After early service at the community church, Sophie followed me home to assess the damage in daylight. She sat on a chair in my bedroom, and I pulled out work clothes for each of us.
“I wish you’d called me. Sundays are my easy day. I only bake for special orders, and they’re all picked up before ten.”
“I knew you had a big order, and I didn’t call the others. Jake saw the police lights when he was out for a run. He rallied the others to pitch in.” I met her gaze. “Before you ask, I told Abby everything.”
“Good, and I think it’s a good thing Jake moved to Lutz.”
“Yeah. Me, too.” I tossed her a pair of socks. “Do you feel like I should have stuck with my job at the pharmacy?”
Sophie’s brown eyes widened, and she fingered her long hair back into a ponytail as if getting ready to tackle something. “No. As long as I’ve known you, you’ve put others first. You raised your daughter, and her college expenses are taken care of. To work with flowers, well it’s been your dream. Don’t let the person who killed Willow also kill your dreams.”
“Don’t you see? Is my flower business a dream? Should I do the practical thing and go back to the pharmacy?”
My friend stood and fisted her hands. “No. If I’d done the practical thing, I’d be married to a man I didn’t love and working as a phlebotomist in Munich. Pooh! That wasn’t my heart’s desire. So, I moved to Texas, where I can bake my lovely creations and see happy people.”
I sank onto the edge of my bed. “I get your point. Flowers make people happy. They make me happy too.”
“Precisely. Put on your big girl dungarees, and let’s save your business.”
“Yes, ma’am.” I kicked it into high gear. Outside, I buried any doubts trying to surface. Friends had helped me through the night, and now Sophie pitched in.
If the killer was behind the devastation, he’d made his point. Back off the murder investigation.
No problemo. Only a couple of flourishing flower beds hadn’t been destroyed, and I was grateful for that. The yard needed my full attention if I was going to survive as a flower farmer. Yes, I had a nest egg. It had been set aside to help me survive the lean beginning days of a new business, but not the proportion of this damage right off the bat. No more trying to solve murders.
Cowboy circled the yard before getting comfy in the shade. He moved slower than normal, but I didn’t detect a limp.
Sophie cranked up country music on her portable speaker, and we walked to the shed. I handed my friend a new pair of pink garden gloves, and I slipped on my regular pair. An old Kenny Rogers tune crooned from the deck.
“I learned to speak English in school, but your country and Western music taught me American.”
I bit back a smile. There were a few times it was obvious Sophie’s native language wasn’t English. “You should be proud of how fluently you speak.”
“Thank you. Let’s get working. Tell me what to do.”
I led her to the back corner of the fenced-in area. It was where the intruder had hidden the night before. “Do you mind raking this raised bed while I look for any survivors?”
“I’d be happy to.” She hummed with the music and moved the rake back and forth, leveling out the flower bed.
Starting at the fence, on my hands and knees, I searched clumps of dirt. If it had roots and appeared salvageable, it went in my save stack. My stomach churned at the number of dead plants. I tossed the ones beyond hope into a metal bucket.
“I think this area is ready to go. What next?” Sophie drank from her water bottle.
Standing, I stretched my back. “Looks good. Do you mind doing the same thing to the next bed?”
She nodded. “Sure.”
While standing, it seemed a good time to throw the dead plants into my compost pile. As much as I longed to plant the flowers we’d saved during the night, it made more sense to continue to search for more survivors before the heat completely destroyed their chance to live.
The music transitioned to a Clint Black song, and I returned to sifting through the mess and chucking most of it.
Clink.
Cowboy appeared at my side.
“Hey, there. Whatcha doing?” I patted his side and left a dirty handprint from my glove on his golden coat. “Looks like a bath is in your future.”
Sophie joined us and passed my Tervis to me. “I refilled our water bottles. What’s up with Cowboy? He’s been napping so contentedly.”
“I think he heard a noise when I threw the last bit into my bucket.” I dug through the waste. “Cowboy, you heard it too? Right?”
He barked.
“I didn’t hear anything.” Sophie took another swig from her water bottle.
My fingers plowed through discarded dirt and flowers until I discovered a hard object. “Here we go.”
“What is it?”
I pulled out the suspicious item. “It’s a green poker chip.”
“You don’t gamble.”
“True.” I studied the chip. The thing was dirty, but it didn’t seem to be old. “Rusty thinks Gambler may have been involved in Willow’s murder. Gamblers probably need poker chips.” Goosebumps covered my arms.
“Are you okay? Your face is pale. Let’s get you in the shade.” Sophie reached out and touched my arm.
“Don’t you see? Gambler must’ve torn up my yard. This is the evidence we need.”
“Oh, Emma. You’re not going to ignore the murder, are you? The sun must be getting to you worse than I thought. Come inside before you have a heat stroke. Or worse, before you stick your nose back into the murder investigation.”
Cowboy circled us.
“You’re right. I had planned to leave it alone, but I can’t step away now. They’ve invaded my home turf, and we need to call Matt now that I have some evidence.”
“What if he says it was buried a long time ago?”
“No doubt he’ll argue it’s not relevant, but he still needs to see this poker chip.”
“Fine. You drink some of your water, and I’ll call the chief of police.”
I obeyed only to end her lecture. My mind raced as I sipped iced mint water. The chip was connected to the destruction of my yard, of that I had no doubt. I fanned myself with my straw cowboy hat. The next question was how, and Gambler seemed the most likely answer.