“How so?” Elvira refused to give up, and she fell into step.
“For using me as a reference without my permission.” They reached the back of the restaurant. “I wouldn’t even be on the investigator’s radar if you hadn’t used me as a reference.”
Elvira’s shoulders slumped as she watched Carlita step inside the restaurant. “Maybe you’ll get lucky, and they won’t want to talk to me.”
“Fat chance.” Elvira trudged off, and Carlita shook her head as she sucked in a breath.
Dylan parked his vehicle and joined her. “Who was that?”
“Elvira Cobb, my former tenant, a royal pain in the rump, and a woman who is always managing to become involved in some sort of crisis.” Carlita forced Elvira’s dilemma from her mind as she handed Dylan a small stack of papers.
“I’ve found a few recipes we could try. I thought we could pick them out together, and then I’ll do a test run in my kitchen.”
Dylan and Carlita headed inside to a booth near the back. They mulled over the possible picks and decided on a new lunch special, along with a chicken Milano recipe.
Carlita studied the list of ingredients. “This should be fairly simple and something we can make in large quantities.”
“What are the ingredients again?”
“Chicken breasts, fettuccine, heavy cream, fresh basil, sundried tomatoes.”
“Sounds good.”
The two of them went over the upcoming workweek schedule as restaurant employees began straggling in.
Carlita gathered her files and notes. She told Dylan to call her if he needed anything and exited through the back. Once again, Elvira’s new company van was parked in the alley.
“Ugh.” Carlita marched toward Elvira’s back door and rapped loudly. It opened a crack. Elvira peered out.
“You need to move your van. You’re blocking the alley.”
“Right. I will.” Elvira started to close the door, and Carlita shoved her foot in the crack. “Now.”
“Fine. I’ll move it now.” The door flew open, and Elvira stepped out. “I don’t know why you’re being so nitpicky about my van. There’s plenty of room to park at the other end of the alley.”
“That’s the point. You shouldn’t be parking in the alley at all. It’s a fire hazard.”
“Whatever.” Elvira rolled her eyes.
Carlita stepped onto her stoop. She stood off to the side and watched as her neighbor drove the nuisance vehicle to the parking lot.
Elvira climbed out. She slammed the door and tromped back down the alley. “Are you happy now?”
“Extremely,” Carlita said. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
Carlita turned to go inside.
“Hey!”
She turned back.
“The cops show up yet?”
“No.”
“Good.” Elvira’s expression relaxed. “Maybe they’re not going to.”
“Maybe.” Back inside, Carlita noticed the door to the pawnshop was ajar. She eased it open and found her son and daughter inside talking.
“You’re back.” Carlita joined them. “How is Shelby? What did the doctor’s say?”
Tony cast his sister a quick glance, a look of concern etched on his face. “I was telling Mercedes…Shelby’s diagnosis is more serious than we thought it would be.”
Chapter 5
Carlita’s heart plummeted. “Oh, no. What is it?”
“Shelby was diagnosed with Addison’s Disease.” Tony explained the disease was an uncommon disorder. “The doctor told us it can be life-threatening.”
“Life-threatening? Carlita pressed a hand to her chest.
“Stress is a trigger. We have to be careful to keep an eye on Shelby’s blood pressure.”
“How…I mean what else did the doctor say?” Mercedes asked.
“He prescribed hormone replacement therapy. We’ll definitely have a learning curve.”
“I’m sorry, Tony. Shelby must be beside herself.”
“She’s taking it hard. Like I said, stress is a trigger. We need to learn how to de-stress her. She’s putting in her notice at the post office. We agreed to take it one day at a time, but right now our main goal is to learn how to manage her condition.”
A customer approached the counter, and Tony left to help them at the display case.
“I’m gonna go check on her,” Carlita said.
“I’ll go with you,” Mercedes said.
They told Tony they planned to stop by the apartment, but he asked them to wait until later because Shelby was resting. “The news threw her for a loop.”
“I imagine it did.” Carlita waited until she and Mercedes were in the hall to talk. “This is terrible. I had no idea Shelby was this ill. I figured the wedding planning was the reason for her dizziness and exhaustion.”
“And now she has to be careful about becoming stressed out,” Mercedes said. “I wonder how or if this affects them and their future family plans.”
“I don’t know.” Carlita made a mental note to bring it up to Tony when Shelby wasn’t around, and they returned to their apartment.
While Mercedes headed to her room, Carlita began assembling the ingredients to begin making the chicken Milano. Her first step was to thaw a batch of her homemade fettuccine pasta.
While the pasta thawed, she added oil and the chicken breasts to a skillet. Mercedes emerged from her room and watched as her mother began combining the pasta, the sauce and the sliced chicken breasts.
“Something smells dee-licious.”
“I hope it’s delicious.”
Mercedes patted her stomach. “It smells like something guaranteed to add to the beginning of my pasta pudge.”
“Right, Mercedes. Like you have anything to worry about. It’s a chicken Milano recipe. I’m testing it out for the restaurant.” Carlita scooped a large spoonful of the pasta mixture on a dish and held it out for her daughter. “Give me your expert opinion.”
Mercedes gobbled up the goodies. “I think I need another taste test.”
“Which means you like it.” Carlita placed two sample servings on small dishes and handed one to
