"Close your eyes."
Two days later, Lucie and Ro stood in front of Coco Barknell while the workers removed the weathered Carlucci's sign. A cute winking poodle, Coco Barknell's giant-sized logo, would soon be splashed above the store's awning. The entire block would see that poodle, and Lucie took plenty of satisfaction in that.
Plenty.
Her entire life, people in this town had been divided into three camps when it came to Joe Rizzo, and by extension, his family. The worshipers, the tolerators, and the haters.
Oddly, the ones Lucie liked the most were the tolerators. At least they were honest. They didn't like Joe Rizzo's lifestyle, but enjoyed the lack of violence in Franklin. In many ways, Franklin fell under the protection of her father.
"Come on," Ro said. "Humor me. Close your eyes."
"Why? I've seen the place."
Ro flapped her arms. "Not finished you haven't. You saw paint and tile. Now it's done-done and I want you to close your damned eyes. Right now."
"Yikes. You don't have to get hostile."
"Apparently, I do."
Lucie closed her eyes. Might as well. Ro had pulled off a miracle and completed the project in plenty of time for them to move everything in and get the house back to normal for her father's return in five days. Lucie owed her, at the very least, this little indulgence.
"Okay. Just don't let me walk into a wall or anything. Tim is picking me up in half an hour and I can't have any drama or bruises. I'm trying to lay low after the art fraud."
"Honey, good luck with that."
They both laughed as Ro led Lucie through the door, complete with jangling doggie bells. "Little bump here," Ro said. "I talked to Joey about that. He'll have someone fix it so nobody trips."
Probably a good thing. A lawsuit they didn't need.
A burst of cool air puckered Lucie's bare legs. Yay. Working air conditioner. She should have brought a sweater though. Unaccustomed to dresses, something she vowed to change since she had a cute new guy who'd mentioned he liked them, she hadn't even thought about the sweater. Maybe Ro had one in her car.
Lucie stopped walking. "Can I look now?"
"No. Not yet. Stay here. One second."
Ro let go and stepped away, her high-heeled sandals clickety-clacking against the tile they'd picked out.
"Do you have a sweater in your car I can borrow for tonight? I forgot one."
Ro huffed. "Honestly, my work is never done."
Lucie grinned. In the next ten minutes, a sweater would miraculously appear.
"Open 'em!" Ro said.
Lucie did as she was told, blinking a few times to readjust to the light. Ro stood four feet in front of her, arms spread wide.
"Ta-da!"
Lucie drew a hard breath as she took it all in. The wooden blinds, the fresh paint, the silk screens separating the sewing area from reception. To Ro's left, gleaming in the sunlight, was a giant mahogany desk with two chocolate-brown upholstered chairs in front of it. Across from that sat a smaller desk, also mahogany. The guest chairs were different though. Still upholstered, but with a more modern fabric. Tan with red, green and brown intertwined circles. Pretty.
Along the wall sat a long table. Probably for meetings or looking at samples.
"Is that a dining table?"
In awe, Lucie rushed over to it.
"Sure is, babe. Amazing, right?"
Total understatement. The entire space screamed warmth and professionalism and class. Simply stunning. Lucie's heart froze. Just seemed to stop for a few seconds. Her BFF had most definitely pulled off a miracle.
Lucie held her hands out, swooping them around the room. "I'm... I don't know. Floored. I can't believe this is that rattrap we started with. It's spectacular."
"I know!"
Good old, Ro. Never one to mince words.
Lucie ran her hands over the gleaming top of the long table. Solid wood. Must have weighed a thousand pounds.
"Don't panic," Ro said. "I stayed in the budget you gave me."
How? The table alone had to cost ten thousand. Easy.
Which meant...oh, no. Lucie turned to her friend, her best friend, but no, she couldn't do it. Couldn't ask where she'd gotten this expensive furniture so cheap.
"No," Ro said. "It's not off the truck, Dopey."
Lucie tipped her head back. Phew. "Thank you. I didn't want to ask."
"I know. And thank you for not insulting me."
"So how did you pull this off?"
"Thank the lady in Barrington who’s downsizing her fifteen-thousand-square-foot house into a condo. Total fire sale. I got all of this from her. The desks, chairs, table, screens, everything. I even picked up some stuff for my house. Joey got a truck and we hauled it all back here. Tell me you love it. Please. I know it's a little more cozy than you probably expected, but with our clientele, I think it'll work."
"Are you crazy? It's fantastic. I'm so grateful. And I can't believe you got this done so fast."
"I can't take all the credit. Joey got the contractors in here so I could do my magic."
Her brother. The big lug. She'd hear about this for years, but that was okay. She'd thank him every time he reminded her what he'd done for her. "I'm a little surprised he was so agreeable."
"Eh. I made it worth his while."
Ro winked and the vision of Joey and Ro reenacting Position Seven popped into her mind. "Blech. I don't need those details. Thank you very much."
The doggie bells hanging on the door jangled and Lucie and Ro turned to see Tim walking through. A little ping happened in Lucie's ear and her chest blew open. Just a whoosh of happiness. Tim did that for her. Gave her a lightness she hadn't known in a long time. She wouldn't read too much into it because this thing was still in its early stages, but she'd enjoy him for now and not worry about the future.
He scanned the room. "Whoa, ladies, the place looks great."
"I know!" Ro said.
Lucie walked to him, popped a quick kiss on his lips. "Ro and Joey pulled off a miracle. We can get everything moved in now. And our sign will be here tomorrow."
Tim linked his hand with hers and gave it a squeeze. "I guess you're all set then."
Lucie turned back to the room, took it all in again, and visualized her mom sitting at a commercial-grade sewing machine and Ro sketching designs while Lucie handled the administrative tasks from the giant mahogany desk. Coco Barknell. Something told her this former rattrap would be the start of a very nice future.
She glanced down at Tim's much bigger hand wrapped around hers. He'd hung in there with the entire art fraud mess and never questioned whether she, Joe Rizzo's daughter, could be involved.
This was a good man.
She lifted their clasped hands and kissed the back of his. "Detective, I think you're right. I do believe I'm all set."
Thank you for reading Knocked Off. If you would like more of Lucie and her crew, check out Limbo, book three in the Lucie Rizzo Mystery series.
Lucie Rizzo’s life is...complicated. She keeps stumbling into the wrong crime at the wrong time. But what could go wrong at a dog show? It’s the perfect venue for Lucie to score visibility for her brand. At least until her favorite client is snatched by a mystery woman. This broad messed with the wrong hot-blooded family. No one steals from a Rizzo, and Lucie and her zany sidekicks will do anything to take back what’s theirs.
Click here to download Limbo. Read on to enjoy an excerpt.