Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty

I repeated, “This isn’t a date, this isn’t a date, this isn’t a date,” over and over to myself like a mantra as I cleaned up the house. I took Nisa out for a quick jog and chanted it as we ran, matching the rhythm of each footfall. I even said it as I took my third shower of the day, singing it out like a show tune.

But as I blow-dried my hair, applied makeup, and stood in front of my closet to figure out what to wear, I couldn’t bring myself to say it.

I knew this wasn’t a date, though imagining a romantic night out with my dentist and Ninang Mae’s son while Adeena chaperoned was both hilarious and horrifying.

Problem was, it was stirring up memories of the last time I actually had been on a date. It was with Derek, shortly after I’d broken up with my ex-fiancé and moved back to Shady Palms. We’d run into each other one day while I was brooding on the riverwalk, and I’d thought it was a sign.

I’d been leaning against the railing, looking out over the frozen river, two weeks after I’d walked in on Sam and known that my life in Chicago was over. It was the first time I’d been out since returning home, the first week of January being particularly frigid here, but I needed to get out. After years of being away from my family, I couldn’t deal with the constant supervision and questions about where I was going and with who and what time I’d be back. So I’d slipped out without saying anything and went to my favorite place.

“Lila? Is that . . . is that you?”

A chill ran through me when I heard that voice, a chill that had absolutely nothing to do with the weather. How his voice could still have that effect on me, after all this time and after the way we’d ended things . . .

“Hello, Derek,” I’d said, turning around. My first love stood there grinning at me, looking just as gorgeous as he had a decade ago.

“Wow. You’re even more beautiful than I remembered.” With a hesitance that I’d never seen in him, he asked, “Would you like to get something to eat? I’d love to catch up.”

And that’s how it all began. At first, I’d thought it was strange that we never dined in Shady Palms, instead driving out to nearby towns where we didn’t know anyone. He’d claimed he wanted to avoid all the local gossips, which I’d appreciated.

Of course, this was before I knew anything. Before I knew who he’d become. Back when I thought we could pick up where we left off, when I thought the surest cure to my heartbreak was a new love. I mean, that’s how it worked in just about every rom-com ever, and why would they steer me wrong? But then my aunt and grandmother found out about us. As Lola Flor screamed at me, Tita Rosie explained what he’d been doing to them. To us. Derek’s betrayal, coming so soon after Sam’s . . .

I shook my head, as if I could physically shake these dismal thoughts away. No need to dwell on that. No one knew I’d been seeing him when I got back, not even Adeena. And no one needed to know. It was just a couple of dates, it hadn’t meant anything.

Nothing at all.

I pulled on warm leggings and an off-the-shoulder black sweater, which managed to be sexy and cozy at the same time. Casual but cute, especially if paired with dangly earrings, booties, and a nice scarf.

“How do I look, Nisa?” I modeled my outfit to my tiny sausage dog.

She tilted her head as if seriously considering it, and barked.

“You’re right, how could I forget?”

I went over to my jewelry box to put on the necklace my parents left me. It was a simple disk of green jade on a golden chain, and the one physical reminder of them I was able to carry into adulthood. I wore it everywhere, even to bed, taking it off only to shower or swim.

I rubbed the smooth, cool surface of the pendant, remembering my first year of high school when I worried the chain was getting too small for me to wear. My grandmother had wanted to just replace the chain, but I wouldn’t hear of it. My aunt came up with the idea of extending it by adding one of her gold bracelets to the back.

“That way,” she said, settling the necklace over my head, “you still have the original, but you have a piece of me with you as well. To remind you we’re always with you.”

She smiled, but even at that age I could see the sadness in her eyes. I wasn’t the only one who missed them.

My phone rang, pulling me out of my memories. I didn’t recognize the number and went to reject the call, then remembered Stan had promised to call if he had any info.

“Hello?”

“Lila, we need to talk,” a somewhat recognizable female voice said. The voice managed to be both hesitant and harsh at the same time—whoever it was clearly did not want to be having this conversation.

“May I ask who’s speaking, please?”

“Oh God, are you seriously that polite, Miss Perfect? It’s Janet.”

The night in prison had put her out of my mind, but that argument in the hospital came back in full force. “Oh. Hey. What can I do for you?”

“More like what I can do for you.” She paused, likely wanting me to beg her for more information. When I didn’t, she said, “Look, I could get in a lot of trouble for this, but I didn’t like the way our last conversation ended. I talked to Terrence about it and he wants me to try again. Will you let me do this for him?”

Stunned, I said, “I’m sorry too, Janet.” I glanced at the clock, noting I was going to be late picking up Adeena. “Look, I have to be somewhere soon, but do you want to meet for lunch tomorrow? Sushi-ya is close to the hospital, right?”

“Oh that’s fine, I mean I’m only sticking out my neck for you. Why not put it off another day?” She sighed in frustration. “Whatever. See you at one thirty tomorrow. Don’t be late.”

I agreed, but before I could say goodbye, she managed to get a final shot in. “Oh, and since I’m doing you such a big favor, lunch is on you tomorrow.”

And then she hung up on me.

Hmm, guess I couldn’t expect her to change that much.

I spritzed on my perfume, a special blend of citrus and ginger I created myself, and bundled up before heading out. I made it to Adeena’s fifteen minutes late, which in Brown People Time (BPT) meant I was actually a little early.

I texted her to let her know I was there, then spent a few minutes going over the list Adeena had returned to me, adding notes and questions. I’d just crossed out Stan and Martha’s names when the passenger door opened and Adeena slid inside, calling out to her family, “I’m going out with Lila, be back later!”

I waved at her parents and aunties who’d gathered at the door, watching us disapprovingly. “What’s with the looks?” I asked as we drove off.

She rolled her eyes. “They heard you got arrested and think you’re a bad influence on me.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Did you tell them that you’re the bad influence in this relationship?”

“Oh, that’s another thing. One of my aunties got it into her head that we’re dating since we spend so much time together.”

I glanced over at her. “What’s wrong with best friends spending time together? Plus, I haven’t been home in forever. Did you stress that we were ju—that we were friends?”

I almost said “just friends,” as if romantic partnership was superior to platonic friendship, but stopped myself. Adeena hated that term and idea. And I’d learned, time and again, she was right. There was no hierarchy to love.

Adeena rolled her eyes. “And that just because I like girls doesn’t mean I like every girl in existence since that’s not how sexuality works? Of course I did. You think it did any good?”

I snorted. Nothing else needed to be said. We both knew how our families were when it came to stuff like that. Still, this was the perfect opportunity to get her back for her earlier teasing.

“You should’ve told them that Dr. Jae was going to be at dinner, too. Their daughter on a date with a dentist? They’d love that.”

Her eyes flashed. “Don’t you dare mention it to them! I can just see them latching on to him, showing up at his job with samosas and welcoming him to the family.” She shuddered.

We got to El Gato Negro around 8:15 or so. When we went inside, Dr. Jae was already sitting at a table, nervously downing a basket of tortilla chips and salsa all by himself. As we watched, he stopped a server to ask for a refill on chips.

“Hey Doc, you been here long?” Adeena plopped into the seat across from him, setting her bag and coat next to her. “Sorry Lila, you know I take up a lot of space. We can use this as the bag and coat seat if you want to pass your stuff over.”

This was a setup! I knew it.

I glared at her, saying, “Marcus is joining us for dinner, too, so you should hang your things on the back of your chair.”

“Who’s Marcus?” Dr. Jae asked as I slid into the seat next to Adeena.

“A family friend who’s helping us with the c—with some stuff.” Probably shouldn’t go blabbing to everyone about our investigation.

Our waitress came by to introduce herself as Elena and ask for our drink orders. “Oh, are you waiting for someone else? Would you like to wait?”

“Nah, who knows when he’ll show up. We can get started without him.” I was driving, so I stuck with horchata, and Dr. Jae echoed my order. Adeena got one of their giant fishbowl margaritas.

We all helped ourselves to the chips and variety of salsas. Adeena preferred the fiery red chile sauce, while I loved the tangy green tomatillo. Dr. Jae, that coward, stuck with the mild tomato salsa.

Adeena was incredulous. “Aren’t you Korean? How can you not like spicy food?”

He shrugged. “My dad’s White. And I know what you’re thinking, but Park is apparently an English surname, too. My mom’s maiden name was Kim.”

“So because of your dad, you don’t like spicy food?” I asked.

“He can’t handle it, so my mom never made it for us. The only spicy thing I eat is kimchi, and even that has to be served with bowls and bowls of rice. I love all the other stuff though, especially the seafood dishes. Unfortunately—”

“The majority of those dishes are cooked with red pepper paste and spicy as heck. I get it. Most Filipino food isn’t spicy, or at least not where my family’s from, so when I met Adeena, I couldn’t handle it. But her family’s food was so delicious, I slowly built up my spice tolerance every time I ate at her house. Give it time.”

He laughed. “I’m almost thirty. How much time do I need? I’ve made peace with it. Jonathan’s the chile fiend. He takes after our mother in that respect. Got our dad’s personality though.”

“Jonathan? Oh, you have a brother? Older or younger?” I asked.

Now it was Adeena’s turn to laugh. “Are you serious? You don’t know who his brother is?”

“Should I?”

“It’s Detective Park,” she said, watching my expression carefully.

I choked on my water, almost spewing it all over Dr. Jae, but managed to only dribble it down my front. Just the picture of class and grace. No wonder I never won those beauty pageants my mom made me enter. Well, except for that one time, and that was on a technicality.

Dr. Jae handed me some napkins, worry creasing his forehead. “Are you OK? I hope this isn’t a problem. I know there’s some, uh, stuff going on between you two.”

“You mean because he thinks I’m a drug-dealing murderer? Yeah, no big.” I tried to play it off. “I guess I just didn’t make the connection since you two are so different. I mean, you seem so easygoing and friendly, and he’s . . .”

“Intense?” he provided, likely sensing my struggle to not insult his brother.

I smiled. “That’s one way to put it. Seriously though, you’re two different people. What your brother thinks isn’t a reflection on you. Unless you agree with him?”

He flushed. “Of course not! Do you think I’d accept a dinner invitation from someone I thought was a killer?”

“I don’t know, maybe you’re undercover as an unassuming dentist so that I lower my guard and give you precious information,” I teased.

He scoffed. “Who would willingly do something like that? That’s so dangerous.”

Adeena swirled the water in her glass. “Yeah, Lila, who would do something super dangerous like spy on murder suspects to try and solve a case? Utterly ridiculous . . .”

I coughed. “So, have either of you eaten here before? What’s good?”

Elena, our waitress, arrived with our drinks at that moment. “Everything’s good, but our specialty is our duck mole. It takes two days to make and has over twenty ingredients in it, lending it a very special, savory flavor.”

My mouth started to water the minute she said the word “duck,” which was one of my favorite meats. “Oh my goodness, yes. Give me that, please.”

She chuckled and added, “If you prefer seafood, our special of the day is pescado a la veracruzana. It’s a much lighter dish, with fish smothered in tomatoes, olives, and capers.”

Dr. Jae said, “Sounds perfect for me! I’ll have that, please.”

Adeena perused the menu. “I’ll take the chile rellenos, with a side of corn tortillas and refried beans. Wait, are the beans cooked in lard?”

Elena nodded. “Yes, but we also make a vegetarian version and I swear it’s even better than the original. I’d recommend the nopales, as well.”

Adeena grinned. “Sold!”

I watched Adeena eye the waitress as she walked away, and I couldn’t blame her. Elena was totally her type: black cat-eye glasses, dark lipstick, and a multitude of piercings. Pretty sure I saw a tattoo snaking out from the tight, long-sleeved black tee she was wearing as well. Which reminded me of Marcus. Wonder if she was the one he was talking about earlier. Where was he anyway?

I texted him: You still coming?

I put my phone back down on the table, where it buzzed almost immediately.

Sorry can’t. Explain later. Tell the cute waitress I said hi!

I rolled my eyes. “Marcus can’t make it. Told me to say hi to the cute waitress. Wonder if it’s the same one Adeena’s obviously—”

Adeena cut me off with a sharp elbow to the ribs. As I clutched my side, she said, “So, Jae, tell us about yourself! You’ve been in Shady Palms for what, a year?”

He dabbed his mouth with his napkin before answering. “Closer to three, actually. Came here shortly after I graduated from dental school to set up my own clinic.”

I helped myself to another chip. “I had no idea you’d been here so long. You must’ve gotten here not long after I left for university.”

His hand paused halfway to his mouth, the chip dripping salsa onto the tabletop. “Wait, are you still in school? How old are you?”

I smiled. “I’m twenty-five. I was working on a bachelor’s in hotel and restaurant management since my aunt and grandmother don’t have any business training. Took some time off near the end of the program to get proper restaurant experience, so I haven’t finished my degree yet.”

He sighed in relief. “That makes sense. For a minute, I worried I seemed like an old man to you two.”

Adeena laughed. “Even if we were fresh out of college, that would make us what, twenty-two? Maybe twenty-three years old? I mean, fairly young in the grand scheme of things, but not exactly children.”

I laughed, too. “Not that our families would ever acknowledge that, of course.”

Dr. Jae nodded, commiserating. “I’m turning thirty soon, and my mom still insists on packing a lunchbox for me every day. I finally got my own apartment last year and you’d think I’d said I didn’t love her anymore from the way she was carrying on.”

“Let me guess, the fact that you moved out but aren’t married yet absolutely baffles her?” I asked.

He nodded. “She’s pretty old-school, but my dad stepped in before it became an issue. As a compromise, I moved to a building that’s only five minutes away. I let them think I was making a big sacrifice, but I do like being closer to them in case of emergency. I just don’t need to, you know, actually live in the same place.”

“So, you said you’re turning thirty soon. How soon?” I asked.

His ears turned red and he cleared his throat. “End of the month, actually.”

Adeena and I glanced at each other and grinned. We both had the same idea.

“Let me guess,” she said. “You plan on having a low-key celebration, maybe dinner with your family where your mom makes your favorite dish, but otherwise no fuss. Am I right?”

He choked on his horchata. “How did you know? That’s exactly what I have planned.”

“Not even a night out with friends?” I asked. “Have a few drinks, reminisce on where your twenties have gone?”

“I don’t really have any friends out here. And I don’t have time to drive out to the city on a weekday to meet up with my old ones.”

I was just teasing him, but now I felt bad. “I’m sorry, Dr. Jae. I didn’t mean . . .”

He waved me off. “First of all, call me Jae. ‘Dr. Jae’ outside the office is weird. It’s not like I’m a pro basketball player.”

At our blank looks, he added, “Julius Erving? From the 76ers? He was a legend!”

Adeena and I looked at each other and shrugged. I said, “I know the 76ers are a basketball team, but that’s it. This is Filipino heresy, but I think basketball is so boring.”

Jae’s jaw dropped. “How could you say that? The Chicago Bulls—”

Elena appeared at that moment, bearing a giant tray laden with our meals. “Haven’t won a championship since I was three years old. Anyway, here’s the special for Dr. Basketball Fanatic.”

Jae chuckled. “Yup, that’s me.”

She winked at him as she put down his plate. “Sorry, couldn’t resist. The duck mole for the lady with the fantastic hair . . .”

I smiled at her. “The secret is coconut oil. And, spoiler alert, you’re getting a great tip.”

“That’s what I like to hear! Since you use hair oil, remind me to tell you about the special beauty oils my mom and I make.” She set down my platter and reached for Adeena’s. “And for my lovely fellow vegetarian, I believe you ordered the chile rellenos, with a side of tortillas, refried beans, and nopales?”

Adeena clapped her hands in excitement. “If it’s all as good as you made it out to be, we might have to bump that great tip up to ‘excellent.’”

“And I think I’ve found my new favorite customers. Anything else I can get you right now?” We shook our heads. “Alright then, enjoy your meal! Buen provecho!”

We all dug in, and for the second time today, Adeena and I made completely inappropriate noises to display our satisfaction.

Jae raised an eyebrow. “I’ve never met people so enthusiastic about their food before.”

I blushed, but Adeena was unfazed. “We’re both in the food business, Doc. It’d be sad if we didn’t have this kind of passion, don’t you think?”

“Hmm, my receptionist does make fun of me for getting excited every time a shipment of the latest dental equipment arrives. I guess nerding out over our professions is a given, huh?”

“Speaking of which, was dentistry your choice or your parents’?”

Typical Adeena bluntness.

He seemed to know where she was going with this. “Mostly mine. Jonathan was the cool, smart guy. Aced all his classes, track star, probably would’ve played football if my mom had let him. He got the dangerous job protecting people, which made my parents anxious but proud. I was the bookworm. I really loved studying and discovered that I liked helping people, but I wasn’t cutthroat enough for academia and didn’t want the high stakes of being a medical doctor. I did do my GPR at a hospital, which was fascinating but reaffirmed my decision. Dentistry was the perfect choice for me.”

I snagged one of Adeena’s tortillas to drag through the leftover mole sauce on my plate. “You seem pretty close to your family. Is that why you moved here?”

He nodded. “We both wanted to be closer to our parents since our dad’s health isn’t great. Jonathan made a lot of sacrifices to come out here. Hard to leave behind a fancy career and move away from your kids to settle down in the middle of nowhere, even if your marriage is long over and your kids are grown. Logistically, it was easier for me since I hadn’t set up a practice yet.”

He sighed and took a sip of his drink. “Still hard not really having anyone other than my family around, though.”

“Family first, right?” I said with a shrug.

I thought I’d hidden the bitterness that came when I uttered that phrase, but Adeena picked up on it. “No offense, but you two sound really spoiled right now. Having families like ours might be kind of annoying, but it’s also a privilege.”

I crossed my arms, her comment stinging more than I thought. She sounded like Bernadette. “Adeena, nobody complains about their family more than you do.”

“And I also know that when things go down and life is against me, my family will always have my back. We all take care of each other in our own way. Yours is the same. How many people can say that and actually mean it?”

Jae looked at Adeena in admiration. “You, my friend, have more layers than I gave you credit for.”

Adeena grinned. “I’m like an onion. Many layers, lots of flavor, and I provide incredible depth. Lucky for you all, I’m not as pungent.”

As we all laughed at her silliness, Elena sauntered back with a water pitcher and refilled our glasses. “Can I interest you all in some dessert? We’ve got buñuelos, flan, and tres leches cake. All family recipes, all fantastic.”

Jae said, “Um, I’m a dentist, so I don’t think—”

“We’ll take one of each, Elena, thanks,” I said. She grinned and left, and I turned my attention to Jae. “You’re allowed to enjoy sugar in moderation, you know. Live a little.”

He smirked. “Lila, I appreciate the sentiment, but you realize that you create sugary treats for a living, right? You’re not exactly the most objective observer here.”

I returned his smirk. “I’ve never had a cavity in my life.”

His jaw dropped.

Adeena added, “My people literally soak fried dough in sugar syrup on the reg and I’ve only had one cavity. She’s right, fellow outsider. Live a little.”

He leaned back in his chair, finally relaxing a bit. “Fellow outsider, huh? How so?”

I glanced at Adeena. “How much time you got?”

Elena came back with our desserts and we paid proper obeisance. The flan was out of this world. I’ve tasted plenty of flan in my life, as they were a staple at Filipino fiestas. But this was flan on a whole other level. The custard was silky smooth and the caramel on top had smoky overtones that played well with the creamy sweetness. Whenever I tried a dessert, my first instinct was to dissect it and put my own spin on it. This flan was too perfect to mess with.

I took a break from this taste of heaven to tell Elena, “Oh, almost forgot. My friend Marcus wanted me to tell you he said ‘hi.’ I guess he’s a bit of a regular here?”

Elena’s smile fell a bit before stretching back to its previous form. “Oh, you know Marcus?”

“Yeah, he’s my godmother’s son. He was supposed to join us tonight, but I guess something came up. How do you know him?”

Elena pushed back a curl that’d escaped from her bun. “We had some trouble with a previous customer. Got to the point where we almost pressed charges, but decided against it. I met Marcus at the police station. He started visiting pretty often after that. Said he wanted to make sure Der—uh, that customer didn’t come back.”

I tried to play it cool, but her slip-up was exactly what I needed. “I’m sorry, but were you about to say Derek? As in Derek Winter?”

Elena made a disgusted noise. “Don’t even bring up that pendejo around me. He told nothing but lies about my uncle and his family.”

“Your uncle? Was he the original owner of this restaurant?”

She frowned. “Yeah.”

When she didn’t elaborate, I asked, “So what happened?”

She crossed her arms. “Why you wanna know?”

“Unfortunately, I’m very familiar with Der—um, that guy. And he loves stirring up trouble. Just curious about what mess he got into this time.”

She hesitated, struggling with whether she wanted to defend her family or tell me to mind my own business. The need to set the record straight won out.

“He told some pretty damning lies about my family that got them into a lot of trouble. Tío Hector and Tía Perla were new in town, and who was the town gonna believe? The White boy who’d lived here his entire life, of course.”

Jae looked a little uncomfortable with that last statement, but Adeena and I just nodded grimly. We knew how it was around here.

“We tried pressing charges, but without any money for a lawyer, it wasn’t gonna go anywhere. Anyway, my tío and his family couldn’t hack it. The restaurant wasn’t making any money and they were scared for the safety of their kids, so they left.”

Elena shook her head. “This restaurant was their dream. So my mom took over the lease.”

“That’s pretty amazing. What were you and your mom doing before this?” I asked.

“I was in school for business administration. Helped my mom run an online store selling handmade soap, candles, beauty and wellness products, things like that. The restaurant doesn’t leave a lot of free time, but we love doing it, so we’ve kept it up.”

Adeena said, “That’s so cool! Do you have a business card? I’m always looking for organic, cruelty-free beauty products.”

Elena looked at her appraisingly. “You clearly take good care of your skin. You’re practically glowing.” She handed over a business card that matched her goth aesthetic, bearing the title WhichCraft Beauty Brews. “I’d love to be your craft hookup. We do big business with herbal remedies and teas, as you can guess from the name. Most of the plants we use in our products are grown in our greenhouse.”

She scribbled her phone number on the back of the card and slid it to Adeena, who grinned. Her goal accomplished, I tried to steer the conversation back on topic so I could accomplish my own.

“So when’s the last time your uncle and his family were in town?”

She eyed me suspiciously. “Why?”

“Oh, just . . . making conversation, I guess. You all seem close, so it’s a shame to think that you probably don’t see them much anymore because of what happened.”

A shadow passed over her pretty face. “They haven’t been back since everything went down. Bad memories, I guess, and they weren’t sure how safe it would be.”

Elena got called away to take another order before I could think of a response.

Jae cleared his throat. “So what’s with all these questions? Seems a bit personal for friendly chitchat with our waitress.”

Adeena and I looked at each other, having a conversation with our eyes and the barest of body language.

Should I tell him? My eyes asked.

Eyebrow raise. His brother is the detective on the case. Do you think that’s wise?

Eye roll. What’s he going to do? Tattle on me?

Shrug. He could.

Shifty look at Jae. Maybe he could get inside information.

Smirk. Maybe you just want to get inside his pants.

Pointed look at Elena. Like you’re one to talk.

We both burst out laughing, which probably made us look like a couple of weirdos, since we’d been staring at each other silently the whole time.

Jae leaned back in his chair, studying the two of us. “Do I even want to know what just happened?”

I grabbed the last buñuelo, dragging the crispy fritter through the piloncillo syrup pooled on the plate. “Just girl talk. You know how it is.”

“But you weren’t even speaking!”

Adeena smiled at me. “And yet everything that needed to be said was said.”

He shook his head. “You two are . . .”

Adeena and I took turns finishing his sentence.

“Fascinating?”

“Gorgeous?”

“Mysterious?”

“Hilarious?”

“Super weird?”

He laughed. “All of the above. But I was going to say, ‘lucky.’”

“Lucky? How so?” I asked.

“Watching you two play off each other is a lot of fun, and I can already tell your bond is special. You’ve found someone who gets you. Not everybody’s so fortunate.” He looked off into the distance, as if seeing his past relationships through a different lens.

I flushed, and Adeena’s eyes dropped to her lap. Was she thinking what I was thinking? How we’d both almost let our friendship lapse more than once? How my years away had strained all my relationships, including this one? I was keeping a pretty big secret from her, but I was sure she’d been less than honest with me as well. Maybe it was time we had a talk.

Before either of us could respond, Elena stopped by with our check, which Jae gallantly covered. Normally Adeena and I would put up more of a fight (you did not want to get into a fight with an Asian person over who’s going to foot the bill), but I was still paying off student loans and Lord knew what was going to happen to our restaurant. Adeena was too busy making heart eyes at Elena to realize Jae had paid the bill.

“Lovely meeting you, Elena,” I said, getting up and holding out my hand.

“The formal type, huh? I like that,” Elena said, shaking my hand.

Jae and Adeena did the same, though Adeena’s handshake lingered for a little longer than necessary. “Hey, maybe you could stop by Java Jo’s sometime tomorrow? Sunday is the day I’m in charge of the menu. I’ll hook you up with something good.”

Elena grinned at us. “Sounds great. I just might do that.”

Then she left to go assist the latest batch of customers, her hips swinging to a rhythm only she could hear.

“Ooh, Adeena, things are looking up. And if it seems to be going well, maybe you could ask a few questions . . .”

She threw me a look but didn’t respond. Ah well, it was worth a shot. Besides, I’d learned enough to see there was a strong connection and motive, and it’d be way too obvious if we pushed any harder. My next step was to figure out why the Torres family almost pressed charges, which meant I had to meet up with Marcus again. Sigh.

Adeena, Jae, and I headed out and Jae walked us to my car. “Thanks for inviting me out tonight. This was a lot of fun. I don’t know many people here outside of my family and patients, so maybe we can do this again sometime soon?”

“You free tomorrow night? With the restaurant closed, I figured I should continue exploring the eateries in this town. Who knows how long I’ll be stuck here?”

Adeena frowned at that last statement. “I’ve got a family thing going on, so I can’t make it. Don’t go anywhere good without me!”

I thought over the next few restaurants and suspects on my list. I was going to the sushi place with Janet, so that was out. Barbecue was delicious, but not my favorite thing to eat in public. Besides, I still wasn’t ready to face the memories Nettie Bishop would bring up. Which left . . .

“Jae, you up for some pierogis?”

His eyes lit up. “Absolutely! My grandmother is from Poland and I’d kill for some potato-cheese pierogies as good as my babcia made every Sunday. I didn’t know Shady Palms had a Polish restaurant.”

I hesitated. “This isn’t going to cause problems between you and your brother, is it? Us being friends? I wouldn’t want him to think . . .”

I trailed off, unsure of how to finish that sentence.

“I’m a grown man. He doesn’t get to tell me who I can and can’t hang out with.” Both the tone and the look that accompanied it were surprisingly fierce—seemed like Adeena wasn’t the only one with big-brother issues.

He paused, then asked in a lighter tone, “Would you like me to pick you up so we don’t both have to drive tomorrow?”

“Uh, sure. That’d be nice. I’ll text you my address. Same time tomorrow night?”

“Absolutely. See you then!”

He waved at Adeena and headed to his own car, and I got into mine, pretending like it was no big deal that we were getting dinner two nights in a row.

For once, things were starting to go my way.