by Amy M. Reade
“Now don’t go off the deep end. I told you, it was just a random thought. I probably shouldn’t even have mentioned it to you. This guy’s probably legit, but you have to be aware, that’s all. I’m sure you’re going somewhere public, right? Not back to his hotel room or anything?”
“We’re going to the Water Wheel Restaurant.”
“That’s certainly public enough. He’s not going to try anything in a restaurant full of people. Just don’t go anywhere alone with him. Are you meeting him there or is he driving you?”
“He just said he would pick me up at the shop at six.”
“That probably means he’s planning to drive you. Okay, so just tell him you prefer to drive yourself because you want to have your car with you after dinner so you can get right home.”
“Do you really think I should be worried?” Lilly asked, her hands sweating.
“No. I shouldn’t have said anything. I’m sure he wants to take you out to dinner because he thinks you’re hot.”
“Now I know you’re lying.”
Noley laughed. “No, seriously. I shouldn’t have said anything. You’ll have fun.”
“I hope so. I can’t even call to cancel or anything because I don’t have his phone number and I don’t know where he’s staying.”
“Take notes. You’ll have to remind me what it’s like to be on a date.” Noley laughed.
I’ve got to set her up with Bill.
When Lilly woke up the next morning she was grumpy from a lack of sleep and the headache that resulted from tossing and turning all night. All she could think of was going back to bed. She told the kids she would be home a little late that evening and they didn’t ask why. Even that made her mad. Didn’t they care where she went after work? Weren’t they concerned about her with a murderer on the loose in Juniper Junction? God knew she spent enough time worrying about them.
Before she left for work Barney had an accident on the kitchen floor, further deepening Lilly’s dark mood. Trying to clean it up in a hurry, Lilly knelt in dog urine and had to change her pants.
This does not bode well for a pleasant day, she thought with a groan.
When she got to work she found three people waiting to get in. She checked her watch and sure enough, it had stopped. It figures. She apologized profusely for being late to open the shop and led the customers in. It wasn’t until she had helped all three pick out pieces of jewelry that she realized she had buttoned her blouse wrong and the buttons weren’t lined up. She rolled her eyes. What those customers must have thought of her! It was a miracle they stuck around to buy anything.
She had barely enough time to worry about her date that evening with the Christmas customers coming in all day long. It was about five thirty when someone tapped her on the shoulder as she was rearranging a display and she shrieked and spun around.
“Hassan! I’m so sorry about that.” Apparently her subconscious had been at work, worrying, while she waited on customers.
He looked taken aback. “No, it’s my fault. I shouldn’t have tapped you while you were busy. Please forgive me.” He held out a gorgeous bouquet of winter greens and tiny rosebuds.
Lilly blushed. “These are beautiful. Thank you very much. It wasn’t your fault I jumped—I’ve just been a little on edge, that’s all.”
“Do you still want to go to dinner with me?” he asked, his eyebrows furrowing. “I would understand if you’d rather not go or if you’d like to go some other time.”
“No, no. I’ll go. It’ll do me good to get away from this place,” she said with a smile. “Let me put the flowers in some water and I’ll be right back. Oh, do you mind if I drive my car? You can follow me. I want to have my car with me so you don’t have to bring me back here when dinner is over.”
He looked disappointed for a brief moment, then smiled. “Of course that’s fine. I’ll just browse in a couple of the shops nearby until you close up.”
Lilly left the bouquet on the counter until six o’clock, when Hassan came back to the shop. She suggested that he get his car and wait for her in front of the shop and then he could follow her to The Water Wheel. She locked the door behind him, made sure the vaults were locked, and left through the back door, again checking the lock. If there was one positive thing that had come out of everything that had been happening since Black Friday, it was that she was more mindful of security and keeping doors locked.
She drove her car around to the front of the store and saw Hassan. She slowed and waved to him and he pulled out behind her.
She drove to The Water Wheel and parked in the pine-needle-strewn lot. Hassan parked next to her. As she was gathering her purse and car keys she noticed he had hurried around to her door to open it for her. She unlocked it so he could lift the door handle. He held out his hand to help her out of the car. Flushing, she took his hand and stood next to him while he closed her door.
Inside the restaurant, they were shown to a table in the back, overlooking the lamplit garden and the swiftly rushing river. After they were seated, Lilly pointed out the window and said to Hassan, “This building used to be a mill. It used a water wheel for power, hence the restaurant’s name. The water wheel is still out there, but you can’t see it in the dark.”
Hassan followed her gaze. “I do love to visit places with an interesting history. I would like to see the water wheel in the daylight.”
They perused their menus. Lilly already knew what she wanted, but kept her gaze on the menu because she didn’t know what else to say to Hassan. She was struck with a feeling of dread, wondering how she was going to make it to the end of dinner. How long had it been since she’d been on a date? She shuddered to think. Years. Did people even date the way they used to?
Luckily Hassan had thought ahead and was keen to talk about jewelry.
“So how did you get involved in the jewelry business?” he asked after the server had poured two glasses of sauvignon blanc.
“It all came about when I needed a job following my divorce years ago,” Lilly said. “I found work in a jewelry store owned by a nice old man who eventually became a sort of mentor to me.”
“And?” Hassan prompted.
“And when he retired I had enough money saved up to rent a place and open my own business. I’ve never looked back. I think jewelry is fascinating.”
“And how did you become interested in jewelry design?”
“I had one customer, an elderly woman who used to vacation several times a year in Juniper Junction. Every time she was in town she would visit my mentor, Robert, when he was still in business. After Robert retired she started visiting my shop. One day she brought her daughter in to purchase a piece, but I didn’t have anything the daughter was interested in. She liked more modern pieces. Her mother asked if I could design something and I said “yes” without even thinking. Then I had to teach myself.” Lilly chucked fondly at the memory. That daughter had since become one of her best customers.
“I am quite impressed,” Hassan said, leaning back in his seat and swirling his wineglass. “That’s not an easy thing to learn, and it takes a special eye for design.”
“Robert taught me everything I know about creativity,” Lilly replied.
“Oh, I think creativity is inherent. Robert may have coaxed it out of you, but it must have been there all along.”
Lilly glanced down for a moment, embarrassed by his praise. “What about you? You seem to know a lot about jewelry,” she said.
“I’ve been in the jewelry business a long time,” he said. “As was my father before me, and his father before him.”
“I knew it. You have such a keen interest in jewelry that I knew you were involved in the business somehow. Do you have a store back in Minnesota?”
Hassan shook his head. “I am not in the business that way. I am a gem hunter.”
Chapter 26
Lilly’s eyes widened. “A gem hunter?” she repeated. “That’s incredible!”
Hassan laughed softly. “I’ve been
hunting gems since I was a little boy. My father used to take me with him on trips.”
Lilly’s head was reeling with questions. She had never met anyone who actually went hunting for the gems that were sold by jewelry stores. She only dealt with the suppliers.
“Wow. There are so many things I want to ask you,” she said. “First, what kinds of gems do you hunt for?”
“My favorite stone is lapis lazuli, but I look for everything from rubies to sapphires to diamonds to jade to citraline to tourmaline. Everything, really.”
“Where do you look for the stones?”
“I go to Afghanistan as often as I can. That’s where I find the best lapis lazuli. And Sri Lanka, all over the Middle East.”
“I can’t believe what an incredible job that must be,” Lilly said, not even trying to mask the awe in her voice.
“It’s a fascinating way to make a living, that’s for sure,” Hassan said with a smile.
“So tell me what you do when you go hunting for lapis lazuli.”
“The lapis lazuli is getting harder and harder to find. The best places I’ve found are in caves in very remote parts of Afghanistan. Of course, much of Afghanistan is very remote. But it takes several days to get to the caves and it can be treacherous. There are certain times of year I can’t go because of the weather or because of tribal fighting.”
Lilly shook her head in disbelief. “So how much time do you spend actually hunting for gems?”
“The time I spend actually traveling, several months out of the year. Time spent actually gem hunting, many weeks. I have contacts all around the globe who help me suss out the best places to find quality stones.”
“That’s so exciting. So tell me—where are you from? I can detect a slight accent, but I can’t identify it.”
Hassan chuckled. “It’s a British accent, but it’s not very strong. That’s probably why you couldn’t identify it. I’m originally from London, but I moved to the United States when I was quite young.”
“Have you lived in Minnesota since then?”
“My family has moved around, but mostly we’ve stayed in the Midwest. We have family there and my parents wanted to live with other Muslims.”
Lilly hoped her eyes didn’t betray her surprise. Had she ever even known a Muslim?
“So what made you decide to come to Juniper Junction?”
“My sister was put in charge of finding a place this year. We usually vacation together as a family, and when I say “family,” I mean aunts, uncles, and cousins. There are about twenty-five of us.”
“Where are you staying?”
“We have rented several places near each other on the outskirts of town.”
“What a fun way to vacation. My kids and I rarely go on vacation, but when we do it’s just the three of us.”
“Sometimes it’s a good way to spend a vacation; other times it’s not,” Hassan said with a smile.
“I think I know what you mean. I don’t have a large extended family, so even if we went with the whole family it would still be a small group.”
“How old are your children?”
Lilly told Hassan all about Tighe and Laurel. He seemed interested in knowing about them and their interests—sports, hobbies, everything. The more interest he showed in the kids, the more Lilly liked Hassan. She found herself wondering over a bite of steak if they would be going out again.
It wasn’t until Hassan asked if Lilly had any pets that she blurted out Beau’s name by mistake, thereby ruining her own appetite and, she thought ruefully, probably Hassan’s.
“I got Barney when Beau left,” she began. Then she set down her fork abruptly and said, “I’m so sorry about that. I didn’t mean to mention his name—my ex-husband, I mean.”
“That’s all right. He was part of your life at one time so I assume he’d be a part of some of your stories.” Lilly smiled, pleased that Hassan didn’t seem to mind the mention of Beau.
“Anyway, when he left we lived in a house that was in the middle of nowhere. It was just me and the kids in the house, and they were just babies at the time. I couldn’t afford to move, but the more time passed, the older the kids got, the more isolated I felt out in the country. I felt we needed some kind of protection. I couldn’t afford an alarm system, but I could afford a dog from the pound. So that’s how I got Barney.” Lilly gave a wistful smile at the memory. Barney had been with her since Tighe was seven—ten years.
Hassan asked to see a picture of Barney and Lilly was only too happy to oblige. After an appropriate amount of time spent oohing and aahing over several photos that emerged from Lilly’s purse, Hassan pulled out his wallet and showed Lilly photos of his own dog, Dusty. Hassan spoke of Dusty, a French bulldog, fondly.
“Who takes care of Dusty when you’re not home?” Lilly asked. Noley often looked after Barney when Lilly was away, but Hassan’s whole family had come with him.
“There is a dog sitter near my home. I leave Dusty with her. Dusty thinks of it as a vacation, I’m sure. The dog sitter ends up watching Dusty whenever I travel because my family are all cat people.” He smirked. “They do not appreciate the beauty of coming home to a dog every day.”
Lilly grinned in perfect understanding. The kids might get mad and her mother might be ornery, but Barney was always happy to see her, always ready to display unconditional love.
Talk turned again to gem hunting. “I think it must be such an exciting job,” Lilly said.
“It can be,” he agreed, “but often it’s just digging through rock where I may or may not be rewarded with anything but cuts and bruises.”
“Tell me about a recent trip you took,” she suggested. “Where you went, what you found, what you did with the gems once you found them, that sort of thing.”
“I went to Afghanistan late last fall,” Hassan replied. “I was searching for lapis lazuli.” His eyes took on a faraway look. “I have a team I work with when I’m there, and they met me in Kandahar and took me up into the mountains. We had to complete the trek before winter weather set in because it can be so treacherous there once the snow falls. It would be almost impossible to get out of the area before next spring.”
“How big is the team?”
“Between the drivers and the guides, there are six or seven of us, depending on the day. They are very loyal to me, so they know the best places to search for lapis lazuli and they don’t share the locations with other hunters.”
“Believe it or not, I never really thought too much about where the gems that I sell in my store actually come from,” Lilly said, shaking her head. “It’s fascinating.”
“The best part is getting to meet people from the mountainous areas of Afghanistan and other countries,” Hassan said. “They are the most hospitable, kind people you’ll ever meet. And though many of them are poor beyond measure, they take pride in welcoming me into their homes and serving food and drink to me and my team. We bring them things, of course, like school supplies for their children and eyeglasses that have been donated to us, so there’s a reciprocity in our dealings.”
“That’s wonderful. Does your father go with you?”
“I used to accompany him, but he has gotten too old to make those long, dangerous treks into the caves of Afghanistan. I keep in close contact with him when I travel, though, because he knows the people and the business better than anyone. Better than I do, certainly, but I’m learning.”
“He must have some incredible stories to tell,” Lilly said.
“He does. I hope you’ll get to meet him before we have to return to Minnesota.” He grinned at Lilly and she blushed.
Chapter 27
Too soon, they were done eating and Hassan asked if Lilly would like to go for a walk in the gardens behind the restaurant before going home. She didn’t hesitate for a moment, though she wondered what Bill would say to such a thing. He’d be beside himself, she was sure. But the gardens were not large and were in full view of the windows in the back of the restaurant.
> Hassan held her coat as she slid her arms into the sleeves, and a warm feeling spread through her. Beau had never done such a gentlemanly thing. She shook her head to rid herself of the thought of her ex-husband. Hassan saw the movement.
“Is everything all right?” he asked.
“Yes,” she said with an embarrassed laugh. “Just trying to clear my head.”
They walked outside, where the sudden blast of cold air took Lilly’s breath away for a second. She had more questions for Hassan, this time about Minnesota. Most of all, she wanted to know how anyone could live in a place that was even colder than the Colorado mountains.
Hassan let out an easy laugh. “In the winter, I long for warmer places. Minnesota is at its best in the summertime. My vote for the tropics was ignored when my sister was looking for input for vacation ideas, but,” he added, glancing sideways at Lilly, “this spot is turning out better than I expected.”
Lilly smiled at him, not trusting herself to say anything. She was afraid one of two things would happen: either she would put her foot in her mouth or mistakenly blurt out how attractive she found Hassan.
Hassan had lots of questions about Colorado—how long winter lasted, what it was like in the summertime, and when the slow season was for tourists in the Rocky Mountains. Other than her children and her dog, Lilly’s favorite subject was Colorado, and Juniper Junction in particular. She waxed poetically about her state and the reasons it was her favorite place in the world, and Hassan seemed intrigued by her descriptions of a Rocky Mountain summer.
“If what you say about Colorado in the summertime is true, this might be a place I should visit once the weather is warmer,” he said.
“I’m sure you’d love it,” Lilly replied.
“How safe is it in Juniper Junction?” Hassan asked. “I’ve been reading the newspaper since we’ve been on vacation and there have been two murders in town. It doesn’t seem like a dangerous place to me, but the stories in the paper suggest otherwise.”
