The Perils of Poison: a small town romantic mystery (The Lemon Tree Bay Mysteries Book 3) by Megan Mayfair

Author:Megan Mayfair [Mayfair, Megan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Montauk Bay
Published: 2022-07-21T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 19

On Sunday morning Clara unlatched the gate to retrieve Sunflower for a walk.

“Sunflower!” Clara called out. The dog rushed towards her, tongue lolling out the side of her mouth, ears flapping in the breeze. “Whoa!” She crouched down to cuddle the dog. She clipped the leash to the dog’s collar as Sunflower eyed Lucas suspiciously and issued a low, rumbling growl at him. “He’s fine,” she assured the dog, running her hand over Sunflower’s silky coat.

“She hates me,” Lucas lamented, shoving his hands in his pockets. “I don’t know what I’ve done to upset her.”

“Maybe you remind her of someone in her past.” So much of Sunflower’s life was an unknown to Clara, as she’d adopted her after her previous owner had passed away. It was entirely possible the dog mistook Lucas for someone who may not have been kind to her.

Setting off from the yard, they walked towards the beach, Sunflower trotting in front of them. With the leash in one hand, Clara linked her fingers with Lucas’s. She yawned.

“You took a long time to get to sleep last night,” he said.

“The break-in jarred me. I couldn’t stop thinking about it. What is Ollie playing at?”

“I don’t know, but it’s pretty lousy not to tell Gigi where he is or that he’s okay.”

“It really is. She cares about him.”

They walked in silence down to Pelican Parade.

“Should we sit outside?” Lucas pointed to the outside tables at Marco’s Espresso, surrounded by pots of red flowers.

Sunflower moved to sit on the other side of Clara, away from Lucas.

“Do you think I can win her over with bacon?” Lucas asked, examining the menu. “Sausage? Pastry?”

“Bribery in the form of food seems to be a winner with her,” Clara assured him. She looked at her dog, willing her to warm to her boyfriend and accept his attempts to win her favour.

“What would you like?” Lucas examined the menu.

“Bircher muesli, please.”

“Hey.”

She looked up to find Adam in uniform, his hands resting on the empty chair.

“Mind if I sit?” he asked.

Clara glanced at Lucas, who shrugged. “Can we help you with something?” he asked Adam.

Adam sat in the spare seat. Sunflower leapt up, pushing her way onto his lap, knocking her own head on the table. The salt and pepper shakers rattled with the movement of her scampering at him.

Clara grabbed the edge of the table to stop everything from flying off while Adam picked up the dog. “Whoa, girl.” He cuddled her into him. “Good to see you, too.”

Sunflower sat on Adam’s lap, her tongue hanging out, looking at Clara with sheer delight.

“For goodness sake,” Lucas whispered under his breath, resuming his focus on the menu.

Clara narrowed her eyes at her dog for so blatantly befriending Adam while growling at Lucas. She reached over and grabbed Lucas’s hand, giving it a squeeze.

“I spoke with Sara again,” Adam looked around the table. Sunflower’s head was next to his own, making her appear part of the conversation. “She believes it was Ollie she saw in the car that day.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.