Leah, Marigold’s employee, came in at ten. Wyatt was gone by then, and Marigold was glad. The fewer people who knew about him, the better. The less explaining she’d have to do about why things hadn’t worked out when he was gone after the wedding. Or whatever it was that people would assume had happened.
She was fine with him being a one-off. It helped her out a lot. Her sisters would have nothing to rib her about at the wedding, she’d avoid being set up by them, and she had a strong suspicion that Wyatt would be a fun date.
He was funny, handsome, and so far, very kind. She liked him. Anyone would. And she could easily like him more, but she wouldn’t let that happen. For one big thing, he was a normie. A human. That wasn’t something she wanted to mess with.
But also because he’d been so honest about his feelings when it came to relationships. He didn’t want anything permanent. She could respect that.
Really, she admired his honesty. It was refreshing. Sad. But refreshing. At least she didn’t have to wonder if it was going anywhere. It wasn’t.
He wouldn’t even need to meet Saffron. Except for at the wedding, of course. After all, what was the point?
“Morning, Mari.” Leah came around the counter and put on her green Enchanted Garden apron.
“Morning.”
Leah looked around. “Smells like Mummy’s in here.”
“Oh, a, uh, customer brought me a coffee and a cinnamon roll.” Not a lie, but better than explaining the complicated truth.
“That was nice! Does that mean there’s coffee and a cinnamon bun for me somewhere, seeing as how you’re on the no-wheat-sugar-and-caffeine bridesmaid diet?”
Marigold frowned. “I took a temporary break from that. But there is half of a bun left in the fridge if you want it.”
“Heck, yes, I want it.” Leah grinned. “How’s wedding prep going?”
“Flowers are due in any moment, then it’s going to get intense.”
Leah rubbed her hands together. She loved her job, something Marigold was intensely thankful for. But then, Leah was a wood nymph and, much like a green witch, was especially suited to working with plants. “Yeah, it is.”
The back doorbell rang. Marigold headed toward the rear entrance. “That’s either Joe to pick up deliveries or Pandora’s flowers arriving.”
She opened it and found the driver for the wholesale supply house. “Hey, George.”
“Hi, Marigold. I’ve got a big order for you today.” The balding man smiled. “Your sister’s wedding flowers.”
“Right on time.” She propped the door open so he could come and go easily. The bell over the front door jangled. It was going to be a busy day. “You need help?” She knew he didn’t, but she always asked.
“Nope, I’ve got the dolly. Be in with the first batch shortly.”
“Sounds good.” She went back to the counter.
Wyatt was at the front of the shop, talking to Leah.
Marigold double-timed it to where they were standing. “Leah, you want to see if George needs a hand? You could inventory the boxes for me as they come in.”
Leah gave her a curious look. “Sure.”
As she headed for the back room, Marigold spoke to Wyatt. “What can I do for you?”
He held out a cashier’s check from a local bank, and it was made out to cash for one thousand dollars. “Here’s your check.”
“Great. The box is under the counter.” She walked behind it and grabbed the box of candlestick pieces that had accidently become even more of a mess than they’d been before. Although to her, the accident hadn’t looked that accidental. It was almost like Newt had dropped the box on purpose when he was getting them out of her car. “Here’s your puzzle.”
Wyatt took the box, then leaned one elbow on the counter. “I was thinking, since we’re going to your sister’s wedding and all, maybe we should go to dinner. You know, get to know each other a little.”
She could feel a look of skepticism coming over her. The man who didn’t want any kind of relationship now wanted to get to know her better? “I can’t. I have so much wedding prep to do that time off is out of the question.”
He frowned. “What kind of wedding prep do you have to do? Your sister is the one getting married.”
She laughed at him. “Hello, look around you. Who do you think is doing the flowers?”
Realization washed over him. “Clearly, I’m an idiot.”
She laughed some more. “No, you’re not. Guys don’t think about stuff like that.”
He nodded thoughtfully. “Well, I’m disappointed you won’t get to show me around town. This place is a lot different than Millersville.”
“That it is. But you don’t need me to show you around. Just pick a direction on Main Street and walk. You won’t be disappointed, I promise.”
His eyes narrowed. “You realize that was my way of saying I was hoping to spend more time with you.”
“Oh.” Yeah, she hadn’t gotten that. Daisy doodles, she was out of practice.
Leah popped her head out of the workroom. “Everything’s here. You want me to go ahead and sign off?”
“Yes, thanks.” Marigold looked into the back. Boxes of flowers were everywhere. She blew out a breath. The work that awaited was…staggering. But she’d enjoy it. Her hours of labor were for the love of her sister, and each bloom would be placed with that thought.
“What’s in all those boxes?”
She turned around to see Wyatt peering into the back room too. “All the flowers I have to arrange for my sister’s wedding. Actually, not all, but most.”
His brows lifted. “You have help, right?”
“I have Leah.”
His brows went higher. “The two of you are going to handle all of those? How many…bouquets or whatever do you have to do?”
“One bridal bouquet, four bridesmaid bouquets, one flower girl basket, two corsages, eight boutonnieres, six swags, ten aisle markers, one arched trellis—well, that will actually be done on site—fifteen centerpieces, and one toss bouquet.” She paused, mentally checking her list. “I think that’s it.”
His mouth was open, and he was blinking, but otherwise she wasn’t sure he was still with her.
“Wyatt?”
He took a breath. “That seems like a lot.”
“It is, but thankfully it’s a small backyard wedding, so—”
“That’s a small wedding?”
“Yes. Well, maybe not that small. About a hundred and fifty people. But small in terms of the number of arrangements necessary. Church weddings with receptions at another venue usually need a lot more. Pandora’s wedding will be contained to the backyard. They’re having the ceremony and the reception there. In tents. The reception part, not the ceremony.”
“You make it seem like it’s no big deal. How many weddings do you do a year?”
“In this town? I try not to do more than twenty a year, but sometimes it’s a little more than that.”
“Wow.” He breathed out the word like it was all he could come up with.
She leaned in, ready to blow his mind just a little. “And in two more weekends, I have another wedding. One of my friends.”
“I thought being a cop was hard.”
“Oh, I’m sure that’s still harder. I’ve never been shot at.”
He smirked, seemingly snapping back to reality. “I certainly hope not.”
A new thought occurred to her. “You know, if you don’t have anything else to do until the wedding, I could always use some help here. You did say you wanted to get to know me better.”
He blinked. Hard. “I don’t know anything about arranging flowers.”
“Oh, yeah, no, that is not at all what I had in mind. I was thinking you could just sit here and help customers. You know, answer the phone, take orders. Get us lunch.” She did her best not to laugh, because the thought of him being her errand boy made her giddy for reasons she couldn’t name. “Just stuff like that. Then Leah and I could focus on the wedding prep uninterrupted.”
“For real?”
She shrugged. “Unless you think that’s more than you can handle.”
“I…could do that.” He seemed to be thinking a little more. Then he nodded. “I need to mail this box to my client first, but then I’m all yours.”
Frank jumped up on the counter and lay down, paws crossed in front of him.
Marigold smiled. “Good. You’re hired. Come back after you hit the post office, and I’ll show you how to properly unbox and store these stems.”
Thanks to directions from Marigold, Wyatt walked to the post office instead of driving since it wasn’t too far. He got the box mailed out, then headed back. On the return walk, he realized he really had no idea what he’d gotten himself into. Not with Marigold, but with Suzanne.
The moment he’d talked to Suzanne about getting the grand for the candlesticks, and she’d told him that there was another auction she wanted him to bid on in a couple days, he’d gotten that funny feeling in his stomach.
That feeling happened only when something hinky was going on. When he was about to figure out a case, or stumble onto some shady dealings, or discover that a good guy was actually a bad guy.
The new item he was supposed to bid on was coming up in Thursday night’s auction. He’d agreed, because the money was good, and he had no other cases. It was also part of why he’d signed on to be Marigold’s wedding date. He was already going to be here until Thursday now, so what was two more days?
This time, the item up for auction was bookends. Suzanne claimed they were more family heirlooms, also accidentally sold off by the same family member.
But after what he’d seen with the parking lot attack on Marigold, he knew there was something more going on. Okay, maybe he didn’t know it, but his gut—and that feeling—were seldom wrong.
His gut was telling him that those men hadn’t gotten what they’d come for. It wasn’t the candlesticks. He just couldn’t believe that. And if they weren’t satisfied, then Marigold might not be safe.
So he’d agreed to two things he might not have otherwise. To be her date for the wedding and to help her in the shop.
He couldn’t leave her unprotected. Being by her side as much as possible was the only way to keep an eye on her without seeming like a creep.
Didn’t hurt that she was gorgeous and smelled nice, either.
But flower shop duty? That was a new one. He lived in a one-bedroom apartment in Atlanta. He didn’t even have a yard.
He walked back into the Enchanted Garden. “I’m here.”
Marigold smiled at him. “Just in time. Here’s what I need you to do.”
She showed him a couple of things, and he went to work. Despite his reservations, nothing so far was beyond his ability. Unpacking the boxes and putting the flowers into water buckets, then storing them in the big coolers was just grunt work. A trained chimp could have done it. Or in his case, an untrained chimp.
Leah, Marigold’s employee, was a sweet kid and currently working on wedding centerpieces. She was a little chatty, telling him about her dog, Rollo, and how Rollo was a failed drug-sniffer dog. Apparently, he could detect drugs, but also French fries, candy wrappers, and animal crackers. Pretty much anything that qualified as a carb.
Mostly, Wyatt just nodded and said, “Huh” or “How about that” a lot. He didn’t mind the conversation at all, but Marigold was far more interesting. She was occupied at the moment with taking a phone order.
He was finishing up the last of the boxes when a customer came in. He peered through the door to make sure it wasn’t one of their parking lot friends.
It wasn’t, but he knew the man all the same. Mr. Carnation.
What was he doing here? But Wyatt knew instantly. That’s who Marigold had gone to the auction for.
Was she really working with this guy?
She gave him the thousand-dollar check, confirming she was.
Frank, the shop cat, was lying on the workbench near Leah. Which was also closer to the front of the shop.
Wyatt went to scratch him. Leah kept talking, unaffected by his move, but it put him in a good position by the door. Closer to where he could hear the conversation. Especially when he turned so that his deaf ear was to Leah and his good ear was toward the front of the shop.
Even so, he missed a few words. Leah’s constant chatter spilled over a little. He got the gist of what Mr. Carnation wanted, though.
Another auction.
Marigold didn’t want to do it. She had too much to do for the wedding, and her sister’s rehearsal dinner was the night after the auction, meaning Thursday was her last full evening to get ready.
Mr. Carnation offered her three hundred dollars and assured her the items would come up early in the docket. She’d be in and out in no time.
Marigold said she’d think about it. Mr. Carnation offered her five hundred. She said again she’d think about it and that she’d call him soon. He left.
Wyatt smiled at Leah, who was still talking. He interrupted as soon as she took a breath. “Excuse me just a sec.”
He joined Marigold at the counter. “What did that man want you to buy at the auction?”
She made a face at him. “Eavesdropping isn’t very polite, you know.”
“What did he want you to buy?”
She frowned. “I shouldn’t do it.”
“Marigold, please. Tell me. Was it bookends?”
She jerked back slightly. “How did you know?”