“I’ve got it,” Donna called out from the living area. She returned moments later with a bouquet of red roses. “These are beautiful.” Searching through them, she frowned. “No card.”
Heather’s abdomen cramped. Heat rushed to her temples. Jack had found her. Her address. Did he have a private detective or what? She couldn’t put it past him. “I’m sure they just forgot the card,” she said, her hands starting to shake.
Anna lifted an eyebrow. “Not Quint. He’s not a rose type of guy. Right?”
“Right,” Donna agreed, turning the roses around. “Plus, he’d leave a card.” She focused on Heather. “Do you have a secret admirer?”
“No,” Heather said, keeping her voice level. Jack was anything but a secret, although since she couldn’t prove anything, he was good at being secretive.
Anna shut the file drawer and stood, stretching her back. “Did you see who delivered them?”
“Yeah. It was one of the Melanetti kids. He works for Jenny’s Flowers.” Donna angled her head. “I can call Jenny and ask who bought them. It’s probably just a neighbor and she might’ve forgotten the card? Or the kid dropped it. Happens all the time.”
“That’d be great,” Heather said, turning in the office chair. Had Jack left a trail? She’d been keeping a notebook of all odd occurrences since they’d broken up, and if she could tie him to the roses, it’d be the first real proof she had that he wouldn’t leave her alone. Or maybe the flowers were from some welcoming neighbor, and she was chasing ghosts again.
“Sure thing. I’ll put them in water before I dig my phone out of my purse in the kitchen.” Donna hustled out of the room.
Silence thickened.
“So. Who are you afraid of?” Anna asked, her gaze intelligent.
Heather rolled her eyes. “Nobody. I swear, you Albertini folks are an inquisitive bunch.”
Anna chuckled. “You have no idea. I take it Quint already asked.”
“Yes,” Heather sighed. “I have an ex-boyfriend who is persistent, but I thought he’d give up when I moved so far north. In fact, I don’t even think he really knows where I am. My imagination is overactive sometimes. I’m a writer/illustrator and it comes with the job.” She hoped. Even so, that pit in her stomach wouldn’t dissipate.
“What has the ex done?” Anna asked.
They couldn’t keep calling him the ex. “His name is Jack, and when I broke things off, he started calling a lot. Texting about our future. Sometimes he was cajoling and sometimes he got angry. Never threatening—at least not obviously. Then he started showing up wherever I was, and it just got creepy, but I couldn’t point to anything he did that would get him in trouble.” Moving had been the best thing to do, especially since she wanted to live near her Grandma and was ready for a change anyway.
Anna grinned. “Let Quintino talk to him. Quint can be intense when he wants.”
Heather laughed. “I can see that, but Quint is a nice guy who rescues stranded hikers in his free time. Other than that, he works in the forests managing trees, where it’s peaceful and quiet. The last thing he needs is to deal with my problems.”
Anna blinked. “Managing trees?”
“Yeah. He’s a forestry technician, right?” Heather thought back to what Quint had told her. “I figured that means managing the forests and all of that.”
“Oh.” Anna twisted her lip, obviously thinking. “I think there’s more to being a forestry technician than planting trees.”
Heather leaned forward, hastening to reassure Anna. “I’m sure there is—honest. Quint seems amazing, and I’m sure he carries a lot of responsibility. I didn’t mean to sound like he wasn’t brave or wasn’t doing anything worthwhile. He is. The forests are important to us all.” In fact, Quint seemed like a fantastic man. He’d be a good friend, but she wasn’t going to take advantage of his good nature.
Or kiss him. Everything about Quint Albertini screamed he’d be a phenomenal kisser.
She mentally slapped herself in the head. Why had her mind gone right there? She had to get control of her imagination as well as her libido, for goodness sakes. “What I’m saying is that your cousin has obviously carved himself out a nice and peaceful life here in northern Idaho, and I don’t want to mess with that.”
“What cousin?” Donna asked, moving back inside the office.
“Quint,” Anna said on a half snort.
Donna stopped short. “Nice and peaceful life? Quint?”
“As a forestry technician, which is his job title, I think.” Anna’s smile made her eyes sparkle.
Heather looked between the sisters. “What am I missing?”
Donna laughed. “I think you’ll have to ask Quint that.” Then she sobered. “I just talked to Jenny, and the person paid with a prepaid visa over the internet form, and in the comment section said they wanted the flowers to be anonymous but you’d know who they were from.”
