by Lyndsey Cole
Daisy blushed a little. “I made it up. I wanted something to go with the fall season and I knew Mom wanted chocolate so I played around with a bunch of recipes. I was afraid no one would like it.”
Iris patted her shoulder. “You need to have more confidence in yourself. This is the best cake I’ve ever had and everyone raved about it. I’m thrilled that your cake business is taking off and you’re finding your passion. It’s important to figure out what it is that you love to do because you never want to look back and say you wish you had tried something but didn’t because you were afraid you might fail. If you love it and work hard, you won’t fail.”
“Thanks. You’ve always encouraged us to try anything and I’m grateful for that.” Daisy swung around in a circle of joy before hugging her mom.
Lily leaned back, looking up at the clouds. “Remember when you made me try ballet, but I wanted to do gymnastics? I fell off the stage during that first recital but I learned to laugh at myself instead of being embarrassed, and you learned to listen to me and finally let me try gymnastics. You learn from everything, the good and the bad.”
They were so caught up in their happiness, the delicious cake and the mimosas, that they were startled when the pilot interrupted their conversation. “This cake is incredible, thanks for sharing a piece with for me.” He finished every last crumbs and wiped his mouth. “I’m curious, how do you all know Lance?”
“He was my husband’s roommate in college.” Iris took the plates and piled them back in the picnic basket. Looking at the pilot she asked, “How do you know him?”
“Kind of a random meeting actually. I was shopping for boxers at the mall.” He grinned at Lily and Daisy who had glanced in the boxer region of his anatomy. “Lance noticed my baseball cap with a horse on it. I got it at a rodeo when I was out west. Anyway, he started talking to me, just being friendly while his incredibly, beautiful, much younger wife was shopping. I think he was probably bored to death. I told him I was working in New York as a pilot doing scenic tours, which intrigued him. To make a long story short, he decided to get his own helicopter and hired me as his private pilot.”
Daisy looked up at the red, yellow and orange balloon above them. “This isn’t a helicopter.”
The pilot laughed. “Good observation. I got my hot air balloon license too, for some side jobs, like this. Hope you’re enjoying the ride.”
The three Blooms nodded. “This is a wedding present from your boss but my husband is afraid of heights so he didn’t come.” Iris hugged her daughters. “It’s a special adventure for the three of us so I’ll forgive him this time.” Iris picked up the champagne bottle. “There’s a little more, shall we finish it?” She divided the rest between the three glasses and gave the pilot the rest of the orange juice.
They glided over the trees, feeling the breeze in their faces and feeling content. Iris asked the pilot, “What do you know about Lance’s wife, Emma? They seem like a mismatched couple.”
The pilot looked out over the landscape. “Emma? Not much to say about Emma. She’s a beauty. I think Lance has his hands full with her.”
Lily pulled her hair out of her face. “What about you? Quite the change coming to little Misty Valley from the Big Apple. What’s your story?”
The pilot smiled, “I like it here–the mountains, the fields and the more relaxed pace. Lance gives me a very nice apartment to be at his beck and call but I have a lot of down time too when he’s traveling. I like to hike, ride horses, check out the women.” With that last comment he gave Lily a good look from top to bottom.
Lily turned her face away from the pilot hoping the breeze would cool down the heat rising in her cheeks. “I know someone I could introduce you to.” She admitted to herself that she enjoyed his gaze, and like Ryan had told her yesterday, it doesn’t hurt to look.
His fingers combed through his long sun bleached hair. “How would you girls like to go on a trail ride? Lance has plenty of horses that are easy to ride. You could bring your friend along.” He raised an eyebrow, waiting for a reply.
Daisy squeaked with excitement. “That would be so much fun. I’d love to go.”
Lily agreed too. “Let us know when and I’ll check with my friend.”
The pilot pointed to a field. “There’s our landing spot. It looks like someone is waiting to take you girls back home. Did you have a good time?”
“Good time? That’s an understatement, if I ever heard one,” Lily said as Daisy and Iris nodded in agreement. They all looked over the edge of the basket and waved wildly to Walter. Lily thought, A good time and another mystery to figure out. And a sexy, hot guy too.
Walter was overjoyed to see Iris’s feet back on solid ground. “I should have come. Worrying about you was worse than facing my fears.” He hugged Iris as if he would never let her go.
Iris squeezed him with all her strength, then jumped up and down, flushed with excitement. “Thank you so much for that wonderful adventure. It was spectacular gliding over the countryside. Next time you have to come. Is that a deal?”
Walter spun Iris around with her feet sailing out parallel to the ground as if she was a little kid. “It’s a deal.”
Now that they were safely back on firm ground, Lily couldn’t wait to tell Ryan about what she and Daisy had seen. Maybe the body had already been discovered and she could provide a little extra information.
Lily tried to herd the others to Walter’s car, her impatience getting the best of her. “Are we all set? Let’s get going.”
Iris pushed Lily’s hand away. “What’s the rush? I want to watch our new pilot friend take the balloon apart.”
“Are you kidding? I need to get to work,” Lily lied to her mother, well, not a complete lie, but not her real reason for the big rush.
Walter offered to take Lily back and return for Iris and Daisy which seemed to satisfy everyone.
Buckled into Walter’s car, he patted Lily’s leg. “Did you girls have fun?”
“It was fantastic. You can’t imagine how peaceful it is floating over everything. The mimosas Mom brought helped too.” Lily laughed. “And the pilot was very friendly. Did you know that he works for your friend as his private pilot?
Walter chuckled. “Of course. Lance set this all up for me.”
“The pilot invited us to go trail riding with him. Do you think that’s okay with Lance?”
“Lance is extremely generous, I’m sure it will be fine. Do you want me to check with him for you?”
“No, that’s okay. I’ll leave the planning up to the pilot.
Walter glanced at Lily. “I had a bit of a fright after you left.”
“Oh? What happened?”
“Well, Ryan stopped by right after you all left in the hot air balloon to see if you wanted to have breakfast with him, but he was called away for some kind of emergency. Of course, I thought the worst and assumed the balloon had crashed and I was beside myself.” Walter laughed now at that panic attack.
Lily was thinking it must have something to do with the body. She felt herself getting jittery, impatient to find out more. Her previous encounters with murders had certainly trained her to be overly curious. “Did he tell you what the emergency was?
“No, he just rushed off. I was thinking I should have gone with Iris—better to crash with her than worry for all that time.”
Lily looked at Walter. “You must be excited to have the honeymoon suite at the Stone House Inn tonight.”
Walter actually blushed. “I’ve heard it’s quite nice. Lance arranged that for us, too.”
“I was thinking,” Lily paused, “maybe Daisy and I could meet you and Mom for dinner? A surprise for her?”
“Yes, absolutely, that would be lovely. We’re planning to eat at seven so I’ll call and make sure they set two more places.”
Lily smiled. “Don’t worry, we won’t invade your honeymoon suite.”
Walter’s face turned two shades deeper pink before he pulled into the gates of the Lyman Estate.
“Thank you for welcoming me into the family. I know I can’t replace your father, who was a special guy, but I will do my best to make your mom happy.” Walter stopped and watched the three dogs run over toward the car. “Here you are. See you tonight and don’t worry, I won’t say a word to your mom about our secret for dinner tonight.”
Lily slid out of the passenger seat as Rosie ran over, jumping up on her, licking her hands, and smiling her goofy doggy smile. The two puppies weren’t far behind, tumbling over each other and climbing on Rosie, trying to get to Lily too. Lily crouched down and gave them each pats and belly rubs. “Is it okay if I leave Rosie here while I’m at work?”
Walter laughed at the pile of dogs. “Of course, with any luck, Rosie will teach these two puppies some manners.”
“I’m not sure about that. Mom is doing a better job with Poppy than I ever did with Rosie in the manners department. Do you want to take them back with you?”
“Sure. They all love riding in the car.”
Lily opened the door of Walter’s car, and without any encouragement, the three dogs piled inside. She waved before she headed to her minivan with the recently repaired sign on the side. Someone had turned her Beautiful Blooms sign to Beautiful Dooms, but everything was back to how it should be now.
Lily fumbled in her tote for her cell phone, anxious to talk to Ryan about the body she and Daisy saw when they were in the hot air balloon soaring over the Stone House Inn. She was dying of curiosity to know if the body had been discovered yet. She hit number three, the speed dial number for Ryan’s cell phone. “Come on, Ryan. Pick up.” She said to her phone as her feet tapped impatiently on the car mat. It went to voicemail so Lily left a message to please call her back ASAP then slammed her phone shut.
Lily threw the phone onto the passenger seat, annoyed that Ryan never answered his phone. As she drove to Beautiful Blooms, she was hoping beyond hope that he would get her message and call her back soon. She parked in front of her flower shop, gathered up her tote, and headed through the gate to the front door. Walking in, she inhaled deeply and let the mixture of lavender and lily scent flow through her body, helping to relax her.
Sweet Pea, Lily’s cat, rubbed against Lily’s legs, happy to have company. “Are you hungry?” Lily asked as she bent down and picked up the soft ball of fur. Sweet Pea purred in response and waited patiently while Lily poured food into her bowl. Lily checked her answering machine for orders and unlocked the cat door so Sweet Pea could come and go as she pleased. Most likely to find a sunny spot outside to curl up in for the day.
Lily looked up at the sound of the front door jingling, smiling when she saw Ryan walk in. Okay, so he didn’t call me back, this is way better.
“I got your message and decided to stop in instead of calling.” He leaned toward Lily, brushing his lips against her cheek. “ASAP? What’s so urgent?” He looked around the empty shop and pulled her into his arms, wrapping his arms around her body.
His presence made her forget what had been so important. She relaxed into his strong chest, enjoying the feel of his heart pounding against her cheek.
“Walter told me about your adventure. How was the balloon ride?”
That triggered her memory. She reluctantly pulled out of his arms and slid a stool out for Ryan to sit on. “You won’t believe this. Daisy and I saw someone carrying a body out of one of the cottages behind the Stone House Inn.”
Ryan stood up as soon as his butt hit the stool, as if it had burned him. “Are you sure?”
“Positive. Walter said you were called away on an emergency, was that about finding a body?”
He laughed, “Nothing that interesting. Tamara Biothchi locked her keys in her car. But you know how she is, everything is an emergency.” He sat back down on the stool. “Tell me exactly what you saw.”
“It happened quickly. Mom had just pointed out the Stone House Inn before Daisy and I saw someone come out of one of the cottages in the back with a body dangling over their shoulder, head and arms in the back and legs in the front. Flopping lifelessly as far as I could tell.”
“Anything else? Was it a man or a woman? Did you see a car? What time was it?”
“The body had long hair hanging down. I couldn’t tell about the person carrying the body. Kind of tall, I guess, but I couldn’t see any features. Dark jacket or sweatshirt with a hood on. I was so focused on the lifeless body, I don’t remember seeing a car.” Lily paused, trying to recall anything else, mad that she couldn’t remember more. “I think it must have been around eight o’clock. Oh yeah, and the person looked up at the balloon.”
Chapter 3
That got Ryan’s attention, and not in a good way. “Great. If there was a murder, whoever it is, saw you and Daisy.”
Lily shrugged. “Maybe he just got a glimpse of the balloon. I’m sure he had his mind on other things.”
“He?”
“He. She. I don’t know.”
Ryan absentmindedly reached down and patted Sweet Pea who was rubbing against his leg. Lily didn’t know when she’d come back in but the cat door made it easy for Sweet Pea to come and go as she pleased. Ryan picked up the kitty who got comfortable in his lap. “Maybe this is connected to a different phone call I got.”
”What do you mean?”
“Now don’t go off sticking your nose into this, it may be nothing, but I got a call from the house manager at the Black Horse Farm, Anna Sparks. She said her daughter, Kari, never came home last night.”
“Are you looking for her?”
Ryan shook his head. “She’s not a little kid, she’s twenty one and hasn’t been gone for long enough. And her mother admitted it’s not the first time this has happened.”
Lily was excited about this information. She was sure this missing girl was the body she had seen. “Do you know what she looks like? Long hair? Probably not too big?”
“No, I thought it was just a mother being a little overprotective. I’ll talk to her and the owner of the Stone House Inn to see if there’s any connection to what you saw. Just a friendly chat.”
Lily’s phone started to ring and a customer walked in. Ryan stood up and set Sweet Pea down. “I’ll let you get back to work.” He winked and told her he’d be in touch later in the day.
Emma Turner, Lance’s wife from the Black Horse Farm, was on the phone. There was small talk about how nice the wedding was and Emma wished she had had more time to chat with Lily. She asked how the hot air balloon ride went. With the chit chat out of the way, she finally told Lily that she was planning a baby shower and wanted Lily to come to the farm to talk about flower arrangements for the party. Lily smiled slyly to herself and thought, It shouldn’t be too hard to chat with the house manager about her missing daughter at the same time. No need to let Ryan know either, this is strictly business.
Lily told Emma, “I’ll stop over later this afternoon, around four, if that works for you.”
“That will be fine. Just come to the house and Anna, my house manager, will show you in. She knows all the plans and will explain everything to you,” Emma instructed before hanging up.
Lily checked the time—eleven, that would give her several hours to organize and get the arrangements done for the day. She had a few orders to go to the hospital so she got flowers out of the cooler to start working on that. As she worked, she couldn’t stop thinking about the body she’d seen, trying to remember more details.
The front bell jingled as Daisy hurried in, looking a little sheepish and distracting Lily from her thoughts. “Sorry I’m so late. I stopped to see Adam before he leaves for a few days for an investigation.”
“No problem. It’s not too busy today and that will give you some free time.” Lily grinned. “Did you get trapped hearing all about Mom and Walter’s romantic wedding night after I left?”
“Ugh, don’t even say that, and thanks a lot for running out like you did, leaving me alone with Mom. I managed to escape pretty quickly once she had Walter to swoon over.” Daisy dropp
ed her bag at her design space, stroking Sweet Pea who was curled up in the center of the table.
Lily finished her arrangement and moved it to the side of her table. “By the way, do you have any plans for dinner tonight?” She looked at the flowers from all angles, nodding at the mix of blues and oranges.
“Nope. With Adam gone, I’m on my own. I hope you have something interesting to suggest.”
“Well, I thought we should see what we can find out at the Stone House Inn so I asked Walter what he thought about us surprising Mom at dinner tonight. He thinks it’s a great idea.”
“Mom won’t be happy to see us show up. You already thought of that, didn’t you?”
“Yeah, but she’ll get over it, especially if you can make a special yummy treat to bring along. And, besides, Walter thinks it’s a great idea so he’ll be happy to see us.”
Daisy leaned on Lily’s table. “I’ll have to leave now to get something made in time.” She was already mentally scanning her recipes for ideas. “How about a glazed fruit tart? I’ve got strawberries and kiwis at home so I won’t even have to stop at the store.”
“That sounds amazing, my mouth is watering just thinking about it. Get going and I’ll finish up here before I head to the Black Horse Farm to see about decorating for a party.” Lily glanced at Daisy.
“The Black Horse Farm? Where that hunky pilot works? He sure gave you the once over when we were up in the balloon.”
Lily felt her face starting to heat up and she didn’t like it. “Well, I’m planning to fix him up with Nina, she’s desperate for a date. And, listen to this.” Lily leaned toward Daisy with excitement. “Ryan told me that the house manager from the Black Horse Farm called to say her daughter never came home last night.”
Daisy’s gaze shot up to Lily and she gasped. “Really? Do you think that’s the body we saw being carried from that cottage?”