Crowned and Moldering

He chuckled and tried to appear blasé, but I could see his neck turning red. “Is that a threat?”

“No, that’s a promise.”

“Oh yeah?” he said cockily. “Good luck with that.”

I leaned over his table and jabbed him in the chest for emphasis. “And good luck surviving a slander lawsuit, you creep.”

And then I turned and walked out of the place.

*   *   *

Back in my truck, I had to breathe deeply. The initial rush of fury was gone and I was crashing precipitously. I glanced around and realized I was parked where anyone in town could see me, so I had to get away from there.

I turned on the engine and started driving. I went east to Highway 101 and then drove north. A few miles later I exited, and it was only then that I realized I was headed toward the nursery. And that was a good thing. I could wander the pathways and stare at pretty flowers for a while and maybe bring my heart rate down a little.

I walked for twenty minutes and finally sat down on a worn burl bench in front of a miniature waterfall that had been created by redirecting part of the brook to spill over a short wall of slate bricks. It was a charming sight, but it was the sound of the water babbling and gushing that most appealed to me. It was a happy sound, and it drowned out my own voice repeating itself over and over in my head.

That’s a promise.

You creep.

I covered my face with my hands. It had been stupid of me to verbally attack Cliff Hogarth in public like that. But what else could I do? I had endured his direct assaults as well as the shadowy rumors of certain malicious comments from him. I had brushed off Ms. Barney’s concerns after Hogarth berated her and slandered me. And I’d barely tolerated Whitney’s idiocy over the guy. But now he was trying to take Douglas from me and it was suddenly very personal.

The whole town knew what Cliff was up to, so there was no point in pretending otherwise. So, really, what had I done that was so bad? I’d stood up for myself, my crew, my business. I’d showed everyone that I wouldn’t roll over and play dead for a low-life interloper like Cliff.

I could rely solely on my own good reputation to see me through this crisis, or I could hire a lawyer and sue Cliff. If I chose to go the way of a lawsuit, I wondered how much damage I might’ve just done to my case by confronting him personally. I supposed there was only one way to find out. I pulled my tablet out of my purse and made a note on my calendar to call our business lawyer tomorrow and find out.

I put away the tablet and began walking farther down the path, wandering among the plants and greenery. I’d done this before, of course. Gardens had always soothed me, ever since I was a little girl and my mother, Ella, who was a botanist, had taught me all about gardening. I could still picture her laughing as I tried to grow green beans up the side of the house.

“Oh, dear.” I had to stop and concentrate on the feathery leaves of a nearby willow tree. Thinking of my mom often brought me close to tears. And memories of my mother’s death reminded me of Lily’s kindnesses. I desperately blinked back the waterworks. Today had already been overly emotional for me and I really hated to cry. It turned my eyes red and my face puffy, besides clogging up my head and making me feel like a sad little five-year-old.

“You look so lonely.”

I flinched at the sound and looked behind me. “Hey. Hi, Denise.”

“You okay?”

“Oh, sure. I’m not really lonely, just hiding. And de-stressing.”

She smiled. “This is a great place to do both.”

“I know. It’s so beautiful here.”

“It is.” She gazed around. “Sometimes I wonder how my life would’ve turned out if I had traded my garden tools for a briefcase. There was a time when I actually had to make that decision.”

“I think you made the right one,” I said, brushing my fingers over the wispy strands of pink pampas grass growing along the path.

“I like to think so,” Denise said. She moved her rake in and around the nearby bushes, extracting dead leaves and weeds. “If you’ve got something on your mind, Sha

I laughed lightly, recalling that I’d said almost the same thing to Eric a few days back. What happens here in the jail, stays in the jail, I’d assured him.

“I guess it might help to talk it through,” I said.

“Go right ahead. Pretend I’m not here if it helps any.”

“No, I don’t mind talking to you. Especially since you know the players.”

“Now you’ve stoked my curiosity.”

I smiled. “Okay. So one of my favorite crew members—well, they’re all my favorites, really. I’ve been working with the same guys for years now and they feel like my brothers, you know? Anyway, one of them just told me that Cliff Hogarth offered him a lot of money to quit my company and work for him.”

“I’m so sorry. That’s just wrong.”

“It’s very wrong, mainly because he only did it to harass me.” I told her about the slanderous statements he’d made to Ms. Barney and others, and I was about to complain about Whitney, too, when I remembered that Denise and Whitney were friends.

And speaking of friends, it just occurred to me that since Cliff had dated Lily, maybe Denise had been friends with him, too. Oh, boy. I should’ve kept my mouth shut.

“I probably need to stop talking,” I said. “For all I know, you and Cliff are old pals.”

“Believe me, we’re not,” she rushed to say. “I’ve always thought he was a scumbag.”

“I never liked him, either, and now it’s worse than ever.”

Her eyes narrowed as if she were searching back to a certain moment in the past. “Cliff was always a troublemaker. Always pushing people’s buttons. He pushed Lily’s plenty of times, and sometimes I hated him for it.”

“He’s sure been pushing mine,” I muttered.

“And, frankly, don’t you wonder why he came back to town?” Denise leaned on the rake handle and squinted up into the sun from beneath her gardening hat. “I mean, he got here, and within a month you’d all found Lily. It makes me wonder.”

So I wasn’t the only one who had questioned the timing of Cliff’s return to Lighthouse Cove. Why had Cliff come back? And why now?

“But now I can see that I’m feeding your anger,” Denise said, “and I don’t like to do that.”

I smiled. “Then let’s change the subject. How are you and Brad doing? How’s the kitchen working out?”

“You know, we love it.” She talked about how Brad—Mr. Jones—loved cooking now that they had a wonderful, state-of-the-art kitchen. “Before, he would never even boil water, but now he’s always experimenting with new, amazing recipes, like short ribs and chicken piccata and lots of yummy sauces, you know? And it’s all because of our kitchen. So thank you. You did a fabulous job.”

Laughing, I said, “Well, I fished for that compliment, but thank you. I’m glad it makes you happy.”

“The only thing we need now is a few kids ru

I gri

“I would love three or four, but Brad thinks two would be plenty.” Denise smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “Of course, we haven’t had much luck in that area yet.”

Her happy tone had completely faded. I tried to think of something encouraging to say, but all I could do was reach out and squeeze her arm lightly. “But you will. I know it.”

“I hope so. It’s fu

“I understand, and I’m so sorry you’re having problems now. But you’re both such good people, I know good things will happen for you.”

“Thanks, Sha