by Lyndsey Cole
Lily’s mouth dropped open. “Yes.”
Vinnie paid for his flowers, thanked the ladies for their help and walked out.
Lily let out a rush of air. “I hope they find that EpiPen. He’s still making me feel like he thinks I had something to do with her death.”
Iris waved her hand in front of her face like she was having a hot flash. “I hope he stays around. I think I could show him a thing or two.”
Lily and Daisy covered their ears. “Way too much information, Mom,” they both yelled in unison.
Lily and Daisy hustled around getting the flowers and arrangements into the cooler. Iris got Poppy and finally headed to her car.
Lily fed Sweet Pea, got her tote and Rosie and told Daisy to lock up. “I’ll have something ready for you to eat when you get to my house. Remember, I want to look like a million bucks.”
“I’ve got just the right dress for you. Get yourself home and take a shower before I get there.”
Lily was getting excited about her date with Ryan. Their first encounter, the day after he moved in next to her, had been somewhat awkward, but over time they had settled into a comfortable, but at times rocky, friendship. She hoped he could give her more information about this whole Carla mess. The last thing she needed was to be a suspect in a suspicious death. And she wanted to know more about Detective Vinnie Stewart and why he seemed to be running the investigation instead of Ryan. Maybe with a little charm she could get him to give her more details.
Lily popped one of her stand by homemade frozen pizzas in the oven to bake while she took a shower. The least she could do was feed Daisy even though Lily wasn’t going to eat anything and spoil her appetite for the reservation at the Victorian House Restaurant. She was so looking forward to some one on one time with Ryan.
Daisy was in the bedroom when Lily walked in with a towel wrapped around her freshly showered body and hair.
“Sit over here and I’ll fix your hair first. I hope you weren’t planning to just pull it into your usual ponytail.”
Lily pulled the towel off her hair. “Of course not.” She laughed rather unconvincingly.
“I’ll blow dry it then pull it into a sexy side swept ponytail with a few loose curls around your face. Do you want any makeup?”
Lily looked at her reflection in the mirror. “I don’t like to wear makeup. It doesn’t feel right. How do you know all this stuff?”
Daisy rolled her eyes. “Are you serious? Don’t you ever read the latest fashion magazines?”
“You probably won’t believe this, but, no, I don’t. I have my personal dressing consultant to help me instead.”
“You’re just lucky I like to do this with you.” Daisy pulled a few strands of hair loose. “There, how does that look?”
Lily tilted her head to the left and right studying the effect of Daisy’s work. “I like it. It’s perfect. Fancier than what I usually do with my hair but not too formal. Do you think Ryan will notice?”
Daisy laughed at her fashion challenged sister. “Unless he’s blind, believe me, he’ll notice. Now, close your eyes and I’ll slip this dress on you.”
Lily stood up. “Wait a minute, I have to get my underwear and bra on.”
“No grannie panties I hope. Show me what you have that’s in the sexy category. You do have something sexy, right?”
“Ryan won’t be seeing my panties. What difference does it make?”
“It will make you feel sexier.” Daisy rummaged through Lily’s underwear drawer and pulled out a lacy pair of panties, bikini cut, and a matching bra. She held them up. “I’m impressed. These are nice.”
Lily laughed. “Yeah, you gave them to me.” She snatched them from Daisy’s hand and put them on. “Okay. Let’s see the dress.”
“Close your eyes.”
Lily felt a silky smooth fabric slide down her body. The feel of the material made her feel sexy before she even opened her eyes to see the finished product. She heard the zipper and felt the dress tighten snuggly around her from the waist up.
Daisy steered her in front of the full length mirror. “Okay. Take a look.”
Lily saw her reflection. “Who is that?” She smiled at Daisy. “You made me look like a different person.” She twirled and felt the skirt of the dress swirl around her legs. The royal blue highlighted Lily’s blue eyes and contrasted nicely with her blond hair. She hugged Daisy. “You’re a genius. Thank you.”
They turned at the sound of a knock on the kitchen door. “Perfect timing. That must by Ryan.” Lily slipped on her sandals and went to let him in.
Ryan looked her up and down and whistled his approval. “Am I at the right house?” he teased.
Lily smiled and gently slapped his arm. “No. I’m waiting for my date to pick me up. Who are you?”
Ryan picked her up and twirled around with Lily in his arms. “I’m glad I beat that other guy to your door. Ready to go?”
“All set.” She shouted a goodbye to Daisy and reminded her to eat the pizza as they walked out.
Ryan opened the door of his car for Lily to get in. She watched as he walked back around to the driver side. He was wearing charcoal gray dress pants that hugged his butt in all the right places. His white shirt had a blue pinstripe and he was wearing a jacket but no tie—casual but dressy at the same time. He slid into the driver’s seat and took another long look at Lily.
“I hope you brought your appetite.”
“My appetite for what?” She winked.
Ryan smiled. “I’m so looking forward to tonight.”
The parking lot at the Victorian House was almost full. Ryan found a spot and offered Lily his arm as they walked in.
The room buzzed with the sound of conversations, silverware clinking and low jazz music layered over it all. The mixture of smells hit Lily’s nose and she almost started to drool. She whispered to Ryan, “I’ve never been here before.”
“Me neither.” They followed the hostess to a corner table away from the busiest activity in the restaurant. Ryan held the chair for Lily and then sat down across from her.
Lily glanced around the room. “This is nice. Especially after this crazy day.” She watched as a man she had never seen before walked to their table and stopped next to Ryan. He acted hesitant before settling his hand on Ryan’s shoulder.
Ryan looked up. “Adam? Adam May?”
Lily couldn’t get a read on Ryan’s expression. A flash of anger quickly came and left.
“What are you doing here?”
Adam fidgeted awkwardly. “I need to talk to you. I was hoping we could smooth over our differences. Get past my disloyal behavior. Your friendship means a lot to me.” He stood at their table looking hopeful.
“This isn’t a good time for that conversation, Adam.” Ryan looked at Lily and then back to Adam. “Where are you staying? Maybe I could find some time tomorrow.”
Adam visibly relaxed. “I’d appreciate that. I’m staying at the Cozy Motel.” He handed Ryan a business card. “Here’s my number. Give me a call. Anytime. I’ll be around for a few days.” He squeezed Ryan’s shoulder and walked away.
Ryan studied the business card then looked up at Lily. “Did he say the Cozy Motel?”
“That’s what I heard. Why?”
“Adam was my best friend. The best friend who ran off with Carla. What’s he even doing in Misty Valley? And staying at the Cozy Motel? Where Carla was found dead?”
Lily’s eyes widened as this all clicked in her brain.
Chapter 5
Lily woke early Saturday morning. She stretched, snuggled under her comforter and smiled at the memory of her dinner with Ryan. It had been wonderful, at least after the initial weirdness of having his old friend, Adam, stop at their table. She wanted to relive every moment of his eyes gazing into hers. After they shared a bottle of wine, which went right to her head, all thoughts of whether Carla was murdered or not had flown from her thoughts. Instead, as she sat across from him, she imagined Ryan’s strong muscled chest
under his shirt. The feel of his silky skin rippling over those muscles. The hint of his perfectly shaped butt as he walked in front of her. Unfortunately, she thought, he was a perfect gentleman as he walked her to her door and they shared just one kiss good night. It was a take-her-breath-away, knees-go-weak, melt-in-a-puddle kiss and it left her wanting more, but it would have to sustain her until they could find more time to spend together.
Rosie jumped off the bed and whined at Lily to go outside. “You just interrupted my wonderful memory,” she told Rosie with a laugh. “I think you’re jealous since you couldn’t come along last night. At least I snuck a couple of those artisan bread rolls home for you.” Lily got up and pulled on a sweatshirt to ward off the early morning chilly air.
A hot cup of coffee jolted her brain back to yesterday’s events—before her date with Ryan. She thought about Carla’s visit to the shop and almost choked when she remembered Carla holding her EpiPen when she was screaming about the bee. At the time, Lily thought Carla was just being a drama queen but now it took on more significance. And Tamara had told them that red roses were found in Carla’s motel room—all torn apart. The roses she bought from Lily? Or did someone else bring her roses?
What could that mean? Maybe Carla was smashing the flowers trying to kill the bee or bees? Who brought the flowers and where did they come from? And where was that EpiPen? And what about Adam May? Why was he in Misty Valley at the same time Carla showed up?
Lily’s head was spinning. It wasn’t much to go on but she had that uneasy feeling that Vinnie Bulldog Stewart thought Lily had something to do with Carla’s death and she wasn’t going to wait for him to find a reason to arrest her.
Lily decided to drop Rosie off at her mother’s house. It would be a busy morning getting the flowers delivered to Hill Farm for Ellie’s wedding. She smacked herself on her forehead. She had completely forgotten about the chicken barbeque late Saturday afternoon and the shooting competition to raise money for FurEver Home, the local animal shelter. Lily had let her mother sign her up for that, even though Lily had stopped shooting after the incident with a previous boyfriend. Everyone knew Lily was the best shot in town and she was hoping to raise a lot of money for the animal shelter.
“Come on Rosie. I need to get moving. You want to spend some time with Poppy? Maybe you can teach her a few things.” Lily quickly got dressed, grabbed her quilted tote, put the leash on Rosie and headed to her minivan. She couldn’t help but look over at Ryan’s house and wonder how he had slept last night. The thought of him kissing her gave her goose bumps and made her smile. And the thought of him in bed made her think—well, she banished those thoughts before they got her too distracted.
A quick stop at Iris’ house and then Lily was on her way to Beautiful Blooms. She still had a few last minute flowers to put together. Ellie wanted fresh flowers on her cake and they decided to use small sunflowers. And Lily wanted to make a special arrangement for the bride and groom table that would be different from all the others. She had some beautiful pink with a white edge lisianthus and light blue hybrid delphinium to mix in an oblong basket with ivy winding over the edge and a few sprigs of forget-me-nots. Lily always tried to work ivy into weddings since it had such a nice meaning—fidelity and affection. She was enjoying being able to work uninterrupted before she had to open the shop and managed to get everything together in the cooler for delivery at the end of the morning. Daisy arrived at nine and customers started to come in soon after. Tamara strolled in late morning and made herself comfortable. Lily wondered what was on her agenda that morning but Tamara waited patiently until the other customers had been helped and left the shop.
Tamara pushed herself up from the chair. She looked around just to be sure everyone but Lily and Daisy were gone. “I heard some more about the murder,” she said conspiratorially.
Lily was annoyed that Tamara kept referring to it as a murder, but at the same time she wanted to hear what Tamara had found out. “And?”
“Well. That young woman, the dead one, had a severe allergy to bee stings and,” she whispered, “I heard the detective thinks someone brought those roses to her with bees in them.” She sat back down as if that story had used up all her available energy and confirmed that there could be no doubt it was a murder. “Do you have any coffee in this place?”
Lily rolled her eyes. “Tamara, do I look like a coffee shop? No, there’s no coffee. Why would anyone go to that trouble to kill her? If she was so allergic, she would have one of those EpiPens.”
“Did you see her? She was beautiful! Maybe a jilted lover? He probably stole the EpiPen. I heard they haven’t been able to find it. ”
“That sounds like something you would see in a movie.” Lily didn’t even want to think about the possibility of a jilted lover since it would put Ryan on the suspect list. And, she realized, she needed to find out more about Adam May. Maybe Jennifer could fill her in on that guy. She shivered. And what did happen to the EpiPen? Lily knew Carla had it when she was looking at the flowers in her shop.
Tamara got up again. “Oh, I just love some excitement in town. Are you going to the chicken barbeque later?”
Lily and Daisy both nodded. “Are you going?”
“Of course. Everyone is going. I expect to hear a lot more gossip about the murder. It’s all everyone is talking about. See you all later.” She wiggled her fingers in a too-da-loo jester as she walked out the door.
Daisy looked at Lily. “What do you make of all that chatter? Anything to it?”
Lily considered Daisy’s question carefully. “I hope not. Guess who showed up at the restaurant last night?”
“Who?”
“Ryan’s best friend—the one Carla ran off with when she broke off the engagement.”
Daisy’s eyes widened in disbelief. “No. What’s he doing in town?”
Lily picked up the keys to her minivan. “That’s what I need to find out. Maybe he’s the jilted lover. But first, I have to get all the flowers over to the barn at Hill Farm for Ellie’s wedding. Are you okay here until I get back?”
“I’ll be fine. I expect a quiet afternoon with everyone getting ready for the chicken barbeque. Are you bringing a dish?”
“Are we supposed to bring something?”
“It’s suggested. If you have time you should bring your delicious potato salad. Everyone else makes it with too much mayo and too many potatoes.”
Lily laughed. “Well, it is called potato salad for a reason.”
Daisy grinned. “Yeah, but I like yours with all the other veggies added with the taters.”
“If you go to my house and boil the potatoes, I’ll put it all together when I get home. That way it can be a contribution from both of us.”
“Great idea. I’ll see you at your house when you get done at Hill Farm.”
Lily drove up the winding driveway to the barn at Hill Farm. It was a few miles outside of town, surrounded by hay fields, hills and gorgeous views. She found Ellie at the barn waiting for Lily and the flowers.
Lily opened the side door and Ellie stood speechless, looking at the flowers. “They. Are. Beautiful. Better than I imagined.” Ellie picked up a box filled with a half dozen centerpieces and carried it into the barn. Lily followed with the other box.
“This looks perfect Ellie. Formal in a casual kind of way. You must be really excited.”
“I am. And a little nervous.”
Lily set her arrangements on the tables in the center of the rose petals and admired her work. “Last minute jitters? That’s probably normal.”
“Not that exactly. My mom is worried about me leaving. I’m the baby and I think she’s worried about having that empty nest syndrome. And with that girl getting murdered, she has something else to worry about with me moving away.”
Lily’s ears perked up at the mention of Carla’s death. “That was tragic. I’m still trying to figure out where the red roses came from. She bought some from me but I wonder if someone else brought some to her room.
”
Ellie looked at Lily. “Red roses? What did that have to do with it?”
“I heard that she died from an allergic reaction to a bee sting and there were red roses in her motel room.”
“That’s awful, but it doesn’t sound like murder.”
“Apparently, her EpiPen was missing and the detective suspects foul play. By the way, where did you get these rose petals?”
Ellie’s face went white. “My mom grows beautiful roses. It’s weird. I just remembered that she told me that some guy drove to the house and asked to buy some before that girl died.”
Lily stopped mid-stride. “Who was it?”
“I have no idea. I’ll ask my mom for more details when she gets back. Do you think it could be connected?”
“Possibly. Let me know if you get more information.” Lily went to the van to get the rest of the flowers. “Enough of that depressing talk. This is your special day and I can see the glow of excitement in your face.” Lily hugged Ellie. “Congratulations. Stop in and visit when you’re back in town.”
Ellie smiled and nodded. “Of course I will. Thank you so much for the flowers. It’s just the finishing touch that this place needed.”
Lily waved and headed to her house wondering who could have bought the roses from Mrs. Hill. Anyone could see them from the road. Strange, for sure.
Lily and Daisy drove to the Misty Valley Rod and Gun Club together, after they made Lily’s Potato Salad and More. Of course, they had to sample it to be sure it was good. And, of course, they had to have something to drink with it, so they split a beer. The salad passed their taste test and the beer relaxed Lily enough so she started to look forward to the event.
The parking lot was the fullest she had ever seen. Lots of signs for contributions for the animal shelter, a kids fishing derby, ticket sales for the chicken barbecue and the shooting contest. Pammie Newman even had an area set up with lots of volunteers helping to show the rescues that were ready for their forever homes.
The FurEver Home Animal Shelter was dear to Lily’s heart since that’s where Rosie had come from. Her special white terrier would have been euthanized if Pammie hadn’t pulled her from the city shelter and brought her to Misty Valley. Lily often thought about how lucky Rosie was but after Rosie saved Lily’s life twice, she realized that she was the lucky one. Lily felt she could never do enough for the shelter to pay them back for bringing Rosie into her life.
