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“I was up there yesterday. A lady needed six more plants and so I dropped them off there for her to pick up. We didn’t really talk. She knew I was bringing them. Why?”

  “Well, I just drove by there. I mean I tried to drive by there but Fennel Street was blocked with police cars. It looked to me like someone got arrested in her store, but I couldn’t see who they put in the car.”

  “Wow, some excitement in Spicetown,” Bryan said smiling. He seemed unconcerned about Denise or the arrest. Amanda took that to mean he couldn’t care much about her, so she kept going.

  “I didn’t know whether you two were close or not. I had heard you were thinking of doing business with her and that’s another reason…”

  “No, nothing much. I just put a few plants in there for the winter. I had asked her if she wanted some dried herbs or preserves when they’re ready. They might sell better in town than out here, but I don’t know her well.”

  “That’s good. I wouldn’t want you to get into business with someone that got arrested.”

  “She got arrested?”

  “No, uh, I don’t know. Someone in her store did but I couldn’t see who they brought out. They put someone in a squad car out front but I couldn’t drive by.”

  “You’ll have to ask your mom.” Bryan smirked jokingly. Amanda had told him all about her mother’s gossip mill when they had been at dinner.

  “Yeah, I’m sure she’ll hear about it. I’ll let you know when I hear.” Amanda laughed and relaxed. He was really very easy to talk to when she wasn’t so focused on making a good impression.

  “Can I have a tour? I’d love to see what you have in here.”

  “Sure.” Bryan held out his arm to steer her towards a long white table in the back of the greenhouse. “I was just working on these little plants. I propagate from this larger plant to make those little sage plants I put in Denise’s store.”

  “Those are so cute. I saw them when I was in there. How do you propagate?”

  “I just cut the mother plant here,” he said pointing to a place on the large sage plant, “and put the cutting in water a couple of weeks for it to root.” He held up a glass that held some small plants with white roots floating in water.

  “That’s really cool.” Amanda held them up higher. “I can help you. I do know how to pot a plant. I didn’t realize you could make a bunch of plants out of one though.”

  “Not everything works that way, but most plants will root easily.” Bryan brushed dirt from the table and lined up small pots beside the bag of soil on the table.

  “You have to be gentle with the roots. They get tangled together sometimes and here… Let me show you.” Bryan put some soil in a tiny pot and turned it sideways to add soil to just one side as he carefully placed the plant in with roots splayed out neatly before adding more soil.

  “The leaves will hold dirt, so you have to try and keep the soil off the plant leaves.” He handed her a completed pot to demonstrate and used a tiny scoop to add soil until it leveled off.

  “Adorable,” Amanda said as she brushed soil from the outside of the pot onto the table. “You know, these would really look nice with a ribbon tied around them. You could use different colors or prints and just tie a box.”

  “You’re probably right. I’ll add that to my orders.”

  “When it gets close to a holiday, you could make the ribbon match or get those little plastic spikes to put in the soil that say ‘Happy Saint Pat’s Day’ or whatever the holiday is. They’d be easy to change out once the holiday is over.”

  Bryan smiled at Amanda’s suggestions and nodded to her, pleased she had taken an interest. She was a different person today than she had been on their date. She had been preoccupied with everything going on around her at the restaurant and at the county fireworks that night. Her eyes had darted everywhere but into his. Today was different, and he was enjoying this time with her.

  “Have you ever thought about painting the pots? They’re just clay and I’m sure they’d take paint well.”

  “Oh, I don’t have any artistic ability.” Bryan shook his head. “You wouldn’t want to see me paint anything except maybe the barn.”

  “It would be just like decorating Easter eggs. I love to do that.”

  “When I was a kid, my Easter eggs were all just a solid color,” Bryan chuckled.

  “Oh, it’ll be fun,” Amanda teased him with a nudge of her elbow. “I’ll help you.”

  Bryan took her around the greenhouse and explained what each plant was and what his plans were. There were small trees starting out inside to keep them warm and small bushes he hoped would be used in landscaping projects.

  They went inside his house for some hot chocolate and he showed her his first attempts at drying herbs. There were three different ways to do it and he was experimenting with each to see what produced the best quality.

  She asked a million questions and offered a few suggestions that set Bryan’s mind whirling. It was nice to have someone he could share things with regarding the expansion and her interest prompted him to roll out his entire plan across the kitchen table. She studied everything and had several ideas about additional items he could explore as well as ways to cut costs. Her analytical mind was a godsend to him and he feverishly took notes on her ideas.

  “I wish I had a project like this,” Amanda said wistfully. She loved her job but her personal life was rather empty since returning to Spicetown. “Starting something new like this must be so much fun.”

  “Well, I can’t say I’m having fun yet exactly. I do spend a lot of time thinking, planning and surfing the internet. It’s been a little stressful to be honest.”

  “It’s your business. I understand that,” Amanda said nodding. “I think it’s exciting though, and I’d love to help.”

  Amanda’s eagerness was a bit overwhelming. Bryan had never expected anyone to find his plants interesting. “Of course, I’d love to have help,” he answered after a brief pause.

  “I don’t mean to be pushy.” Amanda recoiled from the bewildered look on Bryan’s face. “I’m sorry. I just come in here and try take over. I am pushy sometimes. I just love what you’re doing and if you need any help at all, even just moving dirt, I’d happy to help.”

  Bryan chuckled at the image he had of Amanda shoveling. With all her energy, he might just get everything done by spring. It warmed his heart to think she wanted to be around and was interested.

  “No, you’re not pushy at all. I’d love to have the help and even more to have the company. I’m out here puttering around alone all the time and it helps to have someone to talk to about things.”

  Amanda looked eager to start and had a faraway look in her eyes. “Let’s finish your little plants and then if you’ll let me, I’d like to take some empty pots home with me. I want to experiment a little with them.”

  “Sure, I’ve got plenty of them. You can take some with you, but we don’t have to finish the plants today.”

  “No, I want to.” Amanda sat her cup in his sink. “It won’t take long and we should finish up. Let’s go.”

  Bryan was glad she didn’t want to leave and followed her out the back door with the biggest grin across his face.

  §

  “Hello, dear,” Cora said to Denise as she pushed the jingling door shut. “How are you today?”

  “Just fine, Mayor. How can I help you?”

  “Well, I’m here to see if I can get some help. I bought those oils and the machine earlier, but my friend is having some problems with it. I hoped you could help.”

  “Of course.” Denise nervously pushed her hair behind her ears. “What kind of problems? Is the machine not working for her?”

  “Yes, it’s running, but she says the oil scents aren’t lasting. She wants something stronger. I told her I’d ask you about that. Is there something different she can try?”

  “Sure. We can try a different brand and see if that makes a difference for her. Let me see what I can find for you.” Denise darted aroun
d the counter and began checking the labels of various bottles to pull. Cora leaned her elbow on the counter and watched her. As she expected, Denise was pulling only those bottles that had the brand label that matched Conrad’s Cypress oil. Denise knew the good from the bad.

  “It looked like you had a bit of trouble this morning.” Cora tried to sound casual. “Did you have a shoplifter in here?”

  “Oh, no. I don’t know what that was about. There was a gentleman in here shopping and the police just came in and picked him up. I don’t know anything about it.”

  “They arrested him?”

  “It appeared so,” Denise shrugged with an innocent smile.

  “Not anyone you knew or had seen before?”

  “Oh no. I’ve never seen him before,” Denise said avoiding Cora’s eyes. “It happened so fast that he didn’t even get a chance to buy anything.” Denise smiled and walked back to the counter carrying three small boxes.

  “No, charge.” Denise held up her hand to stop Cora from diving into her purse. “Please take these to your friend and have her try them. I think these are more concentrated and she should be pleased, but if she’s not, please let me know.”

  Cora smiled through gritted teeth and tossed the little boxes in her oversized handbag. “I will do that. Thank you and you have a good day.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  “Chief, how long do you want to wait to talk to Ellis? Roy is off in an hour and he wants to be there,” Officer Hudson said peering around the corner of Conrad’s office door.

  “Has he said anything yet? Asked any questions?”

  “Not a word. He’s just sitting in holding. Hasn’t even asked for a lawyer.”

  “Roy doesn’t need to be there,” Conrad said. He’d prefer Roy not be there because he would probably be too aggressive for the situation. Roy was holding a grudge because he’d looked like a fool when he jumped on Georgia about those plates when it wasn’t her fault. None of that had anything to do with Shawn Ellis. “Let’s give it a couple of hours. He’ll be hungry and we might be able to use that.”

  “Okay, Chief.” Hudson walked back to dispatch.

  Conrad planned to order a pizza and let Ellis smell it for a while before starting his questioning. If he behaved, he might even offer him a piece.

  It was odd that he hadn’t asked for representation though. A man like Ellis should have an attorney to contact, especially with all of his criminal history.

  When his desk phone rang, he hoped it would be Wink so he could ask him to clock in a little early. He wanted him to be with him when he questioned Ellis. Hudson didn’t have enough experience, and he worked well with Wink when they were paired.

  “Chief Harris.” Conrad read the number listed on the phone display just as he answered and had but a split second to prepare himself for Sheriff Bell.

  “Connie, I hear you have your hands on Shawn Ellis.”

  “Evening, Sheriff. Yes, I do indeed. You have an interest in Ellis?” Once an arrest was made, the word went out, and the county monitored their activity even if no charges had been filed. But in this case, they were holding Ellis on driving with no license and tampering with vehicle tags with intent to conceal. The felony charge wouldn’t hold up once he provided a title to the truck, but it bought Conrad some time.

  “I do,” Bobby growled. “I want to talk to him. Hang onto him. We’re on our way.”

  Conrad barely had a chance to utter consent before Bobby Bell disconnected the call. Apparently, his compliance wasn’t questioned.

  §

  When Amanda arrived home, she could smell something spicy cooking again. She didn’t know why her mother had decided to change everything up all of a sudden, but she didn’t mind. She wasn’t certain her father was all in yet though.

  “Hi, mom,” Amanda called from the door as she took off her coat. “I’m home.”

  “Good,” Louise yelled back. “We eat in about ten minutes. I was getting worried.”

  “Okay. Be right there.” Amanda dropped her purse at the foot of the stairs and went out the side door to the garage. She still had boxes out there from when she moved home from college and she thought there might be some craft supplies packed away. Although her roommate, Roxanne, did most of the assembly, Amanda found she enjoyed decorating the crafts once they were completed.

  Rummaging in the boxes, she found twine, ribbon and a small paint kit that she hoped hadn’t dried out yet. Tossing it all in a sack, she tucked it by her purse on the stairs and went in the kitchen to help her mother with dinner.

  She had felt so energized hearing of Bryan’s plans today. They had laughed and talked about everything. She told him about college. He told her about his family and how he grew up. She told him funny stories about her father’s farm calls and her mother’s beauty salon drama, while he told her about the pranks he used to play on his mother.

  Every time she had looked into his eyes, she marveled at how they gleamed and it grew brighter when he smiled. The time had flown by and when the sun began to set, she knew she had to get home or her mother would be texting her. She had checked her phone a couple of times afraid that she’d silenced the ringer. She hadn’t heard anything from her mom all day and that was unusual, especially when she didn’t know where Amanda was.

  As they sat down to dinner and Louise explained to Hymie what an enchilada contained to reassure him he would like it, Amanda tried to redirect the conversation.

  “Do we have any glue around the house?” Both of her parents looked at her in puzzlement. “Not just white glue, but something really strong?”

  “Why, honey? Did you break something?” Her mother turned towards her as her father began to test the new meal.

  “No, I’m just in a creative mood. I’d like to do some crafting again and my glue is dried up.” I wish Mom would just answer the question instead of demanding an explanation first.

  “There’s some nail glue in the kitchen drawer by the phone,” her mother offered and raised an eyebrow to Hymie.

  “I don’t know of any. Maybe something in the garage on the shelf but it might be dried up too.” Hymie shrugged and took another bite. “This isn’t too bad.”

  “What a back-handed compliment,” Louise said giggling. “I knew you’d like it. You should learn to trust me.”

  Hymie just nodded and continued to eat.

  “So, what are you going to make?” Louise asked with raised eyebrows.

  “I am going to decorate some flower pots. I don’t know exactly what I’m going to do yet but I’m thinking about it. I’m going to search online after we eat and see if I get some ideas.”

  “Are these for Bryan?” Louise stretched out his name in a sing-song voice as she said it and turned to smile at Hymie.

  Amanda felt her jaws clinch. Her mother obviously guessed she had been there today. Probably someone saw her car there on their way to the beauty shop and had to report it. That’s why she hadn’t texted her.

  “Yes, he has these cute little potted herbs that he sells and I think they would look nice if they were decorated a little. I told him I’d think about it and see what I could do.”

  Hymie kept his eyes on his plate and concentrated on the meal.

  “I’m sure you can pretty them up, dear. It’s nice of you to help him.”

  Suddenly she remembered what made her go to Bryan’s this morning. “Mom, did you hear anything about somebody being arrested on Fennel Street this morning? The road was blocked when I tried to drive down and it looked like they were arresting somebody.”

  “Yes, I heard it was some customer in Ivy’s Oils. No one from Spicetown as far as I know, just a visitor. I don’t know anything more than that. Did you hear anything, Hymie?”

  “No,” Hymie said before wiping his mouth with a napkin. “Animals don’t talk.”

  “Oh, honey,” Louise said waving her hand dismissively at him. “You talk to people, too.”

  “Do you want help with dishes tonight?” Amanda asked as s
he got up from the table.

  “No, you go Google, or whatever it is you do,” Louise said smiling. “I’ll take care of it.”

  “Thanks, mom. Dinner was good.”

  “Thank you, dear,” Louise said as Amanda headed for the stairs.

  “You know it may be really serious with Amanda and Bryan. She spent the whole day out there today,” Louise said after Amanda’s footsteps could be heard on the stairs.

  “That’s nice.” Hymie seemed unaffected by Louise’s comment and pushing his chair back from the table.

  “Maybe,” Louise murmured as she stared out the darkened dining room window.

  §

  “Connie,” Sheriff Bell boomed out as he walked across the dispatch room to vigorously shake Conrad’s hand. “Good to see you.”

  The display was for the benefit of the staff. “And you, Sheriff.”

  “Do you have Ellis in a room? We’d like to talk to him.”

  “No, but I can have him pulled up here pretty quick.” Conrad nodded at Officer Hudson. Darren swiftly left the room to bring Shawn Ellis from holding to an interview room.

  “Do you want some coffee?”

  “Yeah, that would be great. This here is Detective Young,” Bobby said in introduction of his companion. Conrad stepped forward to shake, but soon realized Detective Young was not reciprocating and nodded his greeting instead.

  “We can go in my office if you like,” Conrad offered as a way to fill the time needed to seat the suspect in a room. He hoped Bobby would tell him what he was planning to question Shawn Ellis about.

  Bobby just nodded and then silently instructed Detective Young to stay in dispatch as he followed Conrad down the hall.

  “How do take your coffee?” Conrad asked as Bobby Bell took off his coat and sat in a chair.

  “Just black is fine. What made you snag Ellis today? What have you got him on?”

  “Well,” Conrad sighed as he sat down at his desk. “Not much. He’s been lurking around town here and stands out a little. We tried to run his plates and found he’d altered them. After we pulled him, we found his license is suspended. I think there’s more to him, but that’s all I’m holding him for.”