Lyndsey Cole - Lily Bloom 05 - Hidden by the Hydrangeas (3 page)

Lily looked up
at the sound of the front door jingling, smiling when she saw Ryan walk in.
Okay, so he didn’t call me back, this is way better.

“I got your message and decided to stop in instead of calling.” He leaned toward Lily, brushing his lips against her cheek. “
ASAP? What’s so urgent?” He looked around the empty shop and pulled her into his arms, wrapping his arms around her body.

His presence made her forget what had been so important.
She relaxed into his strong chest, enjoying the feel of his heart pounding against her cheek.

“Walter told me about your adventure. How was the balloon ride?”

That triggered her memory. She reluctantly pulled out of his arms and slid a stool out for Ryan to sit on. “You won’t believe this. Daisy and I saw someone carrying a body out of one of the cottages behind the Stone House Inn.”

Ryan stood up
as soon as his butt hit the stool, as if it had burned him. “Are you sure?”

“Positive. Walter said you w
ere called away on an emergency, was that about finding a body?”

He laughed, “Nothing that interesting.
Tamara Biothchi locked her keys in her car. But you know how she is, everything is an emergency.” He sat back down on the stool. “Tell me exactly what you saw.”

“It happened quickly.
Mom had just pointed out the Stone House Inn before Daisy and I saw someone come out of one of the cottages in the back with a body dangling over their shoulder, head and arms in the back and legs in the front. Flopping lifelessly as far as I could tell.”

“Anything else? Was it a man or
a woman? Did you see a car? What time was it?”

“The body had long hair hanging down. I couldn’t tell about the person carrying the body. Kind of tall, I guess, but I couldn’t see any features. Dark jacket or sweatshirt with a hood on.
I was so focused on the lifeless body, I don’t remember seeing a car.” Lily paused, trying to recall anything else, mad that she couldn’t remember more. “I think it must have been around eight o’clock. Oh yeah, and the person looked up at the balloon.”

That got Ryan’s attention
, and not in a good way. “Great. If there was a murder, whoever it is, saw you and Daisy.”

Lily shrugged. “Maybe he just got a glimpse of the balloon. I’m sure he had his mind on other things.”

“He?”

“
He. She. I don’t know.”

Ryan
absentmindedly reached down and patted Sweet Pea who was rubbing against his leg. Lily didn’t know when she’d come back in but the cat door made it easy for Sweet Pea to come and go as she pleased. Ryan picked up the kitty who got comfortable in his lap. “Maybe this is connected to a different phone call I got.”

”What do you mean?”

“Now don’t go off sticking your nose into this, it may be nothing, but I got a call from the house manager at the Black Horse Farm, Anna Sparks. She said her daughter, Kari, never came home last night.”

“Are you looking for her?”

Ryan shook his head. “She’s not a little kid, she’s twenty one and hasn’t been gone for long enough. And her mother admitted it’s not the first time this has happened.”

Lily was excited about this information. She was sure this missing girl was the body she had seen.
“Do you know what she looks like? Long hair? Probably not too big?”

“No,
I thought it was just a mother being a little overprotective. I’ll talk to her and the owner of the Stone House Inn to see if there’s any connection to what you saw. Just a friendly chat.”

Lily’s phone started to ring and a customer walked in. Ryan
stood up and set Sweet Pea down. “I’ll let you get back to work.” He winked and told her he’d be in touch later in the day.

Emma Turner, Lance’s wife
from the Black Horse Farm, was on the phone. There was small talk about how nice the wedding was and Emma wished she had had more time to chat with Lily. She asked how the hot air balloon ride went. With the chit chat out of the way, she finally told Lily that she was planning a baby shower and wanted Lily to come to the farm to talk about flower arrangements for the party. Lily smiled slyly to herself and thought,
It shouldn’t be too hard to chat with the house manager about her missing daughter at the same time. No need to let Ryan know either, this is strictly business.

Lily
told Emma, “I’ll stop over later this afternoon, around four, if that works for you.”

“That will be fine. Just come to the house and Anna
, my house manager, will show you in. She knows all the plans and will explain everything to you,” Emma instructed before hanging up.

Lily checked the time—
eleven, that would give her several hours to organize and get the arrangements done for the day. She had a few orders to go to the hospital so she got flowers out of the cooler to start working on that. As she worked, she couldn’t stop thinking about the body she’d seen, trying to remember more details.

The front bell jingled as
Daisy hurried in, looking a little sheepish and distracting Lily from her thoughts. “Sorry I’m so late. I stopped to see Adam before he leaves for a few days for an investigation.”

“No p
roblem. It’s not too busy today and that will give you some free time.” Lily grinned. “Did you get trapped hearing all about Mom and Walter’s romantic wedding night after I left?”

“
Ugh, don’t even say that, and thanks a lot for running out like you did, leaving me alone with Mom. I managed to escape pretty quickly once she had Walter to swoon over.” Daisy dropped her bag at her design space, stroking Sweet Pea who was curled up in the center of the table.

Lily finished her arrangement and moved it to the side of her
table. “By the way, do you have any plans for dinner tonight?” She looked at the flowers from all angles, nodding at the mix of blues and oranges.

“Nope. With Adam gone, I’m on my own.
I hope you have something interesting to suggest.”

“Well, I thought we should see what we can
find out at the Stone House Inn so I asked Walter what he thought about us surprising Mom at dinner tonight. He thinks it’s a great idea.”

“Mom won’t be happy
to see us show up. You already thought of that, didn’t you?”

“
Yeah, but she’ll get over it, especially if you can make a special yummy treat to bring along. And, besides, Walter thinks it’s a great idea so he’ll be happy to see us.”

Daisy leaned on Lily’s table.
“I’ll have to leave now to get something made in time.” She was already mentally scanning her recipes for ideas. “How about a glazed fruit tart? I’ve got strawberries and kiwis at home so I won’t even have to stop at the store.”

“
That sounds amazing, my mouth is watering just thinking about it. Get going and I’ll finish up here before I head to the Black Horse Farm to see about decorating for a party.” Lily glanced at Daisy.

“The Black Horse Farm? Where that hunky pilot works?
He sure gave you the once over when we were up in the balloon.”

Lily felt her face starting to heat up and she didn’t like it.
“Well, I’m planning to fix him up with Nina, she’s desperate for a date. And, listen to this.” Lily leaned toward Daisy with excitement. “Ryan told me that the house manager from the Black Horse Farm called to say her daughter never came home last night.”

Daisy’s gaze shot up to Lily
and she gasped. “Really? Do you think that’s the body we saw being carried from that cottage?”

“
I don’t know, but I’m hoping to ask the house manager some questions.” Lily paused. “Ryan told me nobody has been found and he said it’s too early to be able to classify her as missing. It doesn’t hurt to chat with the mom though.”

Daisy shook her head. “You just can’t keep your nose out of any mystery, can you? Even after all the close calls you’ve had? Won’t you ever learn?”

Lily glared at Daisy, annoyed that her sister didn’t share her curiosity. “You sound like Ryan and I certainly don’t need both of you lecturing me, thank you very much. Besides, Ryan said that person might have seen us so we’re involved whether we like it or not. We, Daisy, not just me. You saw it too.”

Daisy put up her hands.
“Don’t yell at me, I’m just pointing out the obvious.” She shrugged and changed the topic. “I guess dinner shouldn’t be dangerous. Are you going to pick me up?”

“
I have to deliver some arrangements at the hospital then be at the Black Horse Farm at four. That will give me plenty of time to pick up Rosie from Walter’s house, stop at the farm then drop Rosie at my house before I pick you up around six. Dinner isn’t till seven but maybe we can walk around and chat with the owners. Just a friendly chat. How does that sound?”

Daisy sighed. “I don’t
like all this drama, but I guess I’m along for the ride whether I like it or not. I hope you can figure it out before anything bad happens to us.” She picked up her bag, gave Sweet Pea another cuddle, waved, and walked to the door.

Lily heard the door jingle as she carried her arrangement into the cooler.

“Yoo-hoo? Anyone here?”

Lily cringed before she
put on her ‘be nice to customers face’ as she returned to the front of the store. “Good morning Tamara. How can I help you today?” Lily tried not to let her mouth fall open when she saw how Tamara was dressed.
It isn’t that pink tent thingie
she wore to the wedding
, Lily thought,
it’s worse
. Lily stared at the ample figure in front of her dressed in purple spandex.

Tamara flapped her hand at Lily. “Your mother’s wedding was just the most beautiful event I’ve ever been to. The weather couldn’t have been better
, and that Lyman Estate.” She patted her heart. “Elegant doesn’t even give it its due. She’s so lucky with that Walter Nash. Isn’t he a dear? I want to send them an after the wedding bouquet. Is there such a thing? Well, maybe I’ll just start a new tradition. What do you think? Isn’t that a brilliant idea? Maybe I can promote it and make a line of greeting cards to go along with it. What do you think, Lily dear?” Tamara finally took a breath and looked expectantly at Lily.

Lily didn’t know where to begin answering the barrage of questions. She opened her mouth but before she could get one word out, Tamara started again
, lowering her voice conspiratorially. “Did you hear about the missing girl?”

Lily’s attention zero
ed in on Tamara’s conversation. “What missing girl?”

“Well,” Tamara looked around as if someone might be spying on them, “
you know I never gossip.” Lily tried not to roll her eyes, waiting for Tamara to continue. “But I heard this from the source. I was getting coffee at the Sunflower Café and I ran into Anna Sparks. She works at the Black Horse Farm? Do you know her? Anyway, she told me that her daughter, Kari, never came home last night and she’s out of her mind with worry.”

“Do you know more about
her? How old is she? Maybe she stayed at a friend’s house?” Lily questioned.

Tamara sat on the stool next to Lily’s work table, with her purple bottom overflowing on all sides of the seat.
“I think she’s twentyish. Anna didn’t give me any more information, but she acted very concerned. She even called the police but they aren’t doing anything.” Tamara looked away before continuing. “You have a knack for figuring out these mysteries so I told Anna about how you solved my daughter’s fiancé’s murder and the murder at the museum and she wants to talk to you. Soon.”

Lily could hear Ryan’s voice
in her head warning her to keep her nose out of this mystery. “You are giving me more credit than I deserve, Tamara. I was just lucky those other times.” She paused as Tamara’s stare didn’t waver from Lily’s face. “Okay, listening can’t hurt. But, the daughter is probably already home, safe and sound.” Lily tried to sound reassuring even though she had a sinking feeling in her gut.

Tamara hugged Lily, almost suffocating her in that purple haze. “I told her you would do it. Now, what do you have that I can bring over to your mother?”

Lily thought for a minute before answering. “She still has all the flowers from the wedding.” She looked around her store and walked over to some potted plants. “How about one of these beautiful orchid plants. The sunroom is perfect for these phalaenopsis and I know Mom and Walter don’t have this white one with purple on the edge of the petals. Doesn’t it look like someone painted it?” Lily picked up a large potted orchid plant loaded with white and purple blooms.

Tamara swooned when she saw it. “It matches my outfit. Do you have two? It’s just too beautiful to not buy one for myself.”

“I don’t have two exactly the same but these are similar. What do you think of this one?” Lily held up another beautiful orchid plant that had mostly purple flowers tinged with white on the edges.

“
Perfect, I’ll keep the one with more purple. Lily, you always know how to solve problems.” Tamara took out her credit card and Lily rang up the purchase.

As Lily wrapped the plants in paper sleeves, she asked Tamara about her job.
“How’s it going at the museum? I’ve been too busy to stop by.”

“You know how I was the director after that murder? Well, it was fun but I don’t have the time to devote to it. Fortunately,
the board hired someone permanent for the position so I have my time back again.” Tamara picked up the wrapped orchids. “Toodle-oo Lily,” she said as she flapped her arm on the way out the door.

Lily smiled to herself.
Tamara is a good person but she can drain the life right out of me with all the constant talking. But somehow she always seems to know the scuttlebutt before everyone else and she shares more details with me than Ryan does.
Lily finished up the arrangements she needed to deliver to the hospital on her way to the Black Horse Farm.
At least it should be easy finding out about the missing girl since Tamara already told Anna about me.

Lily loaded her minivan and
left to make the deliveries. It was a quick in and out of the hospital, leaving her with plenty of time to find the Black Horse Farm. She headed north to the farm, anxious to see the place and to talk to Anna.