Deadly Diet (A Dying to Eat Cozy Mystery Book 1) by Kodi Heart

Author:Kodi Heart [Heart, Kodi]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Captiva Publishing, LLC
Published: 2018-12-25T22:00:00+00:00

Grandpa lifted his wine glass, the contents milder than wine or champagne. Bubbles floated to the top of his sparkling apple cider as he held it aloft. His blue eyes had a rim of gray. He smiled gratefully at the large turnout of family filling the seats he’d carried up from the basement not too long before.

The chatter around the group dulled and soon everyone faced our patriarch. He tucked his left hand into his pocket and rocked forward onto the balls of his feet.

His glee turned misty and I knew he was thinking of the missing family members. “Grandma and I just want to thank all of you for finding the time to come for Easter. I know we’re missing parts of our family, but I know they’re thinking of us just as we’re thinking of them at this special time of year. I look around and I see so many special men and women and little ones. You make me happy.” He smiled at each of us in turn.

Aunt Rikki and Mom might have wiped tears out of their eyes, but I’ll never tell. Crying in our family is frowned on. Anger is good. Hard work is good (ambition is seriously a fundamental emotion in the Fleming family tree). Happiness is reserved for special occasions. I haven’t seen one time where everyone was smiling at the same time.

Kiki’s two children – Nikki and Jim – and their children were missing. Aaron was gone. Other than that, the rest of the Fleming family had made it to the house for the ham dinner and the egg hunt.

The granddaughters – all four of them – brought out the dishes and set them family-style in the center of the tables.

Cissy, Penny’s oldest set the aspic salad right at Grandma’s elbow. She was the only one who ate the atrocity with its lemon gelatin, shrimp, celery chunks, and olives. Yeah, I forgot to mention the tomato juice on purpose.

Scooping out a triple serving onto her place, Grandma arched a drawn-on eyebrow. “I’ve lost weight on this amazing salad. It’s so good.”

“You say that every holiday, Grandma.” I laughed, picking at the au gratin potatoes and their cheesy goodness. I wasn’t sure who was watching me. There was no way I could track all this food. I wanted to. I longed to have the kind of will power I would need to turn away from the rolls with homemade strawberry jelly, the ham covered in honey glaze and horseradish cream, the creamy and cheesy au gratin potatoes, the rich and flavorful Caesar salad with croutons the size of quarters, and the green bean casserole. Just taking inventory of the dishes was enough to overwhelm my senses.

Angie picked at a small plate of salad. She seemed on edge and didn’t really acknowledge my hello when she arrived earlier. She wiggled in her seat and leaned forward, “Did anyone think of Don as Debra’s killer?” The blurted words cast a pall of silence over our group.

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