"A Murder In Milburn", Book 1: Death At A Diner (8 page)

May put a hand over her mouth and Nora stopped.

“You cannot be serious,” May said in a low, angry whisper. “You have some nerve, coming into town after ten years away and accusing…” She straightened up and smiled as a bubble gum chewing waiter placed two dishes on the table, and filled up their cups with coffee.

“Thanks, Cara,” May smiled. “How’s school going?”
 

“It’s all right.” Cara said, placing the bill on the table. “You guys enjoy the meal.”
 

May kept the smile on her face as Cara left, and then leaned back towards Nora.

“You cannot be serious,” she hissed, her smile vanishing.

Nora said nothing, feeling very uncomfortable. This all seemed like a terrible mistake. How had she managed to let herself be brought here, where every eye was like a laser drilling into her? She looked down at her plate, saying nothing.

Instead of pancakes, May had ordered the day’s special for Nora, French Toast with buttercream and candied mandarin. Nora paused to admire the golden brown of the toast and the cream that lay in stripes over it. Paper thin slices of mandarin oranges hid inside the toast, and lay on the sides of the dish, and a generous dose of chunky salt had been sprinkled all over. It was this salt that added the right balance, set the dish apart from the normally overly sweet French toast one found in restaurants. The salt propelled the French toast from humble to divine.

She had to go back to work, Nora realized. Food had taken her away, even if only for a few seconds, from the grief of losing Raquel. Maybe opening the Diner would help her drown out her memories.

“You aren’t listening,” May said, and Nora blinked. How long had she been in a trance?

“Yes. Sorry. Come again?”

“I said that it’s preposterous and I won’t allow it,” May said. “As long as George has been Mayor, we’ve had no major crimes in this town.”

Nora felt her mouth compress. “I see. And tragic as Raquel’s death is, you’d rather it be attributed to a drifter, what with elections coming up. It doesn’t matter what the truth is. It doesn’t matter that Raquel deserves justice. No, you just want him to run on a low crime platform. But I’m going to make sure that whoever killed her is found, and hanged!” Unconsciously, she had raised her voice, and if people had stared before, they suddenly all became very interested in their papers or their cell phones. Not a single eye turned towards them, though every ear was perked.

May smiled at everyone, and made a show of patting Nora’s hand. “There, there, dear, I know you’re upset. Of course justice will be served. I know you’re used to your big cities, and think that a small town like Milburn is ill suited to handle a crime like this. But I have faith in the authorities.” These last words were clearly for the benefit of the others, and Nora felt even angrier.

She shook off May’s hand and threw ten dollars on the table. “Thank you for your kind words. I’ve clearly found myself a
friend
.”

“Of course you have, my dear,” May said loudly. Then lowering her voice, she added, “You want to be careful, girl. I’m not one to be tangled with.”

Nora gave her a stiff nod and walked out. She was shaking with rage, and it took all her strength to walk with her head held high, looking straight ahead, refusing to meet the eyes of those around her. From the corner of her eye, she saw Ashley whispering something into her husband Jeremy’s ear. Mason was sitting next to his wife now and had a protective hand over her shoulders. As she left, Nora found herself looking into his eyes, and she shivered at the hatred in them.

*****

Chapter 13

She spent that afternoon on Mrs. Mullally’s kitchen table, going over the Diner’s books. The first payment on their loan was due soon, and she barely had the cash to cover it. Raquel had wanted it done that way. Together, they’d had just enough money to cover the costs of buying and opening the Diner, but Raquel had felt safer taking a loan rather than blowing up all their money at once.

“Taking a loan on an investment like this is the best thing,” Raquel had told Nora. “If something happens and our diner does badly, we can pay back the bank piece by piece. Ideally, we will pay back the loan using profits from the diner. But even in the worst case scenario, we have a big safety net with my savings. What I’m saying is, we’ll be safer spending the bank’s money than our own right now.”
 

Nora had thought this sensible advice, and so they had split the costs between them: Nora handling the down payment of the loan, Raquel spending on the permits, the insurance, the food and the design. Raquel was supposed to pay the first few installments on the loan, and after that, they had hoped the diner would have enough profits to pay the loan off.

Now here Nora sat, calculating and recalculating her budget.
 

“You have to go see them,” Mrs. Mullally said, sitting down next to her. She put a hand on Nora’s shoulders. Underneath the table, Maynard slunk in and curled his tiny warm puppy body on top of Nora’s feet. Nora reached down and petted him. Poor innocent. He was just a puppy, but he understood perfectly that something bad had happened, and in his own way, he was trying to cheer her up.

“I have to think.” Nora put her head down and took a deep breath. “I haven’t helped myself. The entire town hates me now. First I refused to see anyone when they came bearing food and sympathy. Now, I yelled at May Almand and she’s probably telling everyone how I’m spreading lies about the town by implying someone local did it.”

Mrs. Mullally pursed her lips. “That May Almand is a cat. I’m surprised with her. I’ll have a talk with her myself.”

“No,” Nora said firmly. “I don’t want you to trouble yourself, Mrs. Mullally. Besides, I can speak for myself.”

“My dear…”

Nora got up and went over to the stove. She tied her hair behind her in a bun and put the water on to boil. “Would you care for some tea, Mrs. Mullally?” Maynard sleepily toddled over to where Nora was standing, and once again curled up on her feet.

“Look at that,” Mrs. Mullally smiled. “Why the way he fawns over you, he’s more your dog than mine, Nora.”

Nora smiled. “It’s only because I feed him treats all the time.” She reached on a shelf above her and bought out a small cube of cheddar. Halving it, she dropped a piece down to Maynard, who slurped it up. She popped the other half into her own mouth carelessly as she roamed around, gathering ingredients for the tea.

“Well, you can avoid it as long as you like, dear, but the right thing to do is go see them.”

“I do want to go see them,” Nora said. “But I only want to give them my condolences. It’s just not … I can’t bear the thought of sounding...” She shuddered. “Of sounding greedy.”

“Oh, heavens, girl, everyone knows that you’re not greedy. Raquel would have paid her share, wouldn’t she? Everyone knows that too. Her parents will help you out. They know it’s what Raquel would have wanted. The restaurant would have opened tomorrow, and knowing Raquel, she’d want you to open it with or without her.”

“I can’t manage it myself. Not without Raquel.” Nora shook her head, shuddering at the thought. “First, no one will come. Second, I can’t bear the thought. Every moment I’m there. It was our shared dream, Mrs. Mullally. I don’t know if… I don’t know if I ever want to open the diner now.”

“Nonsense,” Mrs. Mullally said. “Raquel would come down here and smack you if she heard you talk like this. Delay the opening by a week if you must, but then open the place. Donate everything you earn if you like, but don’t shed your dream just because someone committed a crime. You have to do it, Nora. For her, if not for you.”

Nora placed a steaming mug of peppermint tea in front of Mrs. Mullally. “You really think it’s the right thing to do?” she said. “Do you really think Raquel would have wanted me to keep going? It seems almost like a betrayal.”

“The only betrayal would be to give up,” Mrs. Mullally said. “This diner of yours will be Raquel’s legacy. What else will the town remember her by?”

Nora nodded, but it was a broken nod. Mrs. Mullally was right. Raquel would have wanted it. But Nora didn’t know if she wanted it anymore. With Raquel gone, what was the point?

She remembered Harvey’s words from the day before.
“Raquel matters to you, and you mattered to her. So for her sake, you have to be strong.”

There was a knock at the door, and Nora sprang up. “I’ll get it.” A part of her heart that had been clenched all day lightened as she pictured Harvey outside the door. He hadn’t called her again, but then, neither had she.

She swung open the door, a tepid smile slowly widening on her face, and stopped, confused. Ashley Norton, Harvey’s secretary, stood on the doorstep, with a covered dish in her hand. Behind stood her husband Jeremy, the light of his phone illuminating his bent face. He looked up and nodded at Nora.

“Sorry. I hope we aren’t disturbing you.” Ashley said. “We didn’t find time to come earlier, so I thought…” Her words trailed off, and she held the dish a little higher, pushing it towards Nora.

“Oh. Oh,” Nora took the dish and smiled. “Ashley, this is a wonderful gesture. Thank you. Do come in, both of you. We were just having some tea.”

“It’s funny, isn’t it,” Ashley said as they followed Nora in. “We all ought to be going to meet Raquel’s parents, but it’s you everyone knows she was closest to. She rented a place in town but everyone knows she practically lived in this house after you came three months ago. You were both sisters. Bonded by soul, if not by blood.”

Nora felt her heart jump. House. Raquel’s rented apartment! Someone ought to go there and, clean it? She
had
to see Raquel’s parents, and soon. There were too many things they probably needed help with. Harvey had been right. She needed to be stronger now, for Raquel’s sake.

“Have… have you met her parents yet?” Nora asked.

“Those crazy Supreme Truth folk live on a ranch all together.” Jeremy pulled a face. “Us lot aren’t very welcome there.”

“Jeremy! Hush.” Ashley nudged him. “Well, we townsfolk met her parents yesterday when they came over to see sheriff and… and…”

…and identify the body. Nora nodded, wincing at the thought that the life and spirit of Raquel had now vanished, leaving only a
body
.

“Mrs. Mullally said you weren’t well all of yesterday?” Jeremy asked. His voice was subtly aggressive, though civil enough.

Nora nodded and turned away from them to brew more tea. Working quickly, she removed some chive crackers and sliced a little cheddar and cilantro on them. She placed the plate and tea on the table in front of them and then placed Ashley’s dish in the fridge. Opening the fridge, she saw row upon row of casserole dishes, each with a post it note on it giving condolences and the name of a townie. For a brief moment, she felt guilty. They were good folk, here in town, and she had been selfish and bad to them.

She turned around, and Ashley was saying, “…a meat pie, should be good for the month if you freeze it.”

“Good tea,” Jeremy said, stuffing a cracker into his mouth and taking a sip. “I prefer coffee, though.” He went back to his phone.
 

She hadn’t thought to ask, Nora realized. She sat down next to them.

“Nora, I just wanted to offer my condolences.” Ashley held her hand. “I know how much Raquel meant to you. I also want to let you know that we’ll support you with whatever you want to do next. I know leaving town is an option that’s crossed your mind…”

“It hasn’t, actually,” Nora said.
 

“Oh. Well.” Ashley stuttered, and looked at Jeremy, who was on the phone. “Well, whatever your plans are, I’ll be glad to offer whatever help I can.”

“Thank you, Ashley.” Nora smiled. She’d always thought of Ashley as self-centered and gossipy, but she seemed to be trying hard to be sincere. She saw Ashley’s brow furrow as she looked at Jeremy. Tough life, having a baby on the way and a husband who was addicted to his cell phone, Nora thought briefly. She saw Ashley nudge Jeremy, who put his phone away and looked up.

“Sorry. You know how tough starting a business is. I just always have to reply to clients as soon as they message,” he said.

“Not a problem,” Nora said.

“I still think you should just take Harvey’s offer and become a real estate agent, Jeremy,” Ashley said. “The money’s good.”

“I told you a hundred times I don’t want to,” Jeremy said testily. “I don’t like that man, and I don’t think he likes me much either.”
 

Nora tapped on the table, and the two of them looked at her.

“Sorry.” Ashley had the grace to look ashamed. She cradled her belly and squeezed Jeremy’s hand.

“Sorry,” Jeremy said, a little annoyed still.
 

“You dated her once, didn’t you?” Nora asked. “Way back in high school? You were her first boyfriend.” She felt bad for Ashley, but she couldn’t resist poking at Jeremy. He ought to feel, well,
something
, instead of treating this as an unwanted chore.

To her surprise, his anger vanished, and for a moment, she saw a vulnerable boy sitting in front of her. “Those were the days, right, Nora? High school. We’ll never be that young or that--”

“Not everyone had a good time like us in high school,” Ashley interrupted. “Nora didn’t, I think. High school’s tougher when you’ve got acne or braces. We were just lucky to be part of the popular crowd.”