All Bark and No White Knight

by Stella St. Claire

Olivia nodded and sighed. “That’s all right. I’m sorry that your new job sucks.”

  “It’s just weird, you know? Paul seems like the kind of guy who really cares about his business. I just didn’t take him for the kind of guy to—to—just up and leave. All of his regulars are going to go to other flower shops if he doesn’t come back soon, and then I’ll be out of a job again.”

  Olivia sympathized with Trish. It sounded like her life really wasn’t working out as planned.

  After saying her goodbyes, Olivia led Goodwin out of the house and headed back to Main Street. If Trish wasn’t the one who’d defaced Jackie’s books, then who was?

  “Let me get this straight.” Janelle reached over and plucked another cookie from the plate in the middle of the table. “You had to go and find yourself another mystery to solve in order to leave Andrew alone?”

  She and Olivia and Jackie were all seated at Olivia’s kitchen table. The bakery was closed, and Janelle had brought up some of the leftover cookies to share over a bottle of wine. She’d begrudgingly admitted that she’d been a little mean and wanted to make things up to her little sister.

  As far as Olivia could tell, her older sister was still kind of mean, but at least she’d brought cookies.

  “I didn’t go and find myself another mystery,” Olivia said defensively. “Jackie? A little help here?”

  Her friend just grinned devilishly. “I don’t know, Olivia. What if you were the one who came in and defaced my books? You’re going to owe me some money for that, by the way.”

  “You guys act as if I can’t stay away from the case. He has made it more than clear that I’m to butt out of his business, and that’s exactly what I’m doing. I’m listening to a romance audiobook. I’m going to set up Delilah and Derek.” She looked from one face to the other and added defensively, “Not everything I do is centered around a mystery.”

  Janelle starting coughing. Her eyes watered, and she reached for her glass of wine. “I’m sorry. Did you say that you were going to set up Delilah and Derek?”

  “She’s too stubborn to ask him out on a date, which I find difficult to believe since she practically threw herself at Andrew. I feel like the best way to progress with my strange relationship with her—and note that I did not say friendship because we’re not there yet—is to satisfy her love life. I think that she and Derek might be perfect for each other.”

  Jackie hummed and leaned back in her chair. Goodwin placed his head on her lap, and she scratched at it absently.

  Olivia wasn’t fooled. He was less into the massage and more into the cookie crumbs that her friend might drop.

  Jackie wasn’t dropping any crumbs at the moment, but she was thinking aloud. “You’d think that if Andrew really was dating, Delilah would be all over that.”

  “Nah. He’s smarter than that. Delilah would go straight to Olivia and gloat,” Janelle pointed out.

  “He’s dating, and he’s doing it in town. I wouldn’t say that he’s being smart about this,” Jackie returned.

  Olivia closed her eyes and put up her hand. “Okay, can we maybe talk about something else? I’m trying to convince myself that Andrew isn’t cheating on me, and that’s hard to do if you guys keep bringing it up.”

  “A couple of days ago, that’s all you wanted to talk about.” Janelle reached for another cookie.

  Olivia slapped her hand away. “A couple of days ago you were hysterically crying on the floor. Things change, and what are you doing? Eating your emotions? That’s your eighth cookie.”

  Janelle narrowed her eyes. “Are you calling me fat?”

  “Did those words even leave my mouth? No. They did not. Why are you so sensitive?”

  Her sister’s eyes suddenly filled with tears, and Olivia and Jackie exchanged an alarmed look. Immediately, Jackie poured more wine into Janelle’s glass and Olivia shoved the plate of cookies at her sister. “Here. Eat them all. Seriously. And you have a great figure,” Olivia babbled.

  “Thanks.” Sniffing, Janelle picked up a cookie and bit into it. “I think that I’m just stressed. I got my period last week, so no baby for me. And the expansion isn’t going according to plan. And Patrick is always hovering.”

  “Janelle. I think you need to slow down.”

  Jackie gasped and kicked Olivia under the table.

  “Ow!” Leaning down, Olivia rubbed her shin, and Jackie shook her head in warning.

  Her sister frowned. “Slow down? Slow down! I can’t slow down! I’m going to have a baby soon! The next eighteen years of my life will belong to this unborn child. I need to get everything done now! And I can do it. Of course I can do it. There has never been anything that I couldn’t do.”

  Olivia could think of quite a few things that Janelle couldn’t do. Hit a softball. Kill a spider. Change the oil in her car. Keep her plants alive. Not wanting to get kicked by Jackie again, she wisely kept them to herself. Besides, what could she and Jackie really say to make Janelle feel better? They didn’t have kids. They really didn’t have any idea what Janelle was going through.

  But there was someone who would know, although Janelle might kill her.

  “You’re great at everything,” Olivia assured as she straightened.

  “You don’t mean it. You have no idea how easy you have it. If you were smart, you’d get rid of Andrew and be single forever. That way, you wouldn’t have to worry about family and kids. It can just be you and your dogs for the rest of your life!”

  As if on cue, there was a knock at the door. Flabbergasted that Janelle would even say such a thing, Olivia slowly rose from the table and went to answer it.

  Andrew stood in the hall with a nervous look on his face. He looked around her and peered at Jackie and Janelle. “Ah. Girls’ night. Sorry. I’ll come back.”

  “No!” Hurriedly, Olivia stepped out in the hall and closed the door. “It’s not a big deal. We’re just dealing with Janelle’s split personality. What’s up?”

  He looked a mess. His eyes were slightly bloodshot as if he wasn’t getting enough sleep, and the lines around his mouth were drawn, but as he swept his hands through his dark hair, he gave her that look that made her heart skip a beat. It was the same look he’d given her before he’d first told her that he loved her. The look he’d given her before he proposed to her.

  Maybe there was hope for them after all.

  “I know that I’ve been busy for the past couple of days. I wanted to talk to you earlier. I just haven’t had the chance. Olivia, I’m sorry that I blew up on you about the computer thing. I was stressed and really taken aback that you would invade my privacy like that, but I’ve never had a problem with you using my computer before. I know that things have been strange between us lately, but I’ve always thought they were going to get better.”

  He looked so sincere. Her heart hammered against her chest as she opened her mouth. The words were on the tip of her tongue. Are you seeing other women? But instead, all she could do was nod her head. “Okay.”

  Coward. Coward. Coward.

  Leaning over, he cupped a hand under her chin and kissed her gently on the mouth. “Maybe we could have dinner later?”

  “Tomorrow night?”

  His features darkened, and he shook his head. “I can’t, tomorrow night. How about Saturday? I’ve got some errands to run during the day, but then I’ll be free for dinner. We’ll go out. End Game?”

  “No,” she said instantly. “Not End Game.” Not ever. “Actually, can we go somewhere new?”

  “Sure. That sounds fun. Tell the girls that I said hi, okay?”

  Olivia nodded. “Yeah. Okay.” As he pulled out his keys to find the one to his apartment, she slipped back inside her own and shut the door.

  “What happened? Tell us everything,” Jackie demanded.

  “He apologized,” Olivia said slowly.

  “For cheating on you?”

  Sitting back down, Olivia shook her head. “No. Not for cheating on me. For losing his temper at the computer thing
and for being absent. He assured me that everything was going to work out and even told me that we’d go have dinner on Saturday.” She swallowed hard. “Of course, that was after he told me that he couldn’t have dinner tomorrow night.”

  “Bastard,” Janelle spat.

  Jackie’s eye rounded. “Wow. Okay, Janelle I think that you need to go home and get some sleep. I have never imagined a scenario where you would call Andrew a bastard and urge Olivia to be single for the rest of her life.” She scrunched up her nose. “I can’t believe that I’m being the logical one. Olivia, you need to follow Andrew tomorrow night and see what he does. Confront him. You need answers.”

  Olivia blinked. “I thought that I was supposed to obsess about your mystery so I didn’t obsess about Andrew.”

  “You’re not supposed to get involved with Andrew-the-murderer—but Andrew-the-boyfriend? Absolutely that’s who you need to get involved with! No questions asked.”

  “He’s not a murderer!”

  Jackie rolled her eyes. “Do you even want to keep your man?”

  Olivia absolutely wanted to keep her man. She’d experienced life without him and didn’t like it one bit. “It just feels weird to spy on him after he literally just apologized for losing his temper when he caught me spying on him! I need to trust him. Andrew has never done anything to purposefully hurt me, and I just can’t believe that he would start now.”

  “Yes, but as you pointed out, he may not know that he’s hurting you.” Jackie crossed her arms. “Maybe you and he aren’t really on the same page when it comes to where your relationship stands.”

  “Then she should just ask him about that, instead,” Janelle chimed in. “That’s far better than following him around.”

  “Says the woman who just told her to break things off with him and be single.”

  “Okay, okay.” Olivia held up her hands. “I’ve got a lot to work on. Jackie, you’ll give me a list of anyone who’s been acting strangely toward you. Janelle, talk to Patrick about maybe holding off on the whole baby-making thing until after you’re expanded so you don’t lose your mind.”

  Her sister arched her eyebrow. “And what are you going to do?”

  “I’m going to listen to my romance book and walk the dogs and figure out who’s sabotaging Jackie.” She paused. “And keep a closer eye on Andrew.”

  It felt horrible even just saying it, but it was enough to satisfy the others. They each hugged her as they left her apartment, but not before Janelle had grabbed the rest of the cookies and declared that since she’d baked them, she got to take them home.

  Closing the door, Olivia leaned against it and sighed.

  The last time she’d followed Andrew around, someone had ended up dead. Was she really going to do this?

  Turning out the lights, she undressed and crawled into bed. Goodwin and Fender snuggled up on either side of her, and she closed her eyes and told herself that she’d be thinking more clearly in the morning.

  8

  “Okay, Tucker, you’re supposed to stay on the right. Otherwise you’re going to walk right over the top of Lily—oh crap! Lily, sweetheart, are you okay? Tucker, no. Tucker!” Standing on the sidewalk, Olivia reeled the dogs back in and tried to untangle their leashes. Nick’s dog was determined to cross the street and investigate the Great Dane being walked on a leash in the other direction, and he’d walked right on top of the dachshund. The diminutive dog was now snarling at the Labrador while Goodwin was busy giving her a good all-over sniff.

  “Is this how we’re doing things?” Olivia demanded. “Seriously? Because I am so not in the mood!”

  “Don’t yell at the dogs, dear,” Lady Celeste’s voice floated up from behind her. “You’ll damage their spirits, and then they’ll be depressed all day.”

  “If they keep this up, I’m going to be depressed all day,” Olivia muttered as she turned around to greet the town psychic. Of Romanian descent, the eccentric woman was one of the town’s greatest mysteries. She claimed psychic abilities, which were easy to scoff at, but there were times when the woman was spooky-accurate—but hey, even a broken clock was right twice a day.

  Mayor Donald Henderson stood next to the older woman with an excited gleam in his eye. The portly man had the strangest dream of turning the small town of Lexingburg into something big and wonderful, but no one ever seemed to share his dream, so he mostly just came off as pushy. He liked to think that his title and office gave him power, but really, all he did was plead with people to listen to him.

  He’d tried to turn Olivia’s wedding into a town spectacle, and since the wedding had never happened, she was just a little unhappy with him.

  He was also very much in love with the brightly dressed woman standing next to him. He had been for a long time, but he’d never found the courage to tell her, and psychic or no psychic, she seemed to have no idea of his feelings for her.

  “Mayor Henderson, Lady Celeste! It’s lovely to see you two together this morning,” she said with a wink.

  The mayor immediately colored and glared at her.

  “I was on my way to have some breakfast when we ran into each other. He offered to treat me. Isn’t that sweet of him?” Celeste said as she leaned down to stroke Goodwin on the head. The dog responded to her with a wagging tail and affection-filled gaze. “Now, then. Olivia, your aura is muddied. Something is bothering you.”

  If that was supposed to impress her, Celeste would have to try harder than that. It wasn’t much of a secret that Andrew was dating other women in town. “Right now, the only thing bothering me is Tucker’s unwillingness to listen to me.”

  “My dear, you must not continue to bottle your emotions. I know that they can be difficult to deal with, but the longer you let things go, the worse they are going to be.”

  Also not impressive. Olivia was the queen of misdirection instead of talking about her feelings. “Lady Celeste, I really do appreciate your advice. I’d hate to keep you from your breakfast . . .”

  The woman’s hands reached out suddenly and gripped her wrist. Her heavy rings dug into Olivia’s skin. “Petals and thorns dipped in blood, Olivia. Petals and thorns dipped in blood. Where are all the roses?”

  Olivia’s gaze flew up, and she half expected Lady Celeste’s eyes to be all white or black or something super creepy, but the woman was just staring at her intensely. Then, she smiled and released Olivia as if nothing strange had happened. “Now if you’ll excuse us, I am really looking forward to a stack of pancakes.”

  The mayor cleared his throat and exchanged a look with Olivia as Celeste walked away. “Maybe you should relay that message to Nick,” he suggested before he turned away and hurried to catch up.

  Reaching down, Olivia stroked Goodwin’s head. Where are all the roses?

  “I hope you guys don’t mind. We’re going to be making a slight detour this morning.”

  Blooms for You was one of several flower shops in Lexingburg, but it was the most popular because it was the closest to Main Street. The petite store was painted in yellow and purple, and there were always fresh flowers blooming along the sidewalk. The owner must have had a magical touch because no matter the season, the plants always looked healthy and gorgeous.

  Not wanting the dogs to eat any of the blooms or plants or decorations on display, Olivia hooked them to the charming, old-fashioned streetlamp outside the shop before wandering in. It didn’t surprise her when Trish’s harried voice floated to her from somewhere in the back.

  “I’ll be right with you . . . just as soon as I figure out what delphiniums are . . .”

  “They’re kind of stalky with blue clusters of petals growing all the way to the top.”

  “Olivia!” Trish popped her head around the corner and widened her eyes. “You know flowers?”

  “Some.” Olivia shrugged. “I had to do some research when we were decorating the outside of Happy Endings so Janelle didn’t plant anything that might be poisonous to the dogs. How’s it going? Any word from Paul?”r />
  Despair fell over the woman’s face. “No, and we’re running out of inventory. I called the driver today, and he got me connected to the landscaper that Paul uses, but I’m not authorized to write any checks from the business—so I can’t order anything. I don’t know what I’m going to do. How does he not care about his store? I’m going to lose this job!”

  Olivia wanted to tell her that everything was going to be okay, but she had a feeling that Trish losing her job was inevitable. Paul probably wasn’t ignoring his store. There was a reason that he wasn’t coming back.

  “Trish, did anyone from the sheriff’s station come by and ask you about roses?”

  “Yeah, but I didn’t know anything. I’ve only been here for two weeks, and we sold out of them . . . I guess, my second day here? I didn’t give him the receipts and records of clients because I wasn’t sure if I was allowed to. I called my boss, but of course he didn’t pick up.”

  “Trish.” Olivia hesitated. They weren’t really friends, and what Olivia was about to ask was really going to cross the line. “Can I see them?”

  “Sure, but can you come back? I’ve got twenty orders that I’m supposed to fill today and get delivered, and I don’t know half of these flowers.”

  “Don’t stress. I’ll come back at close, okay? I’ve got some of the dogs with me, anyway.”

  Trish nodded. “Okay. I close at seven. Can you swing by then?”

  “Sounds perfect. Thanks again, Trish.” Praying that the woman wouldn’t change her mind between now and then, Olivia headed back outside and collected the dogs.

  She had a bad feeling about Paul.

  Olivia was back at Blooms For You exactly at seven.

  Luckily, Trish was waiting for her. Unlocking the door, the woman waved her inside. “You are just in time. I just finished the last order. I actually think I did a pretty good job. Let me know what you think!”

  As she followed Trish back, Olivia surveyed the empty coolers that were normally bursting with flowers and felt her heart dip even lower. What was going on here?