Azaleas and Arrests A Petal Pushers Flower Shop Cozy Mystery Book 12 Chapter 1
“This heat is killing me,” I said to my employee Wendy as we unpacked the latest shipment of flowers in the back of Petal Pushers. We were putting flowers away and hauling trash to the dumpster, and the trash part was what had me dripping with sweat. Don’t get me wrong, I loved summer, but I preferred the June version in Illinois, when temperatures hung in the 70s and the humidity hadn’t yet peaked. Mid-August was a different story. Just a few minutes outside left sweat dripping down my back, and it was about as unpleasant as it sounds.
“I can agree with you there,” Wendy replied. “I think I saw that this August is one of the hottest on record in the last fifty years, and I certainly believe it.”
“That’s probably why we’re out here doing all the hard work while Bella and Topknot are lounging inside.”
Bella was my English Mastiff, and Topknot was her best friend, a duck. An unlikely duo, but it worked for them. The two were inseparable. Normally, they followed me wherever I went just so they wouldn’t miss anything, but apparently that only applied when the weather was just right.
We finished breaking down the boxes and tossing them in the dumpster. Walking back into the flower shop, the blast of cold air was a relief. Then a commotion outside caught everyone’s attention. Bella and Topknot got up from where they’d been sleeping and trotted to the front, with Wendy and me close behind. We reached the windows just as two Hunter’s Hollow fire trucks screamed by, followed by an ambulance and a police car.
“That doesn’t sound good,” I said. “I wonder where they’re headed?”
“I don’t know, but you’re right. That sure doesn’t sound good,” Cynthia said from behind us. She was another Petal Pushers employee, though both she and Wendy were much more like family than coworkers.
I had moved back to Hunter’s Hollow from Chicago after marrying Cooper and taken over Petal Pushers from my mom when she decided to retire. It was a move I’d never expected. I’d left home for college and never planned to come back permanently. But things change as you grow up, and now I couldn’t imagine being anywhere else. That’s why, like Wendy and Cynthia, I was worried. All those emergency vehicles couldn’t mean anything good.
“I hope wherever they’re going, it’s not as bad as it sounds,” Cynthia said.
If both fire trucks were heading to the same place, it wasn’t a small fire, and that made me nervous. We went back to the workroom, and Wendy and I finished putting the flowers away and updating inventory. A few minutes later, my phone rang. Cooper often called in the middle of the day just to say hi, because that was the kind of sweet guy he was, so I answered with a cheerful greeting. But this wasn’t a “thinking of you” call.
“I don’t want to alarm you,” he said.
“Alarm me about what, Cooper?” I replied, gripping the phone tighter.
“I just wanted to tell you so you didn’t hear it from someone else; the auto body shop caught fire.”
He could say not to panic all he wanted, but my stomach had already dropped. “So that’s where the fire trucks were going,” I said, forcing the words out evenly.
“I would come get you, but I’m not in town right now,” he said.
I remembered he was at a mayor’s meeting a few towns over. “That’s okay. I’m sure everything is fine. I can take Cynthia or Wendy with me.”
“Call me and let me know what you find out,” he said.
“I will.”
He hung up, and I turned to Wendy, who was staring at me with concern.
“Is everything okay?” she asked.
“I don’t know. Cooper said the body shop is on fire. He wanted to be the one to tell me, but he’s not in town, so would you go over there with me?”
“Of course. I’ll drive. You go tell Cynthia we’re going,” Wendy said.
After telling Bella and Topknot to stay with Cynthia and behave, we headed to the autobody shop on Third Street, just a few miles down the road. The reason a fire at the body shop hit so close to home wasn’t just because it was a local business. My brother Jesse worked there. I tried his cell phone. No answer. I thought about calling my best friend Jared, but he was visiting family out of town, and I didn’t want to worry him when there was nothing he could do.
Jesse had always been a free spirit. He’d spent time as a zip line instructor in Mexico, a blackjack dealer in Vegas, and those were just a few of the highlights. Finally, much to our mother’s delight, he’d settled down in Hunter’s Hollow. It was ironic, because by the time he came back, our parents were hardly ever home, traveling around the world. Soon after moving back, Jesse started working at the body shop, which happened to be owned by my high school boyfriend, Brian Aimes. I figured he would tire of this job as quickly as he had of everything else, but so far, he hadn’t. According to Brian, Jesse was good at the work. That didn’t surprise me. Jesse was one of those people who was good at everything he tried. It was just surprising that this job had kept his interest.
All of that was running through my mind as the body shop came into view. The emergency vehicles made my stomach drop, but seeing flames shooting from the roof and firefighters doing their best to put them out was so much worse.
“Oh, my goodness, Wendy, this is scary,” I said, my throat tight.
“I know, but the firefighters are doing everything they can. He could be fine. He might be out here in the crowd somewhere,” Wendy said.
“I know. I just need to find him.”
We got out of the car and rushed toward the crowd just as someone called out, “We have a body.” I stopped mid-stride, my legs threatening to buckle.
“What about Jesse?” I said in a panic.
Wendy put her arm around me, both for comfort and to hold me up. Before I could say anything else, I spotted Willie and waved to get his attention. He saw me and ran over.
“Where is Jesse?” I asked the moment he was within earshot.
Willie’s hesitation told me that whatever came next might not be something I wanted to hear. “Don’t tell me,” I started to say, my voice cracking and my eyes welling with tears.
“I don’t know,” Willie said.
“What do you mean you don’t know?” Wendy asked.
At least that meant he wasn’t in the fire. Small comfort, but I’d take it.
“We haven’t found him. Or Brian. Was Jesse supposed to be at work today?”
I nodded. “As far as I know, yes. He works every day like a real job,” I said, the laugh coming out flat.
“Presley, you really don’t need to be here. Why don’t you take her home?” he said to Wendy. “I will call you as soon as I hear something.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” I said. “Not until we find Jesse. I can’t lose my brother.”
