“It hasn’t been boring this past week.”
“You’re right, it hasn’t.” She laughed. “Which would explain why I’m happier this week than I have been for a while.” Her laughter faded, and she looked away, letting go of his hand. “There’s Winter.”
“She’s busy with customers. Why don’t we check out the pots of chrysanthemums?”
“Look at you knowing the names and everything.”
“Em, everyone knows what a chrysanthemum is.”
“Not me.” She bent down and picked up a pot of purple chrysanthemums. “Okay. I’m done.”
“Are you kidding me? You need at least five pots of flowers for your garden.” He looked around. “I’ll get us a cart. I saw a stack of them outside beside the hut.” When he came back with the cart, Em was talking to Raine, Quinn, and Izzy.
“Hey, kiddo,” Josh said, tugging on Izzy’s curly dark hair. He nodded at Raine and Quinn.
Izzy crossed her arms instead of giving him her usual hug. “You’re not checking up on me too, are you, Uncle Josh?”
“Ah, no. Em and I are buying flowers. Why would I be checking up on you?”
“Ask them,” she said and stomped to the small hut, opening the door and walking inside.
She joined another teenager who was cashing out a customer.
“What’s that about?” he asked Raine and Quinn.
“We were concerned there might be fallout from the article in the Herald,” Quinn said. “But it doesn’t look like it’s affecting Winter’s business.”
“I was more worried there’d be protesters here,” Raine said, shaking her head. “I can’t believe people are taking the accusations seriously. You should see some of the comments online.”
“Todd mentioned Abby’s coming up with a plan to counter O’Brien’s narrative. Do you know anything about it?” Em asked.
Raine nodded. “They’re holding a town hall meeting Friday night with the Sisterhood, and Jenny is the speaker. She’s going to talk about the history of witches.”
“Not a bad idea,” Em said, and Josh agreed.
Quinn raised an eyebrow. “They’re selling T-shirts and mugs that say ‘Embrace Your Inner Witch.’”
“Okay, so they’re leaning into the controversy big-time,” Em said. “It’ll be all hands on deck at HFPD. I should probably give Gabe a call.”
“You’re on vacation,” Josh reminded her.
“Doesn’t mean I can’t attend. What?” she said when Josh raised an eyebrow. “You want me to have fun, and this definitely sounds like a fun event.”
“Yeah, if you like murder and mayhem,” he said.
Her face lit up with a smile. “You know I do.”
“Tickets go on sale tomorrow,” Raine said.
Em frowned. “They’re selling tickets?”
Raine nodded. “The proceeds go to the affordable housing project Abby’s spearheading. It’s what my mother is campaigning on.” Raine sighed at Em’s blank look. “You have no idea what I’m talking about, do you?”
“I don’t follow politics.”
“You’d better start. Because if Peter O’Brien’s elected mayor, the first thing he’ll do is squash the project.”
“What can he possibly have against affordable housing?”
Quinn explained. “In their will, the Hendersons gifted their property to the town, but as their sole surviving relative, O’Brien contested it on the basis they weren’t of sound mind and that they’d been coerced by Winter and the town council. He wants to build big-box stores.”
“That’s it. That has to be it,” Em said.
“What are you talking about?” Raine asked.
“I’ve been racking my brain trying to figure out O’Brien’s motivation, and I think you just gave it to me.”
Chapter Nineteen
Thunder rumbled and raindrops splattered against the truck’s windshield. “It looks like we’re not biking Blue Mountain today,” Em said, a little surprised at how disappointed she was.
“Don’t worry. There’s always tomorrow,” Josh said. “But I have an idea how we can still enjoy our day without the rain interfering.”
Her gaze strayed to the way the black Henley clung to Josh’s chest, showing off his impressive pecs and abs. Which might explain why a highly inappropriate idea came to mind as to how they could enjoy their day despite the rain. It involved snuggling in bed with Josh.
Except she’d been thinking about Josh in her bed before they’d gotten caught in the rain filling the back of the pickup with pots of chrysanthemums, hay bales, cornstalks, and pumpkins. She’d been thinking about it ever since Todd had put the idea in her head this morning, and she couldn’t seem to get it out of her head no matter how hard she tried, and she’d been trying really hard.
Even talking to Raine, Quinn, and Winter and feeling like she’d finally gotten a break on the Seaton case hadn’t been able to push the thoughts completely from her mind. But it wasn’t just the thoughts about Josh in her bed that she’d been preoccupied with. Honestly, the way the man looked, she didn’t blame her mind for going to sexy times with him. What had been more concerning was how she’d reacted to holding his hand. Or more to the point, how she hadn’t reacted. Her hand in his had felt perfectly normal, perfectly right.
However, the revelation that she’d been happier this past week than she’d been in a long time was troubling… because it was true. She hadn’t even realized it until she’d made the offhand remark. But there was nothing offhand about her feelings. She’d been happy, happy hanging out with Josh. She rubbed her chest as if it would take away the guilty ache. Other than the moments after she’d kissed Josh last night, she’d gone days without thinking about Brad, and she hadn’t even noticed until now.
“What’s up? Are you okay?”
Afraid he’d notice the tears welling in her eyes, she glanced out the passenger side window. “Just thinking about the case.”
“I get it, okay. But Em, you can’t let it consume you. You’ve figured out O’Brien’s motivation. And after talking to Raine and Winter, it’s looking as if May died from natural causes like you suspected, and Winter’s going to go over the herbal remedies you found in the journal and see if there’s a chance the sisters could’ve unintentionally poisoned Edward Henderson. So for now, put it aside and enjoy the rest of the day.”
Em had to see if she could get records from the jail to confirm Raine’s theory, but it made sense. May had had her baby while she’d been in custody, and Raine suspected she hadn’t received the proper care after a complicated birth, resulting in a series of medical issues that had been left untreated. The next mystery Em had to solve—who was the baby’s father? Her gut said it was Edward Henderson. Proving it would be another story.
“Em?”
“You’re right. What’s your plan for the day?” She looked out the window and frowned. “Why are we at the grocery store?”