“Have a seat,” she said, nodding to the rocking chair beside hers as she stirred fresh lemon into the tea.
I leaned against the balustrade in front of her instead. I’d take my free will where I pleased.
Miss Lissy half rolled her eyes. “Suit yourself.”
I let my gaze wander around the garden again. Snapdragons, hydrangeas, geraniums, and aster flowers all grew prolifically,and something about it made my insides warm. I longed to touch them. I’d always had an affinity for gardening, right since I was a child, although I couldn’t say where it came from. Dad was handy with a lawnmower and a pair of hedge clippers, but he used to joke that I was born with a trowel in one hand and a packet of seeds in the other. Maybe it came from Mum; I remembered little about her. Dad never talked about her, and we'd learned to follow his lead. But I made a mental note that wherever I next ended up, I was going to have a garden like this. Even if I had to plant it in containers on a balcony.
“What am I here for?” I asked, turning my gaze back to the black-haired woman, who today wore a white polka-dot shirt and brown capris.
She didn’t look up from arranging the drinks. Probably trying to distract me from the poison she’d added.
“I thought we could hang,” she said.
I pulled a pink honeysuckle flower toward my nose. “We don’t hang.”
I wasn’t one of her town lackeys, and I didn’t wear false niceties well.
Her mouth twitched. “You could start by telling me how you’re finding the town so far. It’s always nice to hear an outsider’s perspective.”
“I’ll pretend I believe that for a minute.” I paced the patio, taking in her garden of Eden. “How am I finding the town? Let’s see... It’s a bit small. You lot could use a meal delivery service. And it’d be great if people stopped trying to be my best friend. I’d give it a five out of ten.”
Actually, because of Steamy Sips, I’d give it an eight. But she didn’t need to know that.
Her chin crinkled in amusement. “And how are things over at Steamy Sips?”
For a second, I wondered if she was a mind reader. I felt off balance. “What do you mean?”
She handed me a glass of iced tea, which I waved away.
“You’re staying there, aren’t you?”
“How do yo?—”
“I have my ways,” she said, interrupting me. The sun on her glasses masked her eyes, but I could almost see fire dancing behind them.
Ididknow that. Coaxing false confessions out of children, leading to punishments they did not deserve, had been her speciality at the children’s home. I had a feeling she had fewer physical tactics to inflict her horror these days, though. She probably just crushed their souls instead. Miss Lissy was making a point. I just didn’t know what it was yet.
I shrugged as I watched her relaxed gaze appraise me from her rocking chair. “I enjoy a coffee and club sammy as much as the next person.”
Her eyes didn’t change, but her mouth curved. She was like a snake in the grass, enjoying the dance with its prey but ready to pounce whenever she felt she had the advantage.
“I heard the young owners not doing well financially. Such a shame about her parents. The place hasn’t been the same without them,” she said, circling the rim of her glass with one finger.
Heat exploded through my chest. I felt instantly protective of Breeze. She was twenty-four and had lost her parents far too young. What did people expect of her?
“Do you know if she’s thinking about selling?” she asked, her voice casual.
There it was. The real reason I was here.
I turned my back, pretending to admire a patch of asters while hiding the fury on my face. Reactions were Miss Lissy’s currency. I wasn’t giving her more than was necessary.
“Not to my knowledge,” I said. “But I’ve only been here a week. I’m not exactly part of any business decisions.”
Another item for the to-do list: get serious with Breeze about turning Steamy Sips into a profitable business. I groaned internally. Every additional problem extended my stay. But this one was personal. There was no way Miss Lissy was getting her claws on the place Breeze had grown up in. It was her last connection to her parents. Besides the lovely Taco.
“Perhaps you could let her know I’d be happy to take it off her hands. At the right price, of course. The renovation costs would have to be factored in.”
I was glad I was still facing away as I gripped the balustrade tightly.
