Page 31 of Drop Dead Gorgeous

She had laughed afterward, as though it were only a passing thought.

I remembered anyway.

Winter is loosening its grip. Another week, perhaps less, and the hills beyond Blackthorn Bay will wake in color. If I leave now, I might find the meadow before anyone else discovers it.

The decision carries me to Belladonna Blooms before I have time to reconsider.

The bell above the door has been repaired. It rings so softly I almost miss it, little more than a polite acknowledgment of my arrival. Morning sunlight filters through the front windows, stirring dust into slow-moving constellations.

Lavinia stands behind the counter assembling a dozen ivory roses for a private order. A paper-thin cut marks the side of her thumb, bright with a bead of blood. She absently presses it to her lips without interrupting the arrangement.

"Hey, Grim."

She catches my reflection in a glass vase before she ever looks up.

"You look like a man on a mission."

I had not prepared for conversation.

"Can you leave the shop for a few hours?"

She straightens, amusement already finding its way into her smile.

"Should I be worried?"

"No."

A beat passes.

"Are you planning to rob a bank and need a lookout?"

"No," I answer, perhaps a little too quickly.

Her laughter fills the shop.

It is becoming one of my favorite sounds.

She lays the roses aside and wipes her hands on her apron.

"Well?"

I draw a slow breath.

"There's something I'd like to show you."

She studies me for only a moment before reaching behind her neck to untie the apron.

"Give me two minutes to grab a proper coat."

She disappears upstairs, then calls down,

"If it's a dead animal, I'm still coming."

"It isn't."

"Good."

A pause.