The Hibiscus Heist

by C L Bauer

  Lily looked straight ahead, banging her head lightly on the steering wheel. “Gretchen, are you kidding me? This is not your business.” She was losing her mind. This whole night was a huge mistake. She had gone off without a plan, no notes to direct her in any facet of her life now. Professionally, Abby was taking on more responsibility. Privately, Lily hardly communicated with her siblings. If Gretchen only knew how platonic their relationship was, she’d probably track Dev down for her own undercover work with him. What did Gretchen just say?

  “So, it is about sex.”

  Lily looked straight at her. Gretchen was probably a beautiful woman under all that paint and glitter. She did look better in the dark. “It is not about sex.”

  “So, everything is fine with him and that?”

  “And why will I answer you?”

  Gretchen smiled softly. “Because we are besties, dearie.”

  “No, we aren’t.” Lily’s career in the wedding flower business would soon be over after that last honest answer.

  Gretchen laughed. “Oh yes we are. You and I have been through quite a bit together.”

  Lily shook her head. Maybe Gretchen wasn’t the one living on an alternative planet; perhaps Lily had been transported via a rainbow to another universe of lies and distortions. Gretchen was the queen there.

  “You know, Lily, I don’t understand your relationship. The two of you, well I never imagined you were playacting last year. It was so natural. You two just looked like you belonged together.”

  Lily turned her attention to the Notte driveway. “Maybe in my alternative universe,”she muttered.

  Gretchen touched her shoulder. “What is wrong with you? Go after that man. If you haven’t made a first move, then do it.”

  “Enough, Gretchen.” Lily pointed at the door one more time.

  “Oh I’d just get that man a little drunk. It wouldn’t take much. Just have your way with him. What do you have to lose?”

  Lily stared straight ahead into the darkness of the street again. “Everything.”

  The response was laughter. “But think of that one night, Lily. I still remember my one time with this professional football player in Chicago. It was divine. His body, well, we never saw each other again, but we had that one night and I have very fond memories.”

  “But Gretchen, I don’t want just one night.” Lily’s voice had elevated, way too loud for the enclosed car.

  Gretchen squealed and clapped against her coffee cup. “You do love him! Wonderful. I just knew it. What kind of a wedding do you want? Spring, summer? Maybe not summer, your hair does frizz besides you’d look better in spring colors. Do you ever wear makeup? You know a little touch here and there wouldn’t kill you.”

  “Enough. There probably won’t be a wedding with my luck. I always get so far in a relationship, and it blows up in my face.”

  “Are you talking about that minister? He isn’t worth one more thought from you. Leave him to God. He left you when you needed him.”

  “You knew about that?” Lily was flabbergasted. Gretchen really did know everything that went on in the city.

  “Any man who leaves his woman when her father has just passed away isn’t worth it. You dodged a crazy bullet.” Gretchen took a sip of coffee and rifled through Lily’s bag one more time. “Are you sure you don’t have a candy bar in here? I’ll take some gum at this point. How about mints, perhaps a leftover old jelly bean at the bottom of the bag?”

  Lily laughed out loud. Her face relaxed for the first time, maybe in months. “No, I have nothing in there; yes, I know I lucked out. My relationship in college wasn’t as serious, but it wasn’t much better. We dated for a year, and then he introduced me to his fiancée.”

  “Ouch.” Gretchen laughed nervously and patted Lily on the shoulder. “My, you really have had a couple of crapheads. But Mr. Delicious, well I have a feeling that he is a keeper and a stayer.”

  Lily laid her head back on the seat. “He’s gone all the time, Gretchen.”

  “But he keeps coming back, Lily. Give yourself some credit and enjoy your time. I was going to say to enjoy the ride, but I suppose that is out of line.”

  How could this woman be so nice one moment and so, so Gretchen the next? Lily saw a light go off in a second-floor room of the Notte mansion. She wasn’t going to stay much longer. First, she’d have to get Gretchen out of her car.

  “To kill time, let’s talk about the wedding.”

  “Gretchen,” Lily admonished.

  “No, I want to know what the wedding florist would have for her dream wedding.”

  “I only need Dev.”

  “Yes, of course, but you need a wedding apparently first before you can have Dev. Really, Lily, your morality is going to get you some cold, sleep-filled nights.”

  Lily took a drink of coffee. Glaring at Gretchen wasn’t getting her out of her car. She sighed. “I could care less about planning a wedding. I really have never cared or thought about it. It’s probably because I go to weddings almost every weekend of the year.”

  Gretchen’s face was frozen in shock. “That’s just not possible. You have to have in your DNA, deep down, somewhere in you, Lily Schmidt, a need to have some kind of wedding. You are genetically predisposed for it. We all are.”

  Lily sighed. She wasn’t going to stop, was she? Just give up, Lily. Surrender to the insanity. “I just wouldn’t care but probably something elegant, small with only the family and special friends in our lives invited.” Even in her last relationship, he talked about it. He was doing all the planning. He’d ask her opinion about specifics but at the time she was too busy with her business and her father’s health to really focus on herself. Really, she hadn’t made herself a priority in a very long time. At least this imaginary wedding planning gave her something to think about while she was watching Garrett, and entertaining Gretchen was making time pass.

  “And I’d be there for you.” Lily rolled her eyes. Gretchen was becoming her girlfriend. “What colors, food, and what band would you like?”

  The wedding florist continued with the pipedream. “A church wedding and an elegant reception. A DJ is just fine.”

  Gretchen clucked like an angry hen. “No DJ. A small jazz band that could play the classics would be acceptable.”

  Lily threw her one hand up. “Fine. Whatever. You know this is like playing Barbies? He hasn’t asked me to do anything.” Lily had finally said way too much.

  Gretchen turned in her seat. “No! I don’t believe it. I know deep down he adores you. He likes women, right? Of course, he does. So, you two really haven’t?”

  “Maybe, I’m just the friend type. I could stand to lose twenty pounds.” But then Lily thought about Thanksgiving night. That was a kiss and she was really only down five total pounds. It was not a kiss for a friend. It was a kiss for the history books listed under how to expire while falling in love.

  “Couldn’t we all stand to lose some pounds? So we will get you the very best foundation undergarments to go under the dress. But they need to be easy to take off too.” Gretchen winked.

  Lily began lists in her head as her new bestie kept talking and planning. She soon discovered Gretchen could make lists with subcategories. Wow, what a woman.

  “Church wedding, maybe afternoon with time for photos before the evening reception. We will have to get Lawrence Fleischman. He’s the best but not too expensive. An intimate, sit down dinner with cocktails around five would be perfection and one of your friends could do the cake. Finally, a small band and lots of candles. Candlelight is our friend, Lily. When we are a certain age, we need a little help.”

  “I thought you wanted me to feel better about myself,” Lily interrupted. How old was the woman? At least sixty. Lily looked in the dark mirror. She could barely see the outline of her face, but she didn’t look that old. She could use some rest and a facial!

  “Well, that’s how you do it, with candlelight. It hides the wrinkles and those dark circles under your eyes.”
/>   That was enough. “Goodbye, Gretchen. I’m not kidding now. Get out of my car.”

  “But wait, we haven’t even planned the flowers. I’m thinking whites, creams and low on the tables. You get wholesale prices so let’s go big.”

  Lily’s arm was fully extended across Gretchen’s ample chest. Her head hung down defeated and tired of all this playing. She didn’t even want to know the information Gretchen supposedly had on Garrett. “Out now. Please, don’t make me grab you by the hair and remove you.”

  Finally, Gretchen heard a tone she feared and scampered out of the car.

  “Lily, I will be there and you will marry that man. You will be happy in spite of yourself. I will carry you to paradise on my back if I must.” She softly shut the door and tapped her way down the block.

  Lily didn’t know whether to shout, cry or laugh. “Arrgghh!” she yelled in submission to her depression. She lifted her head to see Gretchen’s blue BMW sedan pass by. It was time to go home to her current safest relationship, Mort. Gretchen was planning a wedding. Lily just wanted to survive.

  Chapter Sixteen

  The entire flight to Washington D.C., Lily rehearsed lines in her head. After the last week, the end of her involvement in the car theft ring, and the incidences with Garrett, she’d have to be an Academy Award winning actress to pull off an act of complete serenity with no sign of anxiousness. She wasn’t going to tell Dev anything. If Tom had told him, then she’d deal with that when the time came. She was done being reliant on her very special agent. Besides, the Kansas City police could handle a low life like Garrett. Detective Potter had called her and explained they were already watching him. He wouldn’t be a problem any longer. He was a suspect in the auto theft ring. Really? If that boy only used his brains for good rather than evil, he’d be a millionaire. Wait, he probably was. His trust fund alone made him one; his criminal activities just added to his stash.

  But she was anxious and not just because of her stalker. Why? She really didn’t know. This was the first time she was going to Dev’s home. She was overwhelmed by how much could go wrong. She’d met his aunt who lived in Kansas City. She was wonderful and very welcoming. Aunt Patricia had stopped in the shop one day and just introduced herself and then invited Lily to lunch. That invitation led to a shopping day including tea in the afternoon and dinner at her home on another night. Lily was comfortable with her. Of course, they talked about Dev, but most of the time Aunt Patricia talked about her sister, Dev’s mother. Lily learned more about Dev that way than she had in the time she had known him. She was in love with him, but she fell in love with him from the talks with Patricia.

  The early darkness of winter made her flight into Washington magical. A very light snow had fallen and blanketed every memorial with a spectacular wrap of sparkle. The Washington Monument, tall and ominous, was whiter than usual. When she’d flown to visit her brother and sister, she’d never seen the city this way. The White House glowed in the night with single candles in each window. The Jefferson Memorial was a snowy pearl ready for the picking. The plane lowered to land and skimmed the Memorial Bridge. She couldn’t see Lincoln in his memorial but she knew he was there and then the Pentagon was under her. Its structure was just the exterior of the force from within. Dev had been a part of that strength. He still was, only now within the DEA.

  After a smooth landing and a short walk to baggage, she waited at the carousel only a few minutes at Reagan International Airport before she grabbed her bag. A thought crossed her mind. I wish Dev’s mom was here. I’m not sure I want to be around all those men for the next few days. Then Lily smiled. It really would be a welcome relief from all the women, the brides, the mothers and Gretchen who was her own unwelcome force of nature in her life. But she was nervous.

  Thankfully, she was familiar with the airport. She texted Dev, telling him she had her bag and that she was headed outside. It was a short walk to the exterior rimmed walkway where drivers were able to pick up passengers. He’d be in a black Jeep. She hadn’t even known what he drove. She counted four black Jeeps, but only one stopped in front of her. It was driven by an extremely good-looking man with a comforting smile that helped drive some of her devils from her mind.

  Dev jumped out and gave her a quick kiss while grabbing her luggage and opening the passenger door. She got in as he loaded her bags. In seconds, he was sitting behind the wheel and they were exiting the airport.

  “Did you have a good flight?”

  “Pretty quiet. I managed to get some work done.”

  He looked quickly over at her as he entered the ramp. “You brought work?”

  “Just a little bit, mostly scheduling for next year, and I have that wedding next week.”

  He was driving onto the Parkway, merging into speeding traffic.

  “I made dinner reservations at this great little Italian place.”

  “That sounds wonderful. I didn’t have time to eat lunch so I’m starving. You should’ve seen the snow on the memorials. It was beautiful. The Jefferson is my favorite.” She was babbling, filling the air with conversation but she couldn’t stop herself. “I had a consultation before I left the shop. They’re getting married in May and it seems to be a very large wedding. I can use the business. You know, things are fine but all small businesses seem to struggle.”

  He changed lanes and then looked over at her. “You feeling fine?”

  “Yes, just excited to be here.”

  “You’re a little more conversational than usual, a little faster.”

  Darn, he really does know me. “Um, I’m just hungry.”

  He accepted that explanation. “They’ll have bread on the table with that garlic and pesto olive oil you love so much. Oh, I invited Dad to meet us. I hope you’re fine with that.”

  And so it began, the interrogation de famille. She chose to not answer, to calm her conversation and allow the air to fill with silence. She preferred to sit in the darkness of the car thinking about meeting his father. She had spoken briefly on the phone with the man but she needed prep time, more than just this car ride. How did you prepare for the serious business of meeting someone’s parent? Dev was getting off easy; her parents were deceased. A brother and sister meeting would not be so devastating. She usually didn’t listen to their advice anyway.

  “Are you alright with him coming tonight?” Dev scanned her face quickly while he drove through the traffic. It was a Friday night and everyone was trying to get somewhere in the city.

  “Sure. That’s fine.”

  “Now you’re too quiet. You don’t sound fine, sweetheart. What’s up?” Her special quietness was a new one for him.

  Come clean, Lily, not about Garrett but about everything, everyone else.

  “I’m a little nervous about this weekend, meeting your friends, your dad. It’s a little overwhelming.” Lily took a full breath in and exhaled as she admitted with honesty her anguish, what was creating the nauseousness she was now feeling, and she wasn’t just hungry.

  “Keep your expectations low,” he laughed. “They are just the guys and you are going to see them at their worst during the Army-Navy game. And Dad, well he’s my father. He can’t wait to meet you.”

  “What about your expectations?” She blurted out some raw feeling before her brain could stop her. This question was Gretchen’s fault!

  He turned down a side street and slowed down. They were in a more residential area of Alexandria, Virginia. There were a few restaurants here and there in between the brick row houses, some built in the 1700’s. He found a parking spot on a brick road and turned off the car.

  Dev looked over at her and placed his hand on her seat, his thumb resting on her shoulder. “My expectations are to spend time with you, for you to get to know my father and my closest friends. I have trusted my life in their hands. I want you to know what you are getting into with me,” he said as he turned, left the car and arrived at her door. As he opened it, he looked down at her boots.

  “No heels? Good, b
ricks are killers.” She got out and began to walk slowly as he locked the car. She felt his arm grab hers and spin her toward him.

  “And I expect a lot of this.”

  His kiss was warm on the cold night, full of heat and the obvious expectations. Great expectations. Dickens had no drama on Lily. Dev held her closer and kissed her until she was left breathless. Well.

  Lily touched her lips as he pulled away. “That was nice.”

  Dev laughed. “How about we get you something to eat? You’re always better when you’ve had some food.”

  “And wine, please?” She looped her arm within his as they walked toward their objective.

  “Of course. I even stocked up at home.”

  “Thank you, Mr. Pierce, now let’s go meet the other Mr. Pierce.”

  Dev’s father, Jack, was already seated at a table in the corner of the restaurant near the front bay window. They were only one table away from the large fireplace, complete with romantic roaring fire. He waved as he saw the couple. His smile is inviting, Lily thought, and she now knew where Dev had gotten his rugged good looks. The man was stunning, his hair completely silver, the good silver coloring that makes you look twice at an older man. He looked like someone who should be on the golf course all the time, a little tanned with a light and powerful physique. But he was shorter than Dev, by a few inches.

  Jack Pierce came around to hug Lily. “I am so happy to meet you. I can’t believe you are finally here.” He motioned for her to sit in the open chair and helped her with her coat. “Hello, son.”

  “Hello, Dad. I was beginning to think you were only interested in the rock star here.”

  Jack motioned for the server. “Well, she is the honored guest. What would you like to drink, Lily?”

  “A white zinfandel, please,” she told the server. Lily was eyeing the bread placed in the middle of the table. If she were a cannibal, it would be her poor sacrificial missionary. Chitchat was nice but her stomach was growling; she could swear the guests at the next table overheard it.

  “Why don’t we figure out what we’re eating? Lily is starving,” Dev suggested as he passed her the bread. He had heard her rumblings.