A Healthy Homicide by Staci McLaughlin Page B

Celebration of Life for that spa owner who died. Everyone’s supposed to bring a dish.”
    “In that case, I know just the book you need.” She began rummaging through the box. “You know, Sue Ellen called me all in a tizzy yesterday about the woman who was killed.”
    If Blossom Valley ever had a gossip club, Sue Ellen would be president. Nothing happened in town without her knowing it. Sometimes she even gossiped about things that hadn’t actually happened, which was probably why everyone was always so nice to her. No one dared get on her bad side, in case they became her next target.
    “What was she upset about?” I asked. “Did she find some dirt on Carla?” As soon as I asked, I knew that couldn’t be right. Uncovering other people’s secrets was what made Sue Ellen happy.
    “Aha.” Mom pulled a book from the box and handed it to me. I read the cover: Hearty Dishes for Any Occasion. Perfect. “No, the opposite,” Mom said. “Apparently, everyone liked Carla. No one’s had a bad word to say about her.”
    “Sue Ellen must hate that.” I paged through the book, looking for the casserole with the least amount of ingredients and prep time. “So she hasn’t found out anything?”
    “Nothing exciting. She’s got a friend at the bank who provided Carla with her business loan. She had perfect credit and put up her own house for collateral.”
    While Mom talked, I ran my finger down the list of ingredients for a recipe: ground beef, cream of mushroom soup, a can of corn, and Tater Tots. This one definitely had possibilities. It even had a vegetable. I studied the instructions. “So you’re saying a loan shark didn’t sneak up to Blossom Valley and kill Carla when she couldn’t repay a loan?”
    “I’m afraid not.”
    I used the back flap of the cover jacket as a bookmark and held up the cookbook. “Mind if I take this one?”
    “You can take them all. I don’t use them anymore.”
    A vision of our modest-size apartment full of boxes of cookbooks I’d probably never use filled my mind. “I’ll start with the one book.” I began repacking the others. “What about Carla’s personal life? I heard she was dating a married guy.”
    “Sue Ellen said something along those lines, but no one seems to agree on whether it’s true.”
    “That she had a boyfriend or that he’s married?”
    “Married. But you know how people in this town love to talk.”
    Boy, did I ever. I thought back to when a nosy parent had spotted me with my prom date at the local make-out spot years ago. We were only talking, well, mostly talking, but by the time the story got back to Mom, I was five months pregnant and we were plotting to run away together. It had taken me an hour to calm her down.
    I brought myself back to the present. “Even if he is married, maybe he’s separated from his wife. I’ve heard some divorce proceedings last longer than the actual marriage.” I put the final cookbook in the box, refolded the top, and rose to my feet. “Let me put this back.” I hefted the box and carried it back to the stack in the garage.
    When I returned to the living room, Mom was brushing lint off of her gray slacks. “I just remembered that I wanted to fill a prescription before work. Of course, you’re welcome to stay as long as you like, but if you don’t mind, I need to get going.”
    I picked up my jacket and the cookbook. “That’s all right. I’ll leave now, too. I need to stop by the store and then go home and make this casserole. After that, I think it’s my turn to vacuum.”
    “How are you and your sister getting along? I’m guessing the new arrangement is working, since Ashlee hasn’t called me even once to complain.”
    What did she have to complain about? I did most of the cleaning and grocery shopping. If anyone should be whining about her roommate, it was me. I clutched the cookbook tighter. “We’re still working out the kinks, especially when it comes to who cleans what, but I think we’ll