Flowers, Food, and Felonies at the New Year's Jubilee: A Flower Shop Mystery Novella (The Flower Shop Mystery Series Book 4) Read online

  “I’ll try,” she said.

  Once inside, I helped her to the couch and propped her foot with pillows. Jerome whimpered and licked her hand.

  “What a little sweetheart,” Henrietta said.

  “He sure is,” I said, pride welling in my chest. “I’ll get some ice in a baggie for you. Do you have an Ace bandage?” She described how to find the bandage in her linen closet and directed me to the drawer where I could find a sandwich bag for the ice. When I returned, she told me what happened as I placed a towel on her ankle then wrapped the ice bag on top with the bandage.

  “I’m glad I waited until this afternoon to go out and get today’s paper, or you may not have found me. I like to look at the after-Christmas ads. It’s become a tradition for me and my sister to go shopping on the 26th to pick up some items to donate at the Jubilee. I can’t believe I got stuck outside of my own house. So embarrassing.”

  Jerome made another squeak and she reached down to pull him onto the couch with her.

  “I’m just glad you weren’t hurt more severely,” I said.

  “I’m glad you were here, Quincy. Kent is driving truck in North Dakota and I planned to spend the day alone. I might have been outside for quite a long time.”

  “I’m glad we came too. It was all due to this little guy. He decided to go this way on our walk.” Jerome lay next to Henrietta on the couch, his eyes contentedly closed.

  “He’s a rescue dog for sure,” Henrietta said. Jerome’s tail thumped on the couch, his eyes remaining closed.

  “Will we still see you at the Jubilee? You always win a ribbon no matter what category you enter.”

  “I don’t know if I’ll be able to stand up long enough. I was hoping for the big prize this year. I’ve got a fruitcake recipe from years back that I wanted to try.”

  “I have an idea,” I said. “My future mother-in-law is still in town and she wanted to participate in the Jubilee somehow. I bet she’d be thrilled to come and act as your assistant chef. What do you think?”

  “Hmm. That sounds kind of fun. Why don’t you give me her number and I’ll give her a call.”

  Perfect. I’d done my good deed for the day, and helped my future mother-in-law get involved with the Jubilee, thus helping myself.

  On the walk home, I tried to remember what I’d done with my engagement ring. It was no use. When we got back to my house, I would search every nook and cranny. If that didn’t work, I’d sit down and have a long cry, and then decide how I would tell Alex that even though I loved him more than anything, and wanted to spend the rest of my life with him, I couldn’t even manage to take care of my engagement ring for more than two weeks.

  CHAPTER THREE

  The day after Christmas meant back to work for me. New Year’s Eve is a popular day for couples who have pre-planned their weddings and for those who decide to make “Be Married” one of their spur of the moment New Year’s resolutions.

  I left Jerome to eat breakfast in his new, snowdog themed food bowl (thank you Auntie K.C.) while I showered then dressed. I sat on my bed to check email on my phone. The sight of the first email in the queue made me glad I hadn’t had any breakfast yet, as I would have lost it. Elizabeth Downing, a bride who’d called me to plan her wedding the week before, was emailing yet again. Elizabeth was a nice young woman who was just a little—maybe a lot—of a scatterbrain, who was also getting married on New Year’s Eve.

  I cringed as I clicked open the email, wondering what change or addition sweet Elizabeth was going to request today. Another bridesmaid, as it turned out. I’d have to wait until I got to work to see if there would be enough extra blooms in our shipment, or if I’d have to try to find more somewhere else. I slipped on my cute winter boots, shrugged into my parka and latched Jerome into his harness. We piled into Zombie Sue, the undead mini-van who’d never missed a start.

  Until today.

  It was cold enough to see our breath in frosty puffs. I had a driveway at my little house, but not a garage for keeping Sue. I turned the key and she hesitated. “Oh no. C’mon girl, what’s wrong?” I asked my most dependable ally and partner in crime. Jerome whined and I tried not to panic and think about all the things that could be wrong and how much it would cost to fix her.

  I tried not to panic, but failed. Jerome whined again and I told him not to worry. I patted Sue on the dashboard and reassured her that no matter what was wrong, I knew she’d always been there for me and it hadn’t gone unnoticed. I crossed my fingers with my left hand and turned the key with my right. Sue roared to life with as strong a start as any before. Relief.

  Festive garland and ornaments from the busy Christmas holiday still adorned the inside of my shop. After his usual sniff inspection of the store, Jerome returned to the doorway between back and front design rooms, found the exact epicenter and plopped down for his first morning nap.

  Daphne, our assistant floral designer came through the back door soon after we arrived.

  “Good morning, Quincy,” she said in her perky manner.

  “You know, if I didn’t like you so much, I’d have to hate you for being so cheerful and awake in the mornings,” I teased.

  “Don’t hate me because I’m an early riser.” She winked then lifted Jerome, who’d interrupted his nap to go over and greet her by sniffing her shoes. “Oooff, you’re getting heavier by the day. I bet he’s gained a couple of pounds since I worked last. That was only three or four days ago.”

  “I understand he could get up to a hundred fifty pounds,” I said.

  “Well I’m glad I can still pick him up now. Aren’t I? Aren’t I glad, puppy?” She couldn’t help but take on the puppy talk voice, I knew. I hadn’t met a person yet who didn’t change to baby talk when they spoke to my dog. And he seemed to love every second of the attention. “So how come all the cabinet doors are all open back here?”

  “It’s so the pipes don’t freeze. This building is so old, there are lots of places where the cold leaks in. If you open the doors under the sinks, it allows the heat from the rest of the room to warm the pipes.”

  “We sure didn’t have to worry about this in Florida.”

  “No, but you had to worry about a crocodile biting off your leg,” K.C. said from behind us. We hadn’t heard her come in the back door, which was unusual. One almost always knew when Karma Clackerton was within a mile.

  “You mean alligators,” Daphne said with a laugh.

  “I’d worry equally about either one,” K.C. said. “Boy, oh, boy. It’s colder than a witch’s…kneecap out there. How was your Christmas, kiddo?”

  We were interrupted by the freight delivery service at the front door. The first of our flower shipments had arrived. We caught up on our holiday experiences while we unpacked boxes and processed flowers into buckets.

  “Uh oh,” K.C. said. “I’m no expert, but I believe these aren’t supposed to look like this.” She held up a bunch of white larkspur. The foliage was completely black and the tips of the long stems were curled over.

  “Looks like they froze,” I said.

  “Feel this bunch,” Daphne said. “The stems are like ice cubes.”

  “Great,” I said, and not in the good way. These were the perils of special ordering wedding flowers, or any flowers for that matter. Flowers are shipped by air and by truck and Mother Nature doesn’t always cooperate with perfect weather.

  The rest of the morning was spent contacting suppliers, not only to get credit for the damaged product, but also to try and find new white spider mums, larkspur, button chrysanthemums and green roses in quantities to fill my orders.

  As I was hanging up with the last supplier the other line rang. “Thank you for calling Rosie’s P—“

  “Don’t bother with the rest, dear. I’m in a hurry.”

  “Oh. Hi mom.” I stopped to let her share her news, since she was in such a hurry.

  “Well aren’t you going to ask me anything?”

  I sighed to myself and rolled my eyes. “What’s w
rong?”

  “Your father is already over at Deborah Green’s place. I’m headed over there now.”

  My interest was piqued. Why would my dad be over at one of the MLM’s houses? “I thought Deborah was out of town for Christmas,” I said.

  “She is. That’s the problem. She isn’t due back until this afternoon. She was visiting her daughter in Albequerque and her flight doesn’t come in until later today.”

  “What’s happened?” I asked, now the impatient one.

  “Grace Bynum went over to check on the cat. Grace lives next door and she has a key to Deborah’s house. Every time one of them goes out of town…” My mother knew that I knew where Grace and Deborah lived. She had to know that I knew they watched each other’s places when one of them would travel. She had to know, because she outlaid the entire history for every one of her cohorts, or anyone for that matter, every time she would talk about one of them. “…she walked in and she was ankle deep in water. It was gushing out of a wall in the laundry room. The cat was hiding in the top of Deborah’s closet.”

  I stood up and perhaps instinctively walked into the back design room, finding myself checking on the pipes under the sink.

  “Grace called me and I’ve sent your father over to fix the leak. I’m going over there to help clean things up.”

  “Does anyone know what caused the pipe to burst?”

  “Your dad said he got there and the door to her cold storage room was wide open. She’s got a dug out room in the back of the house. It’s just a dirt floor. That open door let all the freezing air in and they think it froze the pipe leading to the laundry room. It’s horrible. Grace says she was over there last night and she swears she didn’t notice that door being open.” Mom sighed. “I’ve offered to let Deborah and her husband stay at our house when they get home from the airport, so I was wondering if you could bring some flowers over so they’ll be there when the Greens arrive.”

  “Sure, I’d be happy to.”

  Mom made a noise that sounded a lot like she’d just cursed under her breath. Although, she would never admit to swearing. “Deborah was so looking forward to the Jubilee. She told me she was coming home today just so she could prepare for the contest. By the way Grace tells it, Deborah won’t be able to use that kitchen for a while. And poor Grace, she feels terrible.”

  The jingle bells hanging against the front door alerted us to someone coming in. It was Vanessa Brown, Queen of the Jubilee, accompanied by her daughter, Belinda, who’d gone to the same junior high as I had. She was a bully and a mean girl then, and from all accounts she still was. She taught Life Skills courses, formerly known as Home Economics at Hillside high school now.

  “Hello, Mrs. Brown. Hi, Belinda. What can I help you with today?”

  “We just came by to see your cute little store. We’d never even heard of it before,” Vanessa said.

  They had, actually heard of my store before. It was the time when I was standing in front of them at a chamber of commerce get together—telling them about my shop.

  “Oh, well thanks for stopping in. That’s nice of you,” I said, not believing a word I was saying.

  “We thought we’d buy a little something for the other contestants in our category at the Jubilee. Just a little good luck gift for each of them,” Vanessa said. “We’ve already made Brownie’s Fudge Brownies for everyone, but we thought it would be cute to add a small bunch of flowers with each plate.”

  “Mom’s entering the dessert category this year,” Belinda announced out of nowhere.

  So that’s why they were here. They’d somehow found out I was going to be a judge and they thought they would butter me up by buying something from me.

  It’d been a mistake when I revealed I would be a judge at the Christmas Eve party, in order to get K.C. off my back. But K.C., my mom and Eleanor were the only people I’d told. They’d all been sworn to secrecy. So that didn’t explain how Vanessa and Belinda found out. Had they somehow bribed someone on the Jubilee committee? Or maybe they’d somehow stolen some files. Would they go as far as to tap a phone or hack a computer? They’d already hinted at what dish I was supposed to give the most points to. If I tasted anything close to a Fudge Brownie at the judging, I would have to recuse myself.

  I was letting my imagination run wild. Nevertheless, I didn’t want to spend one more minute in their presence if I didn’t have to. That way, any slips of information wouldn’t come from me.

  “I’m so sorry, ladies, but I’m late for a telephone appointment with an out of town bride. Daphne here can help you finish up your order. I hope you’ll excuse me, and thank you so much for coming in.” I motioned to Daphne, who to her credit, jumped in without having a clue what was going on, and I made my escape.

  I hid in the back design room where K.C. was putting together delivery boxes for use later in the week.

  “Did you hear what just happened out there?” I asked, keeping my voice down.

  “Didn’t hear a thing,” she practically shouted.

  “Shhh! I’m supposed to be back here on the phone.”

  “You’re gonna have to speak up, I can’t understand a word you’re saying, Boss.”

  I pulled her into the rear alcove where we staged our deliveries so that our voices wouldn’t carry. I relayed my recent conversation.

  K.C.’s mouth gaped open. “She’s getting flowers for her fellow competitors? Sounds a lot like what happened to your mother yesterday. What nerve! Just flaunting it right in our faces. Is she still here? I’m gonna go out there and—”

  “Hold on.” I pushed against her shoulders to keep her from leaving. “We don’t know it was her that sent those flowers. First of all, they came from the grocery store. And second, I don’t think she would be so brazen as to come in here and admit that she sent them. She could probably get disqualified, don’t you think?”

  “I think you are tres naïve, that’s what I think.”

  “I’m not going to go out there and accuse her of anything, even if I do suspect her of delivering those flowers. Besides, they pretty much came right out and told me they know I’m a dessert judge. And now they’re shopping in my store. That’s an obvious attempt at influencing me. I should just call the head of the judging committee and tell them what’s going on.”

  “Hey, Quincy?” Daphne called from the doorway. “Can we deliver their brownies with the flower arrangements?”

  I looked over wide-eyed at K.C.

  “What the…” K.C. seemed to be as dumfounded as I was.

  “They want us to deliver arrangements to all the people in the dessert category?” I said.

  “I guess so,” Daphne said. “I don’t know who everyone is, I just want to know if you’re okay with us delivering their homemade food to everyone.”

  There was no way anyone could be that stupid. There mustn’t have been a connection between Vanessa Brown, as overly-confident as she was about winning, and the flowers my mom received on Christmas morning.

  “Tell them yes, we can deliver, as long as the food is sealed in some kind of packaging when they drop it all off.”

  Daphne left and I turned back to K.C.

  K.C. placed her palms to either side of her face. “I thought I had seen everything. I was just going to suggest we follow them around and see where they deliver those flowers and treats. Now we don’t even have to do that. They’re paying us to spy on them.”

  “It’s not them. Nobody would be that dumb. Besides, we can read the enclosure card messages before they’re delivered. And if they seal the envelopes before we can read them, you can wait while the recipient opens the envelope and then ask them what it says.”

  She tilted her head and put her hands on her hips. “Don’t you think it’s a little nosy?”

  “Yes. That’s why you’re perfect for the job,” I said with a wink.

  “You’re absolutely right, Boss. Karma Clackerton is on the case.”

  Even though Vanessa was probably innocent, it gave K.C. a mys
tery to work on. She could occupy her busy self with it until it came time for her to compete at the Jubilee. It would keep her, and by extension, me, from getting into any trouble otherwise.

  And in trouble is a place we found ourselves all too often.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  The next day at work, we received a replacement shipment of flowers. The temperatures had warmed just slightly and those few degrees Fahrenheit made everyone’s lives much easier. It wasn’t swimsuit weather by any means, but it was just above freezing. And that meant all of my flowers arrived healthy and happy.

  Vanessa Brown had dropped off her brownies in cute metal tins printed with Christmas trees and ornaments. We made small bouquets in colors matching each tin, and K.C. happily set out to deliver them. Once the orders for the day were complete, Daphne and I started work on wedding centerpieces.

  That afternoon, K.C. returned. Daphne and I waited eagerly to hear what awful things had been written on the cards for the dessert contestants.

  “Well?” I asked.

  K.C. took her time taking off her coat, her white, fluffy scarf and the matching knit hat with the fluffy, white faux fur edge and drawstring pompoms.

  “C’mon, K.C.,” Daphne said, “what did those cards say?”

  “Hmm?” She pretended not to know we were waiting on her response. “Oh, are you talking to me?”

  “Very funny,” I said. “Alright already, what did those cards say?”

  “Nothing,” she said straight faced.

  “No, really,” Daphne said.

  “That’s the truth. Nothing but boring old well wishes for the competition.” She pulled a chair up to the design table and sat down. She placed her elbows on the table and rested her chin in one hand. “Not a nasty word for any one of them. All my hopes were dashed.”

  “I’m sorry, K.C.” Daphne said while placing a hand on her shoulder.

  “You know what?” I said. “We should’ve known not to get our hopes up. It was just too obvious. Maybe Vanessa is a bad winner who likes to brag about her winnings, but she did a nice thing for her fellow competitors. We should learn from her example.”