The Lime and the Dead: A Key West Culinary Cozy - Book 3 Read online

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  Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  Copyright 2015 by Maven Publishing - All rights reserved.

  All rights Reserved. No part of this publication or the information in it may be quoted from or reproduced in any form by means such as printing, scanning, photocopying or otherwise without prior written permission of the copyright holder.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 1

  Petite, dark-haired, Marilyn Hayes waved goodbye to her neighbor of more than two years. Standing at the end of her driveway, watching Madge Prentiss’s heavily-laden little silver car follow the moving truck out of sight, she took a deep breath, holding back the tears that threatened. The widow was getting on in years, and had recently decided to rent out her charming little Key West cottage and move in with her daughter in California. She and Marilyn had shared stories over cups of tea, and slices of Key Lime pie, at least every couple of weeks or so, and Marilyn teared up at the thought of losing the sweet woman’s company. When the last glimmer of the silver car was out of sight, she wiped her eyes and headed back into her own cozy cottage to make a bracing cup of Columbian coffee.

  Soon, the coffee maker was burbling merrily, and Marilyn sat, chin in hand, at her breakfast bar waiting for it to finish, lost in thought. Madge had been one of her few friends on the island. Since Marilyn had moved to Florida with her daughter Tiara in tow, after an excruciatingly painful divorce, she had worked so hard to make ends meet – first selling pies from her very own kitchen, then expanding to a rented space, and finally buying a cute and comfortable shop of her own on one of the island’s main streets – that she’d had precious little time to socialize. She’d been so busy as a single mom to her lovely daughter, (who worked for her after graduating college, while waiting for her “dream job” to come along), and starting her own business, that, she knew practically everyone on the island, but hadn’t been able to form close friendships. Down in the dumps at the loss of her neighbor, she vowed on the spot to make more of an effort to be more involved with people, not just pies.

  Marilyn had just finished pouring her first cup of coffee, when the front door burst open and her beautifully statuesque blonde daughter lit up the morning with her youthful energy and enthusiasm.

  “Hey, Mom!” she called out on her way to the coffee pot. “I have some new marketing ideas that I want to go over with you when we get to the store this morning,” she started to chatter, then looked over and saw her mother’s red-rimmed eyes.

  “What happened?” she asked, setting down her cup. With the strange misadventures that had occurred on the island in the past few months, her mother’s tears raised an immediate sense of alarm.

  Marilyn sniffed and laughed at Tiara’s wide-eyed reaction. “Nothing, I’m fine,” she assured her daughter. “Madge left a few minutes ago to head to her daughter’s in California.”

  “Ah, gotcha,” her concern melted away. She picked up her cup and went to the refrigerator to forage for breakfast, relieved. “Well, you do realize that all work and no play makes Marilyn a dull girl, right?” she teased. “Seriously, Mom, you really need to get out more – meet people, do stuff. You’re young and single and need to mingle.” The slim young girl took a Key Lime pie out of the fridge and cut herself a sumptuous slice.

  Marilyn cracked an amused smile. “Well, I don’t know about all of that, but you’re right…I do need to make friends and have a life outside of the shop. I just don’t know how to go about it at my age,” she shrugged.

  “Well, no worries, I’ll do some research and hook you up…with some friends,” Tiara quickly amended, after being on the receiving end of a very pointed look from her mother. She plated her pie and sat down at the breakfast bar with her mom, digging into the gooey sweetness with gusto.

  “Just make sure you run it by me before committing me to anything,” she warned, sipping her coffee.

  “Of course,” her daughter blinked innocently, popping a huge bit of pie in her mouth. “So, what’s on the agenda for today?” she asked, swallowing the silky sweet perfection.

  “I’m going to be working on creating some new recipes to drum up more business, we have some party orders to prepare for delivery, and I’ll need you to man the front. I figured that you could work on the computer by the register when you’re not busy with customers,” Marilyn ticked the to-do items off on her fingers.

  “We also need to hire an extra set of hands to free me up to do the business planning, accounting and marketing,” Tiara reminded her mother sternly.

  “Right. Yeah, that too,” Marilyn sighed. “I just hate the thought of it, because it didn’t work out so well last time.”

  “Once burned, twice shy, I get it,” her daughter nodded. “But that doesn’t change the fact that we can’t move forward with the business if I have to use the cash register and wipe down tables all day,” she stared hard at her reluctant mother.

  “I know, I know…get things started for me, and I’ll meet with the prospective candidates that you choose,” she agreed, giving in because she knew that Tiara was right – she had to stop dragging her feet if she wanted to grow her business.

  “You got it,” her lovely daughter nodded enthusiastically, mouth full of pie.

  Chapter 2

  When Marilyn returned home after an incredibly busy day, she was shocked, and a little bit sad, to see that there was a rented truck in front of Madge’s cottage. Someone was moving in already. It seemed as though life just plowed right along, whether one was ready for change or not. The new tenant must have been taking a break or something, there were boxes filling the open garage, and a few furniture items as well, but other than belongings, there was no sign of the new occupant. Marilyn hoped that whoever it was would turn out to be as lovely as Madge had been. She would take a pie over later this evening or tomorrow to welcome the newcomer and introduce herself.

  Still feeling a bit sad, even after a very creative and busy day at the shop, she decided to treat herself to an indulgent evening in, ordering a combination pizza with extra cheese. She opened a bottle of red wine to accompany her “Italian” treat, and started flipping through the Netflix selection screens for a good movie. Skipping the Adventure and Drama categories, she went straight to the Romantic Comedies, looking to live vicariously through the young, sweet onscreen lovers. Truthfully, she just didn’t want to watch anything that required any thought, so light and sweet seemed to be the logical choice.

  The doorbell rang a mere ten minutes after she ordered, and Marilyn looked at her watch, astonished and impressed by the extreme efficiency of her pizza delivery service. Tossing the remote onto the couch, without yet having selected a movie, she went to the door and opened it, surprised that the frumpy, middle-aged man standing on the other side of it didn’t have a pizza in his hands.

&nb
sp; “Hello,” Marilyn smiled, confused,

  “Hi!” the somewhat timid, sandy-haired man with wire-rimmed glasses replied. “I’m your new neighbor, Tim Eckels,” he stuck out his hand and she shook it.

  “Oh! Well, welcome to the neighborhood,” she smiled, thinking that his timing couldn’t have been worse, her pizza was on the way, she was tired, and she just wanted to zone out on a mindless movie.

  “Thanks. I hate to be a bother, but do you happen to have any twine? There are some bushes in the back yard that are a little top-heavy, so I wanted to give them some support, and my garden supplies are all packed away in a box somewhere,” he explained, glancing about as though he had forgotten something. The twitchy movement of his eyes unsettled her a bit, and she’d never heard of tying up plants with twine before, but she nodded nonetheless.

  “Sure, hang on just a second, I’ll be right back,” she promised, leaving the front door open with Tim standing awkwardly on the porch.

  Marilyn went to the kitchen drawer that held office and craft supplies, and pulled out a ball of twine, then went to the refrigerator to retrieve the pie that she had been planning to take to the new neighbor, figuring that since he was here, she could just give it to him now, and save herself a trip next door later.

  “Great! Thanks so much,” Tim said, accepting the twine and the pie. “This’ll be dinner for me,” he shrugged. “It’s been a long day.”

  “I bet,” Marilyn replied, putting on a suitably sympathetic face. “Good luck getting settled,” she smiled brightly, starting to shut the door, but seeing the pizza truck pull into her driveway. She wanted to get rid of her neighbor quickly, before he noticed the pizza delivery and gave her a pitiful look, indicating a desire to share her dinner. “I’ll check on you in the morning to see how things are coming along,” she promised with a wave, and shut the door before he could reply. She leaned against it, thinking that she should have said something to get rid of her nice but slightly creepy neighbor without having to promise to see him again.

  Hearing a soft knock just two minutes later, Marilyn opened the door again, hoping it was the pizza guy and not her well-intended but strangely off-putting neighbor.

  “Wow, am I glad to see you!” she laughed upon seeing the red and blue uniform of the local pizza delivery person.

  “Yeah, I get that a lot,” the easygoing youth joked. “That’ll be $14.75, please,” he said, reading the receipt. She handed him a twenty and told him to keep the change, anxious to get back to the couch and immerse herself in Netflix nirvana.

  Marilyn put the pizza box on the coffee table alongside her wineglass, napkins, and bottle of Zinfandel, and picked up the remote again. She’d find the movie first, get it started, then fix her plate. She finally landed on what looked to be like an hour and a half of harmless fluff to watch, and put two slices of ooey gooey loaded pizza on her plate. Halfway through her shamelessly indulgent dinner, the front door opened, admitting Tiara, who was carrying a stack of papers.

  “Hey, Mom,” she called out her typical greeting and leaned over to give Marilyn a kiss on the cheek.

  “Hey, sweetie,” she replied, not allowing her disappointment at the interruption of her quiet time to show. She always loved Tiara’s visits, so she’d never do anything to discourage them.

  “Ooooh…pizza!” the young woman exclaimed with delight, putting her paperwork on the coffee table beside the pizza box and heading to the kitchen for a plate. “Whatcha watching?”

  “I forget the title,” Marilyn confessed. “It’s one of those movies that I can just zone out during it and never lose my place.”

  “Rough day?” her daughter grinned, plopping down beside her on the couch with a plate and a handful of napkins.

  “Nope, just powering down for a bit. What brings you over here, besides the pizza?” she teased.

  Tiara bit the triangle at the tip of her slice and chewed for a moment before answering. “I have resumes for you to take a look at,” she said, then took another large bite. “Oh my, this is good.”

  Marilyn nodded, smiling at her daughter’s extreme pleasure in the simple treat. “Wow, that was fast – when did you place the ad?”

  “Before I spoke to you about it yesterday,” she ‘fessed up sheepishly, maintaining eye contact with her slice of pizza, rather than looking at her mother.

  “Well, you sneaky thing,” she accused playfully. “I should’ve known that you talking to me about it had been a mere formality,” she shook her head. “I guess that’s why I pay you the big bucks.”

  Tiara rolled her eyes and took another bite. “I think you’ll find some interesting ones in there,” she pointed her slice of pizza at the stack of papers.

  “I’ll be happy to look through them in the morning, sweetie, I’m pretty brain-dead at the moment,” Marilyn sighed.

  “No prob, but we need to start interviews ASAP. Gotta stick to the business plan, Mom,” she reminded her mother.

  “I don’t know what I’d do without you,” she looked fondly at Tiara.

  “Watch movies and eat pizza by yourself, that’s what,” was the mischievous reply as her lovely daughter reached for another slice. Marilyn was glad to see her eating heartily. For a while, the willowy blonde had tried every fad diet and miracle pill available to try and lose weight, and her mother had been justifiably concerned. Thankfully though, she seemed to be past that phase and now relied upon eating mostly healthy food, swimming laps in the ocean, and participating in yoga, to stay slim and trim. She even tended to indulge in her mother’s amazing Key Lime pie whenever the urge struck, which pleased Marilyn to no end.

  After their hunger was satiated, mother and daughter snuggled up on the couch to watch the inane RomCom and ended up falling asleep before the end of the movie. Tiara startled awake just after midnight, and slipped out after covering Marilyn with a blanket, locking the door behind her.

  Chapter 3

  One of Marilyn’s favorite ways to start the day was to have coffee on one of the loungers on her sunny patio, inhaling the tantalizing scent of the ocean, intermingled with the blossoming tropical flowers in her garden. She’d been so exhausted, the night before, that she had slept the entire night through on her couch, never even realizing that her daughter had gone. She rose refreshed and excited to start her day, looking forward to that first cup of Costa Rican brew. As soon as the coffeemaker stopped gurgling and burbling, she filled her favorite mug and headed for the back patio. She stepped carefully through the sliding doors, watching her coffee like a hawk, to make certain that she didn’t spill a drop, and screamed when she looked up and saw a man crouched down by her lounger.

  “Oh my goodness, I’m sorry. I certainly didn’t mean to startle you,” Tim Eckels, her new neighbor explained mildly, as though completely unaffected by the scream.

  Annoyed that nearly a third of her coffee had sloshed out of the cup and onto the patio as well as all over her yoga pants, Marilyn put a hand to her chest, as though in an attempt to still her pounding heart. “You scared the life out of me,” she exclaimed, too frustrated with the man to even attempt a smile.

  “It’s my cat,” Tim said, as though that explained everything.

  “Your…what?” she blinked, confused and agitated at having to deal with a human being before even taking her first sip of coffee.

  “My cat…Maisie,” he said, glancing about again. “She seems to have escaped,” he frowned slightly, seeming more perplexed than upset.

  Something was very…off about her neighbor. Marilyn suddenly felt very exposed and uncomfortable in her own back yard.

  “Well, I don’t know how she could possibly have gotten in here,” she said slowly, trying to gauge the strange man’s reaction. “I always keep my gate closed.” She let the implication that he had opened her gate to come into the back yard hang there, to see what he’d say.

  He regarded her seriously for a moment, his eyes seeming huge through the lenses of his glasses. “She seems to go in and out whereve
r she likes, gates or no gates,” he cocked his head, giving Marilyn a chill.

  “Just like you, apparently,” she fumed inwardly.

  “Well, if you’ll excuse me, I have a busy morning,” she said, without a smile, hoping he’d take the hint. When he continued to stare at her blankly, she sighed and turned to go inside, willing him to go away.

  **

  “Okay, I’ve set up interviews for you every hour between eleven and four,” Tiara said, referring to a spreadsheet on her computer. “The resumes for the today’s applicants are on the desk in your office, so you have the first part of the morning to create new recipes, the rest of the morning to go over resumes, then the rest of the day to interview,” she informed her mother, intent upon holding her to the tasks that had been scheduled.

  “Well, good morning to you too, my darling daughter,” she teased, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek.

  “Sleep well?”

  “Yes, I did, thank you. Apparently an angel of mercy covered me up with a blanket last night and I stayed on the couch the entire time,” she winked.

  “Do angels get bonuses?” Tiara raised her eyebrows hopefully.

  “If they find good candidates for our position they do,” Marilyn replied, heading to the kitchen. Things went like clockwork, just as her daughter had planned. She spent the morning perfecting a Key Lime mousse that was out of this world, and had more than enough time to review the resumes at length before meeting with the first candidate.

  Just before closing, after the last job applicant was ushered out, Tiara poked her head into the office. “One more to go, and then we can call it a day,” she advised.

  “I thought we were done,” Marilyn sighed.

  “Be brave, little camper, one more interview won’t kill you. I’ll send him in,” her daughter decreed.