Murder at the Maples: A Flora Lively Mystery
Page 25
‘Hey. How you doing?’ Marshall was in the warehouse, sweeping up. Busy work. ‘How’s Joy?’
‘She’s fine. Really. It’s amazing how resilient she is.’
‘Did you take the dog back?’
She nodded.
‘And you’re feeling sad about that, right? Why not get yourself a puppy? I never had you pegged for a dog lover, but it might do you good. Otto certainly seemed to soften out your edges a bit.’
‘No can do. Well, not until I’m settled, anyway. I might end up somewhere that’s no good for pets.’
Marshall looked up in alarm. ‘What do you mean? Settled where?’
‘Don’t get your hopes up, I’m not leaving the country. But I am selling Mum and Dad’s place. That bungalow is not me. I miss my old flat – I’m going to look around for something similar.’
‘Wow. Any more bombshells for me?’
She laughed. ‘It’s hardly a bombshell that I’m moving house. At least it’ll put some business our way.’
‘I’ll give you a very competitive quote.’
‘Thanks. I might get one from Rockfords too. Do a bit of mystery shopping.’
Her face reddened at the thought. She pictured David Rockford sitting in her parents’ lounge drinking coffee. Not a good idea, even as a joke.
Marshall put the broom against the wall and bent down with the dustpan and brush. ‘No point asking them. They’re not in the market for domestic removals at the moment.’
Flora did a double-take. ‘What did you say?’
He looked up at her and grinned. ‘Yeah, it’s weird. Not only did they pull out of the lease on the Battlefield site, I heard they’re not bothering going after boring old house removals in this area at all. Turns out there’s not enough money in it. They’ve got some newfangled idea about commercial storage instead. Apparently,’ he said, stretching out the word, ‘it’s the hot ticket right now.’
She pulled up a crate and perched on it, planting her chin on her upturned hands. ‘Marshall, are you saying what I think you’re saying?’
‘Well, that’d depend, wouldn’t it?’ His eyes twinkled. There was a charge in the air, like electricity. Flora swallowed.
‘Did you give your business idea to David Rockford? Is that what all those secret meetings were about?’
He nodded. Flora looked up to the ceiling. ‘Marshall, you idiot! I was just about to give you the go-ahead for that.’
‘Really?’
‘Right now. Today. I figured I’d had my chance to run it the way Dad wanted, now it was time to do it differently. Besides …’ she tailed off. There was no point telling him she’d been thinking of doing something else for a while, leaving him totally in charge. That could wait for another day.
‘This is totally left field, you know,’ she said, smirking.
‘Finally she gets a saying right!’ Marshall threw an imaginary ball into the air. ‘Slam-dunk.’
‘Oh yeah. A bit of a curve ball, in fact.’
He gave her a look. ‘You’re overdoing it now.’
She grinned, but then her smile slipped. ‘Are you sure it was the right thing to do, Marshall? That business plan, it was your baby.’
‘Well, I’m not really a family kind of guy. It’ll keep them off our backs for a while, give us a chance to regroup. Maybe do some advertising of our own, brainstorm some ideas with your uncle.’
‘Thank you.’ She leaned forward, just a tiny bit, enough to smell Marshall’s warmth and his spicy scent. He tipped up his head, rocking forward onto one knee.
‘Flora, you know, there was a good reason why I did it. I wanted to–’
‘Hello? Hello, is this where – ah, Flora! There you are! I’ve been calling you for days. Is everything okay?’
Heston. Perfect timing. Flora got off the crate with a sigh.
Marshall sat back, his eyes darkening. ‘I’ll leave you two to it.’
She watched him go. There was so much she wanted to tell him. Like, even though he drove her crazy he’d been there when she needed him and she wouldn’t forget it. That it was only going to take about five minutes to send Heston away – she had already rehearsed the exact words she was going to use to let him down gently. But mainly that she knew. She knew he’d done it for her, and that he stayed around for her. Because Shakers was as much his business as it was hers. It wouldn’t be the same without him.
Marshall reached the top of the metal steps, his shoulders drooping, then disappeared inside the office. Flora’s heart felt heavy. Heston moved around to stand in front of her. He looked nervous. She sighed and gestured for him to sit down on a crate. She took one last look up at the office window. Marshall was sitting in her chair with his legs up on the desk, looking down at the two of them and laughing. Behind Heston’s back he pulled a face, mocking the smaller man’s wan expression. He sucked in his cheeks and rolled his eyes, then slapped his thighs in delight. Flora glared up at him balefully. Impossible man.
And to think she’d been just about to soften. Ha! Not a chance.
‘Flora? Flora, what are you looking at?’
‘Nothing,’ she told Heston with a kind smile. ‘Nothing at all. Come on, let’s get out of here. There’s something I need to tell you.’
THE END
Thank you for reading Murder at the Maples. If you enjoyed this book, please join my mailing list so I can tell you about new releases, giveaways and special promotions. I often send out exclusive short stories to the lovely people on my mailing list, and you’ll always be the first to hear big news! The next installment in the Flora Lively series will be released in November 2014 - keep in touch to find out more.
Visit my website at www.joannephillips.co.uk where you can find out more about my books and my inspiration for writing, along with photos and a lively blog. I love hearing from readers so please get in touch
by email: joannephillipsmail@gmail.com
on Twitter: @joannegphillips
on Facebook: joannephillipsauthor
Authors rely on reader reviews to gain visibility and find new readers. If you’ve enjoyed this book please take a few minutes to leave a review on Amazon and/or Goodreads. Here are the links to make it easier:
Review on Amazon
Review on Goodreads
About the author
Joanne Phillips lives in rural Shropshire with her husband and young daughter. She’s the author of romantic comedies Can’t Live Without, The Family Trap and Cupid’s Way, and the Flora Lively series of contemporary mysteries. Can’t Live Without was an Amazon top 20 bestseller in 2012 and her books regularly appear on category bestseller lists. Before becoming a writer, Joanne had jobs as diverse as hairdresser, air hostess and librarian, but now divides her time between writing and finding creative ways to avoid housework. She’s a fan of super-dark chocolate, iced coffee and Masterchef.
Books by Joanne Phillips
Can’t Live Without
The Family Trap
Cupid’s Way
Flora Lively Investigates:
Murder at the Maples
Short story collection:
A Life Unpredicted and other stories
Novelette:
The Silence of Juliet Mann
Acknowledgements
I’d like to thank the following people who contributed to the writing and production of this book: Jez Phillips, my wonderful husband, whose continued support makes writing a joy; Jude White for her brilliant proofreading and editing; Chris Howard for another wonderful cover; and finally my amazing Beta Readers: Emma Harrison, Sherry Meyer, Pauline Wiles, Rachel Owen, Marina Sofia, Emma Dellow, Kathryn Michaels and Kate Frost. I’d also like to thank my readers – without you none of this would happen at all. Know that every time you download, buy or borrow one of my books you make my world an even brighter place.
/>