The sun woke me the next morning. I didn’t set an alarm—since I usually got up early, my body would wake me up when I needed to be going. This morning, however, my body clock had missed the wake-up call. I looked at my clock through bleary eyes. Eight thirty. I threw the covers off me and ran to the closet to get clothes. I was going to be late meeting Darla and she didn’t like waiting. Besides, I needed gossip to get any further on my non-investigation of Kacey’s murder.
Emma whined at the door so I let her out, using the time to sip some coffee. I’d made it out of the bathroom in less than five minutes; now I just needed to set Emma’s food and water outside and power-walk to Diamond Lille’s. If I was lucky, I might even be early.
The walk did little to ease my nerves. I heard a loud bang from behind me and I spun around to see an old car backfiring. Good thing I hadn’t thrown myself on the ground, all for a poorly maintained Buick.
When I arrived at the diner, Darla was already seated at a table near the window. I glanced longingly at my regular booth, but this wasn’t an Amy and me breakfast. I might have ruined that category for the rest of my life. Darla had a cup of coffee and a muffin already sitting in front of the open chair. Her muffin was already gone, and only the paper lining remained. “Sit down. I ordered you an appetizer.”
I didn’t realize breakfast had courses like appetizers or desserts. But I couldn’t turn one down if I was going to play the game. I slipped into my chair and took a sip of the coffee. “Sorry I’m late. I was up past my bedtime thinking about poor Kacey.”
Not quite subtle, but it got the message across. I was interested in her theories.
Darla blinked twice, but then nodded, agreeing with my statement.
I thought she was going to say something, but just then, Carrie arrived to take our order. “Are you still waiting on Amy?”
“Amy’s not coming today.” I looked at the menu that I’d seen so often I could recite most of the items by heart. “Bring me a Denver omelet with a side of wheat toast. And a glass of orange juice.” Carrie had mentioned the wait staff got extra points for more than one drink per customer. I hoped that was still true. I needed some karma credit.
“I’m not very hungry,” Darla said. “I’ll have a large orange juice, two eggs over easy, an order of bacon, hash browns, and a short stack of cakes. Warm the maple syrup please.”
I stared at her after Carrie left. “Not hungry?”
“Don’t be all judgmental. I’ve had a hard week.” She stirred some sugar into her coffee. “I saw you at Kacey’s memorial yesterday. What did you think of it?”
“Judgment-free zone here.” I held my hands up. “I was sad for her. She had all those people who really cared about her and she wasn’t around to hear all the good things being said about her.”
“Maybe her angel was standing by the coffin. Like in that play the high school does every year.” Darla looked at me over her coffee. “Do you think Austin killed her?”
The change of subject threw me a bit. Luckily, I didn’t react other than to shake my head. “Who knows? The guy doesn’t seem to understand normal things like love and loyalty. Look what he did to Sadie.”
“You’re still mad? I didn’t realize you and Sadie were so close.” Darla peered at me, curious now. “Men have their own agendas, I figured you knew that by now.”
“What Austin did to Sadie wasn’t an agenda, it was just cold and calculating. All the time they were dating, he and Kacey were working on getting back together.” I leaned back as a runner from the kitchen delivered our plates.
Carrie followed behind carrying our juice glasses. “Anything else I can get you?”
“We’re good.” Darla picked up a fork. “Was it as busy here as the winery was yesterday?”
“Lille had to call in all the wait staff. No one got a day off.” Carrie patted her tip apron. “But the crowd was feeling generous. I made twice what I typically rake in on a Saturday.”
“I thought about coming down for dinner, but after Darla told me about the crowd at the winery, I figured you’d be slammed.”
“One woman got all teary-eyed and went over to this Taylor guy and accused him of killing Kacey.” Carrie eyed me. “Has Greg told you what killed her? From what I hear, she just fell down dead on the beach. So sad when they’re that young.”
Now Darla was looking at me as well, waiting for my answer.