It had been a hectic morning with mostly single purchase customers. No big orders. Sometimes I preferred just the occasional bouquet request to large wedding orders. Way less pressure and stress. Unfortunately, the single bouquet purchases would never be enough to keep me in business. It was the big event orders that made Pink's Flowers a success.
Elsie texted to see what Lola and I thought of the chocolates. I decided to walk over and tell her firsthand that we gobbled them with unladylike speed and fervor. Ryder was glancing through a catalog of vases and pots.
"I'm just going to stop next door to talk to Elsie. Text if we get a sudden swarm of customers."
"Sure thing, boss," he said without looking up from his catalog.
Elsie was helping a woman when I walked inside. She peered past the woman's puffed and heavily sprayed silver blonde hair and shot me a wink. I decided to check out all the yummy treats behind the glass while the woman decided which pastries she wanted to add to her dozen. I was admiring a tray of tiny tarts, each decorated with little candy flowers, when a flash of sparkle caught my eye. Elsie's customer was wearing a beautiful gold necklace, and it looked very familiar.
The customer, a nicely dressed woman of sixty plus, caught me admiring the necklace. She fingered the pearl and smiled proudly.
"I'm sorry," I said, "can I get a better look? It's so unique."
The woman turned to me and lifted her chin, so I could see the entire necklace. I was definitely looking at the vintage jewelry Lionel had purchased from Lola the day before.
"It's lovely," I said. "Do you know what year it was made?" I decided to pry, hoping to get a little information out of her.
"I believe it's Edwardian. Real gold, of course. It was a gift," she added with a simpering smile.
It seemed Kate was not going to be getting a necklace, after all. It was easy to deduce that the woman was somehow related to Lionel, an aunt, perhaps.
"It's stunning, isn't it?" Elsie said. "I was admiring it before you came in." She finished tying the string on the bakery box and handed it to the woman. "Here you go, Margaret. I hope your book club enjoys them."
"I'm sure they will, Elsie. See you in two weeks." She nodded politely at me and carried her pastries out the door.
I watched through the window as she climbed into a Cadillac and drove away. I turned back to Elsie. "Who is she?" I asked.
"That's Margaret Sherwood. She lives in one of those big houses in Chesterton. A very wealthy widow. Her husband left her a fortune. I think he was in cargo shipping or something like that. She comes in here every other week to buy pastries for her book club."
"I saw a man buy that necklace from Lola yesterday," I said. "That's why it caught my eye. She must be a relative or something."
"Not a relative." Elsie walked over to a tray of chocolate chip cookies, picked one up and handed it to me. We were at that point in our friendship where she no longer needed to ask. She always just assumed that I required some sort of sugary treat when I entered her shop. I always felt a little guilty that I didn't have an easy to hand out goodie when she came to my shop, but handing her a single carnation or rose was hardly the equivalent of one of her delicious cookies.
Elsie wore a lopsided grin. "Apparently, after five years of widowhood, Margaret has found herself a new boyfriend."
A cookie crumb sucked into my throat at the word boyfriend. I covered my mouth to cough it free.
"Should I get you some water?" Elsie asked during my cough fit.
I nodded and she raced to the kitchen and returned with a glass of water. I was catching my breath and wiping the tears from my eyes as she handed it to me. I took a few good gulps, then sighed with relief. "Thanks."
"Since I know this isn't your first time eating a cookie," Elsie quipped, "I can only assume my statement about Margaret finding a boyfriend caused that crumb to take a wrong turn."
I nodded and swallowed again to make sure everything was clear of cookie. "Yes, I was sure she was just an elderly relative."
"Elderly?" Elsie asked. "How did you know he was younger? Margaret, of course, made a point of bringing up his age, forty-two apparently. He's a good twenty years younger than her. And rich too, it seems. He just moved into the house next to hers, a big Colonial that's been vacant for years. She says he's quite handsome, only I'm picturing a forty-year-old with thinning hair, a double chin and a belly that hangs below his belt."
I shook my head. "You'd be wrong," I said smugly and took a more cautious bite.
"So, he's not hairless with multiple chins?" Elsie picked up the tray of cookies and carried them to a silver platter. She began placing them in a neat array on the platter for display in her glass cabinet.
"He's tall, very fit and has just a touch of gray at the temples. Definitely handsome."
Elsie lowered the last cookie to the tray as she peered up at me. "You've got to be kidding? Well, good for Margaret. She's a nice person, and it has taken her a long time to get over the heartbreak of losing her husband. She seems very happy."
I finished the cookie without another choking incident. "I don't think this will work out too well for her," I said.
Elsie carried the empty tray to the sink area and walked back out. "Why do you say that?"
"Because the man I saw buy the necklace was the same man Kate showed me on her phone when she was flashing me a picture of her new boyfriend, Lionel."
Elsie's eyes popped open wider. "You're kidding? Same guy?"
"I'd bet my flower shop on it. Of course, maybe he has a twin. Although, that seems farfetched."
Elsie sighed. "Poor Kate. She just can't seem to get this whole boyfriend thing right."
"All I know is—if he's dating both women and they live only a few miles apart, that guy is a no good rotten cad." My phone beeped. I pulled it out of my pocket. It was a text from Ryder.
"Looks like we've got a wedding order. Should I get them started with catalogs?"
"Yes please, I'll be right there," I texted back. "I've got to get back to the shop."
"Wait," Elsie said before I could get to the door. "You didn't tell me. How were the chocolates? Were they O.K.?"
I tilted my head in a mocking fashion. "I wonder if Michelangelo asked that about his paintings and sculptures. Hey guys, do you think this perfectly sculpted statue of David is O.K.? Seriously, you are an artist and your goodies are your masterpieces, each one finer and more breathtaking than the next. Including those chocolates."
Elsie held back her grin. "Glad you enjoyed them. What did Lola think?"
I waved my hand. "Oh, she hated them." Her face dropped but only for a second when she realized I was teasing. "Lola said to tell you that you should be anointed star baker of the world. I think we should get that printed on an apron for you with your picture surrounded by stars. By the way, if you weren't using butter or sugar, what made them taste like caramel?"
Elsie coyly touched her chest. "A star baker never shares her baking secrets."
I nodded. "Fine, then I'll assume you're full of baloney and that they are brimming with butter and sugar."
"All right, I'll spill this secret. Dates, they are nature's caramel."
I squeezed my nose up. "Really? Those prune-like sticky things that look like something my grandma would eat for her digestion? Lola is right. You are a magician. And now, I need to sell flowers, so I'll see you later."
"All right and remember to chew your cookies instead of inhaling them," she called as I headed out the door.