The Final Vow

by Amanda Flower

  “You will be sorry!” Armin then let out a string of what I could only assume were German curse words. Whatever Armin was saying, it sounded bad, and if I were that kid who was now breaking the sound barrier to run up the street and escape the giant German florist, I would get the heck out of there too.

  I watched as the young man turned the corner and disappeared.

  “Don’t come back!” Armin yelled in English.

  I considered that an unnecessary parting shot. There was no way that kid was coming back.

  I also knew this wasn’t the best time to talk to the man about the wedding flowers. Maybe I’d make a quiet retreat and come back later in the afternoon when he’d had a chance to cool down.

  “Kelsey Cambridge,” Armin said with a curl to his lip. “What are you doing off that Farm of yours? Have you all learned to use electricity yet over there?”

  I frowned at him. So much for making a quiet retreat. I straightened my shoulders and walked toward the building. “Can we talk for a minute?”

  He scowled down at me. Armin Coates was a huge man in every sense of the word. He must have been at least six five, maybe even taller, and he weighed well over three hundred pounds. He had the booming voice and personality to match his physical size. Not many people messed with Armin, but I wasn’t many people. I wasn’t going to let my diminutive size allow me to be pushed around by a giant.

  “Are you here about the wedding, Cambridge?” he snapped. “I’m a very busy man. I don’t have time for your Farm’s little problems.” His form filled the doorway. I didn’t think even Frankie could have slipped into the building around him.

  I arched my brow and looked up at him, refusing to back down. “My Farm’s little problems? The Pumpernickle wedding is your little problem too.”

  “Not interested.” He stepped back into the building and made a move to slam the door shut.

  I took a step closer. “Do you know about Vianna?”

  He froze and looked over his shoulder with a surprisingly pained expression on his wide face. There had been a rumor in town that Armin had an unrequited crush on the wedding planner, and I realized that this rumor, unlike so many others that flew around New Hartford, might actually be true.

  “I heard she died in an accident, but not the particulars,” he said finally. He made no move to close the door.

  I grimaced. So Armin didn’t know the how, why, or where. I thought it best not to fill him in on the location until I got a little more information from him.

  “I heard the same,” I said vaguely. “And I need to talk to you.”

  He met my eyes. “About Vianna?”

  “Among other things, yes.”

  He scowled down at me.

  “Armin, come on. You sunflowered my car. Give me a few minutes of your time.”

  His steely gray eyes fell on my car and the sunflower bits and seeds that were scattered about the sidewalk. It wasn’t a pretty scene. “You’re lucky I didn’t throw a planter. If I had, it would have left a dent in the side of your car.”

  I didn’t feel lucky, so I would take his word for it on that one. “Are you going to let me inside?”

  “Fine,” he said, but it came out as a combination of a grunt and a growl. He walked through the door and left it open for me. As I stepped over the threshold, I had the sinking feeling that I was a fly who’d just stumbled upon a spider’s web.

  The blue door opened into a small showroom full to bursting with beautiful bouquets. Canna lilies, roses, azaleas, and verbena poured over the edges of vases. Behind the sales counter, the space opened right into Armin’s large workroom. While I’d worked with Armin many times on Farm weddings, this was the first time I’d ever been inside his shop.

  The stone building had once been a law office that was broken into many rooms, but it appeared that Armin had knocked out all the walls he could in order to have an open floor plan. Occasionally a random wall or post would break up the workroom, and I could only assume they were still there because they bore the weight of the structure. Also, the interior of the building was modern. All bright colors—yellow, green, red, and orange—and clean lines. Armin had made no attempt to keep the historical integrity of the building. I guessed that some of the members of the New Hartford Historical Society would swallow their tongues if they came inside this place of work and saw what the florist had done to the two-hundred-year-old building.

  Armin was already in his workroom, at one of the high wooden tables. He had a large pair of scissors in his hand and cut the long stems of half a dozen sunflowers with one determined snip.

  I swallowed. Perhaps I’d made a miscalculation by coming in here.

  He set half of the sunflowers aside and did the same thing with a grouping of orange daylilies. Then he looked up from his work. “What do you have to say about Vianna? Other than that she’s dead.”

  I stepped into the workroom but took care to keep the high table between us. Because the table appeared to be custom built for Armin’s large frame, the tabletop came up to my chest. I felt like Alice after she ate the shrinking mushroom. “Sorry,” I said. “It’s just that’s a really big pair of scissors, and I just saw what you can do with a sunflower. You might understand my hesitation.”

  He put his scissors down on the cutting board and laughed. It was a loud guffaw, and I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if they heard it all the way back at the Farm, five miles away.

  I felt myself relax a bit. Surely the florist wouldn’t take the scissors to me if he thought I was funny, right?

  A plastic container of sunflower heads sat just down the counter from him. At least now I knew where he got his ammo.

  He caught me staring at the sunflowers. “Those are for the Pumpernickle wedding. My assistant had just finished cutting them all to the proper size when I tossed him out.” He said this like he was talking about the weather, not throwing an employee out onto the street.

  “I thought you were giving Krissie carnations,” I said.

  Armin grinned. “I might have said that to get a rise out of her. She’s a particularly annoying bride.”

  I couldn’t argue with that.

  He laid the sunflowers and daylilies out on the table in front of him. “My other assistant will be here soon. I like to get an early start in the morning. I let the young ones work late into the night. I did that once. I don’t need to do it again.”

  “What about the guy you threw out of the shop? Will he be coming back?” I asked.

  “Oh, him? I just fired him. He used baby’s breath in a bridal bouquet. It’s an unforgivable sin.” Armin picked up his giant scissors again and resumed cutting.

  “I’m sorry about Vianna,” I said, trying to steer the conversation back on track. “I know that the two of you worked together often.”

  Armin frowned and dropped his gaze onto the flowers in front of him. “Vianna was the best wedding planner I’ve ever worked with. She was always organized, always ready with the colors and wedding details, and she put herself between the bride and groom and me.” He selected a yellow ranunculus from a large basket on the table and set it in front of him. “You might have noticed that I’m not good with people, but with Vianna it was different.”

  My brow knit together. This was the first complimentary comment I’d heard about the wedding planner since she’d died.

  He studied me. “I just realized that the groom’s last name is Cambridge, same as yours.” His eyes brightened with curiosity. “Coincidence?”

  “No,” I said. “The groom is my ex-husband.”

  “What?” Armin held onto the table and laughed. “Here I am, thinking I have problems, and you have to host your ex-husband’s wedding.” He placed a hand on his ample stomach. “Oh, what a world we live in!”

  I waited a beat to let him regain control over himself. “Finished?”

 
“I think so.” He grinned from ear to ear.

  I removed my phone from my pocket. “The bride and groom emailed me a revised list for the floral arrangement.”

  His grin disappeared. “The sunflowers and daylilies are final. Listen, I went over the list with Vianna a dozen times, and they’ve made changes at least that many times if not more. I will not change it again. All the flowers have been purchased, and we’re starting preparations now. No more changes can be made.”

  I held up my hands. “Hey, I’m just the messenger. Don’t take it out on me.”

  He shrugged, as if that was of no consequence.

  Behind him, the back door slammed closed. A young African-

  American man ran into the kitchen with his apron in hand. “Armin! Did you hear? Vianna is dead.”

  Armin’s head snapped in the younger man’s direction. “I know that.” His voice was harsh.

  “But do you know how she died?” He didn’t wait for Armin to respond. “She fell off of the top of the church at Barton Farm!”

  Armin’s eyes locked onto me, and they were narrowed into steel slits. Uh oh. The scissors in his hand might be a problem after all.

  seventeen

  The younger man stared at me as if noticing me for the first time. “Who are you?”

  “Kelsey Cambridge, Director of Barton Farm.” I wiggled my fingers at him in greeting.

  His mouth made an “O” shape and he glanced back at Armin. One of the blood vessels on the florist’s neck was about to burst.

  I shuffled away from the table. It was best to put some distance between the florist and myself.

  “Um,” the young man said. “I can come back later, Armin.”

  “No,” Armin said through gritted teeth. He cut the ranunculus stems in half. “Lucas, finish up here. I need to talk to Cambridge outside.”

  I winced.

  Armin set his scissors down and backed away from the counter. Without any questions, Lucas jumped into his spot and began cutting. Armin walked around the counter and headed in my direction. I’d be lying if I said my body didn’t automatically tense up as he approached. He stopped a few feet away from me.

  “What should I tell them about their flower list?” I asked, stalling.

  “You can say you went over it with me. The Pumpernickle woman will get what she gets at this point. She should feel lucky I’m providing the flowers for her wedding at all.”

  I didn’t argue and headed for the front door of the building. I wasn’t going to get any farther with him about the wedding flowers. I might as well find out what I could about his relationship with Vianna or what he might know about her death, if anything. I had to admit that he’d looked honestly shocked when Lucas announced where and how Vianna had died. If he’d been the one to push her out of the window, it wouldn’t have been a surprise to him.

  Outside, a small flock of house sparrows were cleaning the sunflower seeds off of the sidewalk. At least the flower was being put to good use. When Armin stepped outside, the sparrows flew away. They must have sensed danger. I wished I could fly away like those birds, but I needed to know what he knew about Vianna, for Piper’s—and more importantly for Benji’s—sake.

  The florist removed a pack of cigarettes and a lighter from the pocket of his chef’s coat. He lit one up in a practiced motion and after a long drag, said, “I hate these things.”

  “Then why do you smoke them?” I felt like it was a logical question.

  He arched his brow to me. “Don’t you ever do anything you hate because you can’t stop it?”

  A few things came to mind, but I refrained from mentioning them.

  He nodded as if my silence was acknowledgment enough. “I thought so. We all have our crutches, don’t we? We all do except for Vianna. She was perfect.”

  Considering the countless arguments I’d had with Vianna over Krissie’s wedding, I couldn’t agree with that, but I didn’t argue with him. As Armin stood there, smoking one cigarette than another, I realized that I was dealing with a man in the midst of grief. It didn’t matter what I thought of Vianna or what I thought of Armin either. In front of me was someone who’d lost a woman he cared about, and I needed to treat him gently.

  “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you that Vianna died at the Farm,” I said.

  He dropped the cigarette butt on the sidewalk and stamped it out with the toe of his shoe. “I didn’t want to know the details. At least I didn’t want them just yet.”

  “Was that the reason you ejected that assistant from your building?”

  He eyed me. “I might have gone a little too far there, but he needed to go. Might as well make it memorable for him. Perhaps I took my feelings out on him, some.”

  “Perhaps,” I said, doing my best to sound noncommittal. “I don’t think he’ll forget that exit anytime soon.”

  “No, I suppose not.” He cracked a half smile when he said that.

  It was time to get to the issue at hand. “How long did you know Vianna?”

  “Eight years, give or take. If it hadn’t been for her, I wouldn’t have gotten my start in this business.”

  I felt my eyebrows shoot up in surprise. Vianna had to be at least ten years younger than Armin.

  He lit another cigarette. “I’ve worked with every wedding planner in this area, and Vianna was the best. She had an eye for what worked and what didn’t. She could see what needed to be done and could make it happen. She could see potential in others and tell them what they should be doing. That’s what she did for me. I’d just gotten hurt in the minor leagues.” He touched his shoulder. “I injured my rotator cuff. There was no chance for me to play again, and my dream of making it to the majors was dashed. I didn’t know where to go or what to do.”

  I tried to imagine this huge man playing baseball. It was a hard image to grasp.

  “I’d always liked to garden, so I got a job with a garden center in Akron. It wasn’t too long before I was doing all of their floral displays. I seemed to have a knack for it. That’s how I met Vianna. She was planning a wedding for her very first client, and she and the client were there looking at the flowers and plants.” He took a drag from his cigarette. “As soon as I met her, I knew she was going to make it. She had the drive, and that killer instinct to get the job done at any cost. She and I worked together a lot after that, and I watched in awe as her business just took off. Within two years, she was the most sought-after wedding planner in the area. She just didn’t stop. There wasn’t a request a bride made that was too hard for Vianna to achieve, and she did it all with a smile. I told her that I wished that I could build something like she’d created.”

  “What did she say?”

  “She told me I could. She said I was much better at floral displays than anyone else in town and I should open my own flower shop. She would work with me to give me a jump start. So I took her advice and put all of my savings into getting this storefront.” He gestured at the stone building. “It was the best decision I’ve ever made.”

  “Wow,” I murmured.

  After a beat he said, “Vianna’s weddings were always perfect. She was so organized and on top of everything. But not this one. I should have known something was wrong.”

  “What do you mean when you say ‘not this one’?’”

  He put his pack of cigarettes and lighter back into his pocket. “The Pumpernickle-Cambridge wedding was different. Vianna gave me multiple flower lists. She’s never done that before. She’d always been able to talk the bride out of that many changes, at least as far as I knew. But this was change after change. I knew something must be off. Something was going on with her. She’d never let anything impact her work.” There was a bitter sound to his voice.

  “What do you think was going on?” I leaned forward on the balls of my feet. I might be getting somewhere in learning about Vianna’s life.

  �
�First, I’m ready to know everything now,” he said. “How did she fall from the church steeple?”

  I gave him the short version, leaving out the details and any reference to Piper. “I thought the police would have been here by now to question you,” I said when I finished.

  Armin’s bushy eyebrows drooped. “Question me? Why on earth would they do that?”

  I took a step back. “You worked closely with Vianna, and you were working with her on the Pumpernickle wedding. You might know something that will lead them to whoever did this.”

  He scowled. “I don’t have anything to say to the police.”

  I didn’t know about that, and I planned to suggest to Detective Brandon that she or someone else from the department take the time to talk to him, but not until I learned what he had to say about Vianna first.

  Armin slumped against the building. “I shouldn’t be surprised that she died trying to please a bride. That’s what she was always trying to do. It was her life’s work, and she took pride in it.”

  “Would she usually go as far as disobeying a direct order from the venue owner—in this case, me—to make a bride happy?”

  He scratched the back of his head as he considered my question. “Maybe not that far. Usually she would be able to come to a compromise between the venue and the bride.”

  “Krissie can be awfully demanding.”

  He nodded. “Even so, Vianna should never have done it. Even if there wasn’t someone at the church with evil intentions, it was dangerous and foolhardy to try to hang those lights.” He patted his pocket as if he were considering whether or not to smoke another cigarette. “My theory is, she tried to do it because she was making up for being distracted throughout the wedding planning.” He let his hand fall to his side.

  I wrinkled my nose. “Krissie wouldn’t be a bride who’d be open to a distracted wedding planner.”

  “But Vianna was distracted. I knew, because I knew her well. Something was going on with her. I asked her once, and she wouldn’t tell me.” The florist’s face fell and he put his hand on his pocket again. “As kind as she was to me, we were never as close as I wanted us to be.”