Cold Cut Murder: Book Three in The Darling Deli Series by Patti Benning Page A

to hear, plus I couldn’t resist seeing what your special is today. You always have the best food.”
    “Well, today we’ve got split pea and ham soup, and toasted Italian bread sandwiches with cold cuts, ham, bacon, onion, and lettuce,” she said, gesturing to the small blackboard next to the register.
    “Isn’t that the soup that the food critic refused to finish?” Martha asked, raising her eyebrows.
    “You remember that, do you?” Moira shook her head. “That man was a joke. He said that the soup was too chunky, and he hated the chunks of ham in it. Enough other people told me that they loved it that I decided not to change the recipe, but I’ll definitely be serving him something else if he comes back this year.” During the Winter Festival the year before, a food critic had come to town to try out the food at each local business. She didn’t think that he had given any place in town more than three stars.
    “I’ll take a bowl of it; I don’t need some strange man to tell me what’s good food and what isn’t.”
    She followed the deli owner to the register, where another customer was just finishing up and order. He gave Moira a nervous smile when she saw him. He looks familiar , she thought. She realized that she’d seen the same guy each day this week. She returned his smile; it looked like she had a new regular.
    “You shouldn’t even let him in if he comes back this year,” Martha continued as she waited in line. “Bad reviews from a food critic might not mean much to the locals, but it could make an impact on the tourists.”
    “I don’t think I can just deny him service,” she pointed out. “Besides, I don’t think the opinions of one unfair critic will be too bad for business.”
    “I hope not,” her friend said. “I’d hate to see you have to close down.” She paused while the man in front of her gathered up his food and moved out of the way before continuing, “Oh, that actually brings me to my other news. I’m sure you know that the guy who bought the Soup Shoppe shut down the one in town?”
    “I sure did,” Moira said as she keyed in the other woman’s order and rang her up. “It was in the paper a few weeks ago. I’ve gotten a few of my customers back, which is nice.”
    “Well, someone is opening another restaurant there,” Martha told her. “I think it’s some sort of steakhouse.”
    “That’ll be great; I won’t have to drive to Lake Marion if I want a nice dinner.”
    “But… aren’t you worried about the competition?” her friend asked, surprised by Moira’s calm attitude.
    “Not really,” she said. “A steakhouse will actually be less competition than the Soup Shoppe was; I don’t serve steaks, after all.”
    “I suppose,” her friend said with a shrug. “One more thing. Are you going to that dance they have in City Hall every year?”
    “I wasn’t planning on it,” Moira said.
    “Well, I know a guy who might like to take you. His name is Marcus, and he’s from Lake Marion. I went on a few dates with his cousin. He seems nice, if you’re interested.” Martha smiled and raised an eyebrow. “Unless you’ve got someone else in mind to go with?”

Moira immediately thought of David Morris, the good-looking private investigator she had met the year before and blushed. “I really wasn’t planning on going at all. I’m too old for that sort of thing.”
    “Nonsense.” Her friend patted her hand reassuringly. “Just think about it, all right?”
    After promising that she would indeed think about it, Moira excused herself for a moment to duck into the kitchen and serve up a to-go bowl of the split pea soup. Candice was just finishing up with the fudge, and she handed her mother a piece. Moira was happy when the creamy chocolate fudge melted in her mouth; it was delicious.
    “Do you mind if I give Martha a piece of this?” she asked her daughter. “It’s amazing. Some of the best fudge I’ve ever had, in fact.”
    “Thanks, Mom.”