Lily’s hand jolted, and steaming hot espresso sprayed over her fingers. She shouted out in surprise. Her reaction wasn’t worrisome at all, right?
“Oh no,” I said. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” she bit out. She wiped her red fingers on her apron. “You’re here to meet Paula, you said?”
“Yeah. She texted to say she was on her way.” I glanced out the window at the street. “Wait, isn’t that Paula’s van across the street?”
I hadn’t noticed it when I walked over, but it might have been there. I’d been too lost in my own thoughts.Huh. Maybe Paula needed to get something more from Winston’s old shop.
Lily didn’t answer. She was using a small pair of tongs to add more floral and leafy-looking things to my cup. These appeared fresher than the others, but that was a lot of greenery for a coffee, wasn’t it?
“I think my grandfather grows something like that flower in his herb garden,” I said, pointing at the delicate white flower added to the top. I really, really hoped that wasn’t the moonbane he’d warned me about. “So, what’s in the mocha to make it a meadowland?”
Lily swallowed. Her cheeks were pinker than they had been a minute ago. That blast of espresso must have hurt. She wasn’t flushed for any other reason, right? “Oh, you know. A little of this. A little of that. All organic. I pick everything myself.”
She topped off the drink with a dollop of whipped cream and a few more flowers and green leaves sprinkled over it.
“That looks pretty as a picture.” I snapped a picture of it with my phone and put it up on my socials. If I was right and this was moonbane, everyone would see she’d tried to poison me. Having evidence was good, right? Or if I was completely wrong about her, I could pretend I posted it to promote her business. “Edible flowers are such a showstopper.”
“What are you doing?”
“I posted a picture of it. Don’t worry, I tagged your shop.” I smiled and flashed my screen at her.
“What? No…” She grabbed for my phone.
“Lily? What are you doing?” I jerked my phone away from her. Well, crap. She didn’t seem happy with the publicity, so did that mean–
A deep groan cut through the quiet coffee shop.
“Is someone hurt?” Icy cold dread had replaced the fluttery sensation. I shivered.
Lily rubbed her forehead. “Listen, Paula didn’t want you to see her like this. She got sick almost as soon as she got here. Asked to use the bathroom at the back, so she didn’t mess up the public toilets.”
Oh God.Paula. I hurried around the counter. Paula was sprawled across the floor just inside the back room.
“Paula, what happened?” I dropped to my knees beside her. Her face was sweaty and gray, she’d been sick on herself, and bits of green leaves were stuck to her lips and teeth. “She must have had an allergic reaction to one of the ingredients. We need to call for help.”
God help me, but I knew this wasn’t an allergic reaction. Paula had been poisoned.
I glanced at Lily, half-expecting to find her swinging a coffee carafe at my head. Then something bizarre happened. Lily pulled out her phone. A second later, she said, “I need help at The Witch’s Brew. Someone is in medical distress.”
What a relief. Lily must have had a change of heart. She was getting help. As much as I wanted to yell at her for putting Paula in this situation to begin with, I didn’t want her to swing back around to wanting to kill her again. So, I clamped my mouth shut.
When Lily finished her call, she smiled at me. I smiled back.Yep, we’ll all pretend this is just a little mix-up. No one tried to poison anyone. Nothing is rotten in the state of Denmark. Not one little thing.
I could absolutely fake it until help arrived. No problem. So easy.
“Let’s get her into a chair while we wait,” Lily said, jostling me as she moved to Paula’s other side. “I don’t think there’s anything we can do until help arrives.”
Paula flailed as we manhandled her over to the nearest chair. As soon as Paula was seated, Lily went to the counter to retrieve my drink. I sat beside Paula and wrapped my arm around her waist, so she wouldn’t fall off. She clung to me so tightly I couldn’t move. She mumbled something, but I didn’t understand what she was trying to say.
“Here. This will help calm your nerves,” Lily said, setting my mocha in front of me. Then she detoured to the front of the shop. “I’ll go and lock the front door until the paramedics get here. We don’t want anyone coming in when Paula’s like this.”
I eyed the drink. Had I been wrong about the flower? It couldn’t be moonbane if she was suggesting I drink it, right? She wouldn’t try to poison me if help was coming.
I glanced over my shoulder toward the street. I doubted anyone would notice us sitting over here unless they were looking for us. It was a dark corner. But Lily had called for help. They would break in if they thought someone was hurt.
Where were they? It hadn’t taken very long for the police to respond when we’d found the dead bodies. They should be here any minute now.
