Thai Coconut Murder: Book 6 in The Darling Deli Series Read Online Free

from him since Monday night. He seemed pretty shaken by the body,” she admitted.
    “I’m sure he’s just busy.” The two women traded a glance, and seemed to reach a mutual decision to change the subject.
    They talked about Denise next, though the subject of her husband was always touchy.
    “I know he cheats on me,” she said simply. “But what can I do about it? He knows I know, and he doesn’t care.”
    “Have you tried marriage counseling?” Martha asked. “I’ve heard a lot of people say it helps.”
    “When would we have time to go?” the other woman said. “We both run restaurants. Right now we aren’t even living together. Having our own places near the restaurants is easier than driving back and forth whenever there’s a problem.” She gave a rueful throaty chuckle. “It’s true that we’re both married to our jobs.”
    “How is the Grill doing, by the way?” Moira asked. She thought that the steakhouse had superb food and was always impressed by how polite and helpful the wait staff was; she couldn’t imagine that it was doing poorly.
    “Oh, we’re thriving,” Denise said. “I have no regrets about moving here; business is great and, for the most part, people are nice.”
    “Going to the Grill makes me want to open a real restaurant,” Moira admitted. “Not that I don’t love the deli, but it would be fun to come up with a whole menu instead of just daily specials.”
    “Parts of it are definitely fun,” Denise agreed. “But dealing with stressed out cooks, late deliveries, and the drama that comes with having over twenty staff members… well, you should be glad that you can skip all of that. I envy you your little deli. You have amazing food, nice customers, and a good group of employees.”
    “They are,” she agreed. “Or, at least Dante and Darrin are. I don’t know Meg that well yet, but she seems like she’ll fit in well. And of course it’s nice to work with Candice, but she’ll be leaving as soon as she finds the right place for her candy shop.”
    “Meg’s the one I met last week, isn’t she?” Martha asked. “How is she doing?”
    “She’s a quick learner,” Moira said. “She’s a lot more outgoing than Dante is, which is nice, but she sometimes gets overenthusiastic and forgets to do something. I think once she’s more familiar with the routines at the deli she’ll be amazing; she just needs to slow down a little bit and make sure she isn’t missing a step.”
    “You’re lucky,” Denise said with a chuckle. “I just had to fire someone for stealing twenty pounds of hamburger meat. What does a nineteen-year-old girl need with twenty pounds of grass-fed organic hamburger meat?”
    “Yikes,” the deli owner replied. “I’m glad I don’t have to deal with anything like that.” Belatedly, she remembered her employee who had been arrested for murder last winter. She would rather deal with thieves than murderers any day.
    She got to the deli just in time to catch the tail end of the breakfast rush. Candice and Meg were on duty, and she was pleased to see the two girls chatting like old friends as they tidied up the small dining area.
    “Hi, Mom,” Candice said as she walked in. “How was coffee?”
    “It was nice to catch up with Martha and Denise,” she said. “But I feel jittery now—I think I drank too much caffeine on an empty stomach.”
    “Oh, we saved you a quiche,” Meg chimed in. “It’s in the back. I’ll go get it.”
    She vanished into the kitchen, then reappeared a second later with a bite-sized quiche on a small plate. Moira took it gratefully, and bit into it. The rich flavor of garlic and onions burst in her mouth, along with the unmistakable taste of mushrooms, all lightly enhanced with the occasional melty bleu cheese crumble.
    “Wow,” she said, swallowing. “This is amazing. Did Dante stop in?” Dante was their resident quiche expert; he had spent a few days giving them each all a crash course in how to make