Autumn Anthology

by Heather B. Moore

  My phone pinged with a text, and I grumbled as I opened it, but the grumbling stopped when I saw it was from Travis.

  Hey, Miss Curious, thanks again for giving up your night to help me puzzle things out.

  The tingles that had evaporated with Caleb’s call returned full force as I relived the tender way Travis had held me. But the moment couldn’t compete with the memories crowding at the edge of my consciousness, all revolving around Caleb.

  I’d loved Caleb for a few weeks, and thought that maybe he was the one. It took me nearly six months to get over him and the hurt. It was so unfair that one day after meeting Travis, Caleb was confessing his love to me, dredging up all of the feelings I’d swept from my broken heart.

  Rolling my shoulders back, I replied to the text.

  My pleasure. I’m glad you shared the note and your Chinese food with me!

  A minute after I hit send, my phone pinged again. I shook off my errant thoughts, smiling at what I expected would be a reply from Travis. My screen flickered, and I saw Caleb’s name. I couldn’t resist reading the text.

  You’re the only one for me. I’m sorry I messed things up the first time. Please give me another chance.

  I groaned, grappling with mixed emotions of anger, hurt, and betrayal tinged with an unsettling fondness for the man responsible for the cracks in my heart. The sob inched its way farther up my throat. I was just about to turn my phone off when it pinged again.

  The message was from Travis.

  Sweet dreams, flower girl.

  The sob turned into a hiccup, and I felt an echo of my earlier smile tug at the corners of my lips. No way would I mess things up with Travis because Caleb thought he had VIP status in my heart. For a moment, I considered texting Caleb my thoughts, but I knew he’d only argue back. Better to turn my cell phone off and have a good night’s sleep.

  Chapter Five

  The smell of damp earth and tulip bulbs topped my list of aromatic memories. I could almost see my mother’s hands guiding my own small fingers to place the flower bulbs in the soft mulch of our flowerbed.

  I thought about Travis Banner and his sister Kami, her grief over the loss of her husband, and the mystery of the cryptic notecard he’d left his wife.

  What was he involved in that got him killed? My best ideas always came when my hands were working the soil. Now I willed my mind to think of something, anything, to explain the note and Craig’s premonition of his own death.

  Something about flowers. Travis had mentioned his mother’s love of flowers and how Kami shared that love and did her best to mimic their mother’s talent. The mention of late-night walks in the park was also significant. Travis was sure Craig meant Silver Cascade Park. My mind turned over the possibilities as I planted dozens of tulip, hyacinth, and daffodil bulbs in a pattern I’d drawn on a piece of paper sitting in the dirt next to me.

  “Jillian! I’m so glad I found you.”

  I jumped in surprise as I turned to see Travis jogging toward me. My heart did a triple flip, and I stood as he approached. “Good morning.”

  He cleared his throat, and I noticed his breath coming in short puffs. “Could you take a short break now? It’s important.”

  “Uh, sure.” I glanced at the bulbs arranged in neat piles, and Travis followed my gaze.

  “I know you’re really busy, but I need your help.” His eyes were bright with excitement.

  “Let me just cover the bulbs.” I knelt in the dirt again and began packing the soil back into the holes, the dark earth cushioning the last fifty bulbs I’d planted. “Grab those burlap sacks and cover the bulbs in that pile. I don’t want them to dry out.”

  “Can I help you finish up? I don’t want to mess up your hard work.”

  “If you’ll cover those bulbs, I can finish planting this last row.” I could see he was anxious, and for a moment wondered if I should just leave the work, but a light wind had picked up, and it wouldn’t take five minutes to plop the bulbs into the ready-dug holes. “Thanks for the help.”

  “I’m sorry to interrupt, but it’s urgent.” Travis covered the bulbs and dusted his hands off on his pants.

  “No worries.” I packed the last of the bulbs. “I needed to stretch for a minute anyway.” I stood, and he grabbed my hand, tugging me in the direction of the parking lot.

  “You won’t believe what I got in the mail today.”

  I quirked an eyebrow. “Must be good for nine o’clock in the morning.”

  “Nine-fifteen. I was at the post office when it opened. I got a letter from Craig.”

  I sucked in a breath. “Another clue?”

  Travis nodded and gave my hand a squeeze. “C’mon. I’ll show you.” He opened the door to his Subaru, and I climbed inside. The interior smelled like vanilla, and I noticed a few granola-bar wrappers on the floor. My stomach grumbled.

  “Where are we going?” I asked after he sat in the driver’s seat.

  “Nowhere. I wanted to show you this where no one else would see.” He pulled out a manila envelope from under his seat and waved it in front of me.

  “Gee, that doesn’t make me curious at all.”

  Travis chuckled. “I’m counting on your curiosity to help me figure this out.”

  “What is it?”

  He lifted the flap and looked at me. “This was rerouted from Billings, Montana, and the original postmark was two months ago. Apparently, it was misdirected.”

  “Two months ago? Then how can it be from Craig? He died over six months ago, didn’t he?”

  With a nod, Travis pulled out a sheet of computer paper and handed it to me. “My guess is that he set it up with an automated service. If he lived, he could cancel the delivery. If he died...”

  “Then it would go out in the morning post, but then you moved,” I finished for him.

  Travis scrubbed at his eyes then handed me the page. “See what you think.”

  The note was typewritten on plain white paper with no header.

  To: Travis Banner

  From: Craig Simmons, True Assets Financial Support

  Hey, bro. I’m worried about my family. I’m not sure what to do, but if you got this letter, it means something bad has happened to me. My first priority will always be my family, so I want you to know that if the police can’t answer your questions, you’re safe, and there’s no need to worry. If you do need answers, try to console yourself by reliving the memories I made with Heidi in the park. She loved the flower gardens, especially the one with orange and white daffodils.

  I’m sorry I can’t say more. Please let Kami know that I did my best to stick around for her and Heidi.

  I love you all.

  Craig

  “He’s trying to tell you something.” I handed Travis the page. “Do you know what it is?”

  He took a deep breath. “I have a hunch, but it may sound wild, so don’t laugh.”

  “Probably not any wilder than my imagination is right now.”

  Travis leaned closer to me, his relief evident as some of the tension from his face relaxed. “I think Craig hid something in your park— something that will identify his murderer,” his voice was low and urgent.

  “Why not in a safe-deposit box? Isn’t that where people hide stuff before they get killed?”

  “He must have been too afraid of giving his murderer any hints. Remember, his first priority was protecting his family.”

  I twisted my watch around my wrist. “And if Kami found a clue to his murder, she might be in danger. If so, it doesn’t bode well for you.”

  “I’ll be careful. But I don’t see how anyone could know about this letter or Craig’s hiding place.”

  “This sounds like a Grisham novel.” I turned in my seat to survey the parking lot. “Do you think someone’s watching your family?”

  Travis followed my line of sight. “I’ll admit I’ve been kind of jumpy since I got the mail, but I think we’re safe. Enough time has passed that even if someone used to be watching Kami, they probably
have become bored.”

  “Craig was an investment planner, right? That isn’t supposed to be a hazardous occupation. So what happened?” My heart pumped faster as I thought about the danger we could be in. I watched Travis stow the manila envelope under his seat again.

  “Craig was a smart guy. His clients loved him for his sharp eye and ability to put their money to work for them.” Travis drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. “I’ve seen him investigate financials with a fine-toothed comb and find something that could completely change a person’s life for the better. But maybe he found something dangerous— some information that could change a person’s life by putting them behind bars.”

  I shivered. “That’s scary. Are you going to take that letter to the police?”

  Travis pressed his lips together and blew out a breath. “I probably should, but the way they’ve acted recently has my confidence waning. Besides, this wouldn’t mean anything to them. Craig wrote to me for a reason.”

  “He knew you wouldn’t be afraid to figure it out.” I flicked a piece of dirt from the cuff of my jacket. “How can I help?”

  Travis reached for my hand with a smile. “This is your park. You know those flowerbeds like the dirt under your fingernails.” He squeezed my hand, and I looked at my stained fingertips. “What are the chances that I’d meet the very person who could help me days before I received this letter?” His eyes were hopeful, and I couldn’t argue with the providence of our meeting, but Craig had died because of what he’d discovered.

  “I’m scared, but I’ll help you.”

  Travis leaned closer and whispered, “I won’t let anything happen to you.”

  His words sent a tingling of goose bumps down my arms. My face heated as I realized how much I wanted him to kiss me. I cleared my throat. “So you want to know where the daffodils with the orange centers are?”

  “It’s a safe place to start, since you’re already digging in the flower beds. Do you have some sort of map of the landscaping?”

  I pulled the sketch out of my pocket that I’d been consulting earlier. The paper crinkled as I unfolded it. “This is the design for the memorial garden. I’ve made one of these for each of the flowerbeds I’ve worked on in the park. There are nine.”

  “Perfect. Can we take a look at the maps?”

  “Sure. I keep a binder in the tool shed.” I reached for the door handle, but Craig stopped me.

  “I didn’t mean to hijack your work. Are you sure you have time right now?”

  “If I didn’t, I’d make time, because I want to figure this out almost as much as you do.”

  The shed was on the other side of the park. I noticed Travis scanning the area more than once as we headed that direction. How nervous was he about the threat Craig had implied? I unlocked the shed and turned on the light. My insides felt jittery as I grabbed the binder and began leafing through the sheet protectors holding my designs. I’d made some of them in my college classes, and I remembered how proud I’d been to implement them into beautiful creations everyone in the city could enjoy.

  “Do you change the flowers every year?” Travis asked as he leaned over my shoulder and studied the layouts.

  “No, I planned these gardens as perennials so the upkeep is substantially lower. Each year I do a little rearranging, but the main design stays the same.” I flipped through a few more pages. “There are daffodils in about half of the flower beds, but different varieties in each, because I like to experiment to see which grows the best in our climate.”

  “Wow, you’ve done a ton of work here.” He motioned to the binder. “This is really great.”

  “Thanks.” I tapped the page. “The daffodils with the orange centers are only in two flower beds, if I remember right.”

  “But we can’t just dig up the whole flowerbed,” Travis said.

  “We won’t have to. The daffodils were blooming when he buried whatever he might have hid, so he would have to work around the flowers. Come on.” I tucked the binder in between a few gardening catalogs on the shelf then closed up the shed and headed straight across the park.

  Travis walked briskly to keep up with me. “Thanks again for helping me. I hope it’s not a wild goose chase.”

  I slowed and studied his expression. The sincerity in his eyes was touching, making me want to help him even more. “I just thought of something. I’m not sure he would have actually buried something. That seems too risky. What if he hid something by a tree, or a rock, or even by one of the garden statues? That’s what I’d do.”

  Travis nodded. “Good point.”

  “Here’s the first one.” I motioned to the flowerbed devoid of daffodil blooms, but still beautiful in its autumn wardrobe of decorative purple cabbages and bushy remnants of a dark-orange mum.

  We knelt at the edge of the rich, brown soil. Travis scanned the area, scrunching up his eyes in thought. He turned to me and shrugged. “I guess we start digging?”

  I handed him one of the two trowels I’d brought along. “You dig here. I’ll check around the bushes and paver stones on the north edge.”

  We hunted around for the next twenty minutes, with me instructing Travis where to dig. He dug up a few bulbs, but we found nothing significant. We walked across the park and dug around in the other flower bed, with no luck.

  Travis sat on the grass with a sigh. “I guess it was too much to hope that it would be easy.”

  I sat next to him on the grass. “I think we’ll figure it out. Maybe we’re missing something. You know, we may need to look at the letter from a different angle. Maybe there’s a different code word we missed, and he mentioned the park to throw off any criminals intercepting it.”

  Travis frowned. “I doubt it, but I do think you’re right that we’re missing something.”

  He stood and pulled me up. My breath caught at his nearness. He stared at me for a moment, and the depths of his brown eyes were full of kindness and something else that made my heart do the cha-cha.

  “Craig would be happy that you’re helping his family,” I said.

  “‘My family,’” Travis murmured. “Not much of our family left. I don’t want to let him down.”

  “You won’t. I’m going to help you.”

  Travis smiled. “I have a good feeling about you. You’re smart. Maybe you’ll be the one to figure it out.”

  I started to shake my head.

  “Could I take you out to dinner tonight? I have a busy day ahead finishing a couple of trucks, but I’d like to repay your kindness.” He touched my arm, resting his hand near my elbow.

  “I can’t think of anything better. Especially if it involves Mexican food.”

  “And I know just the place,” he said. “Can I pick you up at five thirty?”

  “Si, Señor.”

  Travis chuckled. “Hasta la vista, baby.” He gave me a quick peck on the cheek then lifted two fingers in a wave, his keys dangling.

  My smile stayed in place the rest of the day. I kept thinking about the cryptic message Craig had sent Travis, vowing that I’d crack the code and help his family heal.

  Chapter Six

  Dinner was fabulous. Travis took me to a local dive for some of the best nachos and enchiladas I’d had in quite a while. We laughed and talked as we worked on our monstrous plates, each moment lingering with the sparks flying between us.

  “Man, that hit the spot.” Travis rubbed his flat stomach and stretched as we walked to his car.

  “I have a love affair with guacamole and good salsa.”

  “Good to know you have some weaknesses,” Travis teased.

  “Whatever. I’m a work in progress,” I replied.

  He opened my door and leaned toward me, his voice husky. “I think you’re pretty wonderful.”

  I felt as if a rocket had launched in my chest. He closed my door and walked around the car, giving me time to cool the jet flames before he slid into the driver’s seat. As he drove toward my house, I caught myself looking at his mouth. He gave my h
and a gentle squeeze and didn’t let go. The warmth of his fingers pressing against mine was comforting, and I found my mind wandering toward the gated area in my heart— the one I hoped to open again someday to a man worthy of my love. It was too soon to ponder any future with Travis, but that didn’t keep me from longing for the companionship of someone who understood and loved me.

  A few minutes later, we stood on my doorstep, holding hands. He smiled at me, and our eyes locked until I felt the warmth of my cheeks giving away my inner thoughts. I cleared my throat. “Um, maybe you could stay awhile, and we could watch a movie or play a board game?” As soon as I said it, I realized how needy and geeky I sounded. Dang. I should have just asked him to make-out on the couch. My face burned even hotter.

  “Sounds fun. Do you have Yahtzee?”

  My head jerked up, and my mouth opened, but before I could say something sappy, my witty side kicked in to save me. “Technically that’s not a board game, but it’ll work in a pinch.”

  “I wouldn’t want to get hung up on technicalities, but if you’re scared you’ll lose, we can play something else.”

  I lifted my chin and rolled my shoulders back. “You’re on, but I hope you know what you’re in for.” I shook my hand vigorously as if rolling dice.

  With a nod, he followed me inside. “This day just keeps getting better.”

  I was certain he saw the flaming heat on my cheeks, but I hoped he thought my blush was cute instead of juvenile.

  A few minutes later, the dice clacked in the little red cup, and Travis had me laughing with his whoops and hollers, but in the end, he won with a bonus Yahtzee. He jumped out of his seat and cheered, pulling me up with him. “And the grand prize goes to Travis Banner, Yahtzee Champion.”

  “And what is the grand prize?”

  He stopped cheering and stepped closer. “Isn’t there usually something about a kiss from the fair maiden?”

  My cheeks lifted in a grin. “I thought that was only in jousting or some other medieval game.”

  “Nah, I don’t think so.” His glanced at my lips then met my eyes.