Chapter 56
LILY-ANN
The scent of cinnamon swirled from Lily-Ann’s cappuccino as she settled on the sofa in front of her laptop.
The cup warmed her in the chilly morning, though not as well as sharing a bed with Anthony had the previous night.
He’d crawled in at two in the morning, freshly showered after work, smelling of rosemary-mint shampoo.
She’d climbed on top of him. She liked putting her palms on his broad chest and feeling his solidness.
She liked that he thrilled to the fullness of her, the weight of her.
In fact, she’d slept so well that she was almost late for her morning schedule.
So she ignored the texts buzzing from the Marigold Cottages Murder Collective chat for a few hours, then made herself a second cappuccino and picked up her phone.
Ocean
Riley’s convinced CJ is guilty. She’s doing
her own investigational services
Nicholas
Investigational? Is that a word?
Not investigatory?
Sophie
Focus, Nico! Trying to solve a murder.
Hamilton
Are we calling Nicholas Nico now?
Nicholas
No.
Lily-Ann wrinkled her nose at the tangent.
Lily-Ann
Did Riley find any evidence?
Ocean
No. She just doesn’t think she’s
being framed
Nicholas
Also she’s protective of her mother
Sophie
Stop or you’ll make Ocean blush
Nicholas
Also that is ridiculous.
Nobody gets framed. C’mon
Lily-Ann jumped in to agree before anyone mentioned how they’d successfully framed her ex.
Lily-Ann
True. Highly ridiculous. Though
even ridiculous things happen
very very rarely.
Nicholas
Maybe Riley should question Karina.
She might talk to a kid?
Ocean
No. Fucking. Way.
Nicholas
Okay, okay! Sorry, Mama Bear
Anthony
That rems
Hamilton
Are we calling Ocean
Mama Bear now?
Sophie
What do you mean “now?”
Anthony
The reminds me. You qsked
If lawn flowing is same as bochy
Sophie
So true, I did qsk that.
Nicholas
Lawn flowing would totally
be your sport, Soph
Anthony
Bowing
Blowing
Fuck
BLOWLING
Hamilton
I just googled. They are similar
though lawn bowling uses ovoid
balls and a longer green. Bocce
spherical balls and shorter.
Anthony
Yes.
Sophia
Thanks, Anthony! Sweet that you
remembered.
Anthony
Happy to hop.
Hop
Help
Nicholas
Is anyone else concerned that
Lily-Ann broke Anthony?
Anthony responded with a shockingly fast middle-finger emoji.
Lily-Ann laughed and went into her bedroom where she found Anthony sitting against her headboard, her duvet bunched around his waist.
“Did I break you?” she asked.
“Into a thousand pieces,” he told her.
She simply stood there, because the tone of his voice or the gleam in his eyes almost made her blush. He kissed her goodbye, then headed to his studio for his weights.
Lily-Ann reapplied her makeup. She used sharp contour under her cheekbones and along her chin line.
She didn’t want to look good; she wanted to look intense.
Well, more intense. She was aware that most people wouldn’t call her easy, but she still liked to reinforce that impression on the days she worked at the office.
That way, her boss was happier to let her work remotely.
She left her cottage and got halfway to her car before she caught sight of CJ standing in the shade of the hedge. She only noticed because that was the one place on the property that every other resident avoided: the spot where Sophie had found James Dedrick’s body.
CJ was hunched over her phone, listening intently. She looked so tense that Lily-Ann wanted to imagine that she’d stumbled into a vital clue, though she knew CJ was probably just struggling to hear the automated voice of a utility company.
As CJ looked toward the street, her gaze swept past Lily-Ann, then returned with jagged surprise.
“Are you okay?” Lily-Ann asked, digging into her store of small talk.
“Yeah, thanks.” CJ showed her tight smile. “I just, uh…”
She gestured vaguely, then bustled down the front steps without another word.