Lyndsey Cole - Lily Bloom 01 - Begonia Means Beware (4 page)

Lily and Rosie pulled into her driveway at seven o’clock on the dot. She carefully got out of her minivan, checking that her sundress wasn’t anywhere near the door when she shut it. Rosie bounded to Lily’s back yard, happy to check out any new smells that arrived while she was gone. The tasty scent of grill
ing roasted vegetables drifted to Lily’s nose. Her stomach rumbled.

Ryan peeked around the corner of his deck in the back of his house. “Come on up. I started grilling already. Are you hungry?”

Lily climbed the three steps to the deck. “Ravenous, actually. I don’t think I ate since this morning with the craziness of today.”

“Make yourself comfortable. I’m having a beer. Would you like something?”

Lily settled into a wrought iron chair. “Do you have seltzer?”

“One seltzer coming right up. Where’s Rosie?”

Lily pointed to her back yard. “It looks like she’s patrolling her space. I see the yellow tape is still around my house. Did you find anything interesting inside? Besides the body?”

“We did. We should be finished in the morning.”

“Suspects?”

Ryan handed a glass of seltzer to Lily. “Many.”

“I guess you aren’t going to give me any details?”

Ryan smiled. “Let’s talk about anything else. Tell me about Misty Valley.”

“How about you tell me about you? Where are you from?”

“A small town in the southern part of the state. Not too unlike Misty Valley
, I guess.”

Lily took a long sip of her drink. “How long will you be here?”

“I’d like to stay but it depends on what happens with Mike Keller. He’s on unpaid leave now until his case is resolved.”

Lily put her drink down, stood up too quickly and spilled her seltzer. All over her dress. “I can’t believe I just did this.”
I’m such a klutz around this guy.
She flapped the wet spot
.
“It will dry.”

“I could get you something dry to put on.”
He asked hopefully.

Looking down at the wet spot the size
of a plate, she said, “I have my own clothes right next door …”

Ryan shook his head.
“Sorry. You can’t go in there.”

“I’ll be fine.”
I’m not putting on Ryan’s clothes. He’d probably give me a long t-shirt or something. That’s what I would wear after spending the night. What am I thinking? I’m not spending the night.

Rosie sat next to Lily on the deck. Lily pulled a soggy manila envelope from
Rosie’s mouth. “What did you find?” She looked up at Ryan. “Look at this. Some kind of official papers. It looks like something to do with the casino deal. Here’s a list of signatures.” Lily looked at the papers again. “Signatures against the casino. Do you think Clifton dropped it before he was killed?” Lily handed the papers to Ryan.

“Rosie is doing a better job finding evidence than my crew did. I’ll have to take this.”

She didn’t let go of the papers. “You owe me some information about what you found in my house then.”

“All I can tell you is that it looked like he was killed in your kitchen. Someone did a clean-up and moved him to the bathtub. Why was he at your house?”

Lily released her hold on the papers. “I have no idea. Maybe he wanted my signature too. He probably knew I was against the plan.”

The burgers sizzled on the grill
and Lily’s mouth watered. She was finally relaxing and enjoying sitting with her new handsome neighbor.  She looked at Ryan and thought she would like to get to know him better.

Ryan put the burgers on a platter.
“Food’s about ready.”

“Finally. I’m about to faint from hunger.” Lily laughed. “It smells delicious. Nothing like grilling on a nice spring evening. Thank you for feeding me.”

Ryan warned, “Don’t thank me yet. You haven’t tasted my cooking. It’s not my best talent.”

“And what would your best talent be?” Lily asked with curiosity.

“Sorry, I can’t divulge all my secrets at once.” Ryan handed Lily a plate. “Here you go. One cheeseburger, with sharp cheddar cheese, a toasted sesame bun and the condiments are on the table. I’ll bring the roasted veggies over on a platter.”

“
Thanks. And what about Rosie? I believe you promised her a burger too.” Lily’s eyes twinkled.

Ryan looked at Rosie and asked with all seriousness
, “Of course. Do you want to sit at the table? Or would you prefer floor seating?”

Rosie woofed and wagged her tail.

“Okay. Floor seating it is. I like a female who knows her mind.” Ryan put a plate on the deck for Rosie and patted her head. “Enjoy your dinner. Try not to inhale it in one piece.”

Rosie looked at Ryan
, than gulped down the burger.

Lily snorted. “She likes it. I think I’ll eat a little slower to savor the flavor and avoid needing the Heimlich maneuver.”

Ryan placed the roasted veggies in the center of the small round table and slid into the chair opposite Lily. His knees bumped into her. She glanced at him, smiled and grabbed a burger.

Lily sat back
and sighed. “It’s nice to sit down and enjoy the sound of the birds. I was dreading spending all night with my mother.”

Ryan raised an eyebrow. “Oh?
”

“Don’t get me wrong. She’s great. But she’s high maintenance and she drains my energy if I’m around her for too long.”

“I did get the impression that she’s a curious woman.”

“Curious? That’s an interesting way to put it.”
Lily scooped roasted sweet potato, onion, peppers and broccoli onto her plate. Juice dripped down her arm as she bit into the hamburger. “Woops. Any napkins?”

Ryan reached across the table and
cleaned up Lily’s arm. Her gaze met his for a moment before she had to look away.

“Oh. I almost forgot.
My mom saw Mike Keller at the shooting range today.”

Ryan paused before taking a bite.
“What was she doing at the shooting range?”

Lily answered with a scowl. “Target practice. Does that put her back on the suspect list?”

“Calm down. I just don’t see too many older women at the shooting range. But your mom is not a typical female, is she?”

Lily relaxed again. “No. Definitely not.”

“Was he by himself?”

“Nope. Hanging around with his town buddies. Laughing and joking that he expects to get his old job back
. Your job, now that the star witness is out of the picture.”

Ryan put his burger down.
“Star witness?”

“I thought you might find that interesting. Gue
ss who he was talking about?”

“Clifton Harris?”

Lily answered with a self-satisfied grin. “Yup.”

“What
’s the story about Mike Keller?”

“
I don’t know too much. It has something to do with land for that casino plan. It’s pretty controversial in town. Clifton was working on it too and Tamara’s ex-husband, Tyrone. Have you met him yet?”

“
No. I haven’t had that pleasure. Is he as bad as Tamara Biotchi?”

Lily nodded.
“In a much more sinister way. Tamara just acts like she thinks she’s better than everyone else.”

“Why?”

“In my opinion? I think she feels inferior. She married into money about three husbands ago. I think it’s the new money syndrome. She wants everyone to know she’s loaded. Flaunts it whenever possible. Like this wedding. It had to be bigger and better than anyone else in town. She thinks she can buy happiness. People suck up to her because she has money, not because they like her.”

“
What about Tyrone Biotchi?” Ryan sipped his beer.

Lily scooped more veggies onto her plate.
“I saw him this morning at Melinda’s house before you got there. He made no bones about the fact that he didn’t care at all that Clifton is dead. Called him a lying cheat, or something to that effect. And said he’s glad he doesn’t have to make Clifton a partner in his firm.”

“He told you all this?”

“He was talking to Melinda. He didn’t even want to let me in the house. Very cold man in my opinion.”

“Ruthless?”

“Probably.”

“A killer?”

“Possibly. And he didn’t like Clifton.” Lily swallowed the last bite of her burger. “Good cooking. It always tastes better when someone else does the cooking. I’ll do the clean-up.”

“Don’t worry about that. We can let Rosie lick the plates and they’ll be ready to put away.”

Lily looked at Ryan. “You’re joking right?”

He laughed out loud. “I thought it sounded like a pretty good idea.”

Lily stacked the plates and carried everything into the kitchen. His house was set up almost the same as hers. She put the dishes in the dishwasher before Ryan got any more crazy ideas. She looked around quickly. Everything was neat and tidy.
That’s a plus.

Ryan was looking at the papers from the envelope that Rosie
had found. “This is interesting. These are minutes from a meeting to buy land for the casino. Members present: Mike Keller, Clifton Harris, Kirk Stevens, Tyrone Biotchi and Tamara Biotchi. Everyone was going to put in an equal share and the land would be resold to the casino developer for a tidy profit.”

“Let me see that.” Lily took the paper and read it to herself. “Kirk Stevens? He’s the antique dealer. He hasn’t been in town for long. Tyrone and Tamara working together? They hate each other. We need to find out where this chunk of land is.”

Ryan pulled the papers out of Lily’s hand and set them on the table. “Enough of this. Do you want dessert?”

Lily looked surprised.
“Dessert? You made dessert?”

“Is
that so shocking?” Ryan got up and walked into the house.

He returned with a blue china plate. “
Ta-da. My special treat. Brownies.”

“From scratch?”

“I can’t reveal my secret. I have ice cream too if you want to make it really decadent.”

“What flavor?”

“Picky too? I thought long and hard and decided to get vanilla. It’s hard to beat chocolate and vanilla. Hope that works for you.”

Lily was laughing. “You are full of surprises.”

Ryan’s police radio paged him. “Hope it’s nothing important. I don’t want to go in to work tonight.”

Lily helped herself to a brownie and a big scoop of vanilla ice cream.
She closed her eyes and enjoyed the cold mouthful of vanilla ice cream mixed with the fudgy chocolate brownie.
This guy might not be so bad after all.
“What do you think Rosie?”

“Woof.” Lily giggled.

She opened her eyes when the back door slammed. Ryan had a scowl on his face. “I have to go to the station. There’s some kind of incident. Mike Keller is drunk, ranting and raving about getting his job back. I’m not happy about this.”

Lily finished her dessert.
“That’s okay. I should probably get going anyway. Thanks for a relaxing dinner.”

Ryan stared at Lily. “You are a breath of fresh air in my life. Thanks for getting your skirt caught in your car door this morning.
I’m a real sucker for a woman in distress.”

Lily’s face burned with embarrassment. She slapped his arm playfully. “Rosie owes you a dinner as soon as I get back into my house. Maybe she’ll grill you a dog bone or two.”

“I can’t wait.” His smile made her heart pound a little faster.

Ryan walked to his car
ahead of Lily. Lily saw the envelope of papers on the table and dropped them in her bag.

Lily quietly opened the door t
o her mother’s house, not sure if Iris would still be up.

“Lily? Is that you?”

“Were you expecting someone else?”

“Are you alone?”

“Yes Mom. Just me and Rosie.”

“That’s too bad. I thought you might have that handsome cop with you.”

“I’m sure that’s what you were hoping.”

Lily sat in the
soft blue chair opposite her mother. “Take a look at this.”

Iris took the manila envelope from Lily’s outstretched arm. “What is it?”

“Take a look. Tell me what you think.”

Iris studied the papers. Her eyes widened. “The casino deal? Where did you get this?”

“Rosie found it somewhere in my back yard. What do you know about it?”

“There were a couple of sites that I heard about but the people in town don’t want anything to do with the problems associated with a casino. It will ruin Misty Valley.”

Lily sank deeper into the chair. “Do you think Clifton was murdered because of his support?”

“Or maybe he wanted out and someone at this meeting didn’t like that.
It’s interesting that there’s a list of signatures against the casino deal. It’s a curious group. Tyrone and Tamara working together? I would expect one of them to murder the other before anyone else was murdered.”

Iris walked into the kitchen. “Want
a snack?”

“No thanks.
I already had dessert.”

Iris poked her head back into the living room.
“Dinner
and
dessert?”

“
That’s all the details you’ll get from me.”

“I didn’t expect you home this early.”

“Ryan got called into work. Mike Keller is drunk and he’s making a scene at the police station.”

Iris returned with a piece of pie.
“That guy is trouble. I remember him from elementary school. He was a bully then. I hope they put him in jail and throw away the key.”

“From what you
heard at the shooting range, he may get off. Unless there are other witnesses.”

Iris pointed to the papers.
“That piece of paper Rosie found could lead to another witness. You’d better be careful though. Don’t let him know you’re poking around. Maybe you should come to the shooting range with me and do some target practicing. Remind Mike’s crazy friends that you know how to shoot.”

“Really?”

“Really. Clifton was murdered. In your house. You need to be extra careful.” Iris shrugged. “Plus, maybe we’ll hear more chatter at the shooting range.”

“Okay. Tomorrow afternoon? As long as Daisy will be at the shop.”

***

Lil
y was up and to the shop early. The town was abuzz with stories of the murder.

Candy was waiting for Lily to open up the shop. “Are you okay?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?” Lily opened the door and held it for Candy to enter.

Candy was excited.
“I heard someone broke into your house and you had to shoot him.”

Lily rolled her eyes. “Who told you that?”

“Your mom. She said she’s so happy she taught you how to shoot when you were a kid.”

“That’s not what happened.”

Candy was deflated. “Oh.”

Lily turned her sign to open. “Clifton Harris was killed in my house but I wasn’t there.”

“What was he doing in your house?”

“That’s what I need to find out.”

“What’s happening with the wedding?”

“Cancelled
, of course. No groom, no wedding.”

Candy was worried.
“What am I supposed to do with the cake? Tamara already paid for it.”

Lily picked up a bunch of pussy willows and red roses to wrap for an order. “Hasn’t she called you?”

Candy shook her head. “I’ve been trying to get a hold of her but she never answers her phone.”

“She’s donating all the wedding flowers for the hospital charity event. You could donate the cake too.”

“I can’t really just donate it without her permission. It belongs to her. She paid for it. But I’d hate to see it go to waste.”

“Call Melinda. Ask her what to do.”

Candy lowered her voice to a whisper. “Who do you think killed Clifton Harris?”

Lily looked at Candy. “
I wish I knew. That’s the million dollar question, isn’t it?”

Iris hurried into the shop. She looked at Candy and avoided Lily’s gaze.

Lily looked directly at Iris. “Candy just told me an interesting story going around town. Who on earth started that?”

Iris squirmed for about two seconds. “Nothing wrong with a little embellishment. People want to hear an interesting story.”

Daisy arrived out of breath. “Geoffrey told me the casino deal is off.”

Lily was surprised.
“Really? Because of the murder?”

“
Someone bought the land.”

“I thought there were a couple of land options.”

“Not according to Geoffrey. The new hospital is going on the site the casino wanted.”

The shop was feeling crowded when Ryan walked in. “Good morning
, ladies.” He looked at Iris. “Any new stories I should know about?”

Lily tried to change the subject. “Ryan Steele, this is Candy Clarke. I don’t know if you’ve met. Candy owns Candies Cakes and Catering. Candy
, Ryan is the new acting police chief in town.”

Candy looked Ryan up and down
, grinning. “I hope you’re around for the long haul.”

Ryan fidgeted. “Lily. Can I talk to you for a minute? In private?”

Daisy and Iris snickered as they watched Ryan follow Lily to the back room.

Ryan looked annoyed. “Did you take that envelope from my deck last night?”

“You left it there,” Lily said defensively.

“That’s not my question. I need to add it to the evidence. Where is it now?”

Lily stared at him with her arms folded. “At my mother’s house.”

He grabbed her arm. “Let’s go get it.”

Lily jerked away. “Wait a minute. I’m busy. I’ve got a business to run.”

He eyed her skeptically. “It sounded like a coffee
klatch out there. No one looked very busy.”

Lily stood her ground defiantly.
“You can’t just come in here and boss me around, Ryan Steele.”

“
This is important. I need that evidence. You can cooperate or I could arrest you for taking it.”

“What? You wouldn’t.” Lily stormed out of the back room.
“Mom, can you go with Mr. Steele to get that envelope at your house? He needs it immediately.”

“I’d love to.” Iris winked at
Ryan. “Do I get to ride in your cruiser?”

Ryan walked out without looking at Lily. Iris followed with a big smile on her face. “I can’t wait to tell my friends. Will you put the siren on?”

Ryan opened the door for Iris and ignored her question.

Daisy watched with her mouth hanging open. “What just happened?”

Lily was jamming flowers into a big basket arrangement. “What do you mean?”

“You and the
handsome cop. Do you like him?”

“Are you kidding? He thinks he can come in her
e and order me around. I have a business to run.”

“Sure Lily. You only get this worked up when you like a guy.”

Lily glared at Daisy. “I’m going to make these deliveries and pick up flowers at Geoffrey’s greenhouse.”

***

Lily had cooled down by the time she pulled into Geoffrey’s parking lot. Sitting in her car to completely calm herself, she thought,
I don’t need that Ryan Steele. I can figure this out myself.
She walked into the storage building attached to the greenhouse. The sweet smell of flowers surrounded her immediately.

“Geoffre
y? I’m here to pick up my order,” she called.

Geoffrey looked up from his desk. “I wasn’t sure if you still
needed the flowers since the wedding is cancelled.”

“Your mom is generously donating them to the hospital charity event.”

Geoffrey closed the ledger he was working on. “There’s nothing generous about my mother. There must be something in it for her.”

Lily sat down at Geoffrey’s desk. “Oh?”

“I probably shouldn’t say this, but Tamara Biotchi doesn’t do anything if there isn’t something in it for her.”

“What do you know about Clifton Harris?”
Lily got straight to the point.

“My almost-brother-in-
law?”

“Yeah.”

Geoffrey leaned back in his chair. “Hand-picked by my mother. Poor Melinda. She didn’t have the courage to be her own person. Maybe now she can let herself love the person her heart wants.”

“Jack?”

“He has always loved Melinda, but he accepted that she had to obey Mother. He knew he couldn’t fight that battle.”

“And now?
With Clifton dead?”

Geoffrey shrugged.
“Maybe he has a chance. But Mother despises him.”

“Why?”

“I’m not sure. I’ve always wondered if it’s because Mother married for money and not love and she was jealous that Melinda found someone who loves her for who she is. But that’s just my theory.”

Lily leaned back in her chair. “Not an easy family to be a member of. How have you managed to do your thing?” Lily looked around at all the incredible flowers that Geoffre
y had in buckets ready for pickup by wholesalers. Snapdragons, hybrid delphinium, tulips, calla lilies, Asiatic and oriental lilies in every color of the rainbow. And potted geraniums, begonias and impatience.

“Pot.”

“Pot? What do you mean?”

He adjusted his baseball cap.
“I make a lot of money with the medical marijuana so Mother tolerates my obsession with growing flowers.”

“What do you know about the casino project?”

“Not much, except that it seems to have fallen apart. Somehow the hospital got the land. My father is pretty upset about it.”

Lily leaned forward.
“Do you think that had anything to do with Clifton’s murder?”

“I wish I knew.
He wasn’t the most popular guy in town. It could be anyone.” Geoffrey got up. “I’ll help you load the flowers. It’s too bad about the wedding I guess, but, in the long run, maybe Melinda actually has a chance for happiness now.”

“And you?”

Geoffrey grinned from ear to ear. “Oh yeah. I have a real good chance for happiness. Your sister is dynamite.”

Lily closed the caravan door after the flowers were loaded. “Thanks Geoffrey. You certainly know how to grow the most beautiful flowers around. I’d love a tour of your greenhouses sometime. How did you ever get started in this? I can’t imagine that your parents steered you in this direction.”

Geoffrey choked with laughter. “I love flowers. I think my parents just gave up trying to change my mind, and when Clifton loaned me the money to get started, they had no control over me anymore.”

“Clifton helped you financially?”

“It was his idea. I never asked for the help. It’s built into the loan that if anything happens to Clifton, the debt is forgiven. Sweet deal for me.”

Lily was surprised.
“Yeah. Lucky you.”

Geoffrey
leaned casually against the van. “Can you give your sister a message for me?”

“Sure.”

“Tell her to swing by after work. I’ll be waiting.” He winked and went back inside.

Lily hurried
after Geoffrey with one more question. “Did Clifton buy cream tulips from you in the last couple days?”

“
Clifton? Nope. Jack did. Why?”

“Melinda thanked me for the beautiful tulips Clifton left in her kitchen yesterday morning. He didn’t get them from me.” Lily chuckled. “I’m just wondering who my competition is.”

“No worries there. I only sell to friends once in a while. I have no intention of competing with your incredible design ability.”

I wonder who gave them to
Melinda
.
Did she lie to me?