Thai Coconut Murder: Book 6 in The Darling Deli Series by Patti Benning

her.
    “I don’t know what excuse I would give her,” she told him. “She’s so excited to have her own place, I doubt she wants to come back home without a good reason.”
    “I might have an idea.” He hesitated, so Moira raised her eyebrows slightly, encouraging him. “I still want to check out Henry’s cabin. If you wanted to come with me, you could ask Candice to stay at your house to take care of Maverick. That would get her out of the apartment, and then we wouldn’t have to worry about having to bring Maverick up north with us.”
    “What would we do at his cabin?” she asked, interested in his plan, though she wasn’t quite sure how easy it would be to leave the deli in her employee’s hands for a few days. “Chances are it’s locked.” She imagined that a remote cabin would be pretty easy to break into, but she knew that wasn’t David’s style. He might push the law a little sometimes, but she had never known him to break it outright.
    “I’ve got a key,” he said with a mischievous grin. “Henry gave it to me a few years ago when I had to drive up north for a case, and then said I could keep it in case I ever needed a place to crash during a road trip, or even if I just wanted to get out of town for a bit. So, are you in?”
    “Yes.” A matching grin appeared on her own face. It seemed like David always had something up his sleeve. “As long as I can find someone to take my shifts at the deli, I’m in. How far away is it, anyway?”
    “About six hours,” he said. “So it’s a bit of a trip. We won’t drive there and back again all in one day. I know weekends are usually busy for you, so we can wait until sometime next week to go.”
    “All right. I’ll feel a lot better with Candice out of the apartment, at least for a night or two.”
    Feeling better, she lifted the menu, not sure what to order tonight. The calamari was long gone, but she was still in the mood for seafood. The grilled salmon caught her eye, until she saw the baked lobster tail farther down the page. “Comes with mashed cauliflower and seasonal vegetables . ” She was hooked; she’d have to try it. Glancing up from the menu, she saw David watching her with a considering expression on his face.
    “What?” she asked.
    “I’m just wondering what this menu would look like if you were the one who came up with it,” he said. “You’re one of the most inventive people I know when it comes to food.”
    “I try to keep things interesting at the deli,” she said with a laugh. “It really isn’t that hard to come up with new dishes—what’s difficult is to make sure they taste good. I’ve had my fair share of failed dishes, though. I usually test out new recipes on Candice first. If she doesn’t like it, my customers probably won’t either.”
    “I’ve never tasted anything that you’ve cooked that was less than perfect,” he said with a chuckle. “I’m not sure I believe that you’ve ever had any failed dishes.”
    “Thanks for the flattery,” she said, feeling the beginnings of a blush on her cheeks. “But I promise you, I’ve invented some pretty terrible recipes, especially when I was first starting out.” She fell silent, her eyes fixed on a table just visible over David’s right shoulder. He turned to follow her gaze.
    “Is that…?
    “Yeah, it is.” Dante and Meg, the new employee, were sitting a few tables away. They were completely focused on each other, gazing at each other with the sort of intensity that only comes with young love. Moira was surprised—they had very different personalities, with Dante being withdrawn and prone to anxiety, and Meg outgoing and confident. She supposed that the old “opposites attract” rule might be true for them.
    “Don’t stare,” she whispered urgently as Meg took a sip of water and glanced their way.
    “Did you know about that?” David asked, turning back to her.
    “No, I had no idea,” she admitted. “They didn’t say anything to me,