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Stupid Men were stupid, and he was no exception

The stor down the coast, the bulk of the thunder south of the any of this weather, even though they were inland a bit She hated storms He fished out his phone and hit her nu? Getting any thunder down there? Well, you have Spike with you, right? All right, then, you’re all set He won’t let anything bad happen to you, you know that… Because he’s an angel, that’s why”

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

“GOOD YOU’RE HERE And oh, you brought your dog” Lavinia knelt down to pet Beauty, who ducked her head and hid behind Parker’s legs

“She’s shy,” Parker explained “She’ll warht for her cousin and took a sip of her own

Vin twisted around, cracking her vertebrae “Heard you got Dewey’s nepheorking over there with you That your family friend?”

“Mmm-hmm” Less said the better on that subject

“You two doing the nasty?”

Parker choked on her coffee “U”

“All right, if you say so See that cute boy Anyway You know anything about flower arranging?”

“Well, I took a class once At camp”

Lavinia surveyed her through squinted eyes “Did you? Well, the first rule is, you’re going to get dirty That shirt of yours…silk?”

“Oh” Parker glanced down “Yes”

“Well, it’ll get ruined You need to dress more like me”

Please, God, never that Lavinia was dressed in aqua-blue stirrup pants and a green-and-red flannel shirt “Coive you the tour This here’s the cooler We get a delivery maybe once a week, less in the winter, when business slon”

With Beauty practically attached to her leg, Parker looked into the case, where there was a small variety of flowers: carnations, roses, lilies, baby’s breath “Over here,” Vin continued, “we’ve got the containers, vases, angels, a few boxes of chocolate I wouldn’t eat those if I were you—can’t tell how old they are—but if sohed and lit up another cigarette

“Think the s her hand

“Probably At any rate, cards are over here Rolls of tissue paper, cellophane, all the tools you ht need, and be careful with those scissors, ’cause those’ll cut you faster than a cat can lick its ass”

The kitty cat licked its cute little bum Oh, those woret these pesky intestinal parasites taken care of!” Another winner

“You listening to e pane of frosted glass “This here’s the greenhouse Don’t go in there, got it? It’s temperature controlled That’s why there’s the lock on the door”

“What do you grow back there?” Parker asked She could see a blur of green, a few splotches of pink Beauty was sufficiently interested to sniff at the door

“Rare orchids, shit like that Wicked particular about hot and cold Okay? I’m the only one what takes care of those”

“Got it” Parker turned back to the older wo me work here”

“Oh, hell That’s what fa into an array of wrinkles that Parker found quite attractive Althea, as roughly the sa had her face paralyzed by Botox far too many times to count

“So you and ether as kids?” Parker asked

“Ayuh Back ere really little Couple, three times is all Then we moved to town, over by the fisheries plant”

Lavinia was quiet for a moment, and Parker wondered what her silence meant Once, Lavinia had lived in a mansion; now, she chain-smoked and wore stirrup pants

“Vin, why do you think Julia left the house to me? Instead of you or rand-niece”

“Ah, Julia was always arette “She was furious when ave her that little cottage Pissed that he got himself into financial trouble and whatnot As for your uess that’s why she picked you Not many of us to choose from”

“And you never got married? No kids?”

“Nope Alanted a kid Never a husband, though I’m too fickle You, too, from the look of it”

“Oh, I don’t know about that”

“What are you? Forty?”

Parker winced “No Thirty-five”

“Nothing wrong with being fickle when it comes to men Keep those options open, I always say Anyway, ht there” She picked up a huge and faded book and swiped it against her butt, a shower of gray flakes falling to the floor Between the dust and the s “Oftentiht stuff in stock, but we do our best Folks understand Well, hello there, Maggie”

Beauty crouched behind Parker’s legs as Maggie came in “Hi, Lavinia! Hi, Parker!” she said “How are you? Oh, you have a dog! Hi, puppy! Can I pet her?”

Ah, love The woman’s happiness was palpable, and heck, it fully rouy had popped the question in front of everyone

“She’s pretty shy,” Parker said, but Maggie knelt down, and to Parker’s aled a little bit