The Wild Lavender Bookshop
Prologue
Prologue
Autumn in the Valley
Andi Delane drove into Honey Creek, Texas, tired, hungry, and driving way over the speed limit as usual. With the windows down, she felt as if she was in her Cessna with the wind streaming by and not a care in the world. If only that were true.
When she was a kid, she loved Easter egg hunts and she still enjoyed searching, solving puzzles, and digging up the truth now and then. Today she was waiting at the starting line. Studying the lay of the land. Mapping out her route. Guessing where the best hiding places were on this unknown region of Texas just as she would if she were going to go back undercover. When she was six years old, she told her mother she wanted to live full speed, and it never occurred to her in all the years since to slow down.
A screaming police siren blared behind her, ruining her thoughts of flying. Maybe at thirty-two she should stop dreaming of Easter egg hunts and try watching the rearview mirror once in a while.
She pulled into mud leftover from a dawn dusting of snow. The cool air made her eyes water as she stepped out of the Jeep. She hated the cold and the wind, and in Texas it was always blowing.
Suddenly she was shaded by a silhouette of a very big trooper. Six feet six or more, she’d guess. His features were shaded by his hat. County deputy sheriff’s badge at eye level to her, service weapon on his side, and an electronic ticket device in hand.
Andi faced him straight on as she wiped her watery eyes. “You just ruined a great adventure I was having. I was on a hunt until the morning cold hit my face.”
The cop was maybe late twenties, hard to tell from this viewpoint. His smile turned to a frown. “I hate to make your day worse, ma’am. Please don’t cry but you really do need to pay attention to your driving. I’m afraid I’m going to have to give you a ticket.”
She thought of telling him she usually traveled at 100 mph on back roads, or she could pull out her badge. But this trip was personal, not work. Instead, she showed him her driver’s license. She remained silent. Nothing else. He didn’t have to know why she was in Honey Creek. This trip she wanted to be invisible. In and out of town. All she had to do was find the brothers some lawyer said she had. If they were no-good hicks or men no one would want for kin, she’d head out leaving nothing but skid marks and dust in her path. The lawyer would know where they lived.
Once she met them, she’d look around the town she was born in, take a few pictures and stay a few days just to rest, away from Dallas and her problems there.
The big deputy handed her the ticket and said, “Now you drive safe and have a great day in our beautiful town, Miss Andi Delane.”
She remembered what her pop said, Always be polite to the law but don’t tell them any more than you have to. They’ll forget you faster.
“Good day, Deputy.” She never looked back as she headed out. Within a mile she saw her destination: the little town of Honey Creek. She tossed the ticket out the window and forgot the deputy.
Andi circled the town twice before she saw the lawyer’s name on a second-story window. Jackson Landry had called her mother, who passed on Andi’s very private number. He’d said that Andi was named in a will in Honey Creek. The only place she’d even seen that town’s name was on her birth certificate. The whole thing sounded interesting, but she had a few questions first.
Deputy Danny Davis watched the ticket he’d just written dance in the wind. He had the urge to grab it, chase her down and return it to her along with a citation for littering.
He shook his head. The lady had fire in her eyes. He hadn’t really looked at a woman since his college love stomped on his heart. He’d cried like a baby when he found his engagement ring taped to the dash of his pickup. And, believe it or not, no one wants to see a football lineman cry.
Almost eight years since, Danny convinced himself he didn’t even care if women noticed him or not. However, today might be an exception. Andi Delane was a woman no man could overlook.
He’d probably never see her again but, man, he’d love to see those eyes. He bet they’d flash pure fire when she was angry and sparkle like the sun when she laughed.
Danny said to himself, “If any man ever got close enough.”