Free Creamy Casserole Murder: Book 15 in The Darling Deli Series by Patti Benning Page A

the store-bought kind that they usually ate.
    “Be good,” she said, waggling a stern finger at them before she left. “If neither of you get into the bathroom trash while I’m gone, then we’ll go on a nice long walk after I get back, all right?”
    When her daughter had called her that morning, frantic because Logan, her only employee, was down with the flu, Moira had been only too happy to offer her help. She didn’t know the first thing about chocolate making, but she figured it couldn’t be too hard to pour melted chocolate into the silicon molds and stick them in the freezer. It would give her a chance to spend some time with her daughter, and, even better, it would serve as a nice distraction from worrying about Danny.
    The clock to his departure was ticking ever closer. Neither she nor David had heard anything about the police department’s investigation, and the silence was driving her crazy. In just two days, Danny would get on that plane and would be beyond the reach of their local police department. The worst part was the fact that there was nothing Moira could do about it, short of physically holding Danny back. David had already told the police everything that they knew. The station had even sent Officer Catto, one of their junior detectives, out to Misty Pines to talk with several residents, including Reggie and the staff; but according to Reggie they had barely mentioned Danny.
    All in all, it was a stressful situation, and Moira was glad for an excuse to force herself to stop worrying about it. An evening spent in the kitchen with her daughter making chocolates sounded like just what she needed.
    Candice’s Candies was closed for the evening, the neon sign off, and a curtain drawn across the big front window. The deli owner drove by slowly, admiring the building from the front before continuing around the block to park in the back. She started toward the small door that led to the two apartments above the candy shop, then stopped herself. Candice had lived above the shop up until a few weeks ago, but now she lived across town in the big, old house of Reggie’s that Eli lived in. The house was almost half again the size of her own stone house in Maple Creek, and had a private fenced-in yard, a sizeable deck in the back, and more bedrooms than they would ever need. Moira had been there a couple of times for dinner, and had to admit to herself that she was just the slightest bit jealous of her daughter’s home, though she loved her little house in the woods.
    She changed course and knocked instead on the back entrance of the candy shop, which was opened a split second later by an exhausted Candice.
    “Thanks so much for coming, Mom,” she said. “I know it’s not Logan’s fault—he was willing to come in despite being sick, but I couldn’t chance it and told him to stay home—but it’s been so hard trying to fulfill this order without him. Maybe I should begin thinking about hiring someone else… we’ve been getting a lot of online orders for our custom candies.”
    “We should hold some sort of job fair,” Moira said, only half joking. “I’ve been thinking of hiring some new people just for the deli’s catering service. It’s hard splitting up the team I have now between catering and watching the deli.”
    Candice laughed and stood aside so her mother could go in. “You know, we really shouldn’t be complaining. We have it pretty good when business is going too well.”
    “That’s true. But one botched catering event—or delivery—would be terrible for our reputations. It’s too easy to make a mistake when you’ve been working twelve-hour shifts all week.”
    “Ugh.” The young woman scrunched her face up. “Don’t remind me. I’m looking forward to some long days until Logan gets better. It will be nice when Eli closes shop for the season and can spend more time here. I think he’s better at running this place than me and Logan are combined.”
    “He’s had years