Grilled Cheese Murder: Book 4 in The Darling Deli Series by Patti Benning

CHAPTER ONE
    “Candice, can you grab the mop again?” Moira Darling called out to her daughter. The blond twenty-year-old poked her head out of the kitchen, took one look at the puddle of dirty water on the deli’s floor, and ducked back through the swinging door, to emerge a few seconds later with a mop and bucket in hand.
    Moira was glad that the weather had finally broken; a late spring was better than none at all. However, the warm weather came with its own set of problems, namely the seemingly endless amounts of muddy slush tracked in on people’s boots. The weatherman had announced just this morning that another cold front was moving towards them, which meant that in a few days all of the snow melt would turn back into slick, deadly ice.
    For now, though, the warmer weather was encouraging people to leave their houses and come to town to stock up on goods before bad weather returned. Darling’s DELIcious Delights had been bustling with familiar faces today. It was, in fact, the busiest that the store had been since the crowds of tourists that the Winter Festival had brought in a few weeks before.
    “I think I’ll just leave this out here,” Candice said after she had finished cleaning up the muddy puddle that had been left by their latest customer. “I’m sure we’ll need it again soon.”
    “Good idea,” Moira replied. “How’s the soup of the day holding up?” In honor of the nice weather, she had made her famous spring onion soup. Always a favorite, it seemed especially popular today. The light yet flavorful broth combined with rice noodles and chopped green onions was a dramatic change from the heavier soups and thick, savory stews that she usually made during the winter.
    “We’ve still got about a third of the broth left. I just put some noodles in the smaller pot for us,” her daughter replied. The rice noodles cooked quickly, taking just a few minutes to reach the perfect al dente state. To keep them from getting soggy, Moira had to cook each batch separately as the customer ordered it.
    “Great, I’m starving,” she said. “I’ll go make us a couple of bowls of salad in a few minutes, if you’ll watch the register.”
    “It’s a deal.” Candice joined her mother behind the counter, leaning casually against the refrigerated glass case. “What are you working on?”
    “Oh, I’m just going through some of the deli’s financial records. I’m comparing our bank statements with the ones from this time last year… we’re making almost twice what we were,” she said happily.
    The deli had started out as a hobby for Moira a few years ago, but it had quickly grown into a thriving business. With her shelves full of organic cold cut meats, artisan cheeses from local Amish farms, and a variety of products from local farms and businesses, her store was unique in the area. The people of Maple Creek seemed to like knowing that they were supporting their local economy when they shopped there, and summer tourists couldn’t get enough of the quality food that she sold. The deli also served a daily soup and sandwich or soup and salad combo, which was Moira’s personal favorite aspect of the little shop. She enjoyed coming up with new recipes, and loved seeing people enjoy the food that she cooked.
    “That’s amazing,” her daughter said. “I’ve been reading so many stories of small businesses failing lately that I’ve been getting worried about whether or not I’ll be able to keep a candy shop running. I guess I just have to remember that for every failed business, there’s also a success story like yours.”
    “I think you’ll do great, sweetie,” she told the young woman. “You know more than I did when I started out, and you’ve got my support and the support of everyone that works here. And I’m sure your boyfriend will be a big help too; he seems like a smart young man. How is Adrian, anyway?”
    “Oh, he’s fine. He does want to help me with the candy shop, but I’m not