Read Lyndsey Cole - Lily Bloom 03 - Roses are Dead Online
Authors: Lyndsey Cole
Tags: #Mystery: Cozy - Flower Shop
Lily
’s heart was racing, her mind going at lightning speed trying to figure out how to get out of this mess. “You thought of everything. You must be proud of yourself.”
Vinnie pulled up behind Lily’s car. “Yes. You could say that.
Like you noticed, I love a challenge.” Here we are. “Get out and stand next to your car.”
Vinnie carefully watched Lily as he grabbed her tote and a bag of rose petals from
his back seat. “The rose petals will be a nice touch, don’t you think? How much of a head start do you want?” Vinnie opened the back door of Lily’s car and Rosie streaked from the back seat right toward Vinnie’s neck. The force of her charge and the element of surprise, knocked Vinnie flat on his back and Rosie stayed on him with her teeth ready to tighten.
A shot of adrenaline shot through
Lily. She got her tote and found her phone. With trembling fingers, she hit speed dial for Ryan’s number.
“Lily. Where are you? I saw your car with a flat tire.
Did someone give you a ride?”
“Hurry. I’m at the car now. Vinnie tried to kill me.”
“Vinnie? I’m coming.”
Lily heard the siren and had never been happier to see Ryan’s car.
A minute later Adam May pulled up from the other direction with Daisy and Iris.
Lily heard
Vinnie spinning the story about finding Lily with the EpiPen and the rose petals and her vicious dog attacking him.
“Really? Then why did
Adam find your DNA in Carla’s room and his motel room?” Ryan cuffed him and locked him in the back seat of his cruiser.
Lily sat on the ground
hugging Rosie, stroking the soft white fur on her head. “I almost didn’t bring you with me today. You saved me again.” Lily looked up at the others. “How did you know to find me here?”
Iris walked over to Ryan’s cruiser. “Hey Vinnie. Didn’t you learn your lesson at the shooting match?
” She bent down and looked right through the window at his stone face. “Don’t mess with the Bloom women.” She turned back to Lily. “Ready to go home?”
Lily nodded and walked to
Adam’s car with Rosie glued to her side. Ryan told her he would meet her at her house after he got Vinnie safely locked up at the police station.
It was a quiet ride home. Lily sat in the front seat staring out the window with her arm holding Rosie tightly against her body. Iris and Daisy sat in the back seat on pins and needles wanting to hear every detail of what happened, but they waited quietly
until Lily was ready to share. Everyone realized that she needed some time to process it all.
Adam
pulled into Lily’s driveway, walked around the car, opened the door for her and offered her his hand.
Lily looked up at
Adam. “I’m truly sorry.”
“Sorry? For what?”
“I thought it was you all along. I didn’t trust you.”
Adam
smiled. “That’s what I wanted. Come on, I’ll explain some things to you.”
They settled comfortably in the sunshine on Lily’s deck. Iris and Daisy brought out a tray with sandwiches, ice
d tea and some dog bones. Iris looked at her daughter. “It’s a good thing you have that stubborn streak and never give up until the job is done.”
Lily smiled at her mother. “I wonder where that came from.”
They laughed and Lily grabbed a sandwich, devouring it as if she hadn’t eaten in days. The food refueled her and she washed it all down with the ice cold tea. “Ah, that’s just what I needed.”
Ryan joined them on the deck and handed a bag to Lily from the
Sunflower Café. “Jennifer heard you had an adventure and asked me to bring this to you. She said it’s your favorite.”
Lily peeked in the bag. A big smile grew on her face. “Cannolis? This is my lucky day.”
Ryan shook his head. “If you call this a lucky day, what’s an unlucky day for you?”
Lily chuckled. “Good point. It went from bad to worse to fantastic now with all of you here with me.”
Rosie woofed her agreement to that. Or else, she was telling Lily to hurry up and give her one of those dog bones.
Ryan found a chair. “Are you ready to tell us what happened?”
“Definitely.” Lily filled them in on Vinnie’s bizarre talking, driving and the confessions he told her.
“How did Rosie manage to take him down?”
Lily looked at her awesome dog. “That’s the best part. That’s when the bad started to turn around for me. Vinnie didn’t know Rosie was in the back seat of my car. When he opened the door to plant the rose petals and the EpiPen inside, Rosie charged him like a speeding bullet. Vinnie didn’t know what hit him and since Rosie had him by his neck, there wasn’t much he could do to fight her off without getting his jugular chopped in two.” She took a big bite of her second cannoli, licking the cream from her lips. “How did Adam know to come?”
Iris couldn’t wait any longer to share that part of the story. “Vinnie was with Joanne when you called her and he told her what to say to you. As soon as he left, Joanne called
Adam. She didn’t want to see Vinnie ruin anyone else’s life. And the best part is that Lana will be able to get released now.”
Adam
looked at Lily. “So, are we friends now?”
Lily nodded.
“Good.” Adam glanced at Daisy and winked. “I didn’t want you to try to get between me and your sister.”
“Don’t worry about that.
” Lily smiled at Daisy, then looked back at Adam. “You never finished your part of the story.”
Adam
settled back comfortably. “I’ve been watching Vinnie for quite some time, trying to catch him up to his dirty tricks. I suspected he planted the drugs in Lana’s backpack and I knew he was after Carla. She wasn’t interested in that old fool but he couldn’t accept it. When she turned up dead, I was sure it was Vinnie. He never let anyone get the best of him, but I couldn’t find anything to pin the murder on him until that last search I did. He must have used the bathroom in her motel room and some hairs were found there. Sloppy of him. I was worried about you, Lily. When you beat him in that shooting competition, I was sure he would figure out some way to get even. Daisy told me you were going to talk to Joanne so I was heading that way anyway, but when Joanne called, I brought Iris and Daisy along too. We didn’t know what we would find.”
Lily leaned back in her chair with her hands behind her head.
“I had it all under control.”
Iris
raised her eyebrow. “If you say so.”
Lily doesn’t worry too much about amounts, that’s up to the preference of the cook
and the tastes of the consumers!
Ingredients:
For the dressing, Lily uses her favorite Italian dressing and an equal amount of yogurt, followed by a spoonful of spicy mustard.
And the final touch to make it super special
? Edible flowers. Lily’s favorite for her potato salad are chopped chives—the green part and the flowers. Another option is to use nasturtium flowers which adds a peppery flavor.
Mix, chill and enjoy!!
And watch everyone’s expression when they see all the other stuff in the potato salad.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Lyndsey Cole lives in New England in a small rural town with her husband, dogs, cats and chickens. She has plenty of space to grow lots of beautiful perennials. Sitting in the garden with the scent of lilac, peonies, lily of the valley or whatever is in bloom, stimulates her imagination about mysteries and romance.
ONE LAST THING
…
If you enjoyed this installment of Lily Bloom Cozy Mystery Series, be sure to join my FREE COZY MYSTERY BOOK CLUB! Be in the know for new releases, promotions, sales, and the possibility to receive advanced reader copies. Join the club here—
http://LyndseyColeBooks.com
OTHER BOOKS BY LYNDSEY COLE
Stay tuned for the next book in the Lily Bloom Cozy Mystery Series.
Coming Summer 2014!!
Summer is in full swing and Hermit Cove is hosting the county’s annual Summer Strawberry Festival. Kori’s Early Bird Café has a front and center booth where she’s selling sweet breakfasts and desserts all day. Best friend Nora Farmer is supposed to occupy the booth directly across from hers near the entrance where business will be best, but when she fails to show up on the opening day, Kori knows something is wrong.
And it couldn’t be more wrong. A body is found on Nora’s property and next to it is a pint of poisoned strawberries. All fingers are pointing at Nora. And when a bloody shovel turns up in her barn, things look like they’re taking a turn for the worse.
With such a busy weekend will Kori have time to help clear her best friend’s name? Or will Nora have to take the fall for a murder she didn’t commit? They worry that Nora could be the next target if they can’t solve the case fast enough.
Kori heard her phone ring letting her know she had a text message. She was still busy cleaning up after a wildly successful Friday morning at The Early Bird Café. With North Maple County’s Summer Strawberry Festival kicking off the next morning, there was a huge influx of visitors and they were all hungry.
Thankfully, she had already set aside everything she’d be offering at the festival so she didn’t have to prep for the next morning. Instead of working from The Early Bird this weekend, she had a booth at the fairgrounds and would be serving waffles with sliced strawberries and whipped cream, crepes with strawberry filling, and strawberry rhubarb pie. She had no idea how Nora had been able to grow enough strawberries to keep Kori stocked and make jams to sell all weekend.
When the last utensil was put away into the dishwasher and it was turned on so she’d be all ready on Monday to get back to work, she finally let herself check her phone and greet Ibis.
As soon as Kori walked into her small office at the back of the industrial kitchen she should just start calling home because she spent more time than upstairs in her apartment above the café, Ibis jumped off her dog bed and wagged her entire body, thrilled to see her favorite person. Kori patted Ibis on the head before picking up her phone.
Then she read the text from Nora,
Ready to go to the lake?
They were both bringing their dogs to Thrush Lake for an easy afternoon since they were both all ready for the weekend. Kori wrote back,
Pick us up?
They would all easily fit into Nora’s pickup truck but Kori’s Subaru wouldn’t be quite big enough.
Kori’s phone chirped again and she read,
On our way.
Kori knew she didn’t have to change since it was hot for June and she’d just get sweaty on their short hike. Instead, she picked up Ibis’ leash and headed to the front door, ready to leave the café behind for the afternoon. They only had to wait a few minutes before Nora rolled to a stop just outside the café.
“It’s like you have a weekend off,” Nora said, smiling.
Kori led Ibis around to the back of the truck where Milo and Otis were excitedly prancing on their toes, ready for Ibis to join them. With Ibis safely in the back with her dog friends, Kori climbed into the passenger seat and Nora headed north toward the lake.
“Almost. It will be nice to work outside for a change,” Kori said, thinking how lucky Nora was to have been able to create her job outside. Red Clover Farm was one of Kori’s favorite places to be, and not only because her best friend owned it.
“Nothing better than absorbing all that vitamin D while I work.” Nora chuckled. “You’re all ready for tomorrow morning then?”
“Yup. I have the waffle maker, portable gas stove and two cast iron pans packed in my trunk already. The batters and pies are already made and I just have to bring everything over in the morning. Since I won’t be the only booth offering food, it’s a little more relaxing.”
“I don’t know how you do it day after day after day. All the cooking for everyone in town,” Nora said as she drove. “I love being able to not talk to anyone. Except the days you come over—that’s a nice break from just talking to the dogs.” They both laughed.
Kori understood Nora’s surprise but she wouldn’t change her job for anything. She loved the short interactions she had with all of her customers, catching up on anything that was happening in town, and especially cooking delicious food that she was proud of and that she could see made people happy. Even visitors from out of town flocked to the café, and Kori was sure that it had something to do with her, not just the food.
“But anyway,” Nora continued, “what’s up with you and Mr. I’m-Head-Over-Heels-In-Love?”
Kori smirked. “Oh please. Zach’s not in love with me.”
“I don’t know why you keep denying that.”
Nora parked her truck in one of the very few parking spots left near the lake—everyone was enjoying the beautiful afternoon on the lake—and they both grabbed their leashes for the dogs. They didn’t want to risk having a dog run up to greet a non-dog person.
“I’m not denying anything that’s not there,” Kori said as she clipped the leash onto Ibis’ collar. Ibis jumped out of the back of the pickup and started sniffing every single blade of grass. “We’re having fun getting to know each other … in a new way.”
“In a new way,” Nora mocked, swaying her hips and waving her hands near her head. Milo and Otis were clipped onto their leashes and jumped out of the back, following Ibis and sniffing and peeing on everything.
“Well, we’ve
known
each other just about our whole lives. But not … like this. I mean, did you know that Zach never went to camp on Thrush Lake? I spent every summer here. I assumed every kid from Hermit Cove did. But he didn’t.”
Nora ignored the part about camp. “What do you mean you’ve known each other but not
like this?
Is he spending nights at your place now?”
“No. But we’ve had some late nights.” Kori blushed and let Ibis lead her ahead of the others.
“Oo lala,” Nora teased, hanging back with her two dogs who were taking far longer to get over the new smells.
“What about you then? Any new guy in the picture?” Kori paused to let them catch up and looked out over the lake. No boats with motors of any kind were allowed to use it but she saw plenty of sail boats, canoes and kayaks. There were two beaches near the parking lot and they were both packed. Looking at the crowd, she hoped she had enough food for everyone who would be coming to the festival over the next two days.
“I wish. Do you even know the last date I went on?”
Kori shook her head and turned around to look at Nora.
“Forever ago.”
“With who?” Kori asked.
Nora gave Kori a look like she didn’t really want to tell her but they didn’t keep anything from each other. Kori was still in New York City at the time and couldn’t remember any potential relationship interests coming up for Nora.
“Derek Spears.”
“Hah!” Kori laughed out loud and then covered her mouth. “Like, the Derek Spears who is everyone’s handyman?” Nora nodded. “He’s not so bad.” Kori smiled and attempted to recover from laughing in Nora’s face.
“Yeah, not so bad as a
brother
. He’s too nice. He’s friends with everyone. There’s not one sexual hair on his body. It’s like he’s asexual.”
“I could totally see that,” Kori agreed. “Have you considered online dating?”
“Not in a million years. Do you know anyone who does that?”
“Yeah. I do.” Kori knew Jay wasn’t proud of his online dating and tended to keep it a secret from everyone. In fact, she thought she might be the only person he’d told.
“Who?” Nora asked impatiently.
“You have to promise not to tell anyone—”
“Oh my God. You online dated. That’s why Zach is the first person you went out with since you moved back here over two years ago.”
Kori blushed. She knew she shouldn’t be embarrassed since she was about to give away her brother’s secret. But she had never online dated and didn’t want Nora to think she had. She shook her head. “No. I don’t even have a profile—”
“Then who? Your mom?” Nora guessed.
Kori shook her head again. “You have to promise—”
“Yeah, yeah. I won’t tell anyone. Who would I even tell? You, Milo and Otis? I think your secret is safe with me.”
“Okay. It’s Jay. He’s been doing it for a couple years.”
“Jay?! I thought he was gay and that’s why he didn’t date women in Hermit Cove.”
Kori laughed again. “Have you ever seen him date a guy?”
Nora paused, thinking about it. “Well, no. But it’s not like he’s very open about anything.”
“No kidding. But no, he’s not gay. He just never leaves Hermit Cove so never meets anyone. Although …” Kori held up her finger and had a smirk on her face, making Nora twitch in anticipation.
“Although what?”
“He was spotted in a bar with Lani Silver right around your farm stand opening a month ago.” Kori couldn’t wipe the silly grin off of her face.
“Lani Silver, like the detective Zach hired and you thought was going to steal your man away? That Lani Silver?” Nora’s voice rose with each word until she was practically squealing.
Kori nodded. “They started talking online before she moved here. And Jay
claims
,” she added air quotes, “that she didn’t move here for him. But I wouldn’t put it past her.”
“Wow. So, that was almost a month ago. What’s happened since then?” Nora asked, her interest piqued.
Kori shrugged. “I don’t know. He hasn’t told me anything since I asked him about a month ago. And I don’t pry, like some people.”
“Who me?” Nora asked, mock innocently. “Only with you.”
“I actually believe that. But no, I meant like my mom. She asks him about Lani every chance she gets.”
Kori, Nora and the dogs rounded a bend in the trail along a cove on the lake—how the town had been named. Well, that in combination with the Hermit Thrush that seemed to dominate the bird life in the area. They hadn’t passed many people along the trail so far so Kori reached down and unclipped Ibis from her leash. In the month they’d been together, Ibis had accepted Kori as the alpha and always responded to her voice. Kori was confident that she’d come back when called. Nora followed suit and the three dogs headed off the trail together in search of more smells.
“So back to you and Zach—is he officially your boyfriend then?” Nora asked. It was easier to focus on their conversation without the dogs right there.
Kori blushed and turned to look at Nora. “He is. Last night we had dinner together and decided to be exclusive. I mean, I think we were both exclusive from the start. But knowing that we’re both on the same page and I can call him my boyfriend and he’ll call me his girlfriend, it’s … I don’t even know.” Kori couldn’t keep the grin from her face.
“That’s huge! Congratulations!” Nora bubbled over with excitement, at least as much as Kori was feeling.
“Thanks,” Kori mumbled, still getting used to the idea of dating Zach Gulch.
They walked on in silence for a little while, always keeping a close eye on the whereabouts of the dogs. All of the visitors must have stayed close to the public beaches and away from the trails because there were almost no people out here with them.
“You all ready for tomorrow too?” Kori finally asked Nora, coming back to reality instead of daydreaming about her—dare she say perfect?—boyfriend.
“Yup. I have so many strawberry plants and so many jars of jam for sale. I don’t know what I’ll do if they don’t sell.”
“You could always plant them and grow more. I know I can keep you in business,” Kori suggested.
“Didn’t you help pick strawberries this week? Did you even pay attention to how many rows I have or were you too busy thinking about Lover Boy.”
Kori blushed and pushed Nora off the trail. “I saw how many rows you have.” But she had to admit she hadn’t really paid a whole lot of attention. “Have you run out of space for more?”
“I guess I could plant a few more and let them take over everything. But I don’t know if I can handle picking them.”
“I’m sure you could hire some high schoolers on summer vacation for a week to help out with that. I know you could sell more jam. And I could always buy more, and maybe even just sell it at the café. I never get sick of fresh strawberries. And neither do my customers.”
“I’ll see how the weekend goes and if I even have any left over. How are you doing on your stock of strawberries anyway?”
“I think I have enough for what I need, but I could always put more in the freezer for year round smoothies and jam. Hey, when are we going to can this year?”
Nora laughed. “I have no idea. This is only the beginning of the harvest season and I’m already as busy as can be. Just keep everything frozen. Maybe I’ll get a break in November before Thanksgiving.”
“Sounds good. I was thinking of asking Vera to help out too. She got me such a good dog and she loves the jams. If we need another set of hands I think she’d be up for it.”
“Definitely keep her in mind. We’ll see how things turn out.”
“What did you end up doing about the water problem?” Kori asked, changing the conversation again. Chemicals had been spilled into the river leading into Thrush Lake when a manufacturing company didn’t replace a rusted pipe in time. Water, and everyone downstream, was affected. Kori had installed a high end water filter for the café and brought water home for cooking and drinking until she could get it tested again. The town had declared that it was safe again but she didn’t trust the government. And with Nora growing organic vegetables, Kori couldn’t figure out how she was going to pull that one off.
“With all the rain, I’ve setup a big catchment system in barrels. And I haven’t had to water because of that. But I think long term I’m going to have to dig a pond that can store at least a month’s worth of water in case we don’t have a wet summer sometime. It bothers me to no end that companies get away with so much pollution all the time. And then small businesses like you and me have to pay for the consequences.”