LITMIR.BIZ

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chef. Nancy will cover for Estebe, but I’ll need a temp dishwasher. That shouldn’t be hard to find.”

      They had just finished the meal and were beginning to look at the numbers when Angie’s phone rang. She looked down at the caller ID and groaned. There was only one reason he’d be calling her. Estebe wasn’t showing up for work tonight. She tried to keep her disappointment out of her tone when she answered. “Hey, Estebe, what’s going on?”

      She watched as Felicia started cleaning the dishes from the chef table. The table was cleared and the dishes were probably stacked in the dishwasher, waiting to be run, by the time Angie had finished the conversation.

      Felicia returned to the table and studied her. “Do we need to call the temp agency?”

      “Yes.” Angie considered the recipe she’d been planning on adding to tonight’s dinner menu. “We might need to hold back on adding the bruschetta.”

      “Why? Just because Estebe called in sick?” Felicia shook her head. “I think you count on him too much. I’m sure Nancy can run his station fine.”

      “Estebe’s not sick.” Angie took a deep breath. “His cousin asked him to go out to the farm. He doesn’t know when he’ll be done there.”

      “Seriously? He’s ditching us for a family meeting?” Felicia sank into her chair next to Angie. “He needs to set some priorities. No wonder he hadn’t worked in a real kitchen for years.”

      “It’s not that.” Angie held up a hand, stopping Felicia from continuing her tirade. “His cousin’s girlfriend was found dead this morning.”

      “OMG. Did she have a heart attack?” Felicia’s eyes narrowed. “Wait, is this the player cousin? I thought you said that girl was Hope’s age. What did she die from?”

      “She was killed outside the Red Eye Saloon down the street late last night. Heather, that’s her name, was found in the alley behind the bar just after closing.”

      “I must have been out. I didn’t hear any of the commotion.” Felicia shook her head. “That poor girl. So Estebe’s helping Javier with the funeral arrangements?”

      “Actually, he’s trying to bail him out of jail.” Angie leaned back into her chair. “They think Javier killed her.”

      Chapter 4

      Before service started, Angie brought the kitchen team together and explained Estebe’s absence. The temp Felicia had hired wasn’t expected for a couple of hours. Angie didn’t know what all to say, but it turned out she didn’t need to fill in the details because Matt already had told them.

      “Heather and Javier Easterly were at the Red Eye drinking most of the night. They got in a big fight when Javier started dancing with some other girl.” He glanced around. “I know, the guy was a jerk with women, but that doesn’t mean he killed her. The guy already had a new one on the line, why would he care?”

      “Heather was in love with him.” Hope spoke up for the first time since she’d heard the news. Everyone turned to look at her and she shrank back from the attention. “I knew her from high school. We were in a Young Leaders community service club. We stayed in touch after we graduated. She was a good person and didn’t deserve to die like this.”

      “I’m sorry for your loss.” Angie hadn’t realized Hope had known the girl. “Do you need some time? We can drop down to a three-person team for the night.”

      “I can do it. Heather and I weren’t close, we were more like Facebook friends. She talked about Javier and how wonderful he was for the last month. She’d fallen hard.” Hope shook her head. “She always fell for the guys who were never going to work out. Even in high school, she went for the players. I’ll visit her parents tomorrow. They must be heartbroken.”

      “If you change your mind, you let me know.” Something in Hope’s tone made her question the relationship, but it wasn’t her business. Angie glanced around the room. The team looked sad at the tragic news but not wiped out. In a small community like River Vista, the death of one of its own had to make an impression on everyone. “We okay? I was going to add a new item, but I think we’ll hold off until next week. Let’s go over the menu.”

      As they prepped for the upcoming service, the kitchen was quiet, each person lost in their own thoughts. Angie turned on the CD player and classical music poured out. Estebe must have left one of his discs in the machine. Somehow the music felt right and the team started working together, talking quietly. When the temp hire showed up, Hope took him over to the dishwasher stand and explained his job and how to work the machine.

      Felicia came into the room a few minutes before opening. She stood near Angie, taking in the quiet kitchen. “Everyone all right?”

      “We’ll be fine. Are we ready to open?” Angie glanced around the room and realized her words were true. The group had been shocked at the news, but they’d bounced back and stepped into Estebe’s absence well.

      “The first table just got seated.” Felicia followed Angie’s glance around the room. “That didn’t take long.”

      “What do you mean?”

      Felicia smiled as she stepped away toward the front. “You have a team here, not just employees.”

      As she cooked, Angie realized Felicia was right. When times were good or tough, the kitchen crew would get through it. Not for the first time, she felt like she was exactly where she needed to be.

      * * * *

      On most Sundays, Angie liked to sleep in, but for many reasons, today her mind was running a mile a minute. She’d thought about calling Estebe more than once, but she always set the phone down, knowing it sent the wrong message. She might not see their relationship as more than friends, but she didn’t need to throw any more gas on that flame for others in town, especially Missy Stockwell. At least her husband had been nice, even though he’d compared her restaurant to a chain. Maybe she’d make up a dessert and take it over to the Farm Store tomorrow. She could say it was to thank them for coming in, but that made a bad precedent for other townies who she didn’t bake a personal thank-you for. She really just wanted to give Missy a piece of her mind, not a piece of pie.

      “Hey, are you decent?” Ian’s voice called through the house. She’d been upstairs, gathering laundry to start her chores.

      “Depends on what you call decent.” She called back. Glancing in the mirror, she pulled her hair back behind her ears. She looked fine. For a Sunday morning. “I’ll be right down. Grab some coffee.”

      “That will work. I brought something to eat from the store.”

      By the time she’d gotten downstairs and put the laundry basket on top of the washer, Ian was sitting at the table talking to Dom and sipping his coffee. A zucchini bread sat sliced on a plate at the table, and she noticed her own cup had been refilled. “You don’t have to bring food with every visit. I am a chef, you know.”

      “I like this zucchini bread. I know you probably have an amazing recipe, but I didn’t want to ask you to bake on this lovely day.” He gave Dom one last rub under his ear, then stood to wash his hands. “I take it you heard about Estebe’s cousin?”

      “He called me yesterday afternoon, as he couldn’t come into work. Did Sheriff Brown really arrest Javier?” She slipped into her chair and took a slice of the bread. She sniffed it, then took a bite. Ian was right, it was good. But her recipe was better. She hadn’t made zucchini bread in years. She’d need to pull it out. Maybe figure a way to make a dessert for the restaurant out of the moist bread.

      “He didn’t arrest him. He just brought him in for questioning. According to Allen, he sent them home about seven last night.” Ian sipped on his coffee. “Allen’s a mess. Two murders this summer and he’s gone over twenty years without one. I think he’s consulting with someone from the Idaho State Police in Meridian.”

      “It must be hard.” Angie

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