permanently…