The Blue Iris by Rachel Stone

Author:Rachel Stone
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Koehler Books
Published: 2023-09-30T00:00:00+00:00

He looked up. “You really will do anything to get out of closing.”

Tessa scrunched her face at him, then shivered in the air conditioning.

“The heatwave broke, we can eat on the porch if you want.”

Outside, the wet storage yard exhaled relief. Conversation was easy, the silence as natural as talking. Luke had become one of her closest friends. It bothered her that he was having an affair with a married woman and still didn’t trust her enough to tell her about it.

Tessa waved her fork at the penne sautéed in garlic, oil and chopped tomatoes. “How are you such a good cook?”

“I have to be. Tony would have us living on Corona and pizza pockets.”

Tessa looked up. “Where is he, anyway?”

Luke shrugged. “He’s been rushing out every night. Usually, I’d get the full rundown, but—”

“Weird.” Usually, they’d all get the rundown.

They looked at each other. Ainsley.

Tessa would use some of her time off to catch up with her friend, find out once and for all if Tony was a legend in his own right, or just in his own mind.

“Thanks for everything,” she said, finishing her last bite. She stood. “I’ll help you clean up, then get home.”

Luke’s face filled with alarm.

“What?” Tessa asked.

“Your bag. I meant to grab it when I went to help close up. But we were racing to beat the storm, and Rowan was rushing me back to check on you . . . mine’s still in there, too.”

Tessa frowned. Her phone, wallet and keys were inside the cooler. “Do you have a key?”

“To the shop, but not the cooler. Only Rowan has that, and—”

“He sleeps with his phone off.” Rowan was vocal about the effects of cell phone radiation.

Tessa chewed her lip. She could use the landline in the shop, but Will was still in Muskoka. She couldn’t put Nano or Pop on the road this late.

“Sorry, Tess. My spare truck keys are here, I’ll drive you.”

Luke had work in the morning. She’d put him out enough already. “It’s fine. I’ll crash here, get my stuff first thing and head out, if that’s okay?”

“Why do you think they call it the Lodge?”

Tessa smiled.

Luke forked his pasta. “You can have my room.”

She raised her eyebrows.

He lowered his. “You wish, Princess. I meant I’d take the recliner.”

“Sure, you did. Jackass.”

Luke grinned.

Tessa sat back, blissfully full. The temperature was perfect, the couch wide and worn. The green flock before her emitted a near-audible sigh, lulling her into a calm Tessa hadn’t felt in months. “Would it be weird if I slept right here?”

Luke chuckled. “Sam never slept anywhere else. Swore he could hear the flowers growing, and it was better than Ambien.”

Tessa glanced around the outdoor room. The more she learned about Sam, this troubled stranger she’d never met, the more she found herself really starting to miss him.

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