Chapter 9
BLUE MILLER
“Now that’s a sight to see,” Jenn said as she dabbed at the corners of her eyes with her sleeves. “I knew he’d do fine if he just pulled his head out of his ass.”
“Paula was really worried for a while,” I remembered. “She was so afraid that he’d never be able to love them.”
I watched as Paula hugged her granddaughter, a sweet little ball of crazy named Coco, who had stolen all our hearts the first time we met her.
Paula’s son, Zach, was holding one of his twin sons while his wife was holding the other.
When the baby rested his head on her chest, she looked down so that her nose was in his dark blond hair and took a deep breath.
I just knew she was getting a whiff of baby - the universal smell that made people inexplicably happy and relaxed.
Paula let go of Coco so she could embrace her mom and took the infant into her arms and did the same exact thing - hugged him close, breathed deeply, and smiled serenely. It was part of the irresistibility of babies. I knew that the second I got my hands on either of them, I’d get my fix too.
“Are y’all ready?” Brea asked as she walked up.
She looked over at the group in the center of the lobby and smiled when she saw Frankie and her niece greeting her brother and his wife and boys.
When she saw Zach holding both twins while Coco dragged Paula and Brett to the window to show them something, she smiled just like I had before she said, “There was no reason for her to worry. He obviously adores all of his children.”
“Let’s get out of here and give them some time to catch up,” Jenn said as she walked toward the exit.
I smiled at the concierge, who was still reeling at the broad spectrum of guests taking up an entire floor of the hotel.
The poor man had just started to adjust to the rough-looking bikers who had invaded a few days ago and now had to wonder how they were connected to the obvious money and bodyguard situation crowding the foyer.
It reminded me of our trip to New York and how out of place we’d felt at the hotel there.
Thinking aloud, I said, “Ten years ago, I never would have imagined I’d be staying in a hotel like this, living with a man I love but want to kill half the time, hanging out with friends I feel the same way about, and mingling with not just one mafia family, but four.”
“It is wild,” Brea agreed. “But then again, I never imagined I’d be married to Chef.”
“I was married to a complete asshole ten years ago,” Jenn chimed in.
“Was? But you’re with Boss now, and . . .” Jenn slapped my arm, and I laughed before I said, “I guess he’s not too bad all the time.”
“Honey, he’s good all the time. That’s why I’m always smiling and cheerful,” Jenn boasted. When Brea and I rolled our eyes, Jenn said, “So, tell me about this place we’re visiting.”
I unlocked the doors of our rental and waited for the women to get settled before I asked, “Do you remember Garvey? The guy who worked with Pop and Sis out at the compound?”
“Of course. This is his hometown, right?”
“Yes, and he’s working at a compound here, but from what he’s said, it’s nothing like the one at home.”
“Pop’s compound isn’t even anything like it was when I first got out,” Brea said.
I pulled out of the parking lot as I agreed, “Sis has done a lot to make it more homey than it used to be. When I moved there, there was little more than dirt lawns and tumbleweeds surrounding a junkyard.”
“Do you know where we’re going?” Jenn asked.
“Garvey gave me directions, and this is a small town. How hard can it be to find the place?”
Twenty minutes later, Brea was wheezing from laughing so hard, Jenn was exasperated because I had made another wrong turn, and I wanted to speed up, throw both of their asses out, and watch them bounce a few times before I left them in my dust. Luckily, we saw the sign for the towing company and impound lot Garvey had told me to look for and were soon pulling into the parking lot of The Flower Patch - Rojo’s equivalent to Pop’s compound.
“I’ll drive back,” Jenn insisted.
“I’ll fucking drive,” I growled as I got out. “I got us here, didn’t I?”
“Barely. In all our trips, how have we not learned that you shouldn’t be trusted behind the wheel?”
“But did you die?” I asked.
Jenn rolled her eyes and hooked a thumb at Brea before she said, “Find some new material. That’s her line.”
“Oh, hi there! I’m glad you found us.” I looked over and saw the woman I’d met the other night at the clubhouse waving from the porch.
Jenn knew I was horrible with names, so she whispered, “Zoey Duke. She’s Garvey’s girlfriend and runs this place.”
“Gotcha!” I said without moving my mouth. “Hi, Zoey! Thanks for letting us come look around.”
“Anytime. The delicate flowers don’t have a problem telling me what I can do better around here, but it’s still nice to get some outside perspective.
” The building that housed the office had potted plants at either end of the porch and a few comfortable benches where you could relax in the shade.
If it was made to look this nice and welcoming, there was no telling how amazing the rest of the place might be.
“Garvey and I have a conference call scheduled with a woman from the state, but I’ve arranged for some residents to show you around.
As soon as we’re finished with our call, we’ll come find you. ”
“You call the women that live here ‘delicate flowers?’” Brea asked.
“Yes, they’re delicate, like a bomb,” Zoey explained. As we laughed, she pointed toward the store that shared the parking lot with the office and said, “If you’ll go in there and ask for Moe, she’ll show you around.”
“Thanks!” I said as I began to walk in that direction. Jenn and Brea kept pace with me as we looked around, and I said, “I wonder if they get paid to work here or if it’s part of their program.”
“Is that legal?” Jenn asked.
“It depends on what they’re doing,” Brea said as she scanned the area. “Where in the world do they live? In those big hoop houses or what?”
“I guess we’ll see,” I muttered as I opened the door for Jenn and Brea.
I stopped just inside and looked around, shocked at the homey but professional vibe.
There were customers pushing baskets full of things, from flower pots to plants and everything in between.
Jenn stopped at a display to the right that had handmade pottery and other things, and Brea got sidetracked at a kiosk with reusable water bottles and those big ass metal cups she carried around all the time.
I walked past them to explore further and found another section chocked full of my obsessions - candles, wax melts, face creams, and lip stuff.
I had my arms full of products I couldn’t resist when I heard a man call my name.
Garvey Forrester, a man I’d gotten to know during his time at Pop’s, was standing just a few feet away with a sheepish Brea, who also had her arms full of things, including two big mugs, a couple of dog toys, and some T-shirts.
When I looked past them, I saw Jenn had a throw blanket over her shoulder while carrying a metal rooster and a cookbook.
“Well, we clearly didn’t make it far enough into the store to find the woman we were supposed to be looking for,” I said drolly as Garvey grinned. “The place looks great!”
“I thought you were here to see the houses, but shop as long as you like. The tour can wait.”
“We have to leave before she sees the other side of the store,” Jennifer warned.
“What’s there?” I looked around before I said, “I haven’t even gotten to see all of this side yet!”
“Maybe Preacher was right. Maybe we shouldn’t be allowed out in public by ourselves,” Brea mumbled.
“My guess is that’s because he is afraid you’ll get into trouble, not spend too much money.”
“Honestly, Garvey, it’s a little of both.”
An hour later and a few hundred dollars poorer, we finally walked outside with Garvey and some of the women he’d wanted us to meet. They were nice enough to help us carry our purchases to the rental before we walked around the office building so they could show us around.
Moe, one of the residents I instantly loved because of her smart mouth and wit, motioned toward the high tunnels behind us and said, “That first one is where we grow the plants and seedlings we sell. The second and third tunnels are for produce and flowers, and those fields over there are also for flowers. There are hives set up all over the place, and we don’t bother them while they work to pollinate everything.
One of the other women has taken up beekeeping and made the products you bought. ”
I rubbed my lips together, loving the way the balm I’d found in the store felt, and then sighed before I asked, “Does she have a website?”
Moe smiled before she said, “She does. I slipped her business card into the bag that’s got her things in it.”
“I’m trying very hard to like you, Moe, and I don’t make that effort for just anyone, but you clearly want to see me broke and destitute, so you’re making that very difficult.”
“Difficult is her middle name,” Fiona, one of the other residents of The Flower Patch, said with a giggle. “She’s a pain in our ass.”
“No wonder Blue loves her!” Jenn said from a few steps behind us. “She’s our pain in the ass.”
“My counselor in high school said to find something you love and be the best at it. I’m just fulfilling my potential.”
“As terrifying as it might be, I think we may have found Moe’s soulmate,” Fiona said with a shudder. She looked at Jenn before she asked, “Should I be afraid?”
“We should all be afraid.”
◆◆◆
BEX ROMANO
“I looked up, and you were gone.”
I smiled over my shoulder at Rico, and he pulled out the chair next to mine before he sat down beside me. When he rested his hand on my thigh, I put mine over his and squeezed it, and he leaned over to give me a kiss. “Have you had enough? Should we go to the hotel?”