Chapter Eleven
Setting up the booth was easier on the second day than it had been the first. Lexie and Roxie knew where things went, but Maxie wasn’t focused. She hung another dried flower arrangement but didn’t take the time to determine if it was centered.
She was miserable. She and Zac had had a terrible misunderstanding. She’d never seen him in a bad mood, but she’d hurt him. Simply by not knowing what to say, by getting all tongue-tied and, damn it, by being timid.
She grabbed a box of fancy ribbons she’d tied into bows and began setting them out for display.
Last night she hadn’t been shy. She’d thrown her worries into the wind—or make that the water spray.
She’d felt safe with him, wanted and protected.
If he hadn’t noticed, she’d gone a little crazy over him in return, but this morning he’d put her on the spot.
When he’d asked her what was happening between them, she hadn’t been able to find an answer.
She was an idiot, pure and simple.
She liked him. She was falling for him like Indigo Falls over those colorful rocks, but the fact that he’d had to ask how she felt had brought up her old insecurities and doubts. She’d thought she’d shown him. When she’d realized that he needed the words, it had been too late.
Frustrated with herself, she dropped the box to the ground and kicked it under the table.
“I thought you wanted those sachets up front,” Roxie said.
Maxie looked down and realized the bigger bows were hiding them. “Right. Sorry.”
She straightened the mix, but when she turned, she nearly knocked over a stack of painted ceramic pots. Roxie caught them before they could topple over. “What is up with you?” she asked.
“Nothing. I…I just haven’t had my coffee yet.”
“God, let’s get you some. I’ll buy you a cup from the chatty girl a few booths down.”
“No.” Maxie reached for Roxie’s arm, but missed. With the way her stomach was churning, she really didn’t need to add kerosene to the mix. “That’s all right.”
“You need it.” Roxie grabbed her pocketbook, but her arms fell to her sides when she stepped outside the booth. “Shoot, they don’t seem to be open yet.”
Maxie stepped outside to look. Becky was a morning person, so it was a bit surprising that she hadn’t started brewing yet. There was movement at the Java Mama booth, but both Becky and Martin seemed to be rushing around searching for things. Apparently, her stomach had lucked out. “That’s okay.”
“Coffee does sound good.” Lexie moved a garden gnome so it stood next to one of its brothers. “Is there somewhere else we can get some?”
“The Iguana makes good coffee to go.”
“Do you want me to make a run?” Cam came from the back where he’d been stacking boxes. They were nearly ready to open up for business.
“Get me a mocha latte, would you?” Roxie asked.
“I’ll take a cappuccino,” Lexie added.
“Maxie?” Cam said.
“You really don’t need to go,” she protested.
“I spent a good chunk of my early career as an errand boy. What would you like?”
“Coffee with cream and sugar?”
“Got it.” He was reaching into his pocket as he walked away, but stopped when he pulled out the keys. “Mind if I take the van?” He’d served as driver on the way over.
“I’m not going to make you walk,” she teased.
He smiled at her, and it made her feel a bit better. At least one guy wasn’t upset with her today.
But he wasn’t her guy.
“Is something the matter, Maxie?” Lexie rubbed her arm comfortingly. “You don’t seem to be yourself today.”
“I have a headache,” she answered truthfully. It was about to split her head right open, but it went well with the ache in her heart and the hole in her stomach.
She needed to talk with Zac. She had to straighten everything out, but in order to do that she had to take the initiative.
Unfortunately, her chutzpah had gotten up and left.
She didn’t know where or how to even start.
He’d been intimidating enough when she’d spied on him in his uniform from behind potted plants.
She didn’t know how she’d ever approach him now that things had gotten so convoluted… and they’d become lovers…
Her cheeks heated, and she turned into the booth. “I think I have some aspirin.”
She found some water to help the pills go down, but once Roxie and Lexie learned she wasn’t feeling well, they insisted that she rest in the shade. The heat hadn’t pumped up to uncomfortable levels yet, but the sun was bright. She sat on a stool they’d brought and lay her head in her hands.
She was reverting; she could feel it with every fiber of her being. That hand that used to snatch her back from doing things had her by the throat. It had thrown her to the ground and was sitting on her. She was frozen, unable to do the things she wanted to do.
The things she needed to do.
“Maxie?”
She lifted her head at the sound of yet another male voice.
“Wrong sister.” Lexie smiled and pointed. “She’s sitting on the chair.”
“Ah.” Martin pulled up straighter, but his cheeks flushed. “I didn’t really think you were the sheriff’s cousins, you know.”
“Of course, you didn’t. That was just a little inside joke between us, right?”
“Right.” He rubbed his hands in his habitual circular motion, but then seemed to remember the reason for his visit. “Have either of you seen an extra cashbox lying around?”
Maxie glanced into the booth. Her own gray metallic box was right where she’d put it. “No. Why?”
“Becky can’t find hers.”
“Oh no.” That wasn’t good. Maxie had left most of the money she’d made yesterday in the safe she had at the flower shop.
The bank had been closed by the time things had wrapped up.
She’d only brought enough today to make change, but that wasn’t an insignificant amount of cash for a small business like hers.
It had to be the same for Becky. “Has she checked her van?”
“I just looked there.”
“Have you tried calling the coffee shop? Maybe she left it behind by mistake.” Maxie knew how confusing things could get. There was so much to keep track of. Fortunately, with the crew she’d brought, nobody had taken their eyes off The Green Thumb’s cashbox.
“I thought I saw it today, but that’s a good idea.” He pulled his phone out of his back pocket and started to dial.
“This doesn’t sound right.” Roxie walked away to talk to Becky at the Java Mama booth and then continued down the main thoroughfare.
Maxie glanced around the festival area. It was early, but things were stepping up.
A group of kids were riding their bikes.
Vendors were setting out their wares, while helpers brought in more items from their vehicles.
Early shoppers moseyed on by, checking out the best spots, while a few tourists ventured along the trail to see the falls.
All in all, it wasn’t a good spot to misplace cash.
Becky hurried over. For once her expression wasn’t bright and sunny. She looked anxiously at Martin on the phone, but he was shaking his head by the time he hung up. “It’s not at the shop, either.”
“Darn it.” The barista raked a hand through her curls, making them look like pinwheels sticking out this way and that. “Where did it go?”
“Could you have dropped it somewhere?” Lexie asked.
“I don’t think so. We would have heard it, especially with all the coins in there.”
“How much did you lose?” Maxie asked.
“Not a whole lot. It’s coffee. I don’t need a lot to make change. Still…”
“Call Zac,” Roxie ordered as she strode back onto the scene.
Maxie’s stomach squeezed, and she rocked her foot back onto its heel. “Why?”
She didn’t want to blow things out of proportion. He was already angry with her, and they hadn’t even helped Martin and Becky look yet. The money box could be hidden under a bag of coffee beans for all they knew.
“Three other vendors are missing their cashboxes too. Call him.”
Zac’s mood went from sour to ballistic when he arrived at Falls Park and found Martin Shimwell standing with his arm around Maxie.
A group of people had gathered around The Green Thumb’s booth, but all he saw was the two of them gathered close.
He stepped out from his vehicle, and his grip nearly bent the doorframe.
He’d been surprised when he’d seen her number show up on the caller ID, and his hopes had lifted when he’d heard her voice on the line.
The moment had quickly passed. Not only had she been stilted when she’d spoken to him, she’d been calling about trouble at Park Art.
He scowled at the Java Mama hut. Crappy coffee or not, Becky didn’t deserve to be robbed. She should be there, curls bouncing and smile at the ready. Instead, she looked like a puppy that had just been scolded. He didn’t like it.
He slammed the door and started stalking over towards the group.
“You got here fast, Sheriff.” Roxie sidled up to him as he walked across the springy grass. “Maxie’s worried that we’re making a mountain out of a molehill. She didn’t think we should call you.”
No, she was uncomfortable because he’d asked the tough questions—questions he hadn’t thought were tough at all.
But that was Zac talking. He needed to be the sheriff right now. “How much is missing?”
“A few hundred dollars, from what we can tell.” Roxie tilted her head and gave him a once-over. “You’re awfully official today.”
“It’s an awfully official case.”
She glanced to Maxie and back to him. “All right.”
As Zac closed the distance to the group waiting for him, his stare was solidly on Shimwell’s arm. That arm flinched and then rose as if levitating. Zac let one eyebrow lift, and Shimwell snatched his arm away from Maxie’s shoulder before it could burst into flames.
“Marty,” he said coolly.
“She has a headache.”