The Pierogi Peril by Geri Krotow

Author:Geri Krotow [Geri Krotow]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Severn House
Published: 2023-10-09T00:00:00+00:00

TWELVE

Holding secrets back from her loved ones always ended in disaster. So did revealing a secret. Pop’s jaw dropped. So did his mushy cigar, right onto the tired linoleum. Johnny rushed in from the front. He stopped mid-stride, sensing the charged atmosphere.

Johnny’s eyes were wide, and his wavy dark hair fell across his eyes in a sexy manner incongruous with his countenance. She saw what made Teri crazy for Johnny. The compassion, thoughtfulness, the polite manners he used to handle the unruliest customer. But it was panic instead of the usual calm reflecting in his brown eyes. His gaze bounced around the kitchen, from the butcher block to the walk-in refrigerator door.

‘Is it in the fridge?’

‘What?’ Lydia stared at him and realization dawned. Johnny must have heard her. ‘Oh no, not here. I found the body at my new place, on the beach. She fell off the café deck.’

‘Who fell off what deck?’ Amelia Wienewski sauntered through the back screened door as if joining a friendly neighborhood conversation, not walking into her daughter’s most recent life-threatening, business-crushing ordeal. But when she took in Lydia’s appearance, her shoulders sagged.

‘Oh, no. Not again, Lydia! I knew it! There was a dead robin in the yard this morning, and I said to Stashu, “That’s a bad omen, doggie.”’ Mom always had an ESP with Lydia and her siblings. She might not know what was going on in their lives moment by moment, but her ability to interpret their body language combined with her mother’s instinct in a potent way.

Lydia let out a shaky breath. ‘Yes. Again. But it wasn’t anyone you know. Not personally.’ She quickly filled all three of them in on what had happened, before Mom ran to the phone to ask her friends if any of them had heard and before Pop had another stroke. Johnny listened in until the shop’s bell chimed, and he went out to greet the customer.

‘Take heart, Lydia. It’s not the best news, sure, but it’s not the end of the world. You’ll be fine. Bodies wash ashore all the time!’ Amelia smiled. ‘No one can blame you or your café and bakery. Don’t make more out of it than it is. Are you free to play bingo tonight, honey?’

‘No, no, I’m not free to play anything, Mom. Did you hear what I said? Delphine didn’t “wash ashore.” She fell there after she was shot. I’ve been up since before dawn, Mom, and now I have the pierogi competition to worry about.’

‘I’m sorry, honey. But you won’t be able to work in your place until at least tomorrow from what you said. I did hear you – you said the police had concluded their investigation and that you’d be back in the café soon enough, but you also don’t believe it was suicide. Which means there’s a chance the police will reopen the case, right? Just look how long Louie’s investigation took. Settle in here, and enjoy a little time off before the pierogi competition. I’m worried about you, Lyd.

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