She shrugged. “You and your brother both.” She leaned forward and whispered, “Did you hear that Nick’s looking at coming back to town?”
At that, Mack smiled and nodded. “That would be nice, wouldn’t it?”
“It’d be really nice,” she said. And then she looked at the gardens and sighed. “I sure hope he can make it happen soon.”
Doreen looked over at her, frowning. “Did he give you a time frame?”
“No, he didn’t. He did say that he’d make another trip here. He has to see somebody who’s been avoiding him.”
Mack raised an eyebrow and turned slowly to look at Doreen.
She flushed and slunk lower in her chair. “I wonder who that could be?” she asked in an innocent tone.
Mack sighed heavily. “Does he need to talk to you?”
“I don’t know,” she said. “There has been a phone message or two, but, over the last couple days, honestly, I just haven’t wanted to talk to anybody.”
He nodded. “And I get that, but you know if he needs you …”
She sniffed. “I don’t want to deal with that.”
He burst out laughing. “Yet you contacted Nick. And you know what he does for a living.”
She winced.
“And he is doing this for free.”
She sighed. “Fine,” she said. “If he doesn’t come soon, I’ll give him a call.”
“I’m hoping he’ll come this weekend,” Millicent said. “But I can’t count on that. He is a busy man.” She looked at Mack, at Doreen, and then again at Mack, back to Doreen. “Is Nick helping you out with something, dear?”
“Ever since my lovely lawyer died and left my divorce in a mess, your son Nick’s been helping me clear it up.”
“Oh, that’s lovely,” she beamed. “He’s such a good boy. He’s always willing to help.”
At that, even Mack rolled his eyes. “Now, if you’re coming back here tomorrow to work in Mom’s garden, and you already have a worklist of what you need to do here, can we head to the beach today?” he asked Doreen.
“Sure,” she said, bouncing to her feet. “You didn’t mention that lately.”
“Nope, I didn’t,” he said. “I figured, if I mentioned paddleboards, you’d run screaming in the opposite direction.”
She turned and glared at him. “Please tell me that we’re not trying that again.” He just raised an eyebrow, and she sighed. “Fine. As long as we’re going to the beach today, but I wanted to stop and talk to Wendy today too.”
He looked at her in surprise. “Is she open on Saturdays?”
She nodded. “But you’re right. It’s probably a busy day for her, isn’t it?”
“If it’s money you’re after, why don’t you wait until Monday morning?”
“Fine. Let’s go to the beach, get soaking wet, and … have some food,” she said, looking at him hopefully.
He nodded. “I have a picnic packed.”
She beamed. “Why didn’t you say so?” she cried out. She leaned over, gave the older woman a hug, and said, “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Good enough,” she said, with a smile. “You young people go have a nice day.”
And, with that, the two of them headed out. Settled in Mack’s truck, Doreen said, “I do still worry about Wendy.” She felt more than saw his glance in her direction.
“Has she contacted you since?”
“No.”
“If she’s not ready to talk, … there’s nothing you or I can do. It might be nothing at all to worry about.”
“Yet, it felt … off. Wrong somehow.” She pondered the little she’d seen and Wendy’s disturbing reaction.
Mack pointed. “Behind Wendy’s shop is Esther’s famous quince trees,” he said suddenly, taking his eyes off the road for a moment. “Esther makes the best quince jam and sold it for years at the Kelowna market. I have to tell you, her jam was ‘the’ product everyone bought back then. Even now, the market was and still is a lively place, and her jam? … That’s the jam.” And he burst out laughing at his joke.
“Quince?” Immediately an image of the fragrant pear-looking fruit popped into her head. “I thought they didn’t taste great.”
“They need to be cooked first, I believe. Honestly, I’ve never tried to cook them. The only quince I’ve ever eaten was Esther’s jam. I’ve bought dozens of jars over the years. And those suckers trade like hot commodities.” He shook his head at that. “I wish I could get her recipe, but she was crotchety back in the day. I can’t imagine how she is now.” He turned a corner and drove toward the beach. “Her place backs onto the alley at the back of Wendy’s shop.”
She looked at him in surprise, then giggled.
He shot a glance at her, a big smile on his face. “What’s so funny?”
“We just finished Poison in the Pansies,” she said, her laughter rolling out louder and louder. “Now we have quince in the picture. And Q follows P in the alphabet. So what kind of case works with the letter Q?” In between giggles, and Mugs woofing, and now Thaddeus cawing at the noise, she finally got out, “Quarry. That works. Quarry in the Quince.”
And she went off in gales of laughter.
Indeed, it was a glorious day.
This concludes Book 16 of Lovely Lethal Gardens: Poison in the Pansies.
Read about Quarry in the Quince: Lovely Lethal Gardens, Book 17
Lovely Lethal Gardens:
Quarry in the Quince
(Book #17)
A new cozy mystery series from USA Today best-selling author Dale Mayer. Follow gardener and amateur sleuth Doreen Montgomery—and her amusing and mostly lovable cat, dog, and parrot—as they catch murderers and solve crimes in lovely Kelowna, British Columbia.
Riches to rags … Chaos is down … Everyone loves sparkly rings … Some more than others!
Who knew a simple trip to the consignment store would find Wendy being strong-armed by two strangers? So not allowed—especially as it could affect Doreen getting her month-end check! Trying to get to the bottom of this is one convoluted story to sort out. It involves Bernard—an eccentric and handsome older man, who had a very young fiancée in his life—the breakup, and the resulting theft.
Corporal Mack Moreau is not at all happy with Doreen’s new male friend, Bernard, who has the money to keep her in the style she was accustomed to. However, Mack is happy Doreen is staying out of his cases, if only she could stay out of trouble! Then again, Doreen can find trouble like this without any effort on her part. At least this time she also befriends another Kelowna icon, who lives behind Wendy’s store and who is well-known for her quince jams and jellies.
Yet a big shiny reward from Bernard awaits someone who solves the theft and how it involves Wendy and the jam icon. Maybe—just maybe—that someone could be Doreen.
Find Book 17 here!
To find out more visit Dale Mayer’s website.