After a great deal of debate and mind changing, my bridal customer had decided on a mix of white roses and orange tulips. It was an unusual mix but one that would go delightfully with her spring themed, early April wedding. I finished filing the order in the folder we had started for next year's events. I thumbed through the other orders. "Wow, I just added April." I looked up at Ryder who was cleaning the windows. "That means we already have at least one huge event for the first four months of the new year, and we haven't even passed Thanksgiving yet. That's pretty darn cool. It also means that you won't ever be able to leave here to go on your horticulture adventure."
Ryder moved his arm in circles around the glass. "I don't know about that. After that last nice raise you gave me, I'll be reaching my goal faster than I thought."
"Then I should withdraw it. I'll never be able to replace you. I guess I'll just shut down when you leave." I pulled out Kingston's treat can, which immediately woke him from a long afternoon nap. He started his glide back and forth across his perch as he eagerly waited for one of the peanut butter dog treats Elsie created for the bakery. They were Kingston's favorite. I walked over to his perch and stared absently out the window as Kingston yanked the treat from my fingers.
I joked with Ryder but the truth was I was terrified at the prospect of him leaving. It would be impossible to fill his shoes, and he had become such a good friend. His leaving would definitely leave a void in all our lives. And, in particular, a certain best friend, who I suddenly spotted, sporting her dark green fedora and a Led Zeppelin t-shirt as she walked quickly across Harbor Lane. Ryder noticed her too.
"Uh oh," he said, "she looks upset." He stopped his task and lifted his eyes in thought, then shook his head. "Nope, can't think of anything I did today to upset her but then you never know with Lola."
The bell rang and Lola walked inside. "Oh my gosh, do I have a big mouth." She stopped and pointed at her mouth. "Do you see this hole? It's way too big and sometimes stuff just flows out of it and then I have to insert my foot to stop the flow." She released a sort of half sigh and half groan. "I need a hug." She flicked her gaze my direction. "No offense but I think I'll fill that need over there with the tall, good looking window cleaner."
"No offense taken," I said.
Lola tromped across the shop, and Ryder obliged her with a long hug and a light kiss.
"Thanks, hunky window cleaner, I needed that, and by the way, since you've got all the tools needed, that shop across the street could use a little window cleaning too."
"You gonna pay me?" Ryder asked with a teasing smile.
"Oh, you'll be handsomely rewarded," Lola answered back with a flirty run of her fingers up his arm.
"All right, well, I've witnessed enough of this business transaction," I said. "I've got purchase orders to make."
"Wait." Lola skipped back across to me. "Don't you want to know why I came in here and pointed out my big mouth?"
I blinked at her for a few seconds. "Not sure I want to know. Maybe you should confide in your window washer."
"No, I think this will be far more interesting to the bird feeder." She took a second to walk over and favor Kingston with a nice head rub. He was so thrilled to have the attention of his first and only crush, he nearly dropped the last bits of his peanut butter treat.
"How did your big mouth get you in trouble today?" I asked.
"It was all very innocent on my part. I mean, how was I to know that Kate's new boyfriend bought a necklace for another woman? I thought she was a relative or something."
I stood up straighter. "That's the first thing I thought too. I saw a woman wearing the necklace when I went to the bakery. But she told Elsie it was a gift from her new boyfriend."
Lola stopped rubbing Kingston's head, but he kept his eyes glued to her. "I just assumed Margaret was his aunt. I mean she's so much older. Margaret is an elderly widow. She comes to the antique shop occasionally to look for trinkets." Lola rubbed her fingers together. "Big bucks too."
"Yes, I heard all that from Elsie. All right, this is getting sort of confusing. Tell me from the start what happened." We moved our conversation over to the stools. Kingston flew over to the work island to join us, or Lola, more likely.
"So I had lunch. I made myself the best hummus filled flatbread thing with tomatoes and cucumbers and—" She waved her hand. "Never mind, I'll tell you about it later."
"Good idea. So when did you see Kate?"
"Well, that was why I brought up the lunch. I was nibbling on a piece of cucumber, thumbing through a magazine, when the shop bell rang. Kate entered, looking very serious, like a girl on a mission. By the way, not loving her new old fashioned prude look. What's with the pale blue sweater and pressed pants? And her hair looked like something I'd see my Aunt Sally wear to a church social."
I sighed loudly. "Focus, lady. And yes, I agree, her new style doesn't suit her at all, but I think she's dressing that way because of her new boyfriend."
Lola laughed dryly. "Not anymore. Good ole big mouth." She pointed at herself. "I put a quick end to her fairy tale romance with the rich guy."
"What did you do?" I asked. "And how on earth did you get involved in the first place?"
"You know, lucky me. I always manage to step into trouble, even when it's not looking for me."
Ryder laughed quietly and quickly stifled it.
"I heard that, handsome window washer. Just for that, you can clean all the windows in my house too." Lola turned back to me. "Kate came up while I was swallowing my cucumber, and she looked quite anxious about something. She told me she'd spotted her new boyfriend going into the antique shop, and she was wondering what he was shopping for. Well, I knew exactly who she was talking about because you mentioned it to me when you brought me those dazzling little chocolate thingamabobs. I quickly deduced that the man must have been buying the necklace for his aunt or older sister because I saw Margaret wearing the necklace when I was inside Les's coffee shop. Ack! By the way, Les was experimenting with a new gingerbread flavored coffee. I got to taste test it. Yum."
"All right, I'll have to ask Les later why I was not part of that taste test but continue."
"That takes us back to my cucumber. So I'm eating and Kate walks in and wants to know what her new boyfriend was buying in my shop. That's when things got stupid, at least on my part. I told her it was a vintage gold Edwardian necklace, one of the nicest ones in the case and then I continued to tell her—"
I touched her arm. "Oh no, did you tell her that you saw Margaret wearing it?"
"Darn tootin', I did. In my defense, I never considered the possibility that Margaret was seeing Lionel. She must be a good twenty years older."
"What happened after that?" I asked.
"It looked as if Kate was about to shoot flames from her ears, so I quickly suggested that Margaret might be an aunt or dear old friend but Kate wasn't buying it. She said Lionel was new in town, and he never mentioned any family or friends. Then she swung around on her sensible shoes and marched out the door. So, there you have my first major fumble of the day, and it's still early. Who knows what other catastrophic damage I could cause with my overlarge mouth?"
I hopped off the stool and Lola followed. "Don't be too hard on yourself. I assumed the same thing about Margaret. It seems Kate has picked another winner. That poor woman. I wonder how she keeps getting this so wrong?"
Lola sashayed over to Ryder for another quick kiss. She smiled back at me over her shoulder. "We can't all be masters at picking men, can we?"
"So true."