How did a patient die of heart failure after rotator cuff surgery?
“What are you doing?”
Clara jumped and dropped the stapled pages to the island. “Scarlett. Hey.”
Her roommate wore jeans and a blue tee. Her cute brown pixie cut and whimsical red-framed glasses did nothing to take away from the annoyed pinch of her brows.
“I just saw the article.” She glanced at the papers, then back at Scarlett. “It’s so sad.”
“Did you know her?” Scarlett asked, lifting the papers and pushing them into her laptop bag.
“No, I never met her.”
Scarlett kind of looked disappointed.
Clara cleared her throat. “Working today?”
“Researching.”
Clara nodded, but she knew better than to askwhatshe was researching. She’d done that once and received a spiel about how investigative journalists don’t share until their work is published.
“There’s still that big crack in the floorboard in my room,” Scarlett said, looking down at her phone. “I feel like I’m going to trip on it every time I move. And it squeaks. If you could fix it, that would be great. I’ll see you later.”
Scarlett turned and started toward the door.
Clara almost laughed. If there was a word for someone addicted to a jobanddevices, there would be a photo of Scarlett next to it in the dictionary.
“Bye,” Clara called as she cracked open her bottle of water and lifted it to her lips.
Scarlett was halfway across the living room when she stopped and turned back. “Actually, before I go, I noticed that you run.”
Clara lifted her brows. “I do…kind of. It’s new.” And this was the first time Scarlett had ever taken any interest in her life.
“Would you be interested in joining a running club with me?”
Clara could have choked on her water. “You want to join a running club together?”
Scarlett nodded. “Yeah. We’re roommates, and we haven’t spent a lot of time together. It could be fun.”
True. They hadn’t spent a lot of time together. But that was Scarlett’s doing. Clara hadtriedto get to know her. “I didn’t know there was a running club in Amber Ridge.”
“Some people from the hospital just started it. They’re called the Pulse Pounders.” Then Scarlett did something Clara had never seen her do before. She smiled.
“Um…okay, sure. I love trying new things.” And hanging out with Scarlett would most definitely be a new thing.
Scarlett straightened. “Great. It’s Thursday morning at six. We’ll drive in together.”
Wait, what? Six?
She opened her mouth to take it back or ask if the start time was in any way negotiable, but Scarlett was already gone.
Six. Okay. She could do that. She might be half asleep during the run, but she’d survive.
She grabbed her phone and keys before heading out to her red Volkswagen Beetle.
As she pulled out of her driveway, her gaze caught on the cute bungalow across the road. It belonged to Mildred, the owner of Sassy Stems. It was actually how she’d developed her flower obsession. Live across the road from a florist and see herbringing home beautiful flowers long enough and an addiction would begin.
When she reached the florist’s shop, she stepped in to see another lady already talking to Mildred, who was behind the counter.
