Fry Another Day by J. J. Cook Read Free Book Online Page A

The challenge would be selling our normal menu but on roller skates. It also included singing and a taste challenge.
    â€œI’m not doing that.” Delia made her feelings plain. “I don’t dance and I don’t sing.”
    We were each given vouchers for meals and hotel rooms for our teams. I reserved judgment on the singing and roller skating until tomorrow.
    I’d been a roller-skating carhop when I was in college. That had been so many years ago that I could hardly remember. I wasn’t even sure I knew
how
to skate anymore. And singing was really not my forte.
    At least we were able to serve our normal menus! I wasn’t worried about a taste challenge. I felt sure we could beat anyone at that.
    Everyone left the area after that. Police were waiting to reopen the downtown streets we were taking up. When we got back to the Biscuit Bowl, I saw a tow truck hooking up to the Dog House.
    I wondered if there would be an investigation of what had happened to Reggie. Had he been murdered or was it an accident?
    Despite my feelings about him, it was hard to imagine someone had followed him up here from Mobile to kill him. What were the chances he knew someone here who hated him that much?
    I felt the police would figure out it was a simple accident once they’d had a chance to look into it.
    Packing up so many food trucks was noisy and messy. There was a lot of shouting as things went wrong—Fred’s Fish Tacos had a flat tire, and Stick It Here lost their outside menu board.
    Everyone was free to do what they wanted for the rest of the day. We could hang around in Charlotte and take in the sights or go on to Columbia. The only thing that mattered was stocking up and being ready for tomorrow when the next challenge began.
    â€œDo you want to give me the list of supplies that you’ll need?” Miguel asked as I was checking the Biscuit Bowl one last time before we left.
    â€œLet me talk to Ollie and Uncle Saul later in Columbia before we plan what we’re going to make tomorrow, now that we know we can serve our normal menu.” I shifted Crème Brûlée’s bed to the back of the food truck. There had to be room up front for Ollie to sit. Delia and Uncle Saul were riding with Miguel.
    Ollie nudged me in the side before we left the kitchen. “I want to ride in the car with Delia and Miguel.”
    â€œOkay. That’s fine.”
    â€œI’m not letting your uncle take up all of Delia’s time. This was supposed to be an opportunity for Delia and me to get to know each other.”
    â€œOkay. I’m good with that. But maybe you should have told Delia that’s what this was supposed to be.”
    He frowned. “Why?”
    â€œHave you even told her that you
like
her?” I looked into his big face and had to smile. He was totally clueless.
    â€œNo. It’s not necessary. When someone likes you, you can tell.”
    â€œMaybe
you
can. Most people need a hint. If you don’t give Delia a hint about the way you feel, she’ll never know.”
    He made a sound somewhere between a
humph
and a snort. “Like I should take advice from
you
. You haven’t told Miguel the way you feel about him. I’ll do things my way—in the car with Miguel.”
    â€œOkay. I’ll see you in Columbia.”
    â€œThat’s right.” He started to walk out of the kitchen and suddenly turned back. “And I’m not roller skating or singing in Columbia.”
    I laughed at that. “You got it.”
    After Ollie was gone, I got Crème Brûlée set up in his bed and gave him a little kiss for the road. Luckily the kitchen area was air-conditioned. It was only going to get hotter the farther south we went.
    I made sure everything was secure, no falling refrigerators or microwave ovens. I closed the back of the Airstream and turned around to find myself face-to-face with a stranger.
    He flashed his police badge at me and