Published by Raven's Wing Books, an imprint of Grey Gate Media, LLC at Amazon.com
Copyright © 2013, Tina D.C. Hayes. All rights reserved reserved.
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons is entirely coincidental. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval systems, without the written permission of the copyright owner or the publisher.
Paperback: ISBN 13: 978-1-61807-103-3
Mobi (Kindle)Format: ISBN 13: 978-1-61807-104-0
ePub (Sony, Nook, iPad) Format: ISBN 13: 978-1-61807-105-7
Library of Congress Control Number (LOC): 2013935567
Cover and Interior Design:
Pamela Marin-Kingsley, Grey Gate Media, LLC
Raven’s Wing Books
an imprint of Grey Gate Media, LLC
Concord, NH
Email: [email protected]
Grey Gate Media, LLC
Table of Contents
Title Page
Dedication
Acknowledgements
Prologue
Chapter 1. January
Petal Pushers’ Plant of the Month for January is
Chapter 2. February
Petal Pushers’ Plant of the Month for February is
Chapter 3. March
Petal Pushers’ Plant of the Month for March is
Chapter 4. April
Petal Pushers’ Plant of the Month for April is
Chapter 5. May
Petal Pushers’ Plant of the Month for May is
Chapter 6. June
Petal Pushers’ Plants of the Month for June are
Chapter 7. July
Petal Pushers’ Plant of the Month for July is
Grandma Odette’s Famous Hummingbird Cake
Cream Cheese Icing
Chapter 8. August
Petal Pushers’ Plant of the Month for August is
Chapter 9. September
Petal Pushers Plant of the Month for September is
Chapter 10. October
Petal Pushers’ Plant of the Month for October is
How to Roast a Pumpkin
Chapter 11. November
Petal Pushers’ Plant of the Month for November is
Chapter 12. December
Petal Pushers’ Plant of the Month for December is
About the Author
Dedication
To my parents and grandparents, for raising me to love books and follow my dreams;
To my children, for showing me the little magic moments tucked into each day;
To my husband, for encouraging me even when he wished I’d hush up about plot lines, revisions, and Miss Addie;
And to Maizy, my Boston terrier BFF, now an angel, for sitting with me all those countless hours as I wrote.
Acknowledgements
For all the folks from TheNextBigWriter.com. This book never would’ve been published without your help, critique, advice, and support. A special shout out to Nathan B. Childs, Jessica Chambers, Natalee Binda, Linda Lee, Cathy Jones, Nancy Smith, John Van Cott, Charles Brass, and jmd.
Editor Pam Marin-Kingsley, for helping me shape my manuscript into the best Cozy Mystery it could be, and for encouraging me to turn Petal Pushers into a series.
The staff and community at NaNoWriMo, who are responsible for getting thousands of people, myself included, to write the first draft of a whole novel in thirty short days each November. And aside from the sleep deprivation, it’s actually fun!
The Louisville Romance Writers for welcoming me into the chapter, an awesome group of inspiring ladies I’ve already learned so much from.
Most importantly, I want to thank my family for their love and support: my kids, Amanda, Brittany, and Tyler, the first to know about my writing projects, your encouragement means everything to me; my husband, Barry; my parents, Tommy and Jan Cole; my grandparents, Bobby W. and Edna E. Brown, and the late Thomas and Nancy Cole; and my brother, Jason, nephew, Trevor and niece, Chanler. Y’all made me the person I am today, heaven help you, and are partially responsible for my twisted sense of humor.
Note: I wanted to point out that the story is set in a totally fictionalized version of my hometown. The real Dixon, Kentucky, is a wonderful place to live, populated by the friendliest people you’d ever want to meet, but without the murder, and sadly, no Krispy Kreme as of yet.
Prologue
My beautiful home, reduced to a cobweb-infested wreck. All the flowers gone, every last bush and potted plant, dead and withered Lord only knows how long ago. The neighbors must think I’ve done lost my mind.
How long has it been? Just wait til I get my hands on whoever’s responsible for this ungodly mess. Looks like nary a soul’s been here in forever, let alone thought to pick up a mop or dust rag. Cain’t remember who was left in charge, but mercy sakes alive, somebody’s gonna catch it over this. Don’t know what in the world they were thinking, lettin’ things go this way. Where the dickens is my furniture?
This house never felt so lonely before. Neither have I, truth be told. Seems almost like I cain’t tell the difference between hours and days anymore, like time’s just a racin’ past me. I need the sun to shine down on me again, to warm the chill out of these ole bones and set things right. Plenty of folks ‘round here I still need to see to or straighten out. Instead, I’m all cooped up like a brood hen with nary an egg under her feathered fanny. Got to get my bearings, run my fingers over the one thing that can help me.
It’s gone! Bad enough my world turned upside down, but this is the last straw. I swany, my heart just broke in two and fell to the pit of my stomach. When did it disappear, and who could’ve took it? I have to get it back.
A change is on the way, something in my bones is tellin’ me so. One thing I do know. Come hell or high water, I will take back what’s mine. Lord have mercy on anybody who stands in my way.
Chapter 1. January
There came a time when the risk
to remain tight in the bud was more painful
than the risk it took to blossom.
~ Anais Nin
“Petal Pushers, Darci Shelton speaking. How may I help you?” Enthusiastic to see whether her first order would be for a flower arrangement or a live plant, she’d answered the phone on the first ring. Her voice was a bit less cheerful a few seconds later. “Sorry, you must have the wrong number. Nobody named Guido lives here.”
Darci put the ‘Open’ sign in the front window, adjusting it to hang perfectly straight between the lacy white curtains. Then she decided it might look better slightly askew and angled it to the side. She felt a silly grin spread across her face as she circuited the shop to make sure the floral displays and potted plants projected the best possible first impression for her new customers, if any actually showed up today.
She arranged donuts and plastic coffee cups on the counter and hoped they wouldn’t go to waste. Gimmicks to pull people into the store were actually kind of fun, and she had plenty of them planned for this first crucial year. A newspaper ad and flyers placed around town advertise
d free coffee, donuts, and a package of seeds for everyone who came to the grand opening. A wicker basket beside the coffee carafe held the freebees. Her business card, tied to each seed packet with a jute twine bow, would remind customers to visit the shop again around planting time.
A bell jingling on the door announced the arrival of Petal Pushers’ first customer. A man in his mid-twenties walked around the display tables, looking confused.
“What can I help you with today?” Darci tried not to sound as giddy as she felt. She busied her hands with a loose piece of eucalyptus to keep her fidgeting under control.
“Um, well,” he said, rubbing the back of his head, “I was thinking about taking my wife some flowers.”
“You came to the right place, then. Did you have something specific in mind?”
“Yep.” A sheepish grin turned up the corner of his mouth. “Something that’ll make her forget she’s mad at me.”
“I won’t even ask what you did.” Darci hoped to put the guy at ease with her smile. “Just tell me how much you want to spend and I’ll whip up a nice bouquet for you.”
“Twenty-five bucks?”
“No problem. Help yourself to some donuts.” She guided him toward the refreshments that took up half the front counter, then headed for the workroom and the bins of fresh cut flowers. “I’ll be right back.”
Darci returned with a bouquet of pink rosebuds and dainty purple blossoms. She hoped she hadn’t gone overboard with all the baby’s breath and greenery. “That’ll be twenty-two fifty.” When he reached for his wallet, she added, “Go ahead and have another donut and some coffee for the road, since you’re my very first customer.”
“Thanks, but this hangover is putting a damper on my appetite.” His pale complexion and bloodshot eyes confirmed his statement.
“Sorry. Can I get you an aspirin or anything?” With any luck, maybe he’d go partying and piss the little lady off every weekend this year. Darci would gladly jump through fire hoops for some regular customers. Handing him his change, she felt guilty for her thoughts. Sort of. She walked him to the door and presented him with his free package of nasturtium seeds. “Have a nice day, and please come again.”
Her husband Wade warned her that New Year’s Day might not be the most ideal time to hold a grand opening. She hadn’t cared then and she didn’t care now. It was all part of the business plan she’d drawn up months earlier. Petal Pushers flower shop had exactly one calendar year to become a successful business or she’d sell it, cut her losses, and go back to some god-awful nine-to-five job she hated. The very thought of that made her stomach ache.
When she’d worked as a sales clerk at a department store, she kept a journal under the counter. Every free minute went to sketching out plans for her dream of opening this flower shop. She worked out all the details on paper long ago-her business plan, sales gimmicks, a ‘Plant of the Month’ page for her company website, what to keep in stock during which season, even how many employees she thought she’d need. She’d lugged around a stack of gardening books so she could study different types of plants, learn tricks for improving her natural green thumb, and get a better feel for creating wreaths and floral arrangements.
It took her a while to save the startup money. Besides a sales job she loathed, she’d scraped and saved every chance she had. Weekends babysitting a total brat from down the street added to her savings account, though she had to deduct money to stock up on Excedrin for the little fart’s visits. She recycled every empty aluminum can she got her hands on and became a bargain hunter extraordinaire. Her family never found name brands on anything in their cabinets, just generic stuff like Fruity-O cereal and Savvy shampoo. Five years of scrimping, saving, and clipping coupons helped fill her nest egg with enough money to put her plan into action.
She could have taken the easy way out when her husband offered to help finance the shop, but Darci resolved to do it by herself. She wanted to make deposits into their joint bank account and her son’s college fund. Darci had never lived on her own and needed the security of knowing she could support herself if anything happened to Wade.
Darci bit her lip, remembering when her mother became a widow with a teenage daughter to support. The financial struggle turned her beautiful mom into a gray-haired waitress on food stamps. Mary Dubois never complained. She’d pretended to enjoy her job at the restaurant, but Darci heard her crying at night when extra expenses came up, like school fees or outgrown shoes. Darci had a happy childhood, but often wondered how things would have been if her father hadn’t drowned when she was thirteen.
She lifted a silver picture frame from a display table, then peered at the image before hugging it to her chest. “I sure am missing you today, Daddy.” After John Dubois died, Darci spent more time than usual outside. She could almost feel his touch through his old gardening gloves as she pulled weeds and staked tomato plants. Her work in the vegetable garden he loved so much made her feel closer to him, almost as if he might come bounding out of the shed pushing a wheelbarrow any minute.
Her love of growing things, along with her fear of financial disaster, spawned the idea of opening her own flower shop, a notion never far from her thoughts. Looking around the shop this morning, Darci could still hardly believe what luck she’d had finding this place. Vacant for decades before the owners decided to put it on the market, the house was in pretty decent structural shape to be over a hundred years old. It was small, but with more than enough room. The upstairs, with its cute dormers and low ceilings, was the perfect place for her son to do his homework or play video games without bothering or getting bothered by her customers. She could cook herself a hot lunch every day in the huge kitchen on the main floor, which would also serve as extra workspace. The cellar, with its old-fashioned outside entrance, provided a lot of storage space, even if it was kind of creepy down there.
A few older ladies drifted in through the morning. Darci figured the free food lured them there, as well as their curiosity about the renovations to the old building.
Sleeping with a carpenter helped keep the overhead down. Wade cleared his schedule for the past two weeks to help get everything ready for opening day. He repaired the roof, installed a counter, and set up the computer while she potted plants and whipped up displays. Paxton, her nine-year-old son, was a bit overenthusiastic helping her paint the walls, splattering Darci’s dark brown hair with buttery yellow highlights. The heavy-duty drop cloths she’d sprung for turned out to be a good investment, since they saved her from having to refinish the wooden floors.
It took forever to find the perfect shade of yellow, but the warm color on the walls made her feel cozy each time she saw it. Darci never knew there were so many different hues until she brought home a collection of paint samples. A dizzying myriad of cheery shades bridged the gap between ‘hint of yellow’ and ‘Egyptian gold’, some so barely discernable from the surrounding squares that she had to squint, holding the card out at arm’s length to find any differences.
After narrowing down the paint selection to the final three colors, she’d taped the swatches side by side on the wall in the workroom and asked everyone to look them over and give their opinion. So similar were ‘daffodil’, ‘summer sunshine’, and ‘Indian sunflower’, nobody could choose a favorite . . . or gave a crap, she thought now, smiling at the memory. When ‘daffodil’ was ahead by two votes, Paxton begged everyone who walked through the door to pick the color on the left so he could quit hearing about the dang swatches. That worked, but Darci decided to go with the one on the far right instead. She liked the name ‘Indian sunflower’ better because sunflowers had a longer blooming season than the shorter-lived Easter flowers. Made perfect sense to her.
Her inability to make decisions made Wade and Paxton groan at the mention of a shopping trip. For example, back-to-school time this past fall had them standing in a crowded aisle at Wal-mart, Darci’s weight shifting to one foot and her forefinger tapping her chin as she stared at the pencil rack. She just
didn’t know whether to purchase plain yellow number twos with white erasers or the pack of mechanical ones with a vial of extra lead. She seemed to remember white erasers usually smudged the paper, and when you pushed the top of the mechanical ones, too much lead came out and broke off. Paxton endured all his nine-year-old patience could take, then let out an exasperated sigh. “For crying out loud, Mom. They’re just pencils.” He grabbed a pack hanging directly in front of him. “Here, these Batman ones are cool, problem solved.” He pitched them in the shopping cart, then slapped himself in the forehead when Darci said they needed to pick out socks next, and asked if he’d rather get tubes or the ankle-length kind. Decisiveness was definitely not her strong point.
“Are y’all open on Thursdays, dear?” A woman Darci guessed to be in her early seventies set a Christmas cactus on the counter. “That’s my shoppin’ day, since the grocery store has double coupons on Thursday mornin’.”
“Yes Ma’am. We’ll be open Monday through Saturday all year, except Christmas Day.” Darci fought the urge to do a little dance as she tapped the keys on the register to ring up the plant. “All other non-Sunday holidays, Petal Pushers will stay open at least until lunch.”
Being the sole proprietor allowed Darci to set the schedule and make all the major decisions, and she planned to squeeze everything she could out of the next three hundred and sixty-five days. Sundays in a small town like Dixon, Kentucky, were pretty much devoid of shoppers, so there went fifty-two wasted days. Unless, of course, the only funeral parlor in town scheduled an after-church memorial service; then she’d stay open to fill last minute orders. Her being one of only two florists in the county sort of guaranteed she’d get at least half of all the local business. Next year she’d be able to afford to take more days off, but only after she proved to herself that she was capable of making this venture a success.
Poison, Perennials, and a Poltergeist (The Petal Pushers Mystery Series) Page 1