“Well, I wanted to introduce myself. I’m the town florist. You be sure to give me a call if you need flowers for that big wedding coming into town.”
“Oh, they’ve got a wedding planner from LA making most of the arrangements, but I’ll mention it to Lacey.”
She nodded. “I heard you’re going to have some penguins. One of ’em gets out of hand and you need to have something mounted, I can help you with that too.”
“Mounted?”
She pulled a rolled-up magazine out of her back pocket. “Taxidermy and flowers, those are my two specialties. You can see right here I was a centerfold back in the day.”
I squinted, not wanting to look at the spread she held out.
“Do my own mounts, full body if you want. I figure penguins can’t be too different than some of the other animals I’ve worked with.”
I peeked between my lashes at the image of Suzy surrounded by woodland animals. My stomach churned. “Oh, we’re set there. No need to mount the penguins.”
“You let me know if you change your mind.” She held out a card.
I slid it into my back pocket. “I sure will.”
“Oh, one more thing?”
I cringed, wondering what other businesses the taxidermist florist might be dabbling in. I was almost afraid to ask. “Yes?”
“Is it true you’re having a dog adoption event out at the Phillips place today? My nephew lost his dog to cancer last year and I was going to send him over.”
“We sure are. Starts at three.” I checked my watch. Speaking of the adoption event, I’d promised Zina I’d help. If I wanted to get back in time, I’d better get a move on.
“Thanks. I’ll let him know.” She grinned again as she stepped past me.
I downed the rest of my coffee and headed toward the truck.
Twenty minutes later I pulled into Char’s driveway. The girls crowded around me, apparently eager to get to the aquarium.
“Uncle Alex, is it true we’re going to get to pet the penguins?” Dolly asked.
“Can we teach them how to play soccer?” Jordan passed a soccer ball between her hands.
Izzy took my hand and tugged me toward the truck. “Let’s go. I want to draw them.”
Char gazed at me over the tops of her daughters’ heads. “You sure you’re up for this?”
“Um, yeah.” Truth was, I was already having second thoughts. But I’d offered and it was something that needed to be done sooner rather than later.
Char lifted Dolly up so she could climb into the back seat. “Have fun.”
“Did you decide what to do with your free time?”
“Sure did. One of my friends is meeting me in town for lunch and then we’re getting manicures at the salon.” Her smile made the hours that stretched ahead of me worth it. “Where’s Gramps?”
“Oh, we kind of had it out this morning. He’s back at the Phillips House.”
“You can’t leave him there by himself all day.” Char’s forehead creased.
I couldn’t imagine spending the morning at the aquarium with my nieces and my grandfather. “He’ll be fine. Where’s he going to go? He’ll putter around the warehouse, pet some dogs, and maybe get his head out of his ass while he’s at it.”
The girls giggled.
“Sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.” Gramps and I had exchanged some harsh words, but the old man was right. He always was.
