Page 6 of Hot Zone

Steven always enjoyed hanging out with my mother, but he wouldn’t have asked about her if I hadn’t brought her up first. She could be a touchy subject, depending on how things were going at the time.

On the one hand, she didn’t understand why I wanted to live in town or why I kept the shop after my aunt passed away. On the other hand, she was the one who made most of our tea blends and harvested most of the fresh herbs I used in my incense and candles. She also gave a monthly class on ethical foraging, which was really popular.

“She’s good. Her October foraging class was last Saturday, and she stayed in town the night before.”

“At your place?”

“No, she slept in the healing room. She says she feels close to my Aunt Lilly there. But we did go out to the new hot pot place to eat, so that was good.”

“So things are okay with you two, then?”

I shrugged. “She still wants me to sell the place and move back to Bison Bend, but I think she’ll always want that. To her way of thinking, they’ve created the perfect place, and everyone should want to live there.”

“Well, that underground house is pretty cool,” he insisted. “Roxy and I really enjoyed our week on the ranch. I don’t know that I would want to live there full-time, but for a week, it was fun.”

The underground house functioned as a short-term vacation rental where people could get away from the hustle and bustle of city life—and to the people who lived at Wildflower Ranch, city life meant any town, no matter how big—and enjoy the slower pace of an intentional community. At least, that was the spiel people got when they came to stay.

What it really amounted to was a lot of work and a lot of solitude. Needless to say, growing up on Wildflower Ranch hadn’t been ideal for an extrovert like me.

“Dahlia liked you guys being there. She really enjoyed teaching Roxy how to make wild plum jelly.”

“Oh, do you have wild plum jelly for sale?” Tabitha stuck her head around the corner.

“No, sorry. We don’t stock any food items. I was talking about someone else. But is there something I can help you with?”

“I just thought I would check out the teas you mentioned. I’ve been having a hard time going to sleep at night. Do you have anything for that?”

“I have a couple of different teas that help with sleep, actually.” I got up from the table and joined her at the wall where the teas were on display. “But this one is my favorite. It has hibiscus,peppermint, licorice root, lavender, chamomile, and valerian root. All organic, of course. The other one is just as effective, but I like the taste of this one much better.”

“Okay, I’ll try that one then.” She picked up a package of tea. “You only sell it in loose leaf?”

“Yes. Do you have a tea ball? I have a small selection if you need one.”

“I used to have one, but I haven’t used it in ages. I should probably grab one just to be safe.” She selected a tea ball and then looked over at the table where all the stuff I’d yet to put out sat. She pointed at the pile of crocheted animals in front of Steven. “Oh, what are those? Are they for sale?”

“They sure are. I just haven’t put them out yet. Feel free to take a look, though.”

She set down the other items she had on the table and dug through the pile, inspecting each of the animals before selecting one of each. “My nieces and nephews are going to love these.” She paused and then added a second bat. “And I want this one for my desk at work. Did you make these?”

“No, I’m afraid I don’t crochet, but Steven’s”—I pointed at him—“girlfriend makes those. She’s really into Amigurumi and makes all kinds of animals.”

“Amigur… what emi?” she asked.

“Amigurumi, it’s what they call it,” Steven said. “Roxy says it’s a Japanese word for crocheted dolls and animals.”

“Oh, cool. Learn something new every day. But you tell her I said they’re adorable.”

“I’ll do that.”

“Here, Tabitha, let me carry this stuff to the register for you so you can continue shopping.” I picked up the stuff that she’d placed on the table.

“Thanks, but I really have to get back to work. I only came in for a few sticks of incense, and look at what you made me do.”

I looked at the pile of items she’d amassed and chuckled. “Guilty, but let’s get you checked out so you can get back to work.”

“Sounds good to me. But I’ll be back. I didn’t even get to see half the things I wanted to look at.”

I looked at Steven and said, “Sounds to me like the universe sent you here at just the right time.”

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