Marigolds for Malice by Bailey Cattrell

Author:Bailey Cattrell
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2018-08-27T16:00:00+00:00

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• • •

HOPING against hope, I called Maggie later that morning to see if she was interested in coming in before her bartending shift. Normally, I’d have asked Astrid to cover for an hour while I went to the library to research the tree symbol. Today that didn’t seem like such a great idea, though.

“Sorry, Ellie,” Maggie responded regretfully. “I’m watching my granddaughter, and then Harris asked me to come in early for my shift at the Roux. Folks are starting to respond to the early Friday Afternoon Club before the regular happy hour. And if I’m late again today . . .” She trailed off.

“Say no more.” I hurried to assure her. “I’ll figure something else out.”

“I might not be able to make it to the memorial, either,” she said apologetically.

“I’m sorry about that, since you knew Eureka. I don’t suppose Harris would—”

She laughed.

“Right. Well, I’ll stop by the Roux later to pick up those appetizers. Thanks for setting that up with Raleigh.” Raleigh was the chef at the restaurant.

“No worries. I’ll see you later.”

I hung up and thought for a moment. Of course! Quickly, I dialed Larken Meadows’ number.

I was in luck. She picked up on the second ring and said yes before I’d finished making the request.

“Colby is gone for three more days, and I’m going stir-crazy out here with nobody but the dog and the chickens to talk to.”

“I’ll pay you,” I said.

“And I’ll take it. Turns out creating a passive irrigation system isn’t as cheap as you might think. In fact, I’ll help out at the shop as much as you want, Ellie.”

I made a happy mental note of that. “Thanks!”

“And I heard there’s going to be a party there this afternoon.”

“Party? Sort of. For Eureka.”

“You need some help getting ready?”

“Well, the garden space is in pretty good shape, and the weather should be okay,” I said. “We might need to move some chairs and tables around, though. Then there’s coffee and tea . . . yeah, I could use your help. And as long as you’re offering to cover for me, I need to make a trip to the grocery store this afternoon, too.”

“Deal. I’ll be there in an hour. Does that work?”

“Bless you, Larken. You deserve a raise already.”

“Why, thank you! But I don’t know how much I’m getting now,” she teased.

I laughed. “We’ll talk.”

I checked my e-mail next. There was nothing but a sales ad from my favorite essential oil company and an invitation to subscribe to a soap-making newsletter in my inbox.

While customers browsed, I gathered items to fill four orders from the Scents & Nonsense online shop so Larken could create packing lists and pack boxes for a UPS pickup. Then I placed orders for ingredients that I used to make some of the items tourists bought like crazy in the summer—lavender room spray, natural zinc sunblock scented with rose hydrosol, and lemongrass, citronella, and clove essential oils for herbal insect repellent and mosquito candles.

I’d just finished printing out invoices when Larken came in.

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