Missin’ Out: Real Estate Rescue Cozy Mysteries, Book 10 by Benning Patti

Author:Benning, Patti
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Summer Prescott Books
Published: 2024-01-04T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER EIGHT

“You’ve changed a lot, you know.”

They were halfway to Flora’s house, and it was the first thing Jackson had said since they talked to Nate.

“I don’t feel like I have,” she said, glancing over at him in surprise.

He raised his shoulder in a lazy shrug. “I mean, you’re definitely still Flora. It’s not like I don’t recognize you anymore. You seem a lot more… confident, I guess. I don’t think I ever saw the old Flora confront anyone.”

“You act like I was a total pushover,” she said, rolling her eyes as she returned her attention to the road.

“No, I know you weren’t, but you have to admit two years ago, you wouldn’t have marched up to a stranger and started asking questions like that.”

“Well, maybe I wouldn’t have,” she conceded, frowning. “I guess I’ve had to be a lot more independent here. The first few months I moved here were crazy – the house was in worse condition than I expected, and I didn’t know anyone, and I had no idea how to do anything. I had to scramble to get things under control. I guess it did change me.”

“I think I’m proud of you,” he mused, sounding surprised. She looked away from the road for a moment to glare at him. He grinned at her, his expression teasing. “Who would’ve guessed?”

“Oh, shut it, Jackson,” she said. “Eat a cinnamon roll or something.”

Natalie was still on her video call in the office when they got back to the house, so Flora left Jackson to put away their baked goods, and went up to her bedroom to call Violet. It was past three, so she knew her friend would be out of work.

She spent nearly half an hour telling Violet about everything she had learned that day. There still wasn’t any news on Emily, and Flora knew that the longer the woman was missing, the smaller the chance she would be found alive. She wished she could do something to help, but she felt like she was at a dead end.

Still, Violet thanked her for the new information. “I feel like we’re missing something important,” her friend said. “But I can’t think of what. We should try to brainstorm during the dinner tonight.”

“Good idea,” Flora said. “All of us together should be able to think of something the two of us on our own can’t.”

Dinner was at seven-thirty to give Grady enough time to come over after he closed the hardware store. She and her siblings started cooking an hour beforehand, preparing their mother’s lasagna recipe along with a fresh green salad and the milk rolls. The angel food cake, they were saving for dessert. It wouldn’t take long to whip up some chocolate sauce to go with it.

She had been expecting Violet and Sydney to arrive together around seven, but seven came and went. Grady was the first one to arrive a few minutes before seven-thirty. It had been days since she saw him outside of work, and she was glad that neither of her siblings followed her outside when she greeted him.

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